India's Landmark Deal / Top 20 Asset Classes
In a landmark deal, India will lift almost all tariffs on four European nations, heralding what has been described as a "watershed" agreement. It is expected to generate USD100bn in investment and one billion jobs for the world’s fifth-largest economy over the next 15 years. The trade agreement, which was signed with the nations of the European Free Trade Association, not part of the EU, comes just before the country's general elections in a few months’ time, which might secure Prime Minister Narendra Modi a third consecutive term.
Over recent years, the Indian government has completed a series of significant trade agreements, with a UK deal also on the horizon.
Modi said on social media that the agreement "represents a new chapter and a watershed moment in the bilateral relations between India and the European Free Trade Association countries of Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein”.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also expressed optimism that the free trade agreement would boost India's principal exports, including IT services, business services, and audio-visual services. Furthermore, the agreement introduces provisions for mutual recognition in various professional services, such as nursing, chartered accountants, and architects, the press release stated.
Also, we came across a table yesterday of the top 20 asset classes by dollar value. The top asset class by a country mile is Gold, worth nearly USD14.7tn. This is followed by five of the Magnificent Seven with Saudi’s Aramco splitting them. After its meteoric rise over the last 18 months, Bitcoin now has the 8th largest market cap of just over USD1.4tn, surpassing Silver at USD1.4tn. The only other asset class in the top 20 that is not a stock was the blockchain platform, Ethereum, now worth USD486bn, overtaking Walmart in 20th place.
The global cryptocurrency market cap now stands at USD2.5tn.
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