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Stock markets fluctuated Thursday as investors digested stronger-than-estimated US economic growth and record earnings at AI chip giant Nvidia.The tech-heavy Nasdaq edged higher on Wall Street, while the broad-based S&P 500 was flat and the Dow fell slightly.Shares in Nvidia were down 1.4 percent, adding to recent declines despite posting a profit of $26.4 billion on record revenue of $46.7 billion in the second quarter.Investors had keenly awaited the earnings update late Wednesday from the California-based firm, whose robust growth has largely driven strong gains for tech stocks in recent months.Its shares fell, however, as important data centre revenue declined.The earnings report comes amid market worries over a spending bubble in the artificial intelligence sector that could burst and hurt the chip giant’s fortunes.”The market seems to be asking whether Nvidia can keep up this pace as competition intensifies and AI enthusiasm starts to look a little overbought,” said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at traders Scope Markets.Investors were also reacting to US data showing that the world’s biggest economy grew 3.3 percent in the second quarter, up from an initial estimate of 3.0 percent in July.”After the initial release, there were concerns that the domestic economy was slowing quite sharply,” said Richard Flax, chief investment officer at Moneyfarm.”But these latest data suggest that the economy is a bit stronger than initially feared,” he said.The upward revision mainly reflected improvements in investment and consumer spending, the Commerce Department said.But overall, growth in the second quarter was also bolstered by a fall in US imports, which are subtracted from the GDP. This drop came as businesses pulled back on shipments after rushing to stock up ahead of US President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes.The data could offer insight into the outlook for US interest rates, with the Federal Reserve eyeing further cuts to borrowing costs in a bid to boost the US economy.”Overall, this release probably doesn’t change Federal Reserve thinking too much,” Flax said, adding that the central bank was still expected to cut rates by 25 basis points at its September meeting.”But a stronger than expected result from domestic demand suggests that there might not be that much scope to cut rates over the next 12 months.”The focus now shifts to Friday’s release of a key inflation reading for the Fed, and its potential impact on outlook for additional rate cuts.In Europe, the Paris stock market extended its recovery, having tumbled early in the week on fears that France’s minority government could be toppled.This was after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou proposed a confidence vote over his proposed budget cuts.France’s borrowing costs have soared since the vote was called Monday, as the government wrestles with how to find around 44 billion euros ($51 billion) in savings.- Key figures at around 1545 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 45,527.95 points New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 6,482.84New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.2 percent at 21,640.96London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 9,216.82 Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,762.60 Frankfurt – DAX: FLAT at 24,039.92Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 42,828.79 (close) Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.8 percent at 24,998.82 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,843.60 (close)Euro/dollar:  UP at $1.1672 from $1.1633 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at 1.3513 from $1.3496Dollar/yen:  DOWN at 147.01 from 147.51 yen Euro/pound: UP at 86.39 from 86.20 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.0 percent at $63.54 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $66.98 per barrel

Major stock markets traded mixed Thursday after Nvidia’s quarterly earnings beat expectations, but shares in the AI powerhouse slipped over worries about its stalled business in China.Investors had keenly awaited the key earnings update late Wednesday from the California-based firm, whose robust growth has largely driven strong gains for tech stocks in recent months.Nvidia posted a profit of $26.4 billion on record revenue of $46.7 billion in the second quarter, but it shares fell in after-market US trading as important data centre revenue declined. The earnings report comes amid market worries over a spending bubble in the artificial intelligence sector that could burst and hurt the chip giant’s fortunes.”The market seems to be asking whether Nvidia can keep up this pace as competition intensifies and AI enthusiasm starts to look a little overbought,” noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at traders Scope Markets.The dollar dropped against main rivals awaiting US growth data due Thursday that should provide clues regarding the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.It could offer also insight into the outlook for US interest rates, with the Federal Reserve eyeing further cuts to borrowing costs in a bid to boost the world’s biggest economy. Japan’s media on Thursday reported that Tokyo’s chief negotiator for the country’s trade agreement with the United States, Ryosei Akazawa, had postponed a planned trip to Washington. Akazawa said Wednesday he hoped to use the trip to pressure the US administration to implement reduced tariffs agreed upon in July.In Europe, the Paris stock market extended its recovery, having tumbled early in the week on fears that France’s minority government could be toppled.This was after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou proposed a confidence vote over his proposed budget cuts.France’s borrowing costs have soared since the vote was called Monday, as the government wrestles with how to find around 44 billion euros ($51 billion) in savings.Oil prices fell Thursday owing to a healthy supply situation, according to analysts.