Good morning and happy Monday to you!

This is the daily morning update from NDTV Profit. Over the next few minutes, we’ll bring you up to speed with everything you need to know to start your day ahead of the curve.

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The top story this morning once again emanates from the White House, or actually, this time it was on Air Force One. US President Donald Trump said yesterday that he would announce today new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the US, which would come on top of existing metals duties.

He also said he would announce reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday, to take effect almost immediately. The US would match tariff rates levied by other countries and this would apply to all countries, he said.

The comments came just after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the European Union was ready to respond “within an hour” if the US levied tariffs on European goods, highlighting the risks of an escalating trade war. China’s retaliatory tariffs on some US exports are due to take effect on Monday, with no sign as yet of progress between Beijing and Washington.

The prevailing thesis is that countries targeted by Trump will let their currencies fall against the dollar to help compensate in part for the taxes, keeping their exports competitive. What the tariffs do, though, is to raise prices — an inflationary trend that is not good for the US economy. As of this morning, the dollar index was once again well above 108, reflecting more strength than it did at the end of last week.

Meanwhile, US job growth slowed more than expected in January, likely on account of wildfires in California and cold weather across much of the country, but a 4.0% unemployment rate probably gives the Federal Reserve enough cover to not cut interest rates at least until June.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 143,000 jobs last month after rising by an upwardly revised 307,000 in December. That’s a Reuters report.

In other international news, China’s consumer inflation accelerated to its fastest in five months in January, while producer price deflation persisted, reflecting mixed consumer spending and weak factory activity.

As of this morning, the early risers in the Asia Pacific region were all trading lower. And US futures were also down.

In the top news back home, the Bharatiya Janata Party has sought a meeting of the newly elected party MLAs with Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. That’s a day after the party registered a landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly election. The BJP has returned to power in Delhi after 26 years, defeating the AAP in the assembly polls. The AAP managed to win 22 of the 70 assembly seats, while the Congress drew a blank. Crucially, former Chief Minister and head of the party Arvind Kejriwal was defeated by the BJP’s Parvesh Singh Verma.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi handed over her resignation yesterday.

In other news, the new Income Tax Bill was granted approval in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. The legislation will be introduced in the Parliament this week and will be subsequently sent to the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance.

In corporate news, Bajaj Auto is gearing up to enter the domestic e-rickshaw segment by the end of this financial year to tap a “sizable opportunity” in a fast-growing, but highly unorganised market. The company expects to get regulatory clearances towards the end of the ongoing quarter for its e-rickshaw that will enable it to enter the segment, which is currently about 45,000 units a month, according to Bajaj Auto Executive Director Rakesh Sharma, who was speaking to analysts.

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