Business News Live: Volkswagen CEO calls for EU to rethink tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

Total business of private lender Bandhan Bank increased 24.6 per cent in the second quarter of current financial year, a regulatory filing with the exchanges by the bank said.

Total business at the end of September 30, 2024, touched Rs 2,73,163 crore, as compared to Rs 2,19,712 crore in the similar previous period, representing a rise of 24.6 per cent.

Loans and advances of the bank at the end of current second quarter stood at Rs 1,30,652 crore, while deposits touched Rs 1,42,511 crore, the lender said.

Collection efficiency ratio of the bank across all its business verticals at the end of second quarter of current financial year stood at 98.2 per cent, as compared to 98.7 per cent in the preceding quarter.

The country's biggest lender State Bank of India (SBI) intends to recruit about 10,000 new employees during the current financial year to meet its general banking requirement and foster its technical prowess.

The bank has invested significantly in technology to provide seamless customer service as well as to strengthen the resilience of its digital channels.

Japan agreed on Sunday to study cooperating with South Korea and Italy on procurement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the world's second-biggest LNG importer after China seeks greater flexibility while strengthening its energy security.

JERA, Japan's biggest utility company, and South Korea's Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) 036460.KS, also a major LNG buyer, are collaborating on opportunities for joint procurement, cargo swaps, and other forms of cooperation, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said in a statement on Sunday.

"The governments of both countries expect that this endeavour will serve as the starting point for a new LNG cooperation between Korean and Japanese companies," said the statement co-signed by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy.

The Adani Group has led one of the boldest Indian energy transition steps as they started blending green hydrogen into the cooking gas supply in parts of Ahmedabad, marking less emission and tending to net-zero targets.

Adani Total Gas Ltd, the company's joint venture with French energy firm TotalEnergies, has commenced blending 2.2 to 2.3 percent of green hydrogen into the piped natural gas supplied to Shantigram in Ahmedabad. The clean production methods will help in generating heat and power using the piped natural gas with reduced emissions compared to the use of natural gas alone.

CII Confidence survey: India’s business sentiment has taken a positive turn, with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Business Confidence Index soaring to a two-quarter high of 68.2 for the July-September period of the current financial year. This marks an increase from 67.3 in the previous quarter and 67.1 in the same quarter last year, reflecting growing optimism among industry leaders.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk in a thought-provoking discussion on X spoke about money at length and described money as fundamentally an "information system for labour allocation." This statement is particularly very significant at a time when debates around economic policy and resource distribution dominate the conversations of advanced economies.

 Nine of India's top 10 most valued firms collectively lost a staggering Rs 4,74,906.18 crore in market capitalization last week as Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank have taken the biggest blows in this turbulent equity market.

Italian energy company Eni ENI.MI is in talks with Japan on supplying the country with liquefied natural gas (LNG), Cristian Signoretto, Eni's director for global gas and LNG portfolio, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on Sunday.

"We already deal with Japanese buyers on a short-term basis and we would like to expand that collaboration also to a long-term basis," Signoretto said, adding that Eni plans to bring more LNG volumes to the market including from Indonesia and also wants Japanese financial institutions to support some projects.

Vietnam exported 1.1 million metric tons of coffee in the first nine months of this year, down 11.5% from the same period a year earlier, government data released on Sunday showed.

However, coffee export revenue in the same period rose 37.8% to $4.3 billion, the General Statistics Office said in a report.

In September, the country exported 52,000 tons of coffee, 3% higher than the corresponding period of 2023.

 Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, took the stage on Saturday in Pennsylvania for former President Donald Trump's rally, making his first public rally appearance to support the ex-president. Now, that Musk would make such an appearance on stage said enough, but more to the point, insisting that Trump had to win the next presidential election to help preserve democracy.

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 The RBI is likely to keep the interest steady for the tenth time consecutively at its scheduled monetary policy meeting, set to start from 7th October. According to the Bank of Baroda’s report, the newly constituted MPC is likely to wait for clearer signals of a trend in inflation numbers before cutting interest rates.

