News

Nifty's short-term trend remains weak within a range. A breakout above 23,400 is crucial to trigger fresh buying interest, while immediate support stands at 23,100, according to Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities. Traders should watch for a decisive move to gauge market direction and plan strategies accordingly.

ICICI Lombard Q3 Results: On a sequential basis, the net profit grew by 4.4% to Rs 694 crore in Q3FY25, while revenue rose 0.55% from Rs 5,004 crore in Q2FY25. Gross direct premium income (GDPI) stood at Rs 6,214 crore, a 0.3% decline compared to Rs 6,230 crore in Q3FY24, contrasting with the industry’s growth of 9.5% during the same period.

Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were found guilty in the Al-Qadir Trust case, where they were accused of misappropriating Rs50 billion. Khan was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while Bibi received 7 years. The case involves funds seized by Britain's National Crime Agency during Khan's tenure as Prime Minister in Pakistan.

SBI Life Q3 Results: SBI Life Insurance reported a 71% YoY increase in net profit for Q3FY25, with net premium income rising by 11%. First-year premium and renewal premium grew by 13.6% and 14% YoY respectively. Shares surged 2.4% following the announcement.

Qiu Chaishi, a 124-year-old Chinese woman, credits her longevity to a simple and disciplined lifestyle. She celebrated her recent birthday with six generations of her family. Despite facing many hardships, her indomitable spirit and positive outlook remain inspiring. Qiu enjoys a porridge with lard, shares her love for daily routines, and resides with her granddaughter.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, chosen by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Homeland Security, will face a confirmation hearing. GOP support appears strong, but Democrats question her qualifications. Noem has echoed Trump's tough stance on immigration and rose in prominence for resisting pandemic regulations. She aims to enforce stricter border security.

Donald Trump, starting his second presidency, has multiple business interests that may influence his decisions. These include his real estate ventures, golf courses, licensing deals, and his social media platform. Concerns persist about potential conflicts of interest, while Trump and his team downplay these issues.

The Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway will improve connectivity and reduce travel time to 8-10 hours. Developed by MSRDC, this expressway will link pilgrimage sites and stimulate tourism and economic growth. Spanning 805 kilometers, it connects 12 districts in Maharashtra, enhancing access for travelers and catalyzing regional development.

Havells Share Price: Havells India's Q3 results for FY25 revealed a 1.7% dip in net profit at Rs 283 crore but an 11% increase in net revenue at Rs 4,883 crore. Segmental growth was notable in Switchgears, cables, and Electrical Consumer Durables. Brokerages are mixed in their outlook, with UBS suggesting a 'Buy,' while JP Morgan remains 'Neutral.'

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni aims to strengthen ties with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, potentially positioning herself as a key European intermediary. Meloni's recent visit to Trump's Mar-a-Lago retreat signals a promising relationship, yet her nationalist stance and alliance with Trump could challenge European unity, especially in trade and defense spending disputes.

China's population declined for the third consecutive year in 2004, with a drop of 1.39 million, reaching 1.408 billion. This trend mirrors other East Asian nations like Japan and South Korea, where rising living costs and career pursuits delay marriages and childbirths. An ageing population and fewer working-age individuals pose significant demographic challenges.

Stocks that were in focus include names like SBI Life, which rose 3% and DMart, which gained 1% and LTIMindtree, whose shares jumped 2.5% on Thursday.

Wipro is likely to have a subdued third quarter with constant currency revenue expected to be declining and may well be the weakest among the peers.

India is experiencing a cyclical economic downturn with projected GDP growth of 6.1% for FY25 and FY26. While rural growth shows improvement, the government is expected to maintain fiscal discipline, and monetary policy remains cautious. Private capex sees encouraging signs, driven by various initiatives.

Inflation in India is expected to stabilize at an average of 4.3-4.7 per cent in FY26. Food prices are likely to moderate and agricultural output to stabilize. Monetary policy adjustments, including rate cuts, are anticipated to support economic stability. Core inflation trend is forecasted to be stable, with a 25-basis point reduction in the repo rate expected in FY25.

UPI transactions in December hit a record 16.73 billion, an 8% increase from November’s 15.48 billion. Transaction value rose to Rs 23.25 lakh crore, up from Rs 21.55 lakh crore. Daily average transactions reached 539.68 million in December, with a daily transaction value of Rs 74,990 crore.

The Centre's infrastructure project monitoring system is being revamped to enhance milestone tracking and detailed step-by-step information for projects. The updated system, launching next month, will identify potential delays to control costs and timelines, and will integrate with other portals for consistent data entry and monitoring.

The government has extended the minimum export price (MEP) of $2,000 per tonne on natural honey until December 31, 2025. This measure, originally imposed in March 2023, applies to exports below this value, with major destinations being the US and UAE.

Winsol Engineers, based in Jamnagar, achieved the highest premium on listing this year, aligning with expectations. Its stock debuted with an impressive premium of nearly 387% over the issue price on Tuesday, marking one of the strongest listings in recent memory.

SRM Contractors IPO will open for subscription on March 26. The company is looking to raise Rs 130 crore. It has set the price band of Rs 200-210 per share for the IPO.

Lok Sabha election 2024: ​​The BJP-Shiv Sena won 41 of the 48 seats in the 2019 polls, but the Sena has split since and a vast majority of the Bal Thackeray-founded party is now allied with the BJP. The Nationalist Congress Party also split as well with Ajit Pawar joining the ruling alliance in the state, led by Eknath Shinde. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP emerged the top party with 23 seats, followed by the undivided Sena with 18.

