OTAKUBAY

India's inflation has unexpectedly eased to 5.72% in December of 2022 from 5.88% in November. Beating market forecasts of 5.9%, it is the lowest reading since December 2021. Moreover, it is also the second straight month that inflation has stayed below the Reserve Bank of India target of 2-6%. This trend suggests that maybe the inflation in the country has peaked, indicating an end to the high interest rate regime. Banking stocks generally welcome high-interest rates A higher interest rate allows lenders to charge more money on their advances, keeping the rates on deposits almost the same. So they make more money on the spread - the difference between the interest income earned on loans they issue and the interest expense paid out on deposits used to fund those loans. So when interest rates fall, they first reduce the deposit rates and only later cut the lending rates. And so, again they generate higher margins until lending rates are also cut. But this is only true of the

Bitcoin is on the charge in 2023, dragging the crypto market off the floor and electrifying bonk, a new meme coin. The No.1 cryptocurrency has clocked a 26% gain in January, leaping 22% in the past week alone, breaking back above the $20,000 level and putting in on course for its best month since October 2021 - just before the Big Crypto Crash. Ether has also risen, by 29% this year, helping drive the value of the overall global cryptocurrency market above $1 trillion, according to CoinGecko. "After a rough year last year for cryptos, we are seeing a form of mean reversion," said Jake Gordon, analyst at Bespoke Investment Group, referring to the theory of asset prices returning to long-term averages. Researchers said investor bets on a rosier macroeconomic picture were driving a jump in riskier assets across the board. Few crypto tokens have benefited more than bonk, which was launched at the end of December on the Solana blockchain and had rocketed 5,000% by early Janua

Bitcoin is on the charge in 2023, dragging the crypto market off the floor and electrifying bonk, a new meme coin. The No.1 cryptocurrency has clocked a 26% gain in January, leaping 22% in the past week alone, breaking back above the $20,000 level and putting in on course for its best month since October 2021 - just before the Big Crypto Crash. Ether has also risen, by 29% this year, helping drive the value of the overall global cryptocurrency market above $1 trillion, according to CoinGecko. "After a rough year last year for cryptos, we are seeing a form of mean reversion," said Jake Gordon, analyst at Bespoke Investment Group, referring to the theory of asset prices returning to long-term averages. Researchers said investor bets on a rosier macroeconomic picture were driving a jump in riskier assets across the board. Few crypto tokens have benefited more than bonk, which was launched at the end of December on the Solana blockchain and had rocketed 5,000% by early Janua

Microsoft Corp on Monday said it is widening access to hugely popular software from OpenAI, a startup it is backing whose futuristic ChatGPT chatbot has captivated Silicon Valley. Microsoft said the startup's tech, which it so far has previewed to its cloud-computing customers in a program it called the Azure OpenAI Service, was now generally available, a distinction that's expected to bring a flood of new usage. The news comes as Microsoft has looked at adding to the $1 billion stake in OpenAI it announced in 2019, two people familiar with the matter previously told Reuters. The news site Semafor reported earlier this month that Microsoft might invest $10 billion; Microsoft declined to comment on any potential deal. Public interest in OpenAI surged following its November release of ChatGPT, a text-based chatbot that can draft prose, poetry or even computer code on command. ChatGPT is powered by generative artificial intelligence, which conjures new content after training on

Microsoft Corp on Monday said it is widening access to hugely popular software from OpenAI, a startup it is backing whose futuristic ChatGPT chatbot has captivated Silicon Valley. Microsoft said the startup's tech, which it so far has previewed to its cloud-computing customers in a program it called the Azure OpenAI Service, was now generally available, a distinction that's expected to bring a flood of new usage. The news comes as Microsoft has looked at adding to the $1 billion stake in OpenAI it announced in 2019, two people familiar with the matter previously told Reuters. The news site Semafor reported earlier this month that Microsoft might invest $10 billion; Microsoft declined to comment on any potential deal. Public interest in OpenAI surged following its November release of ChatGPT, a text-based chatbot that can draft prose, poetry or even computer code on command. ChatGPT is powered by generative artificial intelligence, which conjures new content after training on

The rupee depreciated 31 paise to 81.89 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday weighed down by a rebound in American currency and firm crude oil prices. Sustained foreign fund outflows further dented investor sentiments, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 81.79 against the dollar, then fell to 81.89, registering a decline of 31 paise over its last close. In the previous session on Monday, the rupee settled at 81.58 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.18 per cent to 102.38. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.19 per cent to USD 84.62 per barrel. In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 280.06 points or 0.47 per cent higher at 60,373.03. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 44.90 points or 0.25 per cent to 17,939.75. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the

The rupee depreciated 31 paise to 81.89 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday weighed down by a rebound in American currency and firm crude oil prices. Sustained foreign fund outflows further dented investor sentiments, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 81.79 against the dollar, then fell to 81.89, registering a decline of 31 paise over its last close. In the previous session on Monday, the rupee settled at 81.58 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.18 per cent to 102.38. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.19 per cent to USD 84.62 per barrel. In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 280.06 points or 0.47 per cent higher at 60,373.03. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 44.90 points or 0.25 per cent to 17,939.75. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the

Maruti Suzuki India today said it has hiked prices of its vehicles across models by about 1.1 per cent. This is the second price hike that the carmaker is undertaking in the ongoing fiscal year, after increasing it in April 2022. In December last year, the company had said it would hike prices of its vehicles to offset the impact of rising input costs and make provisions to update the model range to conform to stricter emission norms which will kick in from April 2023. "An estimated weighted average of increase across models stands at around 1.1 per cent. This indicative figure is calculated using ex-showroom prices of models in Delhi and will come into effect from January 16, 2023," Maruti Suzuki India said in a regulatory filing. The company sells a range of vehicles starting from entry-level small car Alto to SUV Grand Vitara which are priced between Rs 3.39 lakh and Rs 19.49 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV st

The rupee gained 9 paise to 81.29 against the US dollar in early trade today supported by broad dollar weakness and a firm trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said sustained foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiments and restricted the appreciation bias. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.29 against the dollar, registering a rise of 9 paise over its previous close. On Friday, it depreciated by 8 paise to close at 81.38 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.32 per cent to 101.87. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.53 per cent to $84.83 per barrel. According to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, the Indian rupee opened stronger on Monday, tracking a weak dollar and a possibility of smaller rate hike from the US Fed in February. Most of the Asian peers were stronger this morning, and stable oil

Maruti Suzuki India today said it has hiked prices of its vehicles across models by about 1.1 per cent. This is the second price hike that the carmaker is undertaking in the ongoing fiscal year, after increasing it in April 2022. In December last year, the company had said it would hike prices of its vehicles to offset the impact of rising input costs and make provisions to update the model range to conform to stricter emission norms which will kick in from April 2023. "An estimated weighted average of increase across models stands at around 1.1 per cent. This indicative figure is calculated using ex-showroom prices of models in Delhi and will come into effect from January 16, 2023," Maruti Suzuki India said in a regulatory filing. The company sells a range of vehicles starting from entry-level small car Alto to SUV Grand Vitara which are priced between Rs 3.39 lakh and Rs 19.49 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV st