Business
Sensex, Nifty Slip Ahead Of US Fed Decision; Sensex Falls 275 Points
Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower on Wednesday as investors stayed cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision due later in the day.
The Sensex fell 275.01 points, or 0.32 per cent, to finish at 84,391.27. The Nifty also slipped 81.65 points, or 0.32 per cent, to settle at 25,758.
“Structurally, Nifty continues to face strong supply in the 25,940–26,050 zone, keeping the broader setup range-bound to mildly bullish,” market watchers said.
“A decisive breakout above 26,000 remains essential to revive upside momentum. On the downside, a sustained break below 25,700 could expose the index to 25,600–25,500, with volatility expected to intensify near these support clusters,” they added.
Bank Nifty also ended marginally lower — indicating a pause in the prevailing uptrend rather than a trend reversal.
The index opened near 59,280, moved up to 59,440, but later slipped to an intra-day low of 58,850 before closing around 58,990, down nearly 0.4 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and ITC were the top performers. On the other hand, Eternal, Trent and Bharti Airtel dragged the index down with notable losses.
The mood was weak in the broader market as well. The Nifty MidCap 100 index declined 1.12 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap 100 index shed 0.90 per cent by the close.
Sector-wise, consumer durables stocks saw the sharpest fall, with the Nifty Consumer Durables index tumbling 1.72 per cent.
IT and PSU bank shares also slipped, down 0.89 per cent and 0.70 per cent, respectively.
In contrast, Nifty Metal and Nifty Media indices ended the day on a positive note, emerging as the top sectoral gainers.
“Focus now shifts to the upcoming US Fed meeting, where a 25-bps rate cut is widely expected,” experts stated.
“However, internal divisions and mixed economic indicators may temper expectations for further rate cuts in 2026,” they added.
Construction company Alquist 3D worked with Walmart last year to build a nearly 8,000-square-foot 3D printed addition to its store in Athens, Tennessee.
Alquist
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Walmart partnered with construction company Alquist 3D last year to build an almost 8,000-square-foot addition to its store in Athens, Tennessee, for online order pickup and delivery services. It is the largest 3D-printed commercial structure in the U.S. and, despite a bumpy start, a key proof of concept for the technology’s commercial viability.
Alquist, based in Greeley, Colorado, just announced it will now print more than a dozen new Walmart buildings, as well as buildings for other commercial retailers, in what is arguably the largest-scale commercial real estate deployment of this technology, which has mostly been used in residential construction so far.
As part of that deal, Sika, one of the world’s largest construction materials companies, with a heavy focus on sustainability, will provide materials to Alquist for all future 3D-printed projects and licensees. This will streamline Alquist’s national pipeline, lower material and freight costs, and accelerate development of more sustainable mixes for large-scale 3D-printed construction — including the commercial projects rolling out with Walmart, according to Alquist.
“This collaboration positions Sika at the forefront of next-generation construction, opening new markets and creating long-term growth opportunities,” said Noah Callantine, 3D concrete printing engineer and field service specialist with Sika.
It is a clear turning point in CRE construction, which has been notoriously slow to modernize. The new technology has started to grow in the homebuilding market, but has been far slower in commercial construction, simply due to the size of the printers needed to create larger buildings.
Alquist, which designs and builds the larger-scale printers, as well as develops the code and software to operate them, started in the residential sector. It is now partnering with a large equipment rental dealer and a full-service general contractor to scale the technology commercially nationwide. Doing so helps to lower the high cost of materials, as well as the labor, which needs to be both trained and local, according to Alquist.
“The way to bring prices down [for] anything is to get volume, and as you get volume, you get the attention of suppliers. They see that it matters, and the more that they make, the cheaper that they can bring their supply chain down,” said Patrick Callahan, CEO of Alquist.
Growing pains
Construction company Alquist 3D worked with Walmart last year to build a nearly 8,000-square-foot 3D printed addition to its store in Athens, Tennessee.
Alquist
Callahan’s background is in defense technology, not construction, and he has positioned Alquist as a tech company. He said he follows the mandate of company founder Zach Mannheimer to find ways to build residential and commercial buildings and infrastructure faster, cheaper, better and greener.
He admitted the first project in Athens took far too long, as they worked out the kinks in both managing the materials and implementing the technology to print their first commercial building.
“It was a sort of classic Silicon Valley failing forward job,” Callahan said. “We were not part of the design process. They changed permitting. … The general contractor that we fell under met us about a week before we started, and nobody had ever done this before.”
The second project, a 5,000-square-foot Walmart pickup center in Huntsville, Alabama, took just seven days to complete.
3D labor
While the projects take far fewer workers, they need to be more highly trained than typical construction trades. Alquist partners with trade schools for its curriculum, introducing robotics and green materials. Callahan said that has been more attractive to what has been a severely reduced construction labor market in recent years.
“You’re not necessarily throwing rocks around up on a scaffolding, but using robotics in a safe, clean environment,” Callahan said. “We’ve seen a lot of what used to be traditional construction folks that kind of pushed back, they’re now leaning in.”
Growing competition
Icon Build, the largest residential 3D printing technology company, is also starting to dip its toes into commercial construction. It has completed a hotel project and is now in talks with potential commercial partners, including for construction of data centers. Its forthcoming Titan printer will be able to handle those larger-scale projects.
