Vijay Kumar Putcha
Market Updates
Blog Id: 46 # 2026-03-21 21:00:59
Global FX derivatives volumes increase
Global foreign exchange derivatives reached $6.6 trillion in average daily turnover (ADT) in April 2025. This is double than what we had in 2013. London still remains the world's largest FX trading centre with 37.7% of market share, the US market share is 14.9%, EU's market share is 10.4%. The main participants were dealers handling almost 50% of global turnover with the rest scattered between smaller banks, investment banks and buy-side firms.
Blog Id: 45 # 2026-03-21 20:48:16
US aircraft losses in Iran conflict in 4 weeks of war
As per a Bloomberg report, at least 16 US military aircrafts have been lost since the start of Iran war.
1) 3 F-15s (due to friendly fire);
2) 6 KC-135s (1 during refuelling operations, 5 by Iranian missiles while parked at a Saudi Arabia airfield;
3) 10 Reaper strike drones;
4) 1 F-35 (possibly due to Iranian strike)
Blog Id: 44 # 2026-03-21 20:25:45
UBS received banking license in USA
UBS received a national banking license in the United States. It now plans to expand its banking and wealth management services in the US.
Blog Id: 43 # 2026-03-19 18:51:47
Return Right
The Singapore government has launched a new plastic bottle recycling scheme called 'Return Right'. Under the scheme, pre-packaged beverages in plastic and metal containers ranging from 150 milliliters and 3 liters will carry a 10-cent deposit. These containers will feature a Deposit Mark and can be returned at any of the "Return Right" Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) across Singapore to redeem the deposit.
Blog Id: 42 # 2026-03-19 18:46:05
ICE launches private credit platform
The Intercontinental Exchange launched a private credit platform to address transparency concerns. The private credit market is now more than $40 trillion in size; it has grown significantly in the last decade.
Blog Id: 41 # 2026-03-19 18:40:28
EU, Inc.
EU, Inc., is a proposal by the European Union to make it easier for firms to start and grow business in Europe. Any entrepreneur would be able to create a company within 48 hours, from anywhere in the European Union, and fully online. The proposal, if adopted, would create a single EU-wide regime and operate across the 27-member bloc.
Blog Id: 40 # 2026-03-19 18:35:22
Reduction in oil usage
It is estimated that due to the growing use of electric vehicles (EV's), the consumption of oil, globally, reduced by 2.3 million barrels per day in 2025.
Blog Id: 39 # 2026-03-16 18:22:15
Production of critical raw materials
A few countries dominate the production of critical raw materials.
1) Precious metals by South Africa.
2) Magnesium by China.
3) Lithium by Australia.
4) Platinum by South Africa.
5) Inorganic and Organic compounds of precious metals by China.
6) Cobalt by Democratic Republic of Congo.
7) Rare-earth elements by China.
8) Other non-ferrous minor metals by China.
Blog Id: 38 # 2026-03-16 18:18:39
Banana's that don't brown
Tropic Biosciences, a British gene-editing start-up, has raised $105 million in new financing to expand production of bananas that don't brown. Check their website - https://tropic.bio/
Blog Id: 37 # 2026-03-16 18:16:27
Cost of US-Israel's war on Iran - initial estimates
The cost of first week of war for US is estimated at $11.3 billion.
The cost of first 12 days of war for US is estimated at $16.5 billion.
The cost for Israel is unknown, but it could be in a few billions of dollars.
Blog Id: 36 # 2026-03-16 18:09:54
Fresh water troubles
It is estimated that 6.1 billion people live in countries where fresh water supplies are insecure or critically insecure. This is more than 70% of the world population.
Blog Id: 35 # 2026-03-16 18:03:45
UniCredit makes takeover bid for Commerzbank
UniCredit's market capitalisation is EUR 96.5 billion; Commerzbank's market capitalisation is EUR 33.4 billion. Commerzbank is relatively a smaller bank than UniCredit on many metrics. UniCredit has been trying to acquire Commerzbank for quite some time now. The European Central Bank (ECB) has been promoting bank mergers in Europe to counter the growing presence of large US banks in Europe.
Blog Id: 34 # 2026-03-15 07:05:32
Revolut gets banking license
Revolut, Europe's most valuable start-up, received regulatory approval to launch a British Bank. Currently, it operates as a financial services firm from London. With this banking license, it would be able to compete directly with the likes of Barclays and Lloyds and NatWest. It was founded in 2015, has more than 65 million customers globally and is valued at $75 billion.
