Aurelia Butler

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace of 7.8% year-on-year in the January-March quarter, helped by strong growth in the manufacturing sector, and economists expect the momentum to remain strong this year. The gross domestic product growth in the first three months of 2024, the fourth quarter of 2023/24 fiscal year, was lower than a revised 8.6% expansion in the previous quarter, government data released on Friday showed.However, it was higher than the 6.7% growth forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. In the October-December quarter, the headline growth figure was boosted by a sharp fall in subsidies, while gross value added (GVA), seen by economists as a more stable measure of growth, rose 6.5%.In the March quarter, GVA rose by 6.3%.India’s economic growth for the full fiscal year 2023/24 was revised up to 8.2%, the highest among large economies globally, from an earlier government estimate of 7.6%. The growth figures will be a boost for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is largely expected to win a third term in the national election, with results scheduled to be released on June 4.Manufacturing output rose 8.9% year-on-year in the three months ending in March, compared with a revised expansion of 11.5% in the previous quarter, while farm output growth accelerated to 0.6% after revised 0.4% growth in the previous quarter, the data showed. Investors are looking ahead to the election results and full-year budget in mid-July to assess any steps by the new government to boost the economy.The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) record surplus transfer of 2.11 trillion rupees ($25.3 billion) earlier this month is likely to allow the government to increase state spending or cut the fiscal deficit. The RBI’s monetary policy committee is expected to hold benchmark repo rate at 6.50% at its June 5-7 meeting, with inflation staying above 4%, the mid-point of its 2-6% target, economists said in a Reuters poll. High-frequency indicators data for April including auto sales, housing loans and fuel consumption reflected strong urban consumer demand, though there were concerns about weak rural demand despite forecasts of a above normal monsoon this year.Globally, economic activity remains resilient, with China’s economy growing 5.3% year-on-year and the U.S. economy expanding at 1.3% annualised rate in March quarter amid signs of inflation easing, strengthening hopes of a pick up in India’s exports. On Wednesday, S&P Global raised its sovereign rating outlook for India to “positive” from “stable”, adding that regardless of the outcome of the national elections it expected broad continuity in economic reforms and fiscal policies.It expects the economy to grow at 6.8% in the current fiscal year starting April, and close to 7% annually over the next three years. More

The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose 0.3% in April, in line with forecasts by economists polled by Reuters. In the 12 months through March, PCE inflation gained 2.7%, as expected.Core PCE, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, increased 0.2% last month against expectations of a 0.3% increase. Annually, it was at 2.8%, in line with forecasts. At 8:33 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 50 points, or 0.13%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 8.75 points, or 0.17%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 14.25 points, or 0.08%. More

According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index came in 2.7% in April, unchanged from March, as expected.Stripping out volatile items like food and fuel, the year-on-year “core” gauge matched the prior month’s mark of 2.8%, again as expected.There was a slight variance from expectations in the month-on-month figures, with the headline release coming in at 0.3%, in line with March, while the “core” monthly figure increased by 0.2%, below the 0.3% expected.The data may come as something of a relief as markets were becoming resigned to the higher-for-longer interest rate narrative after last week’s Fed minutes, along with cautious sounding remarks from policymakers who expressed doubt whether inflation is indeed on a sustainable downward trajectory to its stated 2% target level.Additionally, the numbers come after U.S. economic growth was revised lower in the first quarter, adding to the uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve would start cutting interest rates from more than two-decade highs. More

