PremiumAsian markets started on a negative note following a retreat in Wall Street. This was mostly due to the caution ahead of US inflation data that will shape investor expectations for further Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes.
China’s consumer inflation accelerated in July to the highest level in two years, largely due to surging pork costs, while weak consumer demand kept overall price pressures in check.
The consumer price index rose 2.7% last month from a year earlier as pork prices surged 20.2%, National Bureau of Statistics data showed Wednesday. The pickup in CPI was lower than the 2.9% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists and compares with 2.5% growth in June.
Producer price inflation, meanwhile, slowed to 4.2% in July from 6.1% in June as commodity prices weakened.
India took another step toward meeting its climate goals Tuesday when lawmakers in parliament’s lower house approved legislation that would require greater use of renewable energy and force industrial polluters to pay a price for the carbon they emit.
The bill sets out a minimum requirement for renewable energy use for corporations and residential buildings. It also grants clean energy users carbon-saving certificates that can be sold or traded and lays out a new energy efficiency standard in homes, which account for 24% of India’s electricity use.
While the outlook for global crops is improving from the tumultuous weeks after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the threats of drought, flooding and blistering heat are keeping supplies tight and prices elevated.
Crop futures have retreated to pre-war levels, and the UN’s monthly measure of food prices sank the most since 2008. That’s offering some relief to consumers who have faced rampant food inflation since the start of the pandemic. Still, the war is putting more pressure on farmers from the US to India to replace crop losses and shipments from Ukraine -- a key supplier to poorer nations in the Middle East and Africa.
Airlines will have to mandatorily share PNR details of passengers with customs authorities 24 hours prior to departure of international flights, a move which will help prevent law offenders from fleeing the country.
The information, which shall include name, contact details and payment details, will be used by the customs department for improved surveillance and risk assessment of passengers entering or leaving the country, according to a finance ministry notification.
All the 12 public sector banks earned a cumulative profit of about ₹15,306 crore, registering a 9.2% growth annually, despite poor showing by large lenders like SBI and PNB.
During the April-June period of the previous fiscal, state-owned banks recorded a total profit of ₹14,013 crore, according to quarterly numbers published by public sector lenders.
Of the total 12, three lenders -- State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of India -- reported fall in their profits ranging from 7-70 per cent.
Debt-ridden Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd (FLFL) on 9 August said that its board has considered and approved the proposed sale of certain identified assets of the company.
"Accordingly, based on the recommendation of the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors at its meeting held today have inter-alia considered and approved the proposal to sale, lease, rent or dispose of the Specified Assets or in any other manner as it may deem fit, at a price which shall be at least equal to book value at the relevant point of time, subject to requisite approvals of lenders, debenture holders, shareholders and other contractual approvals, if any," company in a regulatory filing.
Bharti Airtel will launch its 5G services later this month, and is looking to cover 5,000 towns and cities by March 2024, Gopal Vittal, the company’s chief executive officer and managing director, said in an analysts call on Tuesday. India’s second largest telecom company reported a five-fold jump in net profit in the June quarter.
Airtel will front-load its capital expenditure plans to prioritise the 5G rollout. It will be funded via internal cash flow. “The rapid rollout will see advanced capex on an India basis," Vittal said. The three-year capex will remain at present levels. For FY22, Airtel’s capex was ₹25,661 crore, up from ₹24,168 crore in the year ago. (Full Report)
Tokyo stocks opened lower on Wednesday, following overnight falls of Wall Street tech shares and with key US inflation data set to be released later in the day.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.69 percent, or 193.49 points, to 27,806.47 in early trade, while the broader Topix index fell 0.53 percent, or 10.27 points, to 1,926.75.
India’s trade gap with the United Arab Emirates ballooned fourfold in the May-June period, the first two months since the India-UAE free trade agreement came into effect, driven by a jump in oil and gold imports. The country’s trade deficit with the UAE widened to $3.92 billion in the two-month period from $980 million the year earlier.
Stocks on Wall Street extended their recent run of losses Tuesday as investors reviewed disappointing earnings reports and looked ahead to the release of an inflation snapshot closely watched by the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, marking its fourth consecutive drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% and the Nasdaq slid 1.2%.
Technology companies and retailers were the biggest drags on the market, outweighing gains in energy, financials and elsewhere. Bond yields rose broadly.
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