German technology major SAP views India as the fastest growing market, where it plans to embark on an aggressive hiring spree, a top company executive said on Wednesday. "India is among the top 10 markets for SAP and growing fastest. We will continue to invest in India. "We are expanding our campus to accommodate 15,000 more people.

'Whether I am optimistic or pessimistic is not the issue; I am just going by the evidence available.' 'The Indian economy and financial sector are now well-placed and very resilient in dealing with any kind of spillover coming from the external world.'

More than five years ago on an April evening, cash-starved Jet Airways announced temporary grounding of operations after flying as a full service airline for 25 years. Since then, more than 20,000 jobs and money worth thousands of crores owed to lenders, vendors and passengers evaporated while awaiting an insolvency resolution. And today, the Supreme Court ordered the airline's liquidation, marking the formal completion of a turbulent journey into the sunset and shattering lean revival hopes.

Maruti Suzuki India is targeting markets like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Mexico and other Latin American countries with its upcoming new version of compact sedan Dzire to accelerate exports as it eyes over 3 lakh units of overseas shipments this fiscal, a senior company official said on Wednesday. In the domestic market, the company hopes to enhance its share in the sedan market amid the passenger vehicles market shifting towards SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles), with the new Dzire which is slated for launch next week. "We have been growing (exports) at a rate of about 11.9 per cent in the first seven months of the financial year and we hope to continue on that momentum.

India's fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector grew 5.7 per cent by value and 4.1 per cent by volume in the July-September quarter driven by rural demand, consumer intelligence firm NielsenIQ said in its quarterly update on Thursday. Price-led growth stood at 1.5 per cent. According to NielsenIQ data, rural volume growth outpaced urban markets for the third straight quarter despite consumption softening in both regions.

'It has remained around 38 per cent over the past four to five quarters.'

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Friday said it has advanced the release of macroeconomic data Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates by about 90 mins to 4 pm. As per the current practice, the press releases of GDP are scheduled at 5.30 pm on the specified release dates, a MoSPI statement said.

The calendar year 2024 is set to go down as the best year for initial public offerings (IPOs) in terms of funds raised. Following the IPOs of food delivery major Swiggy and two other companies slated for next week, this year's total will reach nearly Rs 1.2 trillion, going past 2021's record tally of Rs 1.19 trillion. Swiggy's Rs 11,327 crore IPO, the sixth-largest in India, and solar energy firm Acme Solar Holdings' Rs 2,900 crore IPO opened on Wednesday (Nov 6), while health-tech firm Sagility India's Rs 2,106 crore IPO opened a day earlier.

SBI on Friday reported a 23 per cent on-year jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 19,782 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. The consolidated net profit for the corresponding period last year stood at Rs 16,099 crore.

Stock markets closed lower for the second straight day on Friday amid relentless foreign fund outflows and losses in blue-chip stocks Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India. Benchmark BSE Sensex declined by 55.47 points or 0.07 per cent to settle at 79,486.32. During the day, it tanked 424.42 points or 0.53 per cent to 79,117.37.

India's forex reserves declined by $2.67 billion to $682.13 billion for the week ended November 1, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by $3.46 billion to $684.805 billion.

A Competition Commission probe has found that food delivery platforms Zomato and Swiggy indulged in unfair business practices, including alleged preferential treatment to some restaurant partners, according to sources. The detailed investigation was ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in April 2022 and the probe report was submitted to the regulator earlier this year. Under the norms, CCI director general's report has been shared with the parties concerned and later, they will be called for hearings by the watchdog.

A host of macroeconomic data announcements, the last batch of September quarter earnings, global trends, and trading activity of foreign investors will be the major driving factors for the equity market this week, according to analysts. Equity markets would remain closed on Friday for Guru Nanak Jayanti. "India is set to release CPI and IIP data on November 12, with WPI data expected on November 14.

India's export of fuels like diesel to the European Union jumped 58 per cent in the first three quarters of 2024, with a bulk of them likely coming from refining discounted Russian oil, according to a monthly tracker report. The EU/G7 countries in December 2022 introduced a price cap and an embargo on the imports of Russian crude oil in a bid to cripple Kremlin's revenue and create a vacuum in its funding for the invasion of Ukraine.

Singapore Airlines will make an additional investment of Rs 3,194.5 crore in Tata Group-owned Air India post-merger of Vistara in November. The merger, announced on November 29, 2022, and set to be completed on November 11, 2024, will result in Singapore Airlines having a 25.1 per cent stake in the enlarged Air India. Full-service carrier Vistara, which started flying on January 9, 2015, is a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, where the latter holds a 49 per cent shareholding.

Tata Steel is in the process of filing a curative petition in the Supreme Court in connection with the apex court ruling which said that states have the power to levy cess on mining and mineral-use activities. The petition by the steel manufacturing firm is aimed at seeking remedy to the order, passed by a 9-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on July 25. However, Tata Steel's managing director and chief executive officer T V Narendran told Business Standard that there was no demand note on the firm.