Wednesday, March 18
India's imports from China declined across multiple sectors, including fertilisers, chemicals, iron and steel, and man-made yarn, in 2024-25, the commerce and industry ministry told Parliament. Mobile phone imports fell to ₹3,710 crore in 2024-25 from ₹48,609 crore in 2014-15. In contrast, mobile phone exports rose to over ₹2,05,017 crore in FY25 from ₹1,566 crore in FY15. "In 2024-25, a decline in imports from China was observed across several sectors compared to the previous year," Jitin Prasada said. In a separate reply, he said:"The government of India undertakes appropriate measures, from time to time, to address concerns raised by various stakeholders, including in matters relating to national interest." Prasada said.
India's National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday approved the creation of a unit to run a proposed national coal trading exchange. Last year, India announced plans to establish a coal trading platform to buy and sell domestically produced coal amid surging output. NSE will hold at least a 60% stake in the coal exchange, with the remaining 40% to be potentially allocated to other shareholders, the exchange operator said in a filing. "The platform will enable electronic trading of physical coal through standardised contracts and facilitate physical delivery and, in future, derivative products, subject to regulatory approval," NSE said. The exchange operator said the lack of a unified trading platform has resulted in price inefficiencies, limited access for smaller
A planned $600 billion artificial intelligence spending splurge by big tech firms in 2026 is adding to investor unease as they assess the implications for profitability as well as a potential existential threat to software firms. Shares of Amazon, which had announced a $200 billion capital expenditure outlay, slid 7% on Friday, while Alphabet lost 3% after the company said on Wednesday that capital spending could double this year. Meta Platforms was down 1.3%. Other heavyweight technology companies, however, were trading higher: Nvidia rose 7%, Microsoft gained 1% and Tesla was up 4%. The benchmark S&P 500 added 1.6% while the Nasdaq rose 2% although both indexes are set to finish the week lower. "The market's viewpoint is that the AI build-out trade, and the way they've pu
