By Shiva RajoraNEW DELHI: Amid weak market conditions and falling interest rates, Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Monday recommended retaining the interest rate on retirement savings accumulated by nearly 31 crore unchanged at 8.25% during the current financial year. This is the third consecutive year that the social security organisation has kept the rate…
Gold slumped more than 5%, ending a four-day rally on Tuesday. The metal was weighed down by a stronger dollar and fading prospects of an interest rate cut as inflation concerns intensified against the backdrop of a potentially prolonged conflict in West Asia. Spot gold was down 5.6% at $5,029.59 an ounce whereas prices had…
MUMBAI: The rupee is likely to come under renewed pressure when forex markets open on Wednesday as the conflict in West Asia has worsened the trade and energy situation beyond expectations of analysts.On Tuesday, the Indonesian rupiah, South Korean won and Thai baht each fell by more than 1%, leading losses in Asia, while broader…
Japan is in discussions with India to jointly explore rare earth deposits in Rajasthan as Tokyo looks to reduce its dependence on China for critical minerals used in magnet manufacturing, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.Last month, Union minister G. Kishan Reddy said three hard rock rare earth deposits containing 1.29 million…
Estimates from experts on India’s dependency on Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz peg it at 50% of India’s oil imports. (AI image) India is among the top five world economies and its energy security is of paramount importance. The ongoing US-Israel-Iran war has caused disruptions in global oil, gas and trading shipments, especially…
MUMBAI: India’s trade and energy supplies face fresh risks after reinsurers and Protection & Indemnity (P&I) clubs announced cancellation of war risk insurance for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian waters, following an escalation in the Iran conflict. The cancellations, effective from this week, have left over 150 vessels stranded and disrupted a…
Oil prices spiked sharply on Tuesday as the Iran war disrupted supplies, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed and key energy infrastructure hit, AFP reported.The Brent North Sea crude contract, the international benchmark, jumped more than eight per cent to $85.12 a barrel, its highest level since July 2024.The main US oil contract, West…
NEW DELHI: The railways is looking at bearing the nearly Rs 90,000 crore additional (83% escalation) cost for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet train project and won’t seek further loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project cost has increased from Rs 1.1 lakh crore to Rs 1.98 lakh crore because of delays and other reasons.The…
With tensions escalating in West Asia, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said it is closely tracking the situation but cautioned that it is “too early to assess the economic impact on the region and the global economy,” as disruptions to trade and energy markets intensify.In a statement, the IMF said it has “observed disruptions…
A fresh wave of global risk aversion battered Wall Street on Tuesday, with US equities sliding sharply as oil prices spiked again amid fears that the widening war with Iran could inflict deeper and more prolonged damage on the global economy, the Associated Press reported.The S&P 500 fell 2.4 per cent in morning trade and…
