Friday, August 07
Mira Nair, the film director and mother of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, attended an afterparty at Ghislaine Maxwell’s New York townhouse for her 2009 film Amelia, according to newly released documents linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The detail appears in an email included in a large set of files made public by the US Justice Department, bringing fresh attention to Epstein’s social network.The Justice Department on Friday released more than three million pages of FBI material, including 2,000 videos and 1,80,000 images. The release follows the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law signed by President Donald Trump that requires all federal records related to Epstein to be shared with the public. Officials said the process involved months of review to protect victims
As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares to present the Union Budget, market expectations are muted. Unlike past years when Budget Day often acted as a strong directional trigger for stocks, analysts across brokerages are largely aligned in one view that the Budget is likely to be a low-impact event for equities. That assessment comes at a moment when markets have already turned cautious, with the Nifty down over 2% in January and about 1.5% in the fortnight leading up to the Budget.The subdued expectations reflect a broader shift in how markets view the Budget's role. Even over the past few years, Budget Day has been a non-event for the domestic stock markets. Data from the last 15 years suggests the Nifty's average Budget Day move is a negligible 0.19%, while the week after the ev
Indian stock exchanges NSE and BSE will remain open for trading on Sunday, February 1, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget 2026, marking a rare trading session on a weekend. Both exchanges will conduct a full-fledged live trading session, allowing investors to react to Budget announcements in real time. This will be the third full Budget of the Modi 3.0 government and Sitharaman's ninth consecutive Union Budget.The equity markets will follow standard timings on Budget day. The pre-open session will take place between 9 am and 9:08 am, followed by normal market trading from 9:15 am to 3:30 pm. Trade modifications will be permitted until 4:15 pm. With markets open during the Budget speech at 11 am, investors are expected to closely track sector-specific announcem
The U.S. dollar gained on Friday after former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh was selected to be the next Fed chair, and as the U.S. currency recovered from a sharp selloff earlier in the week that analysts say was overdone in the short-term. President Donald Trump on Friday chose Warsh to head the U.S. central bank when Jerome Powell's leadership term ends in May. Warsh is seen as likely to support lower interest rates but would stop well short of the more aggressive easing associated with some of the other potential nominees. Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex, said that Friday's move higher in the dollar is likely driven at least in part by positioning heading into the announcement. "The dollar was terribly oversold on the short-term mome
Europe's main share index ended higher on Friday, marking its longest monthly winning streak since 2021 as investors digested corporate earnings and news that U.S.-President Donald Trump nominated an ex-Federal Reserve policymaker to the central bank's top post. The index ended 0.6% higher at 611 points and was set to end January with a 3% gain - its seventh consecutive monthly advance. Banks gained 1.7% and led sectoral gains, with Caixabank adding 6.7% after the Spanish lender said it expects lending income and profits to rise this year and the next. Spain's financials-heavy index led gains among Europe's biggest markets with a 1.7% advance. Investors were also relieved that former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh was nominated to head the U.S. central bank when Jerome Powell's leade
