RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat votes in Nagpur, urges everyone to exercise their 'right and duty'

Among the Sensex stocks, Powergrid was up more than 3 per cent while Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, M&M, Nestle India, HDFC Bank were up more than 1 per cent.

BSE Senses was trading at 74,739 points, up by 256 points.

V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said as trading for May begins there are mixed cues for the market, but broadly positives outweigh negatives. The Fed commentary is cautious.

"It is certain that the number of rate cuts this year, if at all that happens, will be far lower than initially expected. This is a headwind for global equity markets," he said.

He added that the domestic cues are strongly positive.

The GST collection for April setting a record of Rs 2.1 trillion indicates a booming economy. India's GDP is estimated to have grown by 7.6 per cent in FY24 and is expected to continue the growth momentum with above 7 per cent growth in FY25, too, he said.

"In April while the S&P 500 is down by 4.2 per cent, Nifty is up by 0.7 per cent. This outperformance can continue," he said.

The sharp 5 per cent decline in crude is negative for ONGC and positive for tyres, paints and adhesives which use petroleum as inputs, he added.

(IANS)

Calling it a "coincidence", the Prime Minister said that the Congress party is weakening in India adding that Pakistan leaders are offering "dua" (prayers) for the party to return to power.

"The weak Congress government used to give dossiers to the masters of terror. But, Modi's strong government kills terrorists on their ground. It is a coincidence, today Congress is getting weaker in India and when here Congress is dying and there Pakistan is crying. Now Pakistani leaders are offering dua for Congress. Pakistan is eager to make 'Shehzaada' the Prime Minister and Congress is already Pakistan's fan. This partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been completely exposed," PM Modi said while addressing an election rally in Gujarat's Anand on Thursday.

The Prime Minister accused the Congress of lying while calling itself "Mohabbat ka dhukan" (shop of love) and alleged that the latter has become a "factory of fake goods".

"People are asking why the Congress is so agitated. Today Congress has become a fake factory i.e. a factory of fake goods. Why is Congress selling lies by calling itself Mohabbat ka Dhukan?," he said.

Refering to the UPA rule as 'shaasankaal' (reign) and the current NDA rule as 'sevakaal' (service period), PM Modi accused Congress of trying to divide the country.

"These days, the 'shehzaade' of Congress are dancing keeping the Constitution on their heads. But, Congress should answer me why the Constitution, which you are dancing with on your forehead today, was not implemented in all parts of India for 75 years. Today Modi is realising Sardar Saheb's dream of uniting the country. Whereas Congress is busy dividing the country, Congress wants to create fights in society. Because of Congress, there were various kinds of tamperings with the Constitution of the country for decades," he said.

"The country has seen the rule of Congress for 60 years. Now the country has also seen 10 years of service of BJP. That was the reign, this is the service period," PM Modi added.

The Prime Minister further highlighted the initiatives undertaken during the last years of NDA rule and said, "During 60 years of Congress rule, around 60 per cent of the rural population did not have toilets. In 10 years, the BJP government built 100 per cent toilets. In 60 years, Congress was able to provide tap water facilities to only 3 crore rural households in the country, that is, to less than 20 per cent of the households. In just 10 years, the number of houses with tap water has reached 14 crore, that is, 75 per cent of the houses have tap water."

"In 60 years, Congress nationalised the banks, took over the banks and said that banks should be for the poor. Despite nationalizing the banks in the name of the poor, the Congress government could not open bank accounts for crores of poor people in 60 years. Modi opened more than 50 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts in 10 years," PM Modi said.

Voting for 25 out of 26 seats in Gujarat will take place in the third phase of the ongoing general elections on May 7.

Voting will not take place in Surat as Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed last week after Congress' Nilesh Kumbhani's nomination was rejected while other candidates withdrew from the contest. The results will be announced on June 4.

(ANI)

India has emerged as world's fastest growing major economy fuelled by Government expenditure on big-ticket infrastructure projects like highways, railways, power plants and seaports. This has had a multiplier effect in creating more jobs and incomes that have led to an increased domestic demand for goods and services.

The HSBC final India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, was recorded at 58.8 in April which is a wee bit lower than the 16-year high of 59.1 for March. The index has now been reflecting a rising trend for 34 consecutive months.

"April's manufacturing PMI recorded the second fastest improvement in operating conditions in three-and-a-half years, bolstered by strong demand conditions," said Pranjul Bhandari, HSBC's chief India economist.

Business optimism improved as firms expected demand to remain buoyant and planned for higher production volumes in the next 12 months, which led to hiring more workers during the month. The survey states that increased demand by firms also led to an increase in raw material costs and wages.

"However, firms passed these increases onto consumers through higher output charges, as demand remained resilient, resulting in improved margins," Bhandari added.

IMF's World Economic Outlook report released last month has raised India's growth forecast by 0.3 percentage point to 6.8 per cent for 2024-25 and sees the country as a bright spot "supporting global growth over the medium term and spill over to other countries."

With China having fallen behind after the crash in its real estate sector and US sanctions triggering an economic slowdown, the IMF report views India and other G20 large emerging market countries such as Brazil playing a bigger role in the global trading system and pushing global growth going ahead.

The IMF report also vindicates India's economic policy as it attributes the robust growth rate to a "strong domestic demand" which has been created by a huge increase in Government expenditure on large infrastructure projects with a revival in rural demand.

Stepped-up allocations for agriculture, rural employment schemes such as MNREGA and special programmes for women self-help groups have helped to bolster rural demand and create a larger market for industrial products.

(IANS)

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