Stock Market Live: Govt hikes Wheat MSP by Rs 150 for 2025-2026 marketing season

India's merchandise trade deficit was narrower than expected in September, helped by a sharp sequential drop in gold imports, according to government data released on Wednesday.

The merchandise trade deficit was $20.78 billion last month, lower than economists' expectation of $25 billion, according to a Reuters poll.

The deficit had widened to a ten-month high of $29.65 billion in August.

Merchandise exports dropped to $34.58 billion in September from $34.71 billion in August. The fall in imports was much sharper, to $55.36 billion from $64.36 billion.

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India has raised the price at which it will buy new-season wheat from domestic farmers by 150 rupees or 6.6% to encourage growers to expand acreage and remove the need for imports in the world's second-biggest producer of the grain.

The revised purchase price of Rs 2,425 ($28.88) per 100 kg for 2025 compares with 2,275 a year earlier, Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw told a news conference after a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.

India sets a price each year at which it will buy wheat and rice from local farmers to distribute for free to 800 million beneficiaries of the world's biggest food welfare programme.

A reasonable increase in the state-set support or guaranteed prices encourages farmers to boost output.

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India's merchandise trade deficit for September was recorded at $20.78 billion, a figure that is narrower than economists' expectations of $25 billion, as per calculations based on government data released on Wednesday.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is currently consulting on the allocation of satellite communication (satcom) spectrum, with Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti observing that all stakeholder views are being considered before recommendations are made.

 Britain's departure from the European Union cost London's financial centre about 40,000 jobs, the Lord Mayor of the City of London told Reuters, a far deeper impact from Brexit than previous estimates.

India's crude oil imports from Russia rose by 11.7 per cent to about 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, accounting for about two-fifths of the South Asian nation's overall crude imports in the month, tanker data obtained from industry sources showed.

Overall, refiners in India imported a total of 4.7 million bpd of crude oil in September, marginally higher than in August and about 8.5 per cent more than the same month a year ago, the data showed.

 Japan's Nikkei share average snapped a four-session winning streak on Wednesday, as chip-related stocks tracked an overnight drop in US peers following demand concerns, with Tokyo Electron slumping more than 9 per cent.

The Nikkei ended 1.83 per cent lower at 39,180.3 points, after crossing the 40,000 level to touch a three-month high in the previous session.

British inflation fell by more than expected last month, including key measures watched by the Bank of England, according to data on Wednesday that bolstered bets on an interest rate cut next month.

The rate of annual consumer price inflation dropped to 1.7 per cent in September from 2.2 per cent in August, the lowest reading since April 2021, the Office for National Statistics said.

The New York Times has sent Perplexity a "cease and desist" notice demanding the company stop using the newspaper's content for generative AI purposes, the startup said on Tuesday, marking the latest clash between the news publisher and an AI firm.

The news publisher said in the letter, a copy of which it shared with Reuters, that the way Perplexity was using its content, including creating summaries and other types of output, violates copyright law. NYT declined to provide additional comment on the matter.

Indian government bond yields dipped in early trading on Wednesday, as market participants tracked the decline in oil prices and US yields.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield was at 6.7% as of 10:00 am, compared with its previous close of 6.7684 per cent

The world is on the brink of a new age of electricity with fossil fuel demand set to peak by the end of the decade, meaning surplus oil and gas supplies could drive investment into green energy, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday.

But it also flagged a high level of uncertainty as conflicts embroil the oil and gas-producing Middle East and Russia and as countries representing half of global energy demand have elections in 2024.

The domestic stock markets opened in the red on Wednesday following the Asian peers which are buoyed by a negative move in chip stocks after Europe’s biggest tech firm ASML posted disappointing earnings for the quarter. 

The BSE’s 30-share Sensitive Index fell nearly 150 points or 0.2 per cent to open at 81,652.60 whereas the National Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nifty 50 faced a 35 points downside to open just above the mark of 25,000. 

The Bank of Japan must raise interest rates at a "very moderate" pace and avoid hiking prematurely, its policymaker Seiji Adachi said on Wednesday, warning that further yen rises and slowing global demand may weigh on inflation and wage growth.

Adachi said Japan's economy has already met the conditions for normalising ultra-loose monetary policy, with the economy remaining on a firm note and price rises broadening.

The rupee is expected to open largely unchanged on Wednesday, holding below the 84 handle amid risk-off sentiment and a slight pullback in the US dollar.

The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated that the rupee will open at 84.04-84.05 to the US dollar compared with 84.0375 in the previous session. The local currency on Tuesday caught a bit of relief, helped by dollar sell orders put up by public sector banks, likely for the central bank.

 Gold prices inched higher on Wednesday, as U.S. Treasury yields eased, while market participants waited for more US economic data to determine the number of interest rate cuts the Federal Reserve is likely to deliver in the near term.

Japan's upcoming stimulus package will be bigger than last year's measures that were financed with a 13 trillion yen ($87 billion) extra budget, a government spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The government will draft a package that will exceed the size of last year's stimulus, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki said, echoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's remarks at a Tuesday stump speech for the lower house election campaign.

he Australian and New Zealand dollars slumped on Wednesday as scepticism grew about top trading partner China's stimulus, while the greenback hovered near two-month peaks versus major peers on wagers US interest rate cuts will be gradual.

New Zealand's currency was weighed down further by data showing cooling inflation, keeping the door open for aggressive easing by the nation's central bank.

Computer chip equipment maker ASML's ASML.ASdeep cuts to its 2025 sales forecast sparked a sell-off in chip stocks on Tuesday over worries that global chip demand may be faltering.

The weaker outlook could, instead, reflect some overcapacity at chip factories that had already stocked up on ASML's pricey tools during the pandemic and have become better at using them to produce a larger numbers of chips, analysts said.

 The World Bank voted on Tuesday to change its internal lending guidelines, freeing up $30 billion in additional lending capacity over the next decade to help developing countries and emerging markets grapple with climate change and other global challenges, World Bank President Ajay Banga told Reuters NEXT.

US stocks closed down on Tuesday, following world stocks lower as a weak sales forecast from chipmaker ASML weighed on tech shares, while crude extended its slide due to easing supply worries and weakening demand.

The three major US indexes ended the session in negative territory, with the S&P 500 and the Dow easing back from Monday's record closing highs.