Aditya Birla Capital enters a gold-loan market growing 69% a year

The Big Picture

• Overnight US. The Dow fell 1.32% (703.84 points, to 52,759.21), the S&P 500 fell 0.87% to 7,641.16 & the Nasdaq fell 1% to 26,067.17. Two forces: the US Treasury's enlarged buybacks of its own long-dated bonds, meant to push long yields down, bought exactly one day of relief before the 10-year climbed back toward 4.70% & the 30-year to about 5.25%; & Walmart, the bellwether for the US consumer, reported its weakest revenue growth in more than six years, with US same-store sales up 2.6% against roughly 3.8% expected. The stock fell more than 8% & dragged the index.
• Why this matters to India. Rising developed-market yields narrow the yield gap with India, which discourages debt flows into emerging markets & pressures the rupee, already at a three-week low near 95.74 per dollar. Add Brent near $94 for a country that imports most of its oil, & central-bank minutes flagging a possible rate increase this financial year, & the backdrop for Indian bonds & rate-sensitive stocks is tighter than a week ago.
• Thursday in India & this morning. The Nifty snapped a seven-day losing streak, closing 0.64% higher at 24,231.85; the Sensex rose 628 points to 77,537.72, led by IT & financials. Domestic institutions bought Rs. 3,538 crore of cash equities while foreign investors sold Rs. 583 crore. This morning Asia is mixed (Nikkei -0.65%, Kospi +0.47%) & index futures point to a slightly higher open.