ET NEWS

Gold prices fell nearly 1% on Wednesday, retreating from a record high scaled earlier in the session, as market participants parsed remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.Spot gold was down 0.9% at $3,658.25 per ounce, as of 3:11 pm EDT (1911 GMT), after hitting a record high of $3,707.40. Prices have risen nearly 6% so far this month.U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled 0.2% lower at $3,717.8.The Fed cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point and indicated it will steadily lower borrowing costs for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, Powell said the Fed is in a "meeting-by-meeting situation" regarding the outlook for interest rates."The Fed is signalling uncertainty with Powell calling this a 'risk-management' cut which has triggered some quite understandable profit-taking," said Tai Wong, an independent metals trader."A retracement or at least a consolidation is healthy; I don't expect an unusually deep pullback. Unless we get below major technical support at $3,550, the short-term uptrend should remain intact," he added.This marks the Fed's first rate cut of the year, following a pause in policy changes since December after lowering interest rates three times in 2024.Gold often gains appeal when interest rates fall, as lower yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.Analysts say gold's record run this year has been underpinned by sustained central bank purchases, diversification away from the U.S. dollar, resilient safe-haven demand amid geopolitical and trade frictions, and broad dollar weakness. Bullion, considered a hedge against uncertainties, has surged 39% so far this year.Deutsche Bank raised its gold price forecast for next year to an average of $4,000 per ounce, up from $3,700.Spot silver slipped 2.4% to $41.51 per ounce, platinum dropped 2.2% at $1,360 and palladium fell 2.6% to $1,145.44.

The US Federal Reserve has cut interest rates for the first time this year, lowering its benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points to 4%-4.25% range. The move marks the beginning of a monetary easing cycle aimed at supporting a slowing labor market, even as inflation remains elevated.Fed said for further tweaks to the interest rates, the committee will assess incoming data, evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.The central bank acknowledged that growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year and that job gains have slowed. However, even as it effected a reduction, Fed pointed to elevated inflation.The latest consumer price data showed inflation in August hitting a seven-month high, with food and apparel costs driving much of the increase. Despite this, policymakers opted to prioritise the job market, which has shown signs of weakness. Recent figures revealed smaller job gains and a rise in unemployment, with many companies delaying hiring amid an uncertain economic outlook.Along with the policy outcome, Fed lifted its 2025 growth forecast to 1.6% from June's 1.4% projection. However, it made no change to its unemployment and inflation forecasts.The Fed’s action breaks a pause that began in January after a string of cuts between September and December last year. Analysts say the latest move could provide fresh momentum for Wall Street, though some of the optimism may already be priced in.Market participants now expect a series of rate reductions through the rest of the year and into 2026. Some forecasts point to as many as six more 25 basis-point cuts by the end of next year, though much depends on the path of inflation and the resilience of the broader economy.The decision also comes against the backdrop of political pressure. US President Donald Trump has been vocal in urging Chair Jerome Powell to bring down rates more aggressively, accusing the Fed of holding back growth. Divisions within the central bank’s policy committee had also delayed a pivot, but today’s move indicates a clear shift in stance.Following the decision, on Wall Street, Dow Jones jumped 0.78% even as tech heavy Nasdaq was in the red.

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday exempted from customs duty 18 defence-related imports, including flight motion simulators, ship-launched missiles, rockets with calibres over 100 mm, remotely piloted military aircraft, and all parts, spares, tools, and accessories used for artillery weapons, rifles, aircraft, and missiles.The duty exemption will also cover military transport aircraft, deep submergence rescue vessels, unmanned underwater vessels, and high performance batteries for drones, among others, a notification issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said. These items will now attract nil customs duty and nil integrated goods and services tax (IGST). The move will support the country's defence modernisation efforts.These changes are in line with the recent reduction of GST on these products from 18% to nil.Additionally, the government has provided relief from IGST on certain imports, including works of art for public exhibition in museums or galleries, memorials of a public character intended for public places, and antiques or antiquities, if they are certified by the culture ministry. Earlier there was exemption only on basic customs duty.