- Key figures at around 1030 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 9,213.00 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,761.32 Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 24,031.63Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 42,828.79 (close) Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.8 percent at 24,998.82 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,843.60 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 45,565.23 points (close)Euro/dollar:  UP at $1.1667 from $1.1633 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at 1.3523 from $1.3496Dollar/yen:  DOWN at 147.00 from 147.51 yen Euro/pound: UP at 86.29 from 86.20 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $63.86 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $67.13 per barrel

Asian markets were mixed Thursday after AI powerhouse Nvidia’s quarterly earnings beat expectations, but its shares slipped over worries about the company’s stalled business in China.Investors had been awaiting the key earnings update from the California-based firm, whose robust growth has largely driven strong gains for tech stocks in recent months.The AI giant posted a profit of $26.4 billion on record revenue of $46.7 billion in the recently ended quarter, but shares fell in after-market trading as important data centre revenue declined. The earnings report comes amid market worries about an AI spending bubble that could burst and hurt the chip giant’s fortunes.”The information feeds into niggling fears of slowing investment in the AI space and lower growth going forward,” Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne told Bloomberg News.During Thursday trading in Asia, Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul finished up, while Taipei fell.Hong Kong was down 0.7 percent in afternoon trade.In Japan, media reported Thursday that Tokyo’s chief negotiator for the trade agreement with the United States, Ryosei Akazawa, had postponed his planned trip to Washington. Akazawa said Wednesday he hoped to use this trip to pressure the US administration to implement reduced tariffs agreed upon in July.London, Paris and Frankfurt ticked up during early trading in Europe.On Wednesday the Paris stock market bucked the downward trend by rebounding from the previous day’s tumble. That fall had been caused by fears that France’s minority government could be toppled after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou proposed a confidence vote over his proposed budget cuts.France’s borrowing costs have soared since the vote was called Monday, as the government wrestles with how to find around 44 billion euros ($51 billion) in savings.- Key figures at around 0715 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 42,828.79 (close) Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7 percent at 25,034.13 Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,843.60 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,260.21Euro/dollar:  UP at $1.1666 from $1.1633 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at 1.3508 from $1.3496 Dollar/yen:  DOWN at 146.83 from 147.51 yen Euro/pound: UP at 86.36 from 86.20 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.9 percent at $63.58 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.9 percent at $67.47 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 45,565.23 points (close)

Asian markets were mixed Thursday after AI powerhouse Nvidia’s quarterly earnings beat expectations but its shares slipped over worries about the company’s stalled business in China.Investors had been awaiting the key earnings update from the California-based firm, whose robust growth has largely driven strong gains for tech stocks in recent months.The AI giant posted a profit of $26.4 billion on record revenue of $46.7 billion in the recently ended quarter, but shares fell in after-market trading as important data centre revenue declined. The earnings report comes amid market worries about an AI spending bubble that could burst and hurt the chip giant’s fortunes. “The information feeds into niggling fears of slowing investment in the AI space and lower growth going forward,” Kyle Rodda, senior market analyst at Capital.com in Melbourne told Bloomberg News.During Thursday morning trading in Asia, Hong Kong and Taipei were down, while Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai advanced.In Japan, media reported Thursday that Tokyo’s chief negotiator for the trade agreement with the United States, Ryosei Akazawa, had postponed his planned trip to Washington. Akazawa said Wednesday he hoped to use this trip to pressure the US administration to implement reduced tariffs agreed upon in July.In Europe, the Paris stock market bucked the downward trend Wednesday by rebounding from the previous day’s tumble. That fall had been caused by fears that France’s minority government could be toppled after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou proposed a confidence vote over his proposed budget cuts.France’s borrowing costs have soared since the vote was called Monday, as the government wrestles with how to find around 44 billion euros ($51 billion) in savings.- Key figures at around 0300 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 42,731.74 Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7 percent at 25,036.22 Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,816.77London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 9,255.50 (close)Euro/dollar:  UP at $1.1652 from $1.1633 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at 1.3516 from $1.3496 Dollar/yen:  DOWN at 147.24 from 147.51 yen Euro/pound: UP at 86.21 from 86.20 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $63.67 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $67.58 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 45,565.23 points (close)

