‘ RBI EXPECTED TO DELIVER 25 BPS HIKE NEXT WEEK’

New Delhi: Gold prices fell by `110 to `58,740 per 10 grams in the national capital on Wednesday amid weak global trends, according to HDFC Securities. The yellow metal had closed at `58,850 per 10 grams in the previous trade. Silver, however, jumped by `350 to `70,100 per kg. “Spot gold prices in the Delhi markets traded at `58,740 per 10 grams, down `110 per 10 grams,” Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst - Commodities at HDFC Securities, said. —PTI

MAKEMYTRIP PLANS TO GROW FRANCHISE

BASE BY OVER 50%

Mumbai (PTI): The Reserve Bank may go for a final 25 basis points increase in the current rate hike cycle next week and a reduction would come in only by the end of third quarter of FY24, economists at Axis Bank said on Wednesday.

As per reports, RBI officials met economists on Tuesday, and the latter have suggested the central bank to go for a 25 basis points hike in key rates.

The RBI has been hiking rates with an eye to tame inflation, which mostly remained beyond the upper tolerance limit of 6%.

“I am leaning towards a further and final 0.25 percentage point hike in rates,” Chief Economist at Axis Bank Saugata Bhattacharya said, adding that the hike will tame the stubbornly high core inflation.

He also said the slow- down in growth visible in anecdotal evidence at present, coupled with some cool down in inflation, should prompt the sixmember Monetary Policy Committee to cut rates by the end of the third quarter of FY24.

He also noted that it is too early to change the “withdrawal of accommodation” stance of the RBI and that some tweaks can

Major Highlights

z RBI officials met economists on Tuesday, and the latter have suggested the central bank to go for a 25 bps hike z Since May 2022, the RBI has hiked rates by 250 basis points, hurting borrowers z The Reserve Bank has been hiking rates with an eye to tame inflation