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According to Lipper data, global equity funds registered $4.9 billion in outflows, marking their first withdrawal since the week ending April 24. U.S. equity funds experienced outflows of $7.6 billion, while Asian equity funds saw their second consecutive weekly outflow, totaling $1.5 billion. Conversely, European equity funds attracted $3.7 billion in inflows.U.S. Treasury yields rose this week, following the latest U.S. economic data, which revealed an unexpected improvement in consumer confidence in May and heightened consumer perceptions of the labor market.The MSCI All Country Stock Index has fallen nearly 2% for the week, weighed down by investor caution ahead of the U.S. core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index report for April, due on Friday.Among sector-specific funds, financials, health care, and consumer discretionary funds experienced outflows of $598 million, $570 million, and $452 million respectively. Conversely, tech and industrial sector funds attracted inflows of $379 million and $289 million respectively.Global bond funds received $4.3 billion in inflows, although this was significantly lower than the $12.4 billion recorded in the previous week.Global government bond funds, high-yield bond funds, and loan participation funds recorded inflows of $877 million, $337 million, and $394 million, respectively. Concurrently, money market funds experienced outflows of $5.7 billion, a significant drop from the previous week’s inflow of $17.1 billion.In the commodities sector, precious metals funds saw their first outflows in three months, totaling $580.4 million, while energy funds also encountered net sales of approximately $80 million.Data on 29,558 emerging market funds revealed a net sale of $538.1 million in equities, marking the largest outflow in over a month. Bond funds also reported their first outflow in three weeks, amounting to $952 million. More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday revived the National Rifle Association’s lawsuit accusing a New York state official of coercing banks and insurers to avoid doing business with the gun rights group in a ruling that warned public officials against wielding their power to punish speech they dislike.The justices, in a 9-0 decision authored by liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, threw out a lower court’s ruling that had dismissed the NRA’s 2018 lawsuit against Maria Vullo, a former superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services.At issue is whether Vullo wielded her regulatory power to coerce New York financial institutions into cutting ties with the NRA in violation of protections under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment against government restrictions on free speech.The NRA accused Vullo of unlawfully retaliating against it for its constitutionally protected gun rights advocacy by targeting it with an “implicit censorship regime” following a 2018 mass shooting in which 17 people were killed at a high school in Parkland, Florida. “Ultimately, the critical takeaway is that the First Amendment prohibits government officials from wielding their power selectively to punish or suppress speech, directly or, as alleged here, through private intermediaries,” Sotomayor wrote.The NRA, an influential lobby group closely aligned with Republicans, has opposed gun control measures favored by many Democrats and backed pivotal lawsuits that have widened U.S. gun rights. Its suit, seeking unspecified monetary damages, alleged that New York’s “blacklisting” campaign sought to deprive the NRA of basic financial services and threatened its advocacy work. The case will now return to the lower courts for further analysis of the NRA’s allegations under the standard articulated in the Supreme Court’s ruling.’DISFAVORED POLITICAL GROUPS’David Cole, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union advocacy group that represented the NRA, said the ruling “confirms that government officials have no business using their regulatory authority to blacklist disfavored political groups.”Vullo, who was appointed to her post by a Democratic governor, called upon banks and insurers to consider the “reputational risks” of doing business with gun rights groups following the Parkland shootings. In the aftermath of the Parkland rampage by a 19-year-old former student armed with an AR-15 rifle, NRA officials lashed out at gun control advocates, arguing that Democratic elites were politicizing the shootings to erode gun rights.Vullo later fined Lloyd’s of London and two other insurers more than $13 million for offering an NRA-endorsed product called “Carry Guard” that Vullo’s office found was in violation of New York insurance law. The product provided liability coverage for policyholders who caused injuries from gunfire, even in cases involving the wrongful use of a firearm. The insurers agreed to stop selling NRA-endorsed products that New York considered illegal.The nonprofit group is organized under the laws of New York state, with its main offices in Virginia.The case did not involve the Constitution’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in March.A federal judge in 2021 dismissed all of the NRA’s claims apart from two free speech counts against Vullo. The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2022 said those also should have been dismissed, prompting the NRA’s Supreme Court appeal.Vullo was sued in both her official and personal capacities. But the 2nd Circuit found that Vullo would be protected from suit under the legal defense of qualified immunity that shields officials from civil litigation in certain circumstances.Sotomayor in the ruling wrote that the 2nd Circuit “is free to revisit the qualified immunity question in light of this court’s opinion.”Neal Katyal, a lawyer representing Vullo, expressed disappointment at the court’s decision but said that “we are confident Ms. Vullo’s claim of qualified immunity will be reaffirmed.”The NRA found an unlikely ally in the case in President Joe Biden’s administration. Even though Biden has called gun violence a national embarrassment, his administration had urged the justices to let the NRA pursue its lawsuit. The Supreme Court by the end of June is expected to issue rulings in two gun rights cases. One involves a challenge to the legality of a federal ban on “bump stock” devices that enable semiautomatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns. The other involves a challenge to the legality of a federal law that makes it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to have guns. More

