India Surpasses China as Russia's Top Oil Buyer in July

curious to know. I remember fiscal strategy was quite different from other countries during covid. the government focused on infrastructure related expenses rather than direct benefit transfer.

Iranian government is preparing to strike Israel knowing how ruthless the response can be. With big brother US telling it in open to protect ‘Israel’, I don’t know why Iran is committing this grave mistake. US needs a reason to strike Iran and getting it served in a plate. India would be impacted as crude will jump leading to more $ outflows.

Both indexes began diverging sometime close to when Fed started to aggressively hike rates. It appears that the post-COVID rally was more favourable to the S&P but NIFTY is currently outperforming on absolute returns. My idea is fundamentally simple. Financial prudence during the raging recovery paid off for us, the economy appears resilient and poised to do well in the near to mid-term. It also reflects that markets are pricing recessionary risk very differently to both markets. Any ideas by others?

1. So why is Putin doing this ? When the conflict started, the entire West imposed sanctions on Russia. These sanctions are more extensive than those on Iran, North Korea, and Iraq combined. The West even sanctioned countries doing business with Russia, aiming to isolate Russia geopolitically. Despite this, Russia's GDP data is higher than that of the US and almost all European countries. With Modi, Russia is trying to showcase to the West that they are not alone. 2. Why did Modi receive a grander welcome than Xi? Russia's biggest trading partner is China, and the West claims that Russia has become China's puppet, suggesting that without China, Russia's economy would collapse. Recently leaked Chinese military documents show that China still claims the disputed area between Russia and China belongs to China. Russia wants to send a message to China that they are not fully dependent on them and that China shouldn't push the limits, even in their dreams

- India is rapidly catching up to China in the MSCI emerging markets index, raising questions for global investors about where to allocate their capital. - Indian stocks have surged, now making up nearly 20% of the index, while China's share has dropped significantly since 2020. - An upcoming MSCI review could see India's weighting surpass 20%, putting it just behind China and ahead of Taiwan. - Investors face a dilemma: invest in India's expensive but high-performing market or China's cheaper stocks amid an economic slowdown. - Domestic investment in Indian equities has been strong, countering foreign outflows and driving up valuations, despite concerns about sustainability. Source: FT

Is it possible that there can be a lot of oil and gas reserves in Indian ocean? Is Indian ocean so deprived of oil and natural gases. There isn't a single production block which can reduce our dependency on oil

- India's imports from China increased by 13.05% to $10.28 billion in July, while exports to China fell by 9.44% to $1.05 billion, according to commerce ministry data. - During April-July 2024-25, India's exports to China dipped by 4.54% to $4.8 billion, and imports grew by 9.66% to $35.85 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $31.31 billion. - Exports to countries like the UK, Germany, and South Africa contracted in July, but saw growth in the US, UAE, and the Netherlands. - India's exports to the US rose by 3.15% to $6.55 billion in July, while imports increased by 1.43% to $3.71 billion, leading to a trade surplus of $12.2 billion during April-July 2024-25. - Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal stated that the increase in imports from China is not a concern as it aligns with India's growing consumption and economic growth. Source: [Economic Times](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/indias-imports-from-china-up-13-exports-dip-9-44-in-july/articleshow/112528612.cms)

Just an open ended question on why are layoffs happening on such a scale. I personally feel the skill to salary ratio has fucked up so much lately that the companies are having to fire people who are essentially useless to them. More of liabilities than just assets! What do you think?