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India's gold consumption is likely to witness its biggest increase this year as fueled by the lowest import tariff in a decade and the approaching festival and wedding seasons. The country, the second-biggest consumer of gold globally, imported a record $10.1 billion in August, more than doubling the amount from the same month last year.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the World Bank would seriously consider 27 out of 30 proposals submitted by the independent expert group of G20 to strengthen the multilateral development banks. The review is important in light of global development challenges.

Tariff tension: The head of Volkswagen appealed to the European Union on Thursday to rethink its planned tariffs on electric vehicles from China, saying investment in Europe should be rewarded rather than punished. That was emphasised by VW CEO Oliver Blume in an interview for the Bild am Sonntag, speaking of the call to make investments made in Europe credit-worthy: "Those who invest, create jobs, and work with local companies should benefit when it comes to tariffs."

Honasa Clarifies: Honasa Consumer Limited, the parent company of Mamaearth, clarified on Saturday that it does not hold any assets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This statement came in the wake of an ongoing legal dispute with RSM General Trading LLC, a former distributor of Mamaearth products in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The clarification followed a regulatory filing where Honasa had disclosed that a Dubai court had upheld an earlier decision to attach the company’s UAE assets. However, Honasa explained that the precautionary attachment order would not impact its assets, as the company has none in the UAE.

In a filing on Saturday, Honasa said, “RSM sought a precautionary attachment on the company’s assets, but there are no assets in the UAE to be attached. Honasa Consumer Limited has no assets in the UAE, and its subsidiary, Honasa Consumer General Trading LLC, has been excluded from the order.”
 

China's home sales rose during the National Day holiday after a string of property stimulus measures to boost the country's beleaguered real estate market since late September, state media said on Saturday.

Across the world's second-largest economy, policies including reductions in down-payment ratios and mortgage rates have been introduced this year to support the property sector, which previously made up one-quarter of economic activity.

More than 50 cities introduced policies to boost the real estate market, while nearly 2,000 developments from more than 1,000 property companies participated in promotions, CCTV said, citing the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Alphabet's Google is testing showing check marks next to certain companies on its search results, a company spokesperson said on Friday, in a move aimed at helping users identify verified sources and steer clear of fake websites.

Fraudulent websites impersonating official businesses or services could creep up in online search results, leading users to view false information about the business, deceiving users and potentially harming the brand.

"We regularly experiment with features that help shoppers identify trustworthy businesses online, and we are currently running a small experiment showing checkmarks next to certain businesses on Google," the spokesperson said.

Google already uses automated systems to identify pages with "scammy" or fraudulent content and prevent them from showing up in the search results.

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China's home sales rose during the National Day holiday after a string of property stimulus measures to boost the country's beleaguered real estate market since late September, state media said on Saturday.  Across the world's second-largest economy, policies including reductions in down-payment ratios and mortgage rates have been introduced this year to support the property sector, which previously made up one-quarter of economic activity.

During the week-long holiday period that started on Tuesday, the number of house visits, which reflects a willingness to buy a home, increased significantly while sales of homes in many places rose to "varying degrees", state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Hotel and casino operator Wynn Resorts WYNN.O said on Friday it had been awarded the first commercial gaming operator's license in the United Arab Emirates by the country's General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority.  The Las Vegas-based casino firm said it was developing a luxury resort at Wynn Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah.  The project, under construction, is a joint venture between affiliates of Wynn Resorts, Marjan and RAK Hospitality Holding, Wynn said.

The European Union (EU) has taken a decisive step by moving forward with substantial tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs), a move likely to have significant global economic repercussions. The decision, made official after a vote among EU member states, is part of an escalating trade row between Brussels and Beijing, marking the largest trade clash between the two powers in over a decade.

