Political stability and sharp rebound in markets aided by aggressive retail buying have forced the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to turn buyers in India, market watchers said on Saturday.

FPIs have invested Rs 26,565 crore in equity in June which marks a reversal of their strategy of selling in the two preceding months.

According to market experts, FPIs have realised that selling in the most-performing market would be a wrong strategy.

“FPI buying can sustain provided there is no sharp up move in US bond yields,” they added.

First fortnight data in June from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) shows FPIs buying in realty, telecom and financials.

FPIs were sellers in IT, metals and oil and gas and are likely to continue the buying trend in financials.

According to V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, India’s inclusion in the JP Morgan Bond Index is certainly positive.

“The debt inflows for 2024 so far stand at Rs 68,674 crore. In the long term, this will reduce the cost of borrowing for the government and reduce the cost of capital for corporates. This is positive for the economy and therefore for the equity market,” he noted.

FPIs are selling where valuations are high and buying where valuations are reasonable. Analysts believe that FPI inflows will remain constrained due to the high valuations currently commanded by the Indian equity market. AGENCIES

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Saturday said his social media platform X saw record usage as US President Joe Biden and his challenger, former President Donald Trump, attended their first presidential debate on TV. According to X, the minute-by-minute conversation, about the US presidential debate spiked by “19 times from the start of the broadcast to its peak 90 minutes in.”

The company said the scale of the global conversation on X was staggering during the debate.

“We’ve tracked over 2 billion impressions with over 242 million video views and 2 million posts,” said the social media platform.

The tech billionaire stated that there was a “record usage of X during the US presidential debate.”

A user posted, “X was going crazy during the debate. X live streams during the debate also had huge audiences.”

“Amazing result of allowing people to speak about it freely, without the ban hammer of the ‘Censorship Complex’ hovering over them,” another X user commented.

Meanwhile, President Biden said he “did well” at the debate with ex-President Trump and dismissed the likelihood of him stepping aside, as being demanded by some Democrats disappointed by his performance.

“I think we did well,” President Biden told a reporter. Many Democrats, however, were concerned President Biden may not be able to beat former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. AGENCIES

South Korea’s exports of pharmaceutical and biotechnologies surged from a year earlier in the first half of the year, data showed on Saturday.In the first six months of the year, the country exported 4.5 trillion won ($3.26 billion) worth of pharmaceutical and biotechnologies, up 55 per cent from 2.9 trillion won (about $2.09 billion) for the same period last year, according to the data from the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association.

The number of export deals dropped to seven from 12 over the cited period, but the amount of each deal grew sharply, the association noted, adding that each of the three deals signed this month was worth over 500 billion won, reports Yonhap News Agency.

At the current rate, the country’s annual total is expected to reach 8 trillion won, according to the association.

“This means the competitiveness of our country’s pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical technologies have significantly improved,” an association official said. AGENCIES

The World Bank on Saturday approved $1.5 billion in financing for a second operation to help India — which is the fastest-growing large economy in the world — accelerate the development of low-carbon energy. The second ‘Low-Carbon Energy Programmatic Development Policy Operation’ will support reforms to boost the production of green hydrogen and electrolysers, critical technology needed for green hydrogen production.

This operation is aligned with the government’s energy security and with the World Bank’s Hydrogen for Development (H4D) Partnership. According to the World Bank, the reforms are expected to result in the production of at least 450,000 metric tonnes of green hydrogen and 1,500 MW of electrolysers per year from FY25/26 onwards, said the World Bank. In addition, it will also significantly help to increase renewable energy capacity and support reductions in emissions by 50 million tonnes per year.

The operation will also support steps to further develop a national carbon credit market. “The World Bank is pleased to continue supporting India’s low-carbon development strategy which will help achieve the country’s net-zero target while creating clean energy jobs in the private sector,” said Auguste Tano Kouame, World Bank Country Director for India. “Both the first and second operations have a strong focus on boosting private investment in green hydrogen and renewable energy,” Kouame added.

The Indian economy is expected to continue to expand at a rapid pace. According to the World Bank, decoupling economic growth from emissions growth will require scaling up renewable energy, especially in hard-to-abate industrial sectors. “India has taken bold action to develop a domestic market for green hydrogen, underpinned by rapidly expanding renewable energy capacity,” said Aurelien Kruse, Xiaodong Wang, and Surbhi Goyal, team leaders for the operation.

In June 2023, the World Bank approved the $1.5 billion first operation, which supported the waiver of transmission charges for renewable energy in green hydrogen projects, the issuance of a clear path to launch 50 GW of renewable energy tenders annually and creating a legal framework for a national carbon credit market. AGENCIES

Former SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya on Friday raised concern over the fact that a very small percentage of women make it to the senior management in different organisations.

She made the comments while delivering her special address during CII’s Rajasthan Women Leadership Summit in Jaipur.

“The reason for this is that women often exit the workforce at various stages, such as during childbearing, when their children are between classes 10 to 12, or when they need to care for the elderly at home. The women workforce should be provided with flexible work schedules and locations,” she said and added that women should make up to 40 to 50 per cent of an organisation’s workforce.

To retain women in the workforce, it is important to understand why they leave and provide them with flexible work schedules and locations, said Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya, who was the first woman chairperson of SBI, further cited the example of how introducing the concept of a sabbatical for up to two years for women in SBI helped more than 650 women retain their jobs.

Talking about skilling, she said that with the leap in technology, there is a need to keep learning, relearning, and unlearning.

“Skilling is a matter of initiative, as plenty of online courses are now available.”

Sanjay Agarwal, Founder, Managing Director and CEO of AU Small Finance Bank, emphasised the importance of enhancing the visibility of women in the workforce.

He acknowledged that while women are indeed working, their contributions and the time they dedicate to their jobs often go unnoticed or undervalued.

Agarwal stressed that it is crucial for organisations to recognise and appreciate the efforts of female employees, ensuring that their hard work is acknowledged and rewarded.

He also highlighted the need for creating a supportive and secure work environment for women, he said.

Nitin Gupta, Senior Director and Head of CII Rajasthan, said that the primary aim of the summit is to create a platform where women leaders would share their experiences, how they surmounted challenges on their leadership journey and what were the pivotal moments or the events that transformed them as individuals and leaders.

During her welcome remarks, Indian Women Network Chairwoman, Rajasthan, Tanuja Agarwal, said that the objective of the session is to discuss the role of women in nurturing organisational growth.

The Vote of Thanks on the occasion was proposed by Co-Vice Chairwoman, IWN Rajasthan, Nivedita Sarda. AGENCIES

The World Bank said that it has approved a $750 million loan to strengthen the Philippine economy’s recovery.

The Philippines Second Sustainable Recovery Development Policy Loan supports reforms that increase investment in public service sectors, attract private investment in public infrastructure, particularly in domestic shipping, promote renewable energy, protect the environment and improve climate resilience, reports Xinhua news agency.

World Bank Senior Economist Ralph van Doorn on Saturday said the Philippine economy remains resilient despite ongoing global and domestic challenges. “The reforms supported by this lending program, if implemented, will encourage private investment, innovation, and sustained growth,” he said.

Through these reforms, Van Doorn said the Philippines can transition faster to a greener economy and achieve its environmental and climate objectives.

Given the Philippines’ archipelagic nature, he added that marine transport is critical for trade and connecting its numerous islands and destinations, enabling efficient movement of goods and products.

Van Doorn said attracting more local and foreign investments in domestic shipping can significantly boost the country’s competitiveness.

The loan also supports reforms that aim to enhance plastic waste reduction, recovery, and recycling, promote green transportation, and encourage the production and consumption of environment-friendly goods and services through public procurement. AGENCIES

Four people were killed and nine others were injured when a minivan crashed into a nail salon in US state of New York, authorities said, citing media reports.Officials say the minivan drove all the way through the strip-mall business, Hawaii Nail and Spa, on 796 Grand Boulevard in Deer Park on Long Island on Friday around 4:30 p.m., ABC7 New York reported.The cause of the crash is still unknown.All of the deceased were inside the nail salon, authorities added.”It’s horrible, it’s going to be tough for the community…tough for the volunteer fire department, but we’re going to get through it…just a horrible thing to see especially at this time of the year with all the good things happening, graduations and what not,” said Deer Park Fire Department Assistant Chief Dominic Albanese.The driver was taken to the hospital and was partially conscious, ABC7 New York reported.The people who were trapped were extricated and taken to the hospital.Named Hawaii Nail & Spa, the nail salon is one of several stores in a shopping area in Deer Park. AGENCIES

At least five persons were killed as a fire raced through a dormitory in a Moscow suburb, Russian media reports quoted emergency services as saying early on Saturday.

TASS news agency said an initial investigation showed the fire in the suburb of Balashikha was caused by an electrical fault.Several residents were rescued from the burning two-storeyed building, Reuters reported.TASS quoted emergency services as saying the dormitory housed mainly foreign migrant workers. AGENCIES

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed he and his family were threatened by an accused teenage terrorist.

Albanese said on Friday that he and his family were among those threatened in an extremist manifesto in which 19-year-old Jordan Patten allegedly outlined his intention to kill Members of Parliament from the governing Labour Party, Xinhua news agency reported.

“There is no place for extremism in Australia. That documentation that was made is very concerning, including threats not just to Labor MPs but to others, to my family,” he told reporters in Canberra.

Patten was on Wednesday arrested by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) in the city of Newcastle — nearly 100 km north of Sydney — after allegedly entering the office of Tim Crakanthorp, a Labour MP in the New South Wales state parliament, armed with knives and tactical equipment.

He has been charged with one count of preparing for, or planning, a terrorist act.

Authorities said that following Patten’s arrest, they became aware of the manifesto that expresses anti-immigration, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic views and a list of grievances against the Labour Party and Albanese.

“It’s another reason why families should be off-limits from the media. It’s something that is of concern. I applaud the security agencies and police for the swift action they undertook,” Albanese said.

Under Australian law anyone found guilty of preparing for, or planning, a terrorist act can be sentenced to imprisonment for life. AGENCIES

A Bolivian court sentenced General Juan Jose Zuniga and two other former military chiefs to six-month preventative detention over a failed coup against Bolivian President Luis Arce, said the local authorities.

While the investigation continues, the former commanders, who are charged with crimes of terrorism and armed rebellion, are being held in custody in the maximum security prison of Chonchocoro in the Department of La Paz, Xinhua news agency reported.

The prosecution team on Friday argued that the danger of escape and the possibility that the accused would hinder the investigation were reasons for their detention.

Earlier on Thursday, as many as 17 people, mostly members of the military, were arrested in Bolivia for their role in a failed coup, Government Minister Eduardo Del Castillo has said.

On Wednesday, hundreds of soldiers led by General Juan Jose Zuniga marched on Murillo Square, the epicentre of Bolivia’s political power. They forced their way into the old Government Palace in a failed bid to oust President Luis Arce from office.

Immediate measures by the new army commander, Jose Sanchez, who ordered the troops to return to their units and reaffirmed support for the government, were crucial to stabilising the situation.

Additionally, President Arce on Wednesday denounced the attempted coup, emphasising that “democracy must be respected.” AGENCIES