Blog Id: 33 # 2026-03-09 10:24:10
Global shipping choke points
The following are the global shipping choke points, measured in terms of number of ships that pass in a year. 1) South China Sea = 30%; 2) Mallaca Strait = 28%; 3) English Channel = 24%; 4) Gibraltar Strait = 23%; 5) East China Sea = 21%; 6) Suez Canal = 19%; 7) Danish Strait = 5%; 8) Bosporous Strait = 5%; 9) Strait of Hormuz = 4%. If we measure it in terms of value of goods, the order will change.
Blog Id: 32 # 2026-03-09 10:05:14
China's Hydropower
The world’s largest hydro power station is at The Three Gorges Dam on the river Yangtze.
China now has 421 GW of hydropower - more than all the hydro-power plants in France, Spain and the UK combined.
Blog Id: 31 # 2026-03-09 09:46:19
Plastic problem
About 430 million tons of plastic is produced annually; 2/3rd of it is for short-term use. This amount is set to triple by 2060. It is estimated that more than $1 trillion is needed in investment in non-OECD countries alone to prevent plastic from leaking into the environment. Some companies like Nestle and Pepsico are claiming to be plastic neutral by paying third parties to collect thrash and pass it on to cement producers for use as fuel in factories. “Plastic Offsets” akin to “Carbon Offsets” represent a ton of plastic collected and processed or recycled.
Blog Id: 30 # 2026-03-05 18:31:03
AI tech company's debt issuance
AI tech companies are issuing debt to fund their capital requirements. Google has recently issued $32 billion in debt (corporate bonds denominated in sterling and Swiss-Franc). The following are some recent debt issuance numbers:
1) Meta = $30 billion;
2) Oracle = $43 billion;
3) Alphabet = $37.5 billion;
4) Amazon = $15 billion
Blog Id: 29 # 2026-03-05 18:26:53
BJP - the world's largest political party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the largest political party in the world with 140 million members, out of which 20 million are active members. Importantly, it has $1.3 billion in cash reserves. In 2014, the party received Rs. 6.25 billion in voluntary contributions. In 2024, it received almost ten times more - Rs. 61.24 billion. In comparison, its biggest national rival - the Indian National Congress Party - received 1/10th in 2024.
Blog Id: 28 # 2026-03-05 18:17:38
Data centers waiting for power
It is reported that some data centers in the US are waiting for 7 years to hook-up to power. Data centers require enormous power to run. Take your house power consumption and increase that by 10,000 - that is the amount of power required to run medium sized data center.
Blog Id: 27 # 2026-03-05 18:13:47
World's biggest polluters
China, India and US combined together emit 50% of the world's greenhouse gases.
China = 29.2%;
US = 11.1%;
India = 8.2%;
EU27 = 6%;
Russia = 4.8%;
Indonesia = 2.5%;
Brazil = 2.4%;
Japan = 2.0%;
Iran = 2.0%
Blog Id: 26 # 2026-03-05 18:10:30
China's electricity generation
China is building nation-sized power systems every year. It is adding more capacity in a year than most countries in total.
Installed capacity at end of 2024 is:
China = 3891 GW
China in the past four years = 1,515 GW
US = 1,373 GW
China in 2025 = 543 GW
India = 483 GW
Germany = 264 GW
Japan = 294 GW
Brazil = 259 GW
France = 150 GW
Spain = 145 GW
Blog Id: 25 # 2026-03-04 21:40:09
US job cuts
US companies announced 1,08,435 job cuts in January 2026, which is 118% more than January 2025 cuts. The current US unemployment rate is 4.4%.
Blog Id: 24 # 2026-03-04 21:37:57
Concealed car door handles banned in China
China bans concealed car door handles on EV cars (EV cars only). It is the first country to do so due to recent accidents.
Blog Id: 23 # 2026-03-04 21:31:49
Meta and AI
Meta (Facebook) is planning to invest about $135 billion in 2026 in AI infrastructure such as data centers, chips and other equipment. This is 50% more than it did in 2025.
Blog Id: 22 # 2026-03-04 21:30:08
Fed Vault and German Gold
Eighty feet below the streets of Manhattan there is a New York Federal Reserve vault that contains billions of dollars of German gold. Some reports suggests that Germany wants to get some of it back to Germany.
Blog Id: 21 # 2026-03-04 21:27:35
OpenClaw - digital personal assistant
Clawbot, an open AI agent, is getting popular. It is a digital personal assistant that can do tasks such as summarizing newsfeeds and filing out medical paperwork. It was developed by a software engineer named Peter Steinberger.
https://openclaw.ai/
Blog Id: 20 # 2026-03-04 21:20:10
Euronext's new CSD model
Euronext plans to create a new CSD model, offering a single platform for settlement and clearing in Europe.