The new tariffs, set at up to 45 per cent, are designed to counter what the European Commission claims are unfair subsidies provided by the Chinese government to their domestic automakers, enabling them to flood the European market with competitively priced EVs. While 10 EU members supported the move, Germany, the bloc’s largest economy and a key automotive hub, voted against it. Despite this opposition, the EU obtained the necessary backing to proceed with the tariffs, which will be imposed for a period of five years starting next month.

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India's foreign exchange reserves surged $12.588 billion to an all-time high of $704.885 billion for the week ended September 27, according to figures from the Reserve Bank of India released on Friday.

This is the largest weekly increase on record, after a rise of $2.838 billion in the prior week, when reserves stood at $692.296 billion. It marks the first time the reserves have broken the $700 billion threshold.

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National Stock Exchange ( NSE ) is on course to proceed with its long-awaited Initial Public Offering ( IPO ) following the conclusion of a Rs 643 crore settlement with the Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI ). The settlement, the largest ever in SEBI’s history, resolves accusations related to the alleged misuse of NSE ’s Trading Access Point (TAP) system, which surfaced as part of an ongoing investigation into the exchange’s practices. This landmark settlement removes a major regulatory obstacle for the NSE , paving the way for its highly anticipated IPO.

The exchange, which has been trying to launch its public offering since 2016, now looks set to move forward as legal proceedings tied to both the TAP misuse case and the high-profile co-location scam are officially closed. The case's conclusion brings clarity to the exchange's standing and sets the stage for new opportunities.

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Equity markets closed their worst week in over two years, with both the NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex tumbling more than 4 per cent. Mounting global tensions, particularly in the Middle East, have jeopardised market sentiments, further fueled by the uncertainty around key economic data from the US and other global markets.

This week, the Nifty 50 dropped 4.5 per cent, while the Sensex plunged similarly, marking their steepest decline since June 2022. Major contributors to this downward trend were losses in key stocks like Hero MotoCorp, Shriram Finance, and Axis Bank. As the global landscape continues to be rocked by geopolitical instability, the Indian market's performance reflects broader concerns.

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MSCI's global equities index rose on Friday while the dollar climbed to its highest level since August after data showed the US economy added far more jobs than expected in September, erasing expectations for another bigFederal Reserve rate cut.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said 254,000 workers were added to nonfarm payrolls last month, well above the 140,000 economist estimate, while August's number was revised higher and the 4.1% unemployment rate was lower than expected.

US Treasury yields rose to their highest level since mid-August and traders ditched bets that the Fed will cut rates by half a percentage point next month.

"The number was phenomenal. It came in well above expectations. The unemployment rate came down and it shows the economy is strong," Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management.

The European Union's decision to press ahead with tariffs on China-made electric vehicles after a member states' vote on Friday is not expected to trigger immediate price changes for affected vehicles, carmakers said.

The French unit of SAIC's 600104.SS MG Motor said earlier on Friday in a statement, before the vote, that the EU decision would not affect prices of its electric vehicles in France this year, regardless of the outcome of the vote.

In the vote, 10 EU members backed tariffs and five voted against, with 12 abstentions, EU sources said.

MG Motor France said tariffs were "excessive" and hamper Europe's green transition.

 Jio Financial Services Ltd (JFS), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, announced on October 4 that it has received in-principle approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to collaborate with BlackRock Financial Management as co-sponsors to establish a proposed mutual fund, the company states in exchange filing on Friday. 

Oil prices were on track for weekly gains of 9% as investors feared a wider Middle East conflict could disrupt crude flows after President Joe Biden said the United States was discussing an Israeli attack on Iranian oil facilities.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 66 cents, or 0.85% at $78.28 a barrel, as of 1323 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were up 63 cents, or 0.85%, at $74.34 a barrel.

The U.S. is discussing whether it would support Israeli strikes on Iran's oil facilities as retaliation for Tehran's missile attack on Israel, Biden said on Thursday, while Israel's military hit Beirut with airstrikes in its battle against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a gathering at Kautilya Economic Conclave on Friday said that in the last 10 years, around 250 million people have risen out of poverty, a testament to India's commitment to inclusive economic growth.

