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https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/bitcoin-dazzles-silver-shines-in-2020-equity-surprises-positively/articleshow/80042692.cms |
Agencies
NEW DELHI: Cryptocurrency turned out to be the asset class of the year as it surged sharply, followed by precious metals silver and gold, which also delivered solid returns for the year gone by.In the base metals pack, barring lead, most counters gave returns in their 20s and 30s, riding on the recovery in manufacturing demand after the pandemic, but agro-commodities faltered as market expected a bumper crop.Returns from equities and equity funds were the highlights of the year, as Sensex and Nifty saw rapid recovery to record highs from a historic crash. Midcaps and smallcaps also came into their own.Bitcoin was the asset to hold during Calendar 2020, as the cryptocurrency surged nearly 300 per cent for the year. When seen from its March low, the rise is even spectacular at 625 per cent. Other coins saw similar demand. Unlike the last few bull runs in cryptocurrencies, this year’s rally was different. It had a few fundamental reasons to appreciate.Sumit Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, CoinDCX, said acceptance and demand from global institutional investors and the third-halving of bitcoin (a phenomena where the number of daily mined bitcoin gets cut in half), which is a supply shock event, led to the massive rally. Analysts believe this may continue in 2021 too.“Bitcoin is likely to see a significant rise in the year ahead. With the recent announcements from MassMutual, Fidelity, Microstrategy and Square, we’re seeing institutional capital worth hundreds of millions of dollars entering this asset class. Coupled with wider awareness and education, it’s easy to envision the price of bitcoin going up 100 per cent in 2021,” said Rahul Pagidipati, CEO, ZebPay.Silver was in great demand during the year, driven largely by industrial demand and thanks to a push to renewable energy. Silver is used in solar panels. The metal advanced 43 per cent in 2020 from Rs 46,691 a kg at the end of 2019 to Rs 67,005 on Tuesday. The white metal hit a record high of Rs 78,000 in August, but corrected later.Gold, used as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation especially in times of a crisis, rose 28 per cent to Rs 49,854 per 10 gm. It hit a record high of Rs 56,191, soaring almost 43 per cent. The rise was despite jewellery demand being somewhat lower due to lower spend by Indian consumers amid the lockdown.“The environment of ultra-loose monetary policy and negative real rates is here to stay in the year ahead, and that is likely to favour the yellow metal. For 2021, gold prices can go even higher to Rs 65,000 per 10 gm,: said Sugandha Sachdeva, VP-Metals, Energy & Currency at Religare Broking.She believes Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme is one of the most lucrative investment options, and one can take long-term exposure to gold through SGBs, which can be added to one’s portfolio for diversification as well as wealth creation. The additional interest component and capital gains tax exemption, if bonds are held till maturity, can ensure higher returns through SGBs.On the back of a demand recovery, the base metal pack saw its fortune turn by the end of the year. Compared with last year, copper surged 33 per cent, tin 24 per cent, nickel 23 per cent. Zinc 22 per cent and aluminium 19 per cent. Lead underperformed, with just 1 per cent gain.The commodities market was not doing well due to reduced demand from consumers in the first half of the year. However, once the number of coronavirus cases started declining, the commodities market saw an uptrend. This happened because of growth in demand for commodities amid a sudden opening of the markets, said Pranjal Kamra, CEO for Finology, an investment advisory firm.“Steel consumption was 27 per cent in April and went up to 67 per cent in July amid a sudden rise in demand for steel. One could notice the graph of major steel companies rising upward during the third quarter,” he saidBase metals also got a boost from the government’s special focus on infra spending, but rising interest rates have left the government authorities concerned. Moreover, rising demand for consumer discretionary is also leading to a surge in prices.Jute was the clear winner among agricultural commodities, as it surged 23 per cent for the year to Rs 6,189.50 per 100 kg. One reason for the rally in the golden fibre was the Cabinet nod for 100 per cent jute packaging for food grains and 20 per cent for sugar.Wheat, which forms part of the staple diet of many Indians, plunged 21 per cent on expectation of a record rabi harvest. Cardamom was the biggest loser among the agro-commodities, as it dived 52 per cent for the year.Guar gum and guar seed, used in drilling of crude oil wells, also suffered, as demand for petroleum products came down