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India Inc credit profile gets boost from steady demand

MUMBAI: India Inc’s credit profile improved in the first half of FY26,with rating upgrades continuing to outpace downgrades across agencies. The improvement in credit profile was driven by resilient domestic demand and govt-driven infrastructure spending, offsetting the drag from escalating US tariffs.Credit rating agencies—CareEdge, ICRA, Crisil, and India Ratings (Ind-Ra)—said credit quality remained robust, aided…

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India-EFTA trade pact: Swiss wines, chocolates and apparel to get cheaper; Indian exports to get wider market access

The India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) free trade agreement, coming into effect from Wednesday, will make several Swiss products, including wines, chocolates, apparel, and watches, cheaper in the Indian market.The agreement, signed in March 2024 under the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), also opens greater market access for India’s labour-intensive exports such as tea,…

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Bank lending trends: Credit growth to industry slows to 6.5% in August; RBI data shows mixed sectoral pattern

Bank credit to industry grew at a slower pace of 6.5% in August 2025, compared to 9.7% in the same month last year, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on sectoral deployment of credit released on Tuesday.The data, compiled from 41 scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) that account for nearly 95% of total non-food…

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Trade strategy: India pushes ‘self-reliance’ and ‘resilient supply chains’; Piyush Goyal warns against weaponisation

India is strengthening its focus on self-reliance and building resilient supply chains to safeguard the country against global disruptions and the weaponisation of trade, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.Speaking at the curtain-raiser of the CII Partnership Summit to be held in November at Visakhapatnam, Goyal stressed that India’s approach rests on…

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US economy tracker: Consumer confidence falls in September; inflation and weak job market weigh

US consumer confidence fell sharply in September as Americans’ concerns over inflation and a weakening job market deepened, according to the Conference Board’s latest survey. The consumer confidence index dropped 3.6 points to 94.2, down from August’s 97.8, marking the lowest reading since April, when President Donald Trump implemented sweeping tariff policies.The index measuring Americans’…

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‘Reflects national interest, pride’: Russia backs India on oil trade; accuses US of interference on Ukraine war pretext

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday defended India’s decision to continue buying Russian oil, accusing the United States of trying to eliminate competition using the Ukraine conflict as a pretext. “Our Indian counterparts have already reacted to [this pressure] to stop buying oil from Russia. They proceed from the assumption [that] if the United…

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US markets today: Wall Street heads for fifth straight monthly gain; investors watch jobs, Fed, and government shutdown

US equities edged cautiously on Tuesday as Wall Street approached the end of another strong month, with investors balancing optimism over corporate earnings against economic uncertainty and the potential for a government shutdown.The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% in early trading, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 27 points, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite was…

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