Modi noted that despite global uncertainties, India's economy has outperformed expectations, growing at an impressive rate of 7 per cent. Major institutions, including Moody's and the World Bank, have acknowledged India's resilience, reinforcing its status as a favourite destination for global investors.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will transfer Rs 20,000 crore as the 18th installment of the PM-KISAN scheme this Saturday. The benefit is for more than 9.4 crore farmers across the country. The amount will be transferred by Direct Benefit Transfer during the event, scheduled at Washim in Maharashtra.

Apart from this PM-KISAN support, the farmers of Maharashtra will benefit from an extra Rs 2,000 crore through the State's Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana. This will be in addition to Rs 3.45 lakh crore disbursed under PM-KISAN, benefiting more than 11 crore farmers across the nation.
 

India's foreign exchange reserves surged $12.588 billion to an all-time high of $704.885 billion for the week ended September 27, according to figures from the Reserve Bank of India released on Friday. This is the largest weekly increase on record, after a rise of $2.838 billion in the prior week, when reserves stood at $692.296 billion. It marks the first time the reserves have broken the $700 billion threshold.

German luxury carmaker BMW Group on Friday said its BMW and MINI brands recorded a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in sales, at 10,556 units in India during the January-September period of 2024.

The number of cars (BMW and MINI) sold in the nine months of 2023 was 9,580 units.

Besides, the group also sold 5,638 units of Motorrad brand of motorcycles, the group announced here on Friday.

BMW Group comprises three brands--BMW, Mini and Motorrad.
 

Guar seed prices on Friday dropped Rs 14 to Rs 5,535 per quintal in the futures trade amid an increase in supply from producing regions.

On the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, guar seed for October delivery fell Rs 14 or 0.25 per cent to Rs 5,535 per quintal with an open interest of 30,505 lots.

Guar gum prices on Friday dropped Rs 69 to Rs 11,215 per quintal in the futures market as traders offloaded their holdings in line with a weak trend in the spot market.

On the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, guar gum for October delivery fell Rs 69 or 0.62 per cent to Rs 11,215 per quintal in 19,537 lots.

Crude oil futures on Friday grew Rs 35 to Rs 6,196 per barrel in futures trade as participants widened their positions following a firm spot demand.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for October delivery traded higher by Rs 35 or 0.57 per cent at Rs 6,196 per barrel in 14,476 lots.

Japanese stocks posted their steepest weekly fall in a month on Friday, as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's seemingly shifting stance on interest rates roiled the yen and unsettled investors, while shipping shares dropped after a U.S. dock strike ended.

Though the Nikkei .N225 rose 0.2 per cent to close at 38,635.62 for the day, it ended 3 per cent lower for the week.

ONGC share price rose as much as 2.55 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 299.55 on the BSE after price of crude oil jumped in international markets following rising tensions in Middle East after Iran fired missiles on Israel sparking fears of supply chain concerns, analysts said.

ONGC, the state-run oil exploration company, stands to benefit from rising oil prices, analysts added.

Oil prices inched up in early Asian trading hours on Friday, holding on to their strong weekly gains, as investors weighed the Middle East conflict and the potential disruption in crude flows against an amply-supplied global market.

Some Chinese and global institutional investors are revisiting Chinese property bonds, betting on an improvement in outlook as the government accelerates efforts to boost economic growth and revive a property sector in the throes of a debt crisis.

Investors began returning after the announcement on Tuesday of the most aggressive stimulus measures since the pandemic, mostly targeting the property sector and triggering a rally in the offshore bonds of property developers.

Mining giant Vedanta Ltd on Friday reported a rise in production of aluminium, zinc and iron ore in the September quarter.

However, the production of steel, mined metal overseas and oil and gas dropped during the quarter.

inance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said India would achieve near doubling of per capita income in the next five years and witness the steepest rise in living standard of the common man in coming decades aided by structural reforms undertaken by the government in the last 10 years.