Centre on Wednesday announced exemption of customs duty on 18 categories of defence-related imports. The exemption list includes high-value equipment including flight motion simulators and their parts, military transport aircraft, deep submergence rescue vessels, unmanned underwater vehicles, high-performance batteries for drones, ship-launched missiles and rockets with a calibre of over 100 mm. The relief will also cover remotely piloted aircraft for military use. According to the notification, the duty waiver extends to parts, spares, tools and accessories for a wide range of weapon systems, including artillery guns, rifles, aircraft and missiles.Exemption on defence imports in line with GST rejigThe official notification, issued under the Customs Act, 1962 and the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, amends the July 2019 customs exemption list to include the new defence items. It specifies that the duty-free imports will apply to a range of specialised equipment, from target motion simulators and parts of high-altitude communication systems to low-noise amplifiers for missile systems and sub-assemblies of integrated underwater defence platforms.The list also covers ejection seats for fighter aircraft, communication devices including software-defined radios, air diving and rebreather sets, sonobuoys for naval air assets, as well as technical documentation related to these goods. Exemptions further extend to parts, sub-assemblies, spares, accessories, tools, testing equipment and literature for artillery weapons, rifles, aircraft and missiles — with some specific exclusions such as the 12.7mm SRCG, 155mm/45 Cal Dhanush, L-70 Gun, 84mm RL Mk-III, AK-630 Naval Guns, Light Machine Guns and MAG Guns.The notification states that these amendments will come into force on September 22, 2025.The GST Council at its September 3 meeting approved a wide-ranging overhaul of the goods and services tax, part of what the government and press have described as “GST 2.0” or a broader tax makeover. The Council consolidated slabs and reordered rates for many consumer items.Under the GST changes, the 12% and 28% slabs were effectively removed for many items: a large swathe of daily-use goods has been moved to a 5% slab while a simplified 18% slab has been created for a broad set of other goods and services. The Council also carved out a new top rate for certain luxury items — with specific changes that include tax cuts for small cars and two-wheelers under 350cc to 18% and higher rates for SUVs, large motorcycles and yachts. Several food and grocery items were singled out for sharp relief, and the package was described by the finance ministry as designed to ease household budgets.

Sebi will "engage" with the government to allow banks, insurance companies and pension funds to invest in non-agriculture commodity derivative markets, its chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Wednesday.He said the capital markets regulator is also looking at a proposal to allow foreign portfolio investors to trade in non-cash settled, non-agricultural commodity derivative contracts."We will also engage with the government to consider banks, insurance companies and pension funds to trade in these (non-cash, non-agricultural) markets," Pandey said, while speaking at the event organised by MCX.By December-end, Sebi will include commodity-specific brokers in a common reporting mechanism for compliance reports, Pandey pointed out.Stating that commodity derivative markets play a very important role for the economy, Pandey said India aspires to be the "price-setter" instead of being a "price taker" at the global level.There is a need to look at how to broaden the acceptance of Indian benchmarks at home and abroad, he said, stressing that in volatile times like the current one, the exchanges can act as a good tool of price insurance and help protect profit margins.The career bureaucrat-turned-securities regulator specifically pointed out that the recent doubling of tariffs on aluminium and copper imports by the US "directly affects" India's export landscape."In such a volatile environment, a robust derivatives market provides a powerful shield, allowing Indian producers and consumers to hedge against global price shocks," Pandey said.He said the market becomes very essential in the case of critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements, which are building blocks of green energy and posed a challenge."What can our markets do as India pursues its goal of self-reliance in critical minerals? Can we develop financial instruments that help finance and de-risk the exploration and mining of these vital resources?" Affirming that Sebi will continue to strengthen the integrity and safety of commodity markets, Pandey underlined that real-time margin collection and continuous monitoring are "non-negotiables" for the regulator.Strengthening India's commodity markets is "high" on Sebi's regulatory agenda, he said, listing out some measures in this regard.It has already constituted a committee to recommend measures for deepening the agriculture commodity segment, Pandey said, adding that the watchdog will also constitute a working group for developing the non-agricultural commodity space, including metals.The regulator's comments led to buying on the MCX's counter, and the price per share closed 3.51 per cent up at Rs 7,919.45 apiece on the BSE against a 0.38 per cent gain on the benchmark.