Qantas Airways said Thursday it lifted annual net profit and saw a bright outlook for travel demand, days after it was fined for illegally firing staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.Australia’s dominant airline group said rising passenger numbers boosted its financial performance, and it saw further revenue growth in the six months ahead for Qantas and its budget subsidiary Jetstar.”While we are pleased with the progress we are making, we remain focused on further improving our performance,” chief executive Vanessa Hudson said.”Continuing strong demand across all market segments, combined with our dual brand strategy, helped the Group grow earnings,” she said in a statement.Qantas said revenue climbed 8.6 percent to Aus$23.8 billion (US$15.5 billion) in the 12 months to June 30, 2025 when compared to a year earlier.Net profit surged 28.3 percent to Aus$1.6 billion.Last week, an Australian court fined Qantas Aus$90 million for unlawfully laying off 1,800 ground staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.The airline said Thursday it had paid the full penalty.Qantas said it expected unit revenue on domestic and international routes to rise by a few percent in the six months to December 31, 2025.The carrier said direct flights from Australia’s east coast to London and New York — its so-called Project Sunrise — were “a step closer to reality”.The long-range Airbus A350-1000ULR aircraft for those flights were scheduled to enter final assembly in the coming months, with delivery expected in October 2026.

AI powerhouse Nvidia reported quarterly earnings Wednesday that beat expectations, but shares slipped amid concerns about an AI chip spending bubble and the company’s stalled business in China.The California-based firm posted profit of $26.4 billion on record revenue of $46.7 billion in the recently ended quarter, driven by intense demand for chips from major tech companies powering AI datacenter computing.While overall revenue significantly increased year-over-year, money taken in from Nvidia’s Data Center compute products like its coveted graphics processing units (GPUs) declined 1 percent from the previous quarter. The drop was driven by a $4 billion decrease in sales of H20 chips—specialized processors the company designed for the Chinese market, according to the earnings report.For the current quarter, Nvidia projected $54 billion in revenue but said its forecast assumes no H20 sales.Nvidia’s high-end GPUs remain in hot demand from tech giants building data centers for artificial intelligence applications. However, investors are questioning whether the massive AI investments are sustainable.”The data center results, while massive, showed hints that hyperscaler spending could tighten at the margins if near-term returns from AI applications remain difficult to quantify,” said Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne. “At the same time, US export restrictions are fueling domestic chipmaking in China.”Nvidia shares fell slightly more than 3 percent in after-market trading.- US takes a cut -Earlier this month, President Donald Trump confirmed that Nvidia would pay the United States 15 percent of its revenues from sales of certain AI chips to China. Trump called Nvidia’s H20 chips “obsolete,” despite their previous targeting under export restrictions.Beijing has responded by expressing national security concerns about Nvidia chips and urging Chinese businesses to rely on local semiconductor suppliers instead.Nvidia developed the H20 specifically for export to China to address US concerns that its top-tier chips could be used for weapons development or AI applications in the rival nation.”There is interest in our H20s; we have supply ready to ship,” Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said of the China market, which he estimated to be a $50 billion opportunity for Nvidia this year.”We’re still waiting on several of the geopolitical issues going back and forth between the governments and the companies trying to determine their purchases and what they want to do.”Huang said Nvidia is talking with the Trump administration about the importance of US companies being able to compete in China.”We just have to keep advocating the sensibility of, and the importance of, American tech companies to be able to lead and win the AI race and help make the American tech stack the global standard,” Huang said.- Fortune in play -The earnings report comes amid market worries about an AI spending bubble that could burst and hurt the chip giant’s fortunes. Nvidia serves as a bellwether for the AI market and became the first company to reach $4 trillion in market value last July.”We’re just seeing just enormous amount of interest in AI and demand for AI right now,” Huang said on an earnings call.The top four cloud computing service providers are on pace to spend about $600 billion on AI infrastructure this year, and it’s reasonable to think Nvidia is in line for a lot of that money, Huang reasoned.

