Thirteen Indian states allow lotteries, which generate tax revenue and attract lower-income groups in the hope of a life-changing win. Kerala leads in lottery revenues, followed by Bengal. However, profit margins are declining, and there are stories of winners facing challenges and losers clinging to hope. Despite the drawbacks, the lottery business continues to thrive due to the promise of wealth.
Wall Street’s main stock indexes rallied on Friday as bond yields fell sharply after data showed signs of slowing U.S. jobs growth and an uptick in unemployment, boosting hopes that the Federal Reserve is done with its interest rate hiking campaign. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 150,000 jobs in October, much less than the expected 180,000 increase, partly due to strikes at Detroit’s Big Three automakers. Data for the last month was revised lower to show an increase of 297,000 instead of 336,000. The jobs data also helped push U.S. Treasury yields lower for the fourth consecutive session. The move in yields supported stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 222.24 points, or 0.66%, to 34,061.32, the S&P 500 gained 40.56 points, or 0.94%, to 4,358.34 and the Nasdaq Composite added 184.09 points, or 1.38%, to 13,478.28. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 5.9%, for its biggest gain since November 2022 and Nasdaq added 6.6%, also showing its biggest gain since Nov. 2022. The Dow showed a weekly gain of 5.1%, its biggest since late October 2022.