Gujarat's upcoming Lok Sabha elections are influenced by PM Narendra Modi's charisma, anti-incumbency, unemployment, inflation, education, healthcare challenges, and BJP's endeavor to secure all 26 seats. ​​Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat will be held in a single phase on May 7. Counting of votes will be held on June 4. Anti-incumbency, unemployment, inflation, education and healthcare facilities are some of the other important issues in the election, where the ruling BJP in Gujarat will attempt to retain all the 26 Lok Sabha seats it won in 2019.

The BJP, riding high on its growing voter base in Telangana, is now aiming to win over 12 out of the total 17 seats and 35 per cent vote share, in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The party doubled its vote share to nearly 14 per cent resulting in eight seats in the assembly elections held on November 30, last year. BRS, which ruled the state for about a decade since its emergence, is low on morale following the defeat, even as its founder and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha was arrested on the eve of poll dates announcement, adding insult to the injury.

Kavitha's arrest before Lok Sabha elections may psychologically impact BRS party. Meanwhile, fomer minister Harish Rao announced protests in the state. Moreover, desertion of MPs and leaders who are not contesting polls adds to party's troubles. Nagesh Kumar predictsed that more desertions could happen due to Kavitha's arrest.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee clarified that her fall at home was due to a 'sensation of push.' Initial reports suggested she fell due to 'some push from behind,' leading to injuries on her forehead and nose. Banerjee received treatment at SSKM Hospital and is reported to be clinically stable. The incident sparked speculation, but the police confirmed no complaint has been lodged. Banerjee has suffered injuries in the past and is under a "Z+ category" security cover.

It is a second major jolt to the Congress within a few days as former minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya recently joined the BJP which fielded him from Basnwara in the LS elections. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, state BJP president C P Joshi and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav welcomed the new joinees into the party fold at its state headquarters. Addressing the joining ceremony, Kataria said he was driven by his conscience to join the BJP. He said the BJP understands the pain and suffering of farmers, the poor and the common man.

ETMarkets scanned through the quarterly shareholding of promoters, and found seven companies where the holding came down sharply on a sequential basis, while the stocks have gained up to 55% so far in 2024.

“The Reserve Bank of India has been protecting rupee from depreciating very sharply,” Parul Mittal Sinha, head of India financial markets at the lender said on Bloomberg TV Friday. The monetary authority has “been following the stated policy of containing volatility in the rupee,” she said.

Revenue from operations was at Rs 247.29 crore during the quarter under review. It was at Rs 210.49 crore in the year-ago period.

“From an asset allocation perspective, a slightly longer-term answer to your question is yes, inflation is likely to be stickier and hence, while rates might have peaked, coming down might take some time. The asset allocation needs to be thought about in that context.”

Anita Nariani Schulze is part of the Sindhi minority. Her complaint alleges that her senior and direct managers, both male, consistently excluded her from meetings while inviting her male counterparts, criticised her, micromanaged her work and deprived her of bonuses, despite positive performance evaluations and significant team contributions.

But two senior envoys who attended said there was no direct response from the ministers gathered in Brussels when Blinken said: "We must push back on China together and show strength in unity."

This comes as the San-Francisco based firm is at the receiving end of the Indian government over an issue of blocking and unblocking certain handles tweeting about farmer protests.

Foreign companies looking for incentives under the scheme may have to invest Rs 500 crore over four years, while the threshold for domestic firms is likely to be around Rs 20 crore for five years, the source who did not wish to be named said.

Growth More than in MetrosAccording to companies like Aisle and Truly Madly, which have millions of users and position themselves as “serious” dating apps, and bespoke high-end dating services like Sirf Coffee, a lot more users from such places are not only keen on using these apps, but also willing to pay for it.

“Indian companies need to re-skill, train, and acquire more relevant talent, if they are to successfully integrate AI technologies. Most importantly, they should be willing to make the continued investment. It is an uphill race in which there will be winners and losers,” said Deloitte India CEO N Venkatram.

Ambassador Joao Cravinho, head of the EU delegation, led Ambassadors of various European countries to a quiet lunch with Modi at the capital last year.

"It is the collective wisdom of the marketplace that there is action and we will move with speed. That improves the confidence level of industry."

Directives from the Centre have to be executed at the state level. So, there are many things that are not in Modi’s hands, says Raamdeo Agrawal.

"The fact that we are the world’s largest democracy and we are all aware that power and a role in global affairs for a nation comes from economic strength."

"Now there is a stage three and stage four of digitisation, we will take a call on this only after taking all things into account."

"There is a leadership vacuum in the company, because they made the wrong choice of CEO three years ago and that is playing out right now."

Rupee#CAD#Economic crisis#Food Bill

The team behind The Artist will have spent the first day of the rest of their lives conforming to the grandest, and most lucrative, of Hollywood traditions.

It's the World Book fair, which comes around once every two years sprawling across the giant halls of Pragati Maidan. This is the fair's 20th edition.

An elephant figurine gifted by the then HM LK Advani to US Secretary of State Colin Powell in 2002, has made its way to the State Department hall.

Statistical models used by IMD will still be used for monsoon forecast, but the ministry of earth sciences is putting more emphasis on dynamic models.

Newly discovered documents have revealed the first telegraph messages and joy when England was linked for the first time with India on 23 June, 1870.

Hundreds of worried fans of ailing Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan today performed a yagna here to pray for his speedy recovery.

Alfa Laval (India) today said its parent firm has raised the delisting offer price to Rs 2,850 a share.