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – When Claudia Sheinbaum – the frontrunner to become Mexico’s next president – was just six years old, her parents were active participants in protests during one of the darkest periods of the country’s modern history.It was 1968, the Institutional Revolutionary Party had governed Mexico with an iron fist for decades and the country was swept by large demonstrations pressing for democratic change. In one horrific incident, as many as 400 students at a protest were killed by soldiers and paramilitary forces.The tragedy only galvanized her parents and Sheinbaum grew up in a family steeped in activism.Now the clear favorite to succeed popular President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Sunday’s election and likely make history as Mexico’s first female president, Sheinbaum, 61, says she owes much to her chemical engineer father and cellular biologist mother.They bestowed a passion for politics, a love for nature and a deep interest in science, she said in a biopic released last year that was directed by her son.”I grew up with that duality – a belief that politics can transform the world alongside an academic and scientific mindset,” reflected Sheinbaum.Looking back, it seems only natural that she would go on to be a student protester, a climate scientist and a politician.Sheinbaum’s values aligned with Lopez Obrador’s policies which she has pledged to continue.She wants to assume his mantle as a defender of the state, cement public control of natural resources, as well as strengthen his welfare programs and flagship infrastructure projects. In a slight departure, she has called for a greater emphasis on renewable energy usage.FROM PROTESTS TO POLITICSThe second of three children, Sheinbaum hails from a Jewish family, including her mother’s parents who migrated to Mexico from Bulgaria as they fled Nazi aggression in the 1930s.Growing up in Mexico City, Sheinbaum learned to play the guitar and studied ballet, details that her critics have used to paint her as elitist and out of touch with ordinary Mexicans.Her activism started early.At 15, she volunteered to help groups of mothers searching for their missing children, a long-standing plight in a country with a history of raging gangland violence.Around that time she met leading human rights activist and leftist politician Rosario Ibarra, who would later be the first woman to run for president in 1982. Sheinbaum later would go to say that her ruling left-wing MORENA party had taken on Ibarra’s struggles.Sheinbaum became an active participant in student movements during the 1980s, joining protests against state intervention in education policies.In 1995, she earned her doctorate in energy engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. As she prepared her doctoral thesis, she spent time at the University of California at Berkeley in the United States, where she polished her fluent English.Sheinbaum pursued a teaching and academic career in the years that followed, including a stint on the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which would later share a Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.Her political career kicked off in 2000, when Lopez Obrador, then-Mexico City’s newly elected mayor, tapped her to be his environment chief. He had only recently met her, but was clear he wanted a scientist with progressive values to help deal with the megacity’s acute pollution and transportation snarls.She left City Hall to take on the role of chief spokesperson for Lopez Obrador’s first campaign for president in 2006 which he narrowly lost.In 2015, she was elected to run Mexico City’s largest borough, Tlalpan.In that post, she faced allegations of poor management after a 2017 earthquake caused the collapse of an elementary school, killing 19 children. The school had only recently been expanded with an extra floor.But that did not stop her from notching up a historic election victory as the capital’s first woman mayor in 2018, the same year that Lopez Obrador’s third run for the presidency proved successful in a landslide win.During her tenure, she won plaudits for improving security with the capital’s murder rate falling 50%.But she was also criticized for a 2021 subway accident that left 26 dead, an incident that was later blamed in part on insufficient safety inspections and deferred maintenance on her watch. Sheinbaum denied maintenance was to blame. More