Author: Purbalee Dutta

The Indian stock market closed with mild losses during Wednesday's session, December 24, as sharp losses in IT stocks capped gains, and a lack of fresh triggers and thin year-end trading volumes also weighed on sentiment, with investors looking to the upcoming third-quarter earnings season for a confidence boost. Overseas investors resumed their selling trend, remaining net sellers over the last two trading sessions after a brief pause, also keeping the sentiment weak. The Nifty 50 ended the session with a decline of 0.13% at 26,142, while the S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.14% at 85,408. Broader markets were mixed, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index falling 0.%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.3%. Sector-wise, Nifty Oil and Gas shed 0.76%, while Nifty Chemicals declined b...

On December 19, Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) announced it has acquired a 20% stake in Shriram Finance through a preferential allotment of shares, in a transaction valued at $4.4 billion (Rs 39,600 crore), marking the largest foreign direct investment in India’s financial sector. MUFG will have the right to appoint two nominee directors to Shriram Finance’s board. The floor price for the preferential issue has been set at Rs 840.83 per share, with MUFG acquiring 47.11 crore equity shares. This $4.4 billion deal surpasses previous large investments in India’s financial services sector, including Emirates NBD’s Rs 26,850-crore investment in RBL Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s Rs 14,043-crore stake in Yes Bank. Shriram Finance, with assets under management e...

On Monday, Paramount Skydance made a hostile $108.4 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), following Netflix’s $72 billion offer for the studio and its streaming service, potentially ending a duopoly and creating a monopoly. Paramount proposed a $30-per-share cash tender offer for WBD, backed by $41 billion in equity financing, funds from Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners, Middle Eastern government-backed investors, and support from the Ellison family. Unlike Netflix’s bid, which targets WBD’s film and TV studios, HBO, and HBO Max, Paramount’s offer includes the company’s cable networks. Paramount’s tender will remain open for 20 business days, with WBD required to respond within 10. CEO David Ellison indicated the $30 offer may not be final, signaling a willingness to inc...

India’s shift toward a green economy offers a unique opportunity to align sustainability with industrial competitiveness, said Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Speaking at the CII IndiaEdge 2025 event during a plenary on “Green Growth: Aligning Sustainability with Competitiveness,” he urged businesses to harness this momentum through voluntary commitments that advance India’s vision of a self-reliant circular economy. He highlighted the role of investments in research, infrastructure, skill development, and collaboration with MSMEs in driving a globally competitive and sustainable industrial base. Circularity, Yadav explained, involves minimizing waste by keeping materials in use through repair, reuse, and recycling. He stressed that clean industrial...

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled to announce its policy decision on December 5, 2025. The repo rate currently stands at 5.50 percent, with a neutral policy stance. In October 2025, the MPC adopted a dovish tone, citing GDP growth below target and signaling room for a potential rate cut. However, recent data has altered market expectations. India’s Q2FY26 GDP surged to 8.2 percent, surpassing the RBI’s 7 percent forecast and the market median of 7.3 percent, driven by 7.9 percent growth in private consumption and favorable base effects. Nominal GDP growth was more modest at 8.7 percent, reflecting a lower deflator. Inflation remains subdued, with headline CPI falling to 0.25 percent in October and food inflation at -5.02 percent, while core inflat...

India’s industrial production in October grew a mere 0.4%, marking a 14-month low and signaling a slowdown in economic activity. This is significantly below September’s 4% growth and also under the 3.1% forecasted by economists in a Reuters poll. The modest rise in output came despite stronger domestic consumption across major categories, partly driven by the goods and services tax (GST) cuts implemented on September 22. The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation attributed the slowdown to fewer working days due to festivals like Dussehra and Deepawali. Breaking down the sectors, manufacturing output increased just 1.8% in October compared with 4.8% in September, while mining and electricity declined 1.8% and 6.9%, respectively. These three sectors together account fo...

Royal Enfield is rapidly expanding its portfolio of high-performance motorcycles, and the new Bullet 650 is a prime example. The motorcycle was first unveiled at EICMA 2025 and made its India debut at Motoverse 2025 in Goa, ahead of its expected launch in January 2026. The Bullet 650 will be the most powerful model ever in the iconic Bullet lineup and the latest entrant in Royal Enfield’s 650 cc range, which also includes the Bear 650, Super Meteor 650, Classic 650, Continental GT 650, Shotgun 650, and Interceptor 650. The Bullet 650 combines nostalgia with modern performance. It retains the classic upright riding stance, winged badge, hand-painted pinstripes on the teardrop fuel tank, and tiger-eye pilot lamps, along with chrome-accented retro-themed round LED headlamps and multi-spok...

The BMW F 450 GS is the latest addition to the lineup of motorcycles jointly developed and produced at Hosur under the TVS-BMW partnership. Previously, the collaboration gained recognition for models like the G 310 R, G 310 GS, and G 310 RR, which generated strong demand across more than 100 global markets. With the F 450 GS now in production, the alliance is signaling a strategic move into the premium, higher-capacity segment. This launch coincides with another landmark achievement: 200,000 units produced since the partnership began in 2013. Executives from both companies said this milestone highlights the evolution of their collaboration from an experimental co-development effort to a globally recognized portfolio of entry-premium motorcycles. Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW Motorrad, e...

Winter usually brings cozy evenings with blankets, heaters, and movie marathons, but this season, it also marks peak wedding celebrations with house parties, sangeets, dance-offs, and late-night music. If your current speaker struggles with bass or your soundbar falters during long movie sessions, now is the perfect time to upgrade. The Amazon Mega Music Fest offers discounts of up to 50% on home audio systems, soundbars, and portable speakers from top brands like Sony, JBL, boAt, Marshall, Bose, and Bang & Olufsen. Options range from powerful home theatre systems and soundbars like the JBL Cinema SB271 and Sonos Arc Ultra to portable Bluetooth speakers such as Marshall Kilburn II, Bose SoundLink Max, Beosound A1, and Bose SoundLink Flex. Wired and wireless headphones, including So...