Bhaskar Prasad

“Narcopolis,” the debut novel by Jeet Thayil which has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, is perceived to be a reflection of the life of the author since the experience of the protagonist, who is drawn to Mumbai’s underworld, is said to have some similarity with that of the novelist. But in an exclusive interview with the International Business Times, Thayil categorically denies that the novel is a reflection of his life.

Most of the Asian markets rose Thursday as investor sentiment turned positive by the upward trend of the U.S. economy following the encouraging jobs data and services activity index.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a lower open Wednesday as market sentiment continue to be weighed down by fears of the mounting debt pressure faced by the euro zone as Spain has not yet sought help to reduce its borrowing costs.

European markets fell Wednesday as investor sentiment turned negative with concerns over the mounting debt pressure faced by the euro zone as Spain has not yet sought help to reduce its borrowing costs.

China's non-manufacturing activity declined in September compared to that in the previous month, increasing the concerns over the slowdown in the economic growth of the country.

Asian markets rose Wednesday as investors remained hopeful that policymakers in China would soon announce stimulus measures to bolster the world’s second largest economy.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a slightly higher open Tuesday as investors maintain a watchful mode amid the continuing concerns over the weakening global economic growth.

European markets fell Tuesday as investor sentiment turned negative with concerns of the mounting debt pressure faced by the euro zone as Spain has not yet sought help to reduce its increasing borrowing costs.

Asian markets rose Tuesday as investor confidence was lifted by the upward trend of the U.S. economy following improvement in the country’s manufacturing activity in September.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Monday ahead of the Institute of Supply Management’s (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index data.

European markets rose Monday as investor sentiment turned positive with expectations that Spain would soon seek help to reduce its increasing debt burden.

China's manufacturing activity in September continued to remain in the phase of contraction, increasing the concerns over the slowdown in the economic growth of the world's second largest economy.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell Monday as investor confidence was weighed down by the rising concerns about the worsening global economic conditions following the disappointing data which showed the weakening Japanese business conditions and Chinese manufacturing activity.

With China’s economy slowing down as a result of weakness of investment and export demand, market participants are calling for urgent policy easing measures to bolster economic growth.

Asian markets were mixed in the week as investors maintained a cautious mode waiting to find if the debt crisis in the euro zone, which is weakening the global economic growth, will undermine the stimulus measures announced by policy makers around the world.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a slightly higher open Friday ahead of the personal income and spending data for August to be released by the Commerce Department.

European markets rose Friday as investors were hopeful that France would follow Spain to announce budget cuts to reduce deficit and help control the debt pressure faced by the euro zone.

Most of the Asian markets rose Friday as investor confidence was lifted after Spain announced budget cuts to control the rising debt pressure affecting the country’s economy.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Thursday ahead of the Labor Department's weekly jobless claims data, the Census Bureau's durable goods orders data and Bureau of Economic Analysis’s gross domestic product report.

European markets were rose Thursday as investor sentiment turned positive with expectations that Spain will soon seek help to reduce its increasing debt burden.

Most of the Asian markets rose Thursday as investor confidence was lifted by hopes that China would soon announce monetary easing measures to rejuvenate the economic growth momentum.

European markets were mixed Tuesday as investor confidence was weighed down by concerns that the debt crisis faced by the euro zone is intensifying as optimism about the stimulus measures began to fade.

Asian markets remained in a tight range Tuesday as investors continued to maintain a cautious mode to find where the global economy is heading following the announcement of the stimulus measures announced this month by the policymakers around the world.

European markets fell Monday as investor confidence was weighed down by concerns that the debt crisis faced by the euro zone is intensifying amid disagreement between Germany and France.

Most of the Asian markets fell Monday as investor confidence was weighed down by the revival of concerns over the debt crisis affecting the euro zone and the economic slowdown faced by China.

The decision by the Indian government to liberalize foreign investment has helped give the much needed boost to market confidence.

Most of the Asian markets fell in the week as investor confidence was weighed down by the intensifying tensions between China and Japan, raising concerns of economic slowdown and undermining the stimulus measures announced by the Bank of Japan.

The U.S. stock index futures point to a higher open Friday amid investor hopes that the stimulus measures announced this month by policymakers around the world will be able to rejuvenate global economic growth momentum.

The German DAX 30 index advanced 0.40 percent or 29.68 points to 7419.17. Shares of Commerzbank AG rose 0.84 percent and shares of Volkswagen AG climbed 0.70 percent.