For the month of June, India’s production was up, and exchange traded funds (ETFs) focused on this rising country reaped the rewards of this growth.
Before the higher interest rates and consumer spending crimp, factory output and activity in mines and utilities in India rose 5.4% from one month earlier, reports Kartik Goyal for Bloomberg. This growth spurt may slow, as the central bank has raised borrowing costs to curb runaway inflation.
Factory output accounts for nearly 25% of India’s $912 billion economy.
As India is the biggest buyer of bullion, the country’s gold imports may raise for the first time in almost a year, as the lower price of gold is set to attract buyers. Purchases may also rise as jewelers restock inventories and the festival season begins later this month, Thomas reports Kutty Abraham for Bloomberg. Buyers who have put off purchases will enjoy and revel in the lower prices of gold.
Meanwhile, cost-cutting in New York in the form of outsourcing is turning out to be India’s gain. Banks are outsourcing data-intensive jobs from higher up the food chain to cities that cost less than New York, Hong Kong and London, reports Heather Timmons for the New York Times.
“Knowledge process outsourcing,” as bank executives call it, is a way to sugarcoat the job losses here in the United States. The jobs gone are those that involved long hours of number crunching, typically done by business school grads. These third-party firms are reporting that they’re seeing a 20% to 40% upswing in business in this year alone. Many of this country’s major banks have hundreds people in India doing research and statistical analysis.
- iPath MSCI India Index ETN (INP): down 37.6% year-to-date; up 18.9% in the last month
- WisdomTree India Earnings (EPI): down 21.1% Feb. 26; up 14.2% in the last month
- PowerShares India (PIN): down 15.1% since March 5 inception; up 13.1% in the last month
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.