Addressing the 3rd edition of Kautiliya Economic Conclave here, the minister said, India's critical economic performance in the recent decade was underscored by its leapfrog from the 10th to the fifth largest economy in a matter of five years.

iPhone maker Apple on Friday said it will open four more stores in India, located in Pune, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai.

The company said it will also roll out its first-ever "made in India" iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max series devices this month.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg surpassed Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos on Friday to take the title of the world's second-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index. Zuckerberg's net worth now stands at $206 billion, falling behind only to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who leads with $256 billion. 

Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook (now Meta) in 2004. Over the past two decades, the company has grown into one of the most influential platforms for global communication and information exchange.

 Google said on Friday it will stop linking to New Zealand news articles and ditch the agreements it has with local news organisations, if the country’s government goes ahead with a law to force tech giants to pay a fair price for content that appears on their feeds.

The New Zealand government in July confirmed it would progress legislation started by the previous Labour Party-led government that ensures fair revenue sharing between operators of digital platforms and news media entities. The proposed legislation is still in review and is likely to see changes including some to bring it more in line with Australian legislation.

The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Friday dragged down by losses in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and Asian Paints. The Sensex fell as much as 276 points and Nifty 50 index dropped below its important psychological level of 25,200 as investor sentiment was shaken back heavy selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). The FIIs sold shares worth Rs 15,243 crore on Thursday amid rising geo-political tensions between Iran and Israel.

 The Indian rupee is likely to remain anchored near a lifetime low on Friday, hit by concerns over the deluge of foreign money being pulled out of domestic equities and a jump in oil prices due to the Middle East conflict.

The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated that the rupee INR=IN will open at 83.97-83.98 to the U.S. dollar, compared with 83.9675 in the previous session and within a whisker of the 83.9850 lifetime low hit a month ago.

Asian stocks retreated on Friday while oil prices headed for their sharpest weekly gain in more than a year, as escalating tensions in the Middle East kept markets on edge ahead of a US jobs report later in the day.

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the US is discussing strikes on Iran's oil facilities as retaliation for Tehran's missile attack on Israel, while Israel's military hit Beirut with new air strikes in its battle against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

India's Reliance Infrastructure said on Friday that it plans to raise up to $350 million by issuing foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) to VFSI Holdings, an affiliate of investment firm Varde Investment.

The convertible bonds will have an "ultra-low cost" interest of 5 per cent per annum with a long maturity of 10 years, the company said.

Rice export prices in Asia dropped sharply this week after India, the world's largest exporter of the staple, eased restrictions on exports, increasing competition in the region.

India on Saturday allowed exports of non-basmati white rice, a day after cutting export duty on parboiled rice to 10 per cent from 20 per cent.

US bank JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N has become a substantial shareholder in Star Entertainment SGR.AX, an exchange filing showed, as shares of the embattled Australian casino operator have fallen sharply in last few years amid liquidity issues.

JPMorgan became a shareholder with a 5.47 per cent voting power, the filing showed on Thursday.

US dock workers and port operators have reached a tentative deal that will immediately end a crippling three-day strike that has shut down shipping on the US East Coast and Gulf Coast, the two sides said in a statement on Thursday.

The tentative agreement is for a wage hike of around 62 per cent over six years, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, including a worker on the picket line who heard the announcement. That would raise average wages to about $63 an hour from $39 an hour over the life of the contract.

Southern Taiwan worked on Friday to clear up damage from flooding and high winds after Typhoon Krathon slammed into a major metropolis, while most of the rest of the island resumed work and financial markets re-opened.

Krathon, now downgraded to a tropical depression, made landfall in the major port city of Kaohsiung, inundating streets with water, blowing out windows in some buildings and sending debris flying as record breaking winds hit.

Oil prices surged on Thursday as concerns mounted that a widening regional conflict in the Middle East could disrupt global crude flows.

Brent crude futures settled up $3.72, or 5.03 per cent, at $77.62 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled up $3.61, or 5.15 per cent, to $73.71.