Business News

New York: US stocks fell Wednesday on worries that what seemed like a blip in the battle to bring down inflation is turning into a trend. The S&P 500 was 1.2% lower in a wipeout where nine out of 10 stocks in the index fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 514 points, or 1.3%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower.Treasury yields also leaped in the bond market, raising the pressure on the stock market, after a report showed inflation was hotter last month than economists expected. It's the third straight report to suggest progress on bringing high inflation down may be stalling."There are still embers of inflation here and there in the economy," said Joe Davis, chief global economist at Vanguard.For shoppers, that's painful because of the potential for even higher prices at the store. For Wall Street, that's painful because it could convince the Federal Reserve to hold back on delivering the cuts to interest rates that traders are craving and have been betting on.The S&P 500 had already leaped more than 20% since Halloween in part on expectations that the Federal Reserve would lower its main interest rate, which is sitting at its highest level in more than two decades. Such cuts would relax the pressure on the economy and encourage investors to pay higher prices for stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies and other investments.But the Fed has been waiting until it saw more evidence inflation was heading sustainably down toward its goal of 2%. After an encouraging cooling last year, the fear now is that inflation may be stuck after January's, February's and March's inflation reports all came in hotter than expected, along with data on the economy generally."Two data points don't make a trend, but maybe three do," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management."If we get one more reading like this, Fed chatter will shift from when to cut to whether to hike."Prices for everything from bonds to bitcoin to gold fell .Traders sharply cut back on bets that the Fed could begin cutting rates in June. They now see less than a 19% chance of that, down from nearly 74% a month ago, according to CME Group.

Sensex’s 5,000-point journey to 75,000 took just 80 days, fuelled by a mix of foreign and domestic institutional flows. Though the last 5,000-point rally would have been one of the fastest in Sensex’s history, index moves of older periods based on points may not be strictly comparable with the latest changes because of the differences in the statistical impact of the base effect. The Sensex took 27 years to breach the 10,000-mark for the first time in February 2006, while it gained the next 10,000 points in just 22 months as a flood of fresh foreign flows drove stock prices higher at a faster pace. The progress from 20,000 to 30,000 was marked by significant volatility and challenges, spanning over a decade. 109210238The subsequent rise from 30,000 to 40,000 unfolded smoothly within two years with the index reaching 50,000 in under two years amid the global pandemic. In terms of valuations, the Sensex is currently trading at 25 times its trailing 12-month earnings, compared to 28 times when the index stood at 40,000 and 34 times at the 50,000 level.

WASHINGTON - Top figures from business, sports and politics - including an ex-president - turned up for Wednesday's state dinner honoring Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as the White House served up its maximum dose of pomp to honor a close U.S. ally. Bill and Hillary Clinton were on familiar turf for the event, the former president declaring it "feels great" to be back before casting an appreciative eye at a portrait of his wife from her first lady days that was on display nearby. Guests in bright spring colors and lots of shimmery gowns chatted politics and talked shop as they strolled in - that meant eclipse chatter from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson ("fabulous" view in Ohio!) and an assessment of President Joe Biden's electoral prospects in Wisconsin from Gov. Tony Evers (looking good!). But on a day when the inflation news from Washington was less than encouraging, Fed Chairman Jay Powell shot past without stopping to chat. Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, in a purple gown, said she didn't expect to be out campaigning for Biden but nonetheless seemed bullish on his reelection. Actor Robert DeNiro supplied the Hollywood quotient for the night. On a warm spring evening, the Bidens came outside on the North Portico to welcome Kishida and his wife, Yuko, who stood out in a flowing royal blue gown on the red carpet. Inside, Jill Biden, wearing a beaded sapphire gown, had transformed the State Floor of the White House into what she called a "vibrant spring garden" for the evening. The floor of the famous Cross Hall was decorated with images giving the nearly 230 guests the feel of walking over a koi pond, a nod to fish that symbolize "friendship, peace, luck and perseverance," the first lady said at a media preview Tuesday. A state dinner is a tool of U.S. diplomacy, an honor doled out sparingly and only to America's closest allies. In the case of Japan, the president has granted that honor for just the fifth time to an ally that he sees as a cornerstone of his policy toward the Indo-Pacific region. Kishida is on an official visit to the United States this week. The state dinner is Biden's first this year. The guess included plenty of Biden family members, including granddaughter Naomi and her husband, Peter Neal. There were also business moguls in force, including JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as well as labor luminaries UAW chief Shawn Fain and United Steelworkers President David McCall. Both unions have endorsed Biden for reelection. Dry-aged rib eye steak, cherry blossoms and the music of Paul Simon are also part of the evening. Guests will dine on a meal that was designed to highlight the "bounty of spring" in Japan and the United States: a first course of house-cured salmon that was inspired by a California roll and an entree of dry-aged rib eye steak with shishito pepper butter, fava beans, mushrooms and onions. Dessert is salted caramel pistachio cake with a matcha ganache and cherry ice cream. Some of Jill Biden's favorite flowers, including sweet peas, roses and peonies, are arranged alongside imported cherry blossoms to decorate a mix of round and rectangular dinner tables in the East Room in shades of pink. A few floral centerpieces top out at 6 feet (1.8 meters) tall. Tables were set with a mix of place settings representing the administrations of Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush. Glass and silk butterflies will dance over the tables. After dinner, Simon will perform. He is one of Jill Biden's favorite artists, the White House said, adding that she chose him as a special tribute to Kishida because the prime minister also admires Simon's work. Simon's career spans six decades, including performing as part of a duo with his childhood friend Art Garfunkel. The 82-year-old New Jersey native has earned numerous accolades, including multiple Grammys and a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Also providing entertainment are "The President's Own" Marine Band Chamber Orchestra, the Army Rolling Strings and the Air Force Strings. Kishida is the fifth world leader Biden has honored with a state dinner following counterparts from France, South Korea, India and Australia.

BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: Over four months into final placements at the older Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) at Delhi, Bombay (Mumbai), Kanpur, Madras (Chennai), Kharagpur, Roorkee, Guwahati and Varanasi (BHU), the struggle to place students in a challenging environment hasn't gotten any easier.The schools are going all out to get more recruiters to campuses. The placement season ends in May-June for the IITs. Two of the top schools - IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi - have provided official placement data to ET. At IIT Bombay, the top choice for those who clear the entrance exam process, 33% of the 1,973 students participating in placements were yet to get jobs as of April 4. The older IITs are typically regarded by candidates as the most desirable. Apart from the eight older ones, India has 15 other IITs set up since 2008. IT-BHU became IIT-BHU (Varanasi) in 2012 by an act of Parliament.At IIT Delhi, about 1,083 of the 1,814 who signed up with the Office of Career Services (OCS) had got placed as of April 5, while around 40% are yet to get jobs. For undergraduate programmes (BTech+dual degree) the numbers are better: 81% of the 903 who participated have got jobs, the institute told ET.Low Packages Get Thumbs DownThose in the master's/PhD programmes aren't doing as well, lowering the overall hiring percentage.According to IIT Bombay's placement and internship report for 2022-23, around 82%, 1,516 of 1,845 students who had actively participated in placements, secured jobs at the end of the season last year. At IIT Delhi, the overall placement percentage was around 84%.At least 30% of students are still unplaced across the older IITs this season, and offers are down 15-25% from the same time last year, said people with knowledge of the matter.109205272Apart from IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi, the other older schools didn't provide official placement numbers.Students are reluctant to settle for companies making low offers."We are getting smaller companies offering Rs 5-6 lakh salaries but students want to hold out for higher packages. There is a lot of pressure on them given the hype around IITs," said a placement member at one of the older IITs.ET has been reporting since before the start of the placement season on the impact of the tech slowdown and the overall hiring pullback on placements across institutes, including the IITs.Sameer Jadhav, professor-in-charge of placements at IIT Bombay, said that out of the 2,396 students who registered, 1,973 participated in placements."We have 33% students yet to be placed," he said. "The placement season is still ongoing and ends on June 30. We have more than 35 companies yet to visit and more are being contacted."Large batch sizes across institutes have added to the challenge in an already tough year. At IIT Delhi, for instance, data show that 1,814 have so far opted for OCS services this time, a 20% jump from 1,513 last year. The number of PhD students - 175 - included in this has seen a six-fold increase from 2022-23 levels. "The OCS is planning to organise separate and dedicated placement drives for them," said R Ayothiraman, professor-in-charge, OCS."So far, we have 1,500 students who have job offers from over 350 companies. More are coming," said professor Rajib Maity, head of placement cell at IIT Kharagpur.