Blog Id: 19 # 2026-03-04 21:09:14
Green bonds issuance in 2025
Globally, $947 billion of green bonds have been issued in 2025.
Blog Id: 18 # 2026-03-04 21:08:04
Food wastage
More than 1 billion tonnes of food is wasted each year.
Blog Id: 17 # 2026-03-04 21:07:31
The new crossing rule at LME
The Crossing Rule at LME will allow members to cross orders through LME Select under certain circumstances. This is introduced to facilitate block trades.
Blog Id: 16 # 2026-03-04 21:05:22
Rising US equity trading volumes
US equity trading volumes surpass $1 trillion a day.
Blog Id: 15 # 2026-03-04 21:04:19
Rising cost of private school tuition fees in the US
Top schools in the US are charging more than $70,000 a year in tuition fees, an amount which exceeds that of many elite colleges. The median private school tuition fee is about $40,000.
Blog Id: 14 # 2026-03-04 19:34:31
US ETFs in 2025
In 2025, US ETFs raised $923.7 billion, out of which a third ($261.6 billion) is for active ETFs; the rest is for passive ETFs.
Blog Id: 13 # 2026-03-04 19:32:51
Strait of Hormuz
The strait of hormuz handles 25% of the world's seaborne oil trade.
Blog Id: 12 # 2026-03-04 19:30:53
Reflect Orbital
It is a start-up company that wants to put about 4,000 satellites in space to use them as mirrors to reflect sunlight on solar farms at night.
https://www.reflectorbital.com/
Blog Id: 11 # 2026-03-04 19:29:15
MSCI World Index
This index accounts for about $85 trillion in market capitalisation and is widely followed. It tracks large and mid-cap stocks across 23 developed market economies.
Blog Id: 10 # 2026-03-04 19:26:12
CBOE Europe closes
CBOE Europe has closed its CBOE Europe Derivatives exchange on 27th February 2026. After this closing, the European equity derivatives will have only two platforms - 1) Eurex, and 2) Euronext.
Blog Id: 9 # 2026-03-04 19:24:10
All women bond trading desk
Italian bank - Banco Promos - has created an all-women fixed income trading desk. The desk contains 8 traders and is located in Naples. It specialises in fixed income securities of emerging markets and Eurobonds.
Blog Id: 8 # 2026-03-04 19:21:04
India's Crude Oil Consumption
India is the world's 3rd largest oil importer. It buys about 5 million barrels of crude a day, costing about $320 million.
Blog Id: 7 # 2026-03-04 19:19:18
India's holding of US Treasuries
India's holding of US treasuries have fallen to a 5-year low as it looks to diversify its reserves.
Blog Id: 6 # 2026-03-04 09:44:13
Japanese bond yields
In the last five years (2020 to 2025), yields on Japanese government bonds have surged from close to 0% to 3.5%, most of this increase happened in the last one year.
Currently, the 30-year JGB is at 3.5%, and the 1-year JGB is at 2%.
Blog Id: 5 # 2026-03-04 09:41:25
US asset managers holding of foreign equity assets
US fund managers manager over $130 trillion of assets but they only have 11% of equity holdings in foreign markets (outside US markets).
Blog Id: 4 # 2026-03-04 09:30:34
TIGER - exemption regime
TIGER - Temporary Intragroup Exemption Regime. TIGER allows UK counterparties to apply for intragroup exemptions under UK EMIR when trading OTC derivatives with group entities in non-equivalent jurisdictions.
Blog Id: 3 # 2026-03-04 09:28:32
ESMA-RBI MOU
ESMA and RBI signed an MOU to facilitate cooperation and exchange of information for the recognition of ESMA of CCPs established in India and supervised by the RBI.
Blog Id: 2 # 2026-03-04 09:04:31
Basel 3.1 in UK
PRA publishes final rules for implementation of Basel 3.1. The policy statement is called PS1/26.
The policy document contains (1) final rules, and (2) supervisory expectations.
The Basel 3.1 rules will apply from January 1, 2027 in the UK, with the exception of FRTB-IMA, which will come into effect on January 1, 2028.
Blog Id: 1 # 2026-03-04 08:58:03
US Treasury Clearing
SEC's mandate on US treasury clearing will come into effect from end of 2026. The regulators (SEC and CFTC) will allow cross-margining between FICC and CME.