
Market surges 15% from April lows, edges closer to peak levels
Defying tariff and geopolitical tensions, India's equity benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, have surged nearly 15% each from their early-April lows and are now approaching record highs. Extending gains for the third consecutive session on Thursday, the Sensex jumped 1,000.36 points (1.21%) to close at 83,755.87, while the Nifty50 rose 304.25 points (1.21%) to settle at 25,549.00.
The Sensex now sits just 2,200 points shy of its all-time high of 85,978, and the Nifty is within 730 points of its peak (26,277).
The market had nosedived between late March and early April after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a reciprocal tax on goods imported into the world's largest economy. The move stoked fears of an all-out global trade war, with retaliatory tariffs announced by China, the EU, and others. On April 7, the Sensex had plunged about 4,000 points intraday to hit a 52-week low of 71,725 and the Nifty 50 tumbled 1,150 points to hit a low of 21,744.

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Time of India
40 minutes ago
- Time of India
Fed fears push dollar to lowest level in 3 years
A battered dollar is taking another beating as investors, unnerved by fresh signs of an erosion in US central bank independence, waste no time in pushing the greenback back to its lowest levels in over three years. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday called Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell "terrible" in his latest attack on the central bank chief and said he has three or four people in mind as contenders for the top Fed job. The dollar was back at multi-year lows against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, erasing a brief respite provided by safe-haven flows related to West Asia tensions earlier in the week. Down 10% so far this year and set for its worst year since 2003, the dollar was expected to weaken further as renewed concern about Fed independence comes amid increased expectations for rate cuts and a looming July 9 deadline for trade agreements. The leading contenders for next Fed chief reportedly include former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, national economic council head Kevin Hassett, current Fed governor Christopher Waller, and treasury secretary Scott Bessent. Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, noted that the dollar had not benefited as much as expected in the past two weeks from heightened West Asia tensions, a sign the dollar's safe-haven role had been hurt. In recent years, the currency has risen when oil rallies, but it gained just 0.7% last week. Concern about Fed independence adds to the damage, investors said. Respect for independent institutions such as central banks has long been viewed as a key attraction of major economies, helping anchor economic stability and provide policy certainty. reuters Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now


NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
Donald Trump Defends US Strikes On Iran, Says Nuclear Facilities "Fully Obliterated"
Hague: President Donald Trump on Wednesday rejected an early intelligence assessment that U.S. strikes inflicted only a marginal setback on Iran's nuclear program, insisting that his country's spies did not have the full picture and defending his own swift conclusion that American bombs and missiles delivered a crushing blow. "This was a devastating attack, and it knocked them for a loop," Trump said as his administration scrambled to support his claims, made only hours after the attack, that Iranian nuclear facilities were "completely and fully obliterated." Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military officials would hold an "interesting and irrefutable" news conference Thursday morning to "fight for the Dignity of our Great American Pilots" who carried out the mission. He wrote on social media that "these Patriots were very upset" by "Fake News" reports about the limited impact of the strikes. The issue dominated Trump's attendance at NATO's annual summit in the Netherlands, which was otherwise focused on European security. The White House highlighted an Israeli statement that Iran's nuclear efforts were delayed by years, much longer than the few months determined by American intelligence. A spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry also said the facilities have suffered significant damage. But those comments fell short of Trump's hyperbole and did little to suggest that U.S. strikes had eliminated the threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in an interview with Politico, limited his own assessment to saying Iran was "much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action." Drawing reliable conclusions about the impact of the U.S. strikes remains difficult, especially only days after they took place. That makes the issue a breeding ground for competing claims that could determine how American voters view Trump's risky decision to join Israel's attacks on Iran. Jeffrey Lewis, a professor of nonproliferation at the Middlebury Institute, said Trump was trying to have it both ways. "If it's too early to know, why is Trump saying it's obliterated?" he said. "Either it's too early to know, or you know." What's Next? Also at stake are Trump's next steps in the Middle East, where diplomatic efforts could be required to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program. Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials would meet soon, resuming a dialogue that was interrupted by nearly two weeks of war, even as he suggested that negotiations were no longer necessary. "I don't care if I have an agreement or not," Trump said, because Iran was too badly damaged to even consider rebuilding its program. "They're not going to be doing it anyway. They've had it." Iran maintains that its atomic ambitions are for peaceful purposes, while U.S. and Israeli leaders have described the country's nuclear program as the precursor to obtaining a nuclear weapon. The episode has triggered some of Trump's long-standing vendettas against leaks and intelligence officials, whom he has often viewed as a part of a "deep state" dedicated to undermining his agenda. He also lashed out at media outlets that reported on the classified assessment, describing them as "scum" and "disgusting." The intelligence assessment was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, which is part of the Pentagon. Out of all the country's spy services, it's usually "the fastest on the draw" to produce preliminary results, said Frank Montoya, a former counterintelligence leader. "They have to respond quickly to what the war fighters are looking for, but those preliminary assessments are still based on information that's out there," Montoya said. Leon Panetta, who held top national security roles under President Barack Obama, said it's too soon to have a more complete understanding of the strikes' impact. "Bottom line is, that's going to take an extended period of time, at least a number of weeks, before we have a full assessment of the damage done by the attack," Panetta said. However, Trump administration officials have been chiming in with their own statements emphasizing the damage done by the American mission. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said there's "a body of credible intelligence" showing "several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years." Trump Vs. The Media Trump said questioning the effectiveness of the strikes was disrespectful to the military, which flew stealth bombers halfway around the world to attack with weapons designed to penetrate deep underground. The reports, he said, were "very unfair to the pilots, who risked their lives for our country." He described the American attack as a definitive conclusion to what he's dubbed "the 12-day war," much like the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki heralded the end of World War II. "That ended that war," he said. "This ended the war." During a news conference at the NATO summit, Trump briefly ceded the stage to Hegseth, who also lashed out at the media. "There's a reason the president calls out the fake news for what it is," he said. Hegseth said reporters were using a leaked intelligence assessment to politically damage Trump. "They want to spin it to try to make him look bad," he said. Trump pointed to satellite photos that showed the area around the nuclear facilities was "burned black," and he said that underground tunnels where uranium was enriched and stored were "all collapsed." He also suggested that Israel had sources on the ground in Iran, saying "they have guys that go in there after the hit" to evaluate the damage. The bombing "rendered the enrichment facility inoperable," according to a statement distributed by the White House and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The American strikes, combined with Israeli strikes on other elements of Iran's military nuclear program, have "set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years," the Israel Atomic Energy Commission said. In addition, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told Al Jazeera that there was significant damage from U.S. bombers. "Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure," he said. Where's The Uranium? One critical question is whether enriched uranium, which could be developed into fuel for a nuclear bomb, was moved out of facilities before the U.S. strikes. "I believe they didn't have a chance to get anything out, because we acted fast," Trump said. He added that "it's very hard to move that kind of material, and very dangerous." In the wake of the leak, the White House going forward intends to try to limit the sharing of classified documents with Congress, according to a senior White House official. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not provide detail on how the administration would go about limiting the flow of classified information to lawmakers. The move, first reported by Axios, seems certain to be challenged by members of Congress. Classified briefings for lawmakers, originally scheduled for Tuesday, are now expected to take place Thursday and Friday.

The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
China hosts Iran, Russia defence ministers against backdrop of ‘turmoil'
China hosted Defence Ministers from Iran and Russia for a meeting in its eastern seaside city of Qingdao on Thursday (June 26, 2025) against the backdrop of war in the Middle East and a summit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries in Europe that agreed to boost military spending. Beijing has long sought to present the 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a counterweight to Western-led power blocs and has pushed to strengthen collaboration between its member countries in politics, security, trade and science. The Qingdao meeting of the organisation's top defence officials comes as a fledgling ceasefire between Israel and Iran holds after 12 days of fighting between the arch-foes. It is also being held the day after a summit of NATO leaders in The Hague, where members agreed to ramp up their defence spending to satisfy U.S. President Donald Trump. Beijing's ties with Moscow are also in the spotlight. China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in Russia's war with Ukraine, although Western governments say its close ties have given Moscow crucial economic and diplomatic support. Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov painted a bleak picture of a world seeing 'worsening geopolitical tensions' when he addressed his counterparts at the meeting. 'The current military and political situation in the world remains difficult and shows signs of further deterioration,' he said, according to a Russian defence ministry statement. His Chinese counterpart Dong Jun also framed Thursday's (June 26, 2025) meeting in Qingdao, home to a major Chinese naval base, as a counterweight to a world 'marked by intertwined turmoil and changes'. 'It is all the more important for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to play its role as an anchor of stability,' he said, according to state news agency Xinhua.