Business

India's trade deficit widened in January pushed by a rise in gold imports, while exports growth remained low, deepening concerns for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who wants to accelerate economic expansion ahead of elections.

PM Modi, who has set a target of doubling India's share

The rupee weakened by 17 paise to trade at 71.33 against the dollar in opening session on Friday following sustained demand for the greenback from importers amid foreign fund outflow and rising global crude prices. The dollar's gain against major world currencies also impacted the rupee sentiment, forex dealers said.    

At the forex

Jet Airways said on Thursday its board had approved a rescue deal which will make its lenders its largest shareholders and fix a near Rs 8,500 crore ($1.2 billion) funding gap. With debts of more than $1 billion, Jet has struggled over the last

Employee Provident Fund (EPF) is a mandatory contribution that every company, which has more than 20 employees, has to deduct from the salary of its employees. An employee contributes 12 per cent of his salary towards the EPF, while an employer pays another 12 per cent, out of

Crude oil prices rallied on Friday, with Brent crude futures - the global benchmark for crude oil - hitting fresh 2019 highs amid US sanctions against Venezuela and Iran and supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Brent pushed above $65 per barrel for the first time in 2019, before edging back to

Public Provident Fund (PPF) is a retirement planning-focused instrument offered by India Post (Department of Posts). The post office PPF account comes under the 'exempt, exempt, exempt' (EEE) category of tax status, meaning the returns, the maturity amount and the interest

Gold prices surged by Rs 310 to Rs 34,310 per 10 gram at the bullion market on Friday on increased buying by jewellers coupled with a firming trend overseas, reported news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) quoting the All India Sarafa Association. Silver rates also rose by Rs

Losses in financial, pharma, auto and metal stocks dragged the markets lower

The government offered additional units of Bharat 22 Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) on Thursday. The follow-on offer of Bharat 22 ETF - comprising shares of 22 public sector companies - is as part of the disinvestment program announced by the Department of

Oil imports from Iran fell by 45 per cent in January to 270,500 barrels per day oil (bpd), ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed, below the estimated 300,000 bpd for the month as some cargoes were delayed.

The United States introduced

Sugar mills cannot sell the sweetener below Rs 31 per kg, the government announced on Thursday, a move that will boost the liquidity of cash-strapped millers and help clear mounting cane arrears of around Rs 20,000 crore. The centre has hiked the minimum selling price (MSP) of sugar by Rs 2 per kg to Rs 31, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said. MSP

The government is considering extending by four months a compliance deadline on tougher import rules for steel that are aimed at forcing automakers to use locally made alloy, said two sources familiar with the matter.

Compliance to the new rules had been

State Bank of India's multi-option deposit scheme (MODS), a type of fixed deposit (FD) or term deposit scheme, is linked to the savings or current account of an individual. A fixed deposit is a secure financial instrument offered by banks, which fetch guaranteed returns.

Nestle India, a unit of Swiss food group Nestle SA, reported a 9.6 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by strong demand for its products in its home market.

Profit came in at Rs 342 crore ($48.11 million) in the three months ended December 31, compared with Rs 312 crore a year earlier.

Revenue from operations grew 11.4 per

Automaker Ashok Leyland Ltd posted a 21.5 per cent fall in its third-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by weak consumer demand.

Profit fell to Rs 381 crore ($53.56 million) for the three months ended December 31, compared with Rs 485 crore a year earlier, the company said.

Analysts on average had expected the company to post a profit of Rs 276 crore,

NPS or National Pension System is a government-sponsored retirement planning instrument regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). NPS gives the investor the option to set his or her preferred allocation to different asset classes, such as government bonds, equity market instruments and corporate debt, among other

The rupee weakened by 36 paise on Thursday to close at 71.16 per US dollar amid firming crude oil prices and persistent foreign capital outflows. Heavy dollar demand from banks and importers and strengthening of the greenback against major currencies overseas weighed on the domestic

Domestic equity benchmark indexes extended declines as the S-P BSE Sensex fell for sixth day in a row, its worst run since September 5, 2018, and the Nifty 50 Index logged in fifth session of losses paced by declines in information technology, oil - gas and telecom stocks. Sensex fell 158 points to shut shop at 35,876 and the NSE Nifty 50

The S-P BSE Sensex fell for seventh day in a row to clock its longest stretch of losses since February 7, 2018 as investors turned cautious amid rising geo-political concerns. The S-P BSE Sensex fell as much as 365 points and Nifty dropped 126 points before Sensex closing 0.19 per cent or 67 points at 35,809 and Nifty settling 20 points

Fixed deposits or FDs are secure financial instruments offered by public, private sector banks, small finance banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and post offices, which fetch guaranteed returns. Fixed deposit interest rates are subject

Regular savings bank accounts that doesn't require customers to maintain a certain monthly average balance (MAB) are known as zero balance savings accounts. Monthly Average Balance (MAB) is the sum of all the end of day (EOD) closing balance divided

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday flagged off Train 18, the country's first semi-high speed train, from the New Delhi Railway Station, the government said in a statement. The commercial run of Train 18, the bookings for which have already begun, will start

Samsung Electronics expects a new range of smartphones it will launch in India in the first half of this year to generate sales of $4 billion in 2019, a senior company executive said on Thursday.

The South Korean giant will unveil one smartphone from the Galaxy

IndiGo has extended its ongoing Valentine's Day sale till February 14, 2019, said the private carrier in a press release on Thursday. Under the offer, IndiGo is offering domestic and international flight tickets starting from an all-inclusive Rs.

Nation's cash-starved residential real estate market is set to get a boost from foreign and domestic private equity firms, which are lining up big bets worth hundreds of millions of dollars for the sector.

The domestic residential real estate space has been

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the government is considering giving relief to the real estate sector and the next GST Council meeting could take some steps to address their issues even as he asked the banks to meet the realty sector on stalled

Jet Airways India Ltd.., the beleaguered carrier that's in the midst of bailout talks with its partner and lenders, is set to get an emergency loan of as much as Rs 600 crore ($85 million) to help it tide over a cash crunch, according to people familiar with the matter.

Banks, led by State Bank of India, plan to provide the funds against shares

India's online retail industry has been in turmoil since the government implemented stringent new rules to rein in major players like Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.'s Flipkart. Amid the uproar, Vijay Shekhar Sharma -- whose two-year-old Paytm Mall is backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. -- is quietly devising ways to outstrip his rivals.

The new

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Thursday posted a 64.8 per cent jump in third-quarter profit, handily beating analysts estimates, boosted by higher revenue from offshore operations.

ONGC's profit stood at Rs 8,263 crore ($1.16 billion) in the quarter ended December 31, compared with Rs 5,015 crore rupees a year earlier, the oil and gas ex

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked marginally in metros after a gap of two days. While the petrol price in Delhi stood at Rs 70.39 per litre on Thursday, the diesel price was at Rs 65.67 per litre, up 6 paise per litre and 5 paise per litre