Asia

After the India-U.S. trade deal, Indian shares surged Tuesday. The benchmark Nifty was within 50 points of a record high, led by Reliance, and export-oriented companies. The trade deal removed a major market overhang. Both benchmarks rose by about?5%? at the opening, their largest intra-day increase in five years. As of 9:41 a.m. IST, the Nifty 50 index was up 2.81% at 25,799.5 while the BSE Sensex rose 2.83% to 83977.22. U.S. president Donald Trump announced on Monday a deal with India in which U.S. tariffs for Indian goods will be reduced to 18%, from 50%. In exchange, New Delhi...

Two sources in the refinery industry said that Indian refiners need to wait for a period of time to finish Russian oil deals before they can stop importing from this country. The government has not yet ordered them to do so. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, announced on Monday a trade deal with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The agreement included a stop to Indian oil imports from Russia. Sources said that Indian companies had already committed to cargoes arriving in March and loading in February, so it would take a 'wind-down period' to meet existing commitments. The sources spoke...

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that he and India had reached a deal on Monday. He also stated that New Delhi agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil in favor of buying more from the U.S. Here are some of the most important developments in U.S.-Indian Trade Relations over the last year. Why did India-U.S. Why did the India-U.S. Trump surprised India in April to August 2025 by imposing an initial 25% tariff on goods sent to the United States. The U.S. then imposed a second 25% tariff citing India's purchases of Russian oil. Tariffs on Indian goods sent to...

According to government estimates, Saudi Arabia's fourth-quarter economy grew by 4.9% on an annual basis, thanks in part to strong growth in nonoil activities, and increased oil production. The oil sector grew 10.4% in the last quarter of 2008 as production increased in the second half of the year. Non-oil activity grew by around 4% compared to the previous year. The preliminary estimates of the Statistics Agency show that the real GDP will grow by 4.5% for the full year 2025. Oil activities are expected to increase by 5.6% and non-oil activities by 4.9%. Saudi Arabia, which is the top...

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the sovereign wealth fund, announced on Monday that it plans to invest $3 billion in a new venture capital program. In a press release, the new funds, called?Greycroft Ion Pacific Liberty City Ventures Shorooq Speedinvest are set to open Doha offices as part of an effort to establish Qatar as a hub for venture capital, according to the statement. The "Fund of Funds", an initiative launched in 2024, aims to attract venture capital companies to Qatar. It also aims to create a 'robust environment' for entrepreneurs, and diversify the economy away from fossil-fuel revenues. Qatar's Prime...

India announced on Sunday that foreign companies who use?data?centres in the country for providing services to clients around the world will not be taxed for doing so for at least 20 years. This is to allay fears about possible tax liabilities for the sector. In recent years, scores of data centres were built in India. However, lawyers have told us that foreign companies are concerned that New Delhi may impose a tax on their global income if they use a data centre located in India. In her speech on the 2026-27 budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman put to rest these...

Three sources with knowledge of the situation said that the United States has informed Delhi it may resume its purchases to replace Russian?oil imports. India promised to cut its Russian crude oil purchases following Washington's tariff hikes on this activity. India is also on track to reduce its Russian oil imports in the next few months by several hundred thousands barrels per day, according to sources who declined to identify themselves. In March 2025, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on countries that bought Venezuelan oil, including India. His administration also stepped up its campaign against Venezuelan president Nicolas...

Iraqi technicians in masks and gloves lift tiny?date-palm shoots out of jars. They hope to one day restore orchards that have been ravaged by wars, land loss, and the creeping salinity of?water. The date palms that were once the backbone of Iraq's agriculture have been decimated by the damming upstream of?the?Tigris?and?Euphrates?, decreasing rainfall, seawater invasion and decades of war. Scientists and government officials are stepping up their tissue-culture propagation efforts to create disease-free date-palm saplings, and preserve rare Iraqi types. Mohammed Abdulrazzaq is the director of Nakheel Al Basra. He said that tissue-culture agriculture was distinguished by its high productivity....