Stock markets fluctuated Wednesday as investors braced for a key earnings update from AI giant Nvidia, whose robust growth has largely driven strong gains for tech stocks in recent months.The tech-heavy Nasdaq index and the broader S&P 500 edged slightly higher after soft openings, ahead of the second-quarter results from Nvidia due out after Wall Street closes.The California firm then reported profits of $26.4 billion on $46.7 billion in revenue in the recently ended quarter, driven by demand for chips to power computing in datacenters.”The company has outgrown the tech sector and become the market’s lodestar,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.”The crowd wants reassurance that the AI revolution isn’t just smoke and mirrors.”In Europe, the Paris stock market bucked the downward trend by rebounding from Tuesday’s tumble, caused by fears that France’s minority government could be toppled after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou proposed a confidence vote over his proposed budget cuts.France’s borrowing costs have soared since the vote was called Monday, as the government wrestles with how to find around 44 billion euros ($51 billion) in savings.”Opposition parties have signalled they will not support Bayrou’s proposals, raising doubts about the government’s ability to pass its 2026 budget,” said David Morrison, an analyst at Trade Nation.In Asia, Shanghai’s market slid despite a surge by Cambricon — a leading Chinese chipmaker and a Nvidia competitor — on the heels of a record first-half profit posted Tuesday.Also heavily impacting markets this week has been a highly unusual move by Trump to fire a US Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook.He cited allegations of false statements on her mortgage applications, but Cook said Trump had no authority or legal cause to fire her and her lawyer announced a planned legal challenge on Tuesday.The step adds to fears about the independence of the central bank, fueled by Trump’s repeated public demands to Fed chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.Powell suggested last Friday that more cuts to US interest rates were on the horizon, causing stock markets to surge.Investors are now awaiting updates to US economic growth data due Thursday and a key inflation gauge Friday for clues on how far interest rates might fall in the coming months.- Key figures at around 2020 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 45,565.23 points (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,481.40 (close)New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.1 percent at 21,590.14 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,743.93 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 9,255.50 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 24,046.21 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 42,520.27 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 25,201.76 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.8 percent at 3,800.35 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1633 from $1.1637 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3496 from $1.3475Dollar/yen: UP at 147.51 yen from 147.45 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.20 pence from 86.36 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $64.15 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.2 percent at $68.05 per barrelpfc-bcp-js-bys/bgs

Stock markets fluctuated Wednesday as investors braced for a key earnings update from AI giant Nvidia, whose robust growth has largely driven strong gains for tech stocks in recent months.The tech-heavy Nasdaq index and the broader S&P 500 edged slightly higher after soft openings, ahead of the second-quarter results from Nvidia due out after Wall Street closes.”The company has outgrown the tech sector and become the market’s lodestar,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.”Analysts expect revenue to soar 53 percent to $46 billion, but this is about more than revenue beats,” he added. “The crowd wants reassurance that the AI revolution isn’t just smoke and mirrors.”In Europe, the Paris stock market bucked the downward trend by rebounding from Tuesday’s tumble, caused by fears that France’s minority government could be toppled after Prime Minister Francois Bayrou proposed a confidence vote over his proposed budget cuts.France’s borrowing costs have soared since the vote was called Monday, as the government wrestles with how to find around 44 billion euros ($51 billion) in savings.”Opposition parties have signalled they will not support Bayrou’s proposals, raising doubts about the government’s ability to pass its 2026 budget,” said David Morrison, an analyst at Trade Nation.In Asia, Shanghai’s market slid despite a surge by Cambricon — a leading Chinese chipmaker and a Nvidia competitor — on the heels of a record first-half profit posted Tuesday.Also heavily impacting markets this week has been a highly unusual move by Trump to fire a Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook.He cited allegations of false statements on her mortgage applications, but Cook said Trump had no authority or legal cause to fire her and her lawyer announced a planned legal challenge on Tuesday.The step adds to fears about the independence of the central bank, fuelled by Trump’s repeated public demands to Fed chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.Powell suggested last Friday that more cuts to US interest rates were on the horizon, causing stock markets to surge.Investors are now awaiting US economic growth data due Thursday and a key inflation gauge Friday for clues on how far interest rates might fall in the coming months.