“I think once that’s out in the world, showing what it can do, verifying the cost estimations that we’re making to customers, I think that’ll probably open a lot of people’s eyes,” said Jason Ballard, co-founder and CEO of Icon. “I think we should expect to see a lot of interest in alternative ways of construction, data centers and other kinds of commercial things as well.”
But Ballard sees more headwinds than Callahan, particularly when it comes to labor. He said data centers are already “sucking up a lot of the labor in the market.” He added that 3D printing for commercial buildings will have similar pressures as residential to build more affordably and more quickly relative to conventional construction methods.
That said, Ballard said next year Icon will be manufacturing at least one of the new Titan printers each month, setting itself up to scale construction dramatically. Those printers will be able to create most types of industrial commercial buildings, although they are not ready for high rises.
“If we do what I expect that we’re going to be able to do next year and show, both on the revenue side, the cost side, the technology advancement side — I think we’ll grow over 300% next year, and we were already pretty busy this year,” Ballard said. “I think the world’s going to start to say, perhaps there are real opportunities to do better, beyond the pilot scale.”
Business
Gold price today: How much 22K, 24K costs in Delhi, Mumbai – Check rates – The Times of India
Gold prices showed a mixed trend on Wednesday, with domestic futures inching up even as international rates dipped. On the Multi Commodity Exchange, February gold futures rose by Rs 173 to Rs 1,30,280 per 10 grams, while Comex gold for the same month traded marginally lower at $4,234.3 an ounce.Gold price in your city today:
Gold rate in Delhi today
In the national capital, 22K gold is currently priced at Rs 11,960 per gram, while 24K gold is selling at Rs 13,046 per gram.
Gold rate in Mumbai today
Mumbai is seeing 22K gold at Rs 11,945 per gram, and 24K gold available at Rs 13,031 per gram.
Gold rate in Bengaluru today
Bengaluru markets list 22K gold at Rs 11,945 per gram, whereas 24K gold is priced at Rs 13,031 per gram.
Gold rate in Chennai today
Chennai continues to record among the highest figures, with 22K gold marked at Rs 12,030 per gram and 24K gold at Rs 13,124 per gram.
Gold rate in Kolkata today
In Kolkata, 22K gold is being sold at Rs 11,945 per gram, while 24K gold is available at Rs 13,031 per gram.
Gold rate in Hyderabad today
In Hyderabad, 22K gold is priced at Rs 11,945 per gram, and 24K gold at Rs 13,031 per gram.
Gold rate in Ahmedabad today
Ahmedabad buyers are paying Rs 11,950 per gram for 22K gold and Rs 13,036 per gram for 24K gold.
Gold rate in Jaipur today
Jaipur has 22K gold priced at Rs 11,960 per gram, and 24K gold tagged at Rs 13,046 per gram.
Gold rate in Bhubaneswar today
In Bhubaneswar, 22K gold stands at Rs 11,945 per gram, while 24K gold is quoted at Rs 13,031 per gram.
Gold rate in Kanpur today
Kanpur’s market shows 22K gold at Rs 11,960 per gram, with 24K gold selling for Rs 13,046 per gram.
The price of silver has hit a record high ahead of an expected US Federal Reserve interest rate cut and as demand from the technology industry for the precious metal remains high.
Silver crossed $60 (£45.10) an ounce on the spot market, where the precious metal is bought and sold for immediate delivery, for the first time on Tuesday.
Gold, which hit record highs earlier this year as concerns grew about the impact of US tariffs and the global economic outlook, also made gains this week.
Investors tend to move money into precious metals like gold and silver as interest rates come down and the US dollar weakens.
The US central bank is widely expected to cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday.
When interest rates are cut, traders typically buy assets like silver because the benefits of keeping cash in the bank or buying short-term bonds falls, said Yeow Hee Chua from the Nanyang Technological University.
“That naturally shifts demand toward assets viewed as stores of value, including silver,” he said.
The move into so-called “safe-haven” assets was also a key reason for gold hitting new record highs in recent months, as it crossed $4,000 an ounce for the first time.
Silver’s rally could also be seen a “spillover effect” from the jump in the value of gold as investors look for cheaper alternatives, said OCBC bank analyst Christopher Wong.
Gold has gained more than 50% this year, partly due to major purchases by central banks. The price of platinum and palladium have also climbed this year.
Experts say the value of silver was also pushed up as strong demand from the technology industry outstripped supplies.
That has helped more than double the value of silver this year as it outperformed other precious metals, including gold.
“Silver is not only an investment asset but also a physical resource,” and more manufacturers are finding a need for the material, said Kosmas Marinakis from the Singapore Management University.
The precious metal, which conducts electricity better than gold or copper, is used to produce goods like electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels.
Experts predict that rising sales of EVs will further push up demand for silver, while advanced batteries for the cars will require even more of the metal.
But it is difficult to quickly increase silver supplies as the majority of global output is a by-product from mines that mainly extract other metals like lead, copper or gold.
The price of silver is also being boosted by concerns that the US may impose tariffs on it as part of President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
Fears of potential tariffs have also led to stockpiling of silver in the US, resulting in shortages elsewhere in the world.
The US imports about two-thirds of its silver, which is used for manufacturing as well as jewellery and investment.
Manufacturers have been racing to secure supplies to ensure their operations are not interrupted by shortages, which has helped to push up prices on global markets, said Prof Marinakis.
He added that he expects the price of silver to remain high in the coming months.
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