Top headlines: Sep services growth at 6-month low; Dabur flags margin hit

Dabur India flags up to 200 bps margin hit in Q2 as inflation bites

Consumer goods major Dabur India on Thursday warned that soaring inflation during the second quarter could lower its operating margin by around 150-200 basis points year-on-year, while revenue likely grew in mid-single digits.

"During the quarter, inflation was at peak levels which impacted gross margins," Dabur said in a regulatory filing. Read more

Services PMI at 54.3 in Sep; slowest expansion in 6 months amid weak demand

Growth in India's services industry slumped in September to a six-month low, led by a substantial easing in demand amid high inflation, a private survey showed.

The S&P Global India services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 54.3 in September from August's 57.2, much lower than the Reuters poll expectation for a gentle drop to 57.0. Read more

35 die in attack beginning at Thailand childcare centre; gunman kills self

At least 24 children and 11 adults were killed Thursday in an attack that began at a childcare center in northeastern Thailand, authorities said. The gunman then fled the scene, shooting from his car as he drove home, where he killed his wife and child before taking his own life, police said.

The initial attack came at about 12:30 p.m. when the man, identified as a former police officer, entered the childcare center in the town of Nongbua Lamphu, authorities said. Read more

French author Annie Ernaux wins 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature

French author Annie Ernaux was awarded this year's Nobel Prize in literature for "the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory, the Swedish Academy said on Thursday.

Ernaux, 82, started out writing autobiographical novels, but quickly abandoned fiction in favour of memoirs. Read more