- Key figures at around 1540 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 45,529.62 pointsNew York – S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 6,477.08New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.1 percent at 21,572.99Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,743.93 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 9,255.50 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 24,046.21 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 42,520.27 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 25,201.76 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.8 percent at 3,800.35 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1608 from $1.1637 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3466 from $1.3475Dollar/yen: UP at 147.74 yen from 147.45 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.20 pence from 86.36 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $63.61 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $66.95 per barrel

When zombie-blasting survival game “Resident Evil” launched on the very first PlayStation console in 1996, Japanese publishers Capcom never thought the series would reach tens of millions of people or endure for three decades.The franchise has become Capcom’s biggest, spawning a string of sequels as well as film and TV spinoffs and competing over the years with the more psychological “Silent Hill” to give horror fans goosebumps.”I think it’s a miracle that we’ve made it this far” since the first episode, producer Masato Kumazawa told AFP through an interpreter at the vast Gamescom trade fair in Cologne, Germany, last week.”Requiem” — the ninth “Resident Evil” game — will land on February 27, although the opening minutes were available for fright-hungry gamers in Cologne.Protagonist Grace is seen being chased by a terrifying blind creature through the halls of a manor house.Where previous instalments have swept players off to Louisiana and eastern Europe, the new game follows an investigation by a young American woman into her mother’s death.It’s a return to a classic formula and the fictional Raccoon City setting of the first few games in the near-30-year-old series from publisher Capcom.”It was time after those two (previous) games to go back to a very well-known setting,” the game’s director Koshi Nakanishi said.More than 170 million copies of “Resident Evil” games have been sold over the franchise’s lifetime, with Capcom alternating between original instalments and remakes since 2017.That makes the series by far the Japanese publisher’s most valuable, ahead of well-loved properties like “Street Fighter” and “Monster Hunter”.- ‘Universal horror’ -“Surprise and freshness is what keeps the game selling even after 30 years,” Kumazawa said.Each instalment plays with locations, characters and gameplay styles — from high-octane third-person action to first-person survival adventures like “Requiem” in which players constantly feel hunted.Kumazawa added that while it’s made in Japan, the series is “culturally designed to be universal horror for all fans” worldwide.While the popularity of “Resident Evil” has inspired film and TV adaptations, it is not the only Japanese-made saga in the survival horror market.Three years younger than “Resident Evil”, the rival game “Silent Hill” has had a less linear journey.With it Stephen King-influenced atmosphere, the first two instalments scored moderate success before declining in the 2000s, prompting a 10-year hiatus.But all along “Silent Hill” producer Motoi Okamoto of publisher Konami was sniffing around the indie horror scene for the right developer.He ultimately landed on Polish studio Bloober Team — makers of games like “The Medium” and “Blair Witch” — to remake “Silent Hill 2”.With more than two million copies sold in the months after its October 2024 launch, that release reignited passion for the series and set up the upcoming “Silent Hill f”.- One ‘Silent Hill’ per year? -Set to appear on September 25, “f” tells the grisly story of a 1960s-era Japanese high school student, in an original scenario cooked up by Taiwanese studio NeoBards.The team moved on from the American setting of previous iterations as “that became very tiring on players, it became a very samey experience,” Okamoto said, also speaking through an interpreter.”To make Silent Hill stand out, we needed to partner up with these teams” who bring “a varied background of experience and… individuality,” he added.Bloober Team are already working on a remake of the original “Silent Hill”, while US studio Annapurna Interactive are co-developing another title — feeding Okamoto’s ambition to release one game per year in future.”Resident Evil” producer Kumazawa believes that the “two major Japanese survival horror franchises have stimulated each other” over the almost 30 years they’ve co-existed.But Okamoto sees two games offering “very different experiences”.His “Silent Hill” is “a psychological horror game, where you must face up to your own traumas,” he outlines.”Resident Evil” director Nakanishi, by contrast, highlights that in each game in the series “you always beat your enemy in the end.””It’s a very satisfying liberation from the tension that builds up throughout the game”.

US tariffs of 50 percent took effect Wednesday on many Indian products, doubling an existing duty as President Donald Trump sought to punish New Delhi for buying Russian oil.India has criticized the levies as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable,” with its export body calling on Wednesday for government intervention to assuage fears of heavy job cuts.Trump has raised pressure on India over the energy transactions, a key source of revenue for Moscow’s war in Ukraine, as part of a campaign to end the conflict.The latest salvo strains US-India ties, giving New Delhi fresh incentive to improve relations with Beijing.But US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business on Wednesday that Trump had good ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”I think at the end of the day, we will come together,” he said.While Trump has slapped fresh duties on allies and competitors alike since returning to the presidency in January, this 50-percent level is among the highest that US trading partners face.Crucially, however, exemptions remain for sectors that could be hit with separate levies — such as pharmaceuticals, computer chips and smartphones.Industries that have already been singled out, such as steel, aluminum and automobiles, are similarly spared these countrywide duties.The United States was India’s top export destination in 2024, with shipments worth $87.3 billion.But analysts have cautioned that a 50-percent duty is akin to a trade embargo and is likely to harm smaller firms.Exporters of textiles, seafood and jewelry were already reporting cancelled US orders and losses to rivals such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, raising fears of heavy job cuts.Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, called for “liquidity support from the government.””We want to ensure that even if business stops, we are able to keep workers on the payroll”, he told AFP, saying they were “still optimistic” for  trade negotiations.- ‘Eroded trust’ -The world’s fifth-largest economy is looking to cushion the blow, with Modi promising to lower the tax burden on citizens during an annual speech to mark India’s independence.Modi earlier vowed self-reliance, pledging to defend his country’s interests.The foreign ministry previously said India had begun importing oil from Russia as traditional supplies were diverted to Europe over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.It noted that Washington actively encouraged such imports at the time to strengthen stability in the global energy market.Russia accounted for nearly 36 percent of India’s total crude oil imports in 2024. Buying Russian oil saved India billions of dollars on import costs, keeping domestic fuel prices relatively stable.But the Trump administration held firm on its tariff plans in the lead-up to Wednesday’s deadline.Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro told reporters last week that “India doesn’t appear to want to recognize its role in the bloodshed.””It’s cozying up to Xi Jinping,” Navarro added, referring to the Chinese president.Wendy Cutler, from the Asia Society Policy Institute, said India had moved from being “a promising candidate for an early trade deal to a nation facing among the highest tariffs.”Cutler, a former US trade official, told AFP that the “high tariffs have quickly eroded trust between the two countries, which could take years to rebuild.”Trump has used tariffs as a tool for addressing everything from what Washington deems as unfair trade practices to trade imbalances.US trade deficits were a key justification behind his higher duties on dozens of economies taking effect in early August — hitting partners from the European Union to Indonesia.But the 79-year-old Republican has also taken aim at specific countries such as Brazil over the trial of its former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is accused of plotting a coup.US tariffs on many Brazilian goods surged to 50 percent this month, but with broad exemptions.