Japan's No. Idemitsu Kosan, Japan's No. Idemitsu collaborates with Toyota Motor in order to commercialise the next-generation batteries. This will help Toyota Motor achieve its goal of launching all-solid state batteries-equipped electric vehicles by 2027-2028. This decision marks the beginning of a 'next phase towards commercialisation. Solid-state batteries are a hot topic among automakers and battery manufacturers. They're hailed as a key component to?longer-lasting, safer and more affordable electric vehicles. Idemitsu develops mass-production technologies for solid electrolytes - a key component of solid state batteries - and manufactures samples in two small-scale facilities, one of which is primarily focused on...

Lunate, based in Abu Dhabi, announced that Mohammed Hassan Alsuwaidi was appointed as the executive chairman and managing director of the investment firm to "lead" the global growth strategy. Lunate is a commercial alternative investment firm that manages $115 billion in assets. According to a press release, Alsuwaidi's role will be to expand the firm’s international presence, and strengthen institutional capital relationships. Over the next five-year period, it wants to double its assets under management. Alsuwaidi is the founder CEO of ADQ. This fund is Abu Dhabi's third-largest sovereign wealth fund. Its assets total more than $263 billion and span...

Analyst and traders say that Russia's naphtha shipments to Asia will fall in January as U.S. sanctions force key buyers such as Taiwan, India, and Venezuela to find new markets. After Washington imposed sanctions against top Russian oil producers the buyers have become more cautious. Sellers are forced to store naphtha in foreign storage or on ships, where it can then be re-exported. Armaan Ashraf is the director of Asia oil and natural gas liquids at FGENexant. He added that this means that premiums for "legitimate barrels" of heavy full range naphtha or?discounts to Russian cargoes would widen. Russia exports...

Tayyip Erdoan, the President of Turkey, said that he hoped to increase trade between Nigeria and Turkey to $5 billion. This was after a meeting with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu. Nigeria exports crude oil, agricultural products, and iron and steel to Turkey, while Turkey exports aircrafts, helicopters and machinery to Nigeria. Both countries signed agreements on defence cooperation, infrastructure, trade and investment as well as joint efforts against insurgency within the Sahel region of?Africa. Erdogan didn't give a time frame for reaching the new target, but said that talks had started. We see great potential for trade and investment. He...

Investors shifted their focus to?corporate profits, while also weighing U.S. - Iran tensions. Officials from both sides said on Monday that Iran and the U.S. will resume nuclear talks in Turkey on Friday. Trump warned that if the sides failed to reach a deal, bad things could happen with U.S. warships advancing toward?Iran. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index rose 0.2% thanks to a 1.9% increase in ACWA Power, and a 0.6% rise in Saudi Arabian Mining Company. According to estimates by the government, the economy of Saudi Arabia grew 4.9% on an annual basis in its fourth quarter. This was...

These are the most popular stories from the business pages of the New York Times. The New York Times has not verified the accuracy of these stories. SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket and satellite company, announced on Monday that it acquired xAI. This is a sweeping move for Musk to consolidate his empire, as he faces questions about its A.I. ambitions. Waymo, owned by Alphabet (parent company of Google), the self-driving cab company, announced on Monday that they had raised $16 Billion to fund their plans for global expansion. U.S. president Donald Trump announced on Monday that he would be launching...

Francois-Henri Pinault might not have gotten as much as he wanted last week when he sold the controlling stake of his family in Puma, to China's Anta, for $1.8 billion. According to two sources familiar with the matter, there was a "anti-embarrassment clause" in the agreement that sealed the deal. Artemis, Pinault's family company, initially reacted with a cold reception to Anta's cash offer of 35 euros per share for the 29% stake. However, one source said that the Hong Kong listed company agreed to pay more if an even higher offer was made. Hong Kong Stock Exchange filings reveal...

Investors saw that demand and supply prospects remained positive for the "red metal" as they continued to be concerned about supply. As of 0320 GMT the most active copper contract at the Shanghai Futures Exchange had fallen 0.50% to 101,340 Yuan ($14.603.99) per metric ton, after gaining up as much as 0.80% in the previous session. The benchmark copper for three months on the London Metals Exchange rose by 0.82%, to $12,997.50 per ton. Copper prices have been in a downward spiral since Friday after reaching record highs at both exchanges. Shanghai copper fell as much as 13.65% from a...

T&E, an advocacy group for clean transport, said that electric vehicles could make up as much as 85% of all new car sales by 2035. This is based on the EU's plans to lift its 'effective ban' on new combustion engine models. However, this % share may drop to as little as 50%. In December, under pressure from automakers, the European Commission proposed that CO2 emissions be reduced by 90% in 2035 compared to 2021, rather than zero, for all new cars and vans. T&E criticised the EU for its biggest retreat from green policies in years. The proposals would...

A Trump administration official who is familiar with the plan revealed that President Donald Trump will launch a?strategic critical minerals stockpile? with $12 billion of seed money from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The investment is a 'last ditch effort by Washington to counter what they perceive as Chinese price manipulation for minerals such as lithium, nickel, and rare earths, which are vital to items like electric vehicles, high-tech weapons, and many other products. Bloomberg News reported that the project, Project Vault will combine private financing with a $10 Billion loan from the EXIM Bank in order to stockpile minerals for...

Eramet fell on the Paris Stock Exchange on Monday after the sudden firing of its CEO, just months into his term, caught investors off guard and raised concerns about governance at the nickel-manganese-lithium miner owned in part by the French state. Eramet announced on Sunday that it had fired Paulo Castellari because of disagreements over "operating methods". It temporarily reappointed Christel Bories as Chairwoman, a role she had handed to Castellari in May last year. Analysts were stunned by the decision, and credited Castellari for his early efforts in restructuring the group. The group had?faced declining profits and rising debt...

The price of copper fell on Monday, as investors entered a risk-off mood after Kevin Warsh's nomination to the position of?Federal Reserve Chair. Demand for the metal also dipped in the run-up to China’s Lunar New Year holiday. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most active?copper? contract hit the lower price limits, falling 9% and closing daytime trading at $14,183.56 a metric tonne, the lowest level since January 9. On Monday, three other SHFE metals - aluminium, tin and nickel - also hit the lower price limit. Shanghai aluminium fell 9%, closing at 23,035 Yuan per ton. Nickel and tin, both down...

Iron ore futures fell on Monday, as Chinese inventories increased and steel mills finished restocking. Meanwhile, feedstock demand is expected to remain slow ahead of the Lunar 'New 'Year. As of 0257 GMT, the?most-traded contract for May iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange fell by 0.63% to $788 yuan (US$113.37) per metric ton. The benchmark March ore traded on the Singapore Exchange fell 0.42% to $103.35 per ton. Steelhome, a consultancy firm, released data on January 30, showing that iron?ore stocks at major Chinese ports increased by 1.16% in a week. A note from the Shanghai Metals Market stated...

Capstone Copper Corp. resumed its operations at the Mantoverde Copper and Gold Mine in northern Chile despite a strike by a union that represents nearly 22%. In a filing to the Australian stock exchange dated 1 February, the company reiterated that it expected to continue operating at a level of 50% to 75% normal production throughout this strike. The shares of Capstone Australia listed depositary receipts fell as much as 4.5 percent to A$15.810 per day, their lowest levels since January 23. The decision to resume operations was made following a Chilean Court ruling that authorized the removal of striking...

India cut tariffs on a variety of capital goods and raw material on Sunday in an effort to reduce its dependency on China for essential products?for the energy transition, and to lower costs for exporters who have been hit by?U.S. trade policies. Analysts say that customs reform is crucial to India's goal of $1 trillion in goods exports. They argue that lower input costs will help firms integrate with global supply chains, and attract investment away from China. Nirmala Sitharaman, India's Finance Minister, said that India would reduce the duty on capital goods needed to process vital minerals and manufacture...

The copper price fell on Friday due to a stronger dollar, and investors locking in profits after the previous session’s record high. Benchmark three-month Copper on the London Metal Exchange fell?3.3%?to $13,161 per metric ton at 1706 GMT, but held above its moving average of 21 days which provides support for $13,011. The copper price is up by 6% in this month. It has reached a new record high of $14,527.50 as speculators continued their buying spree on Thursday. This drove the LME index of six base-metals contracts to a new'record high. In a recent note, Stonex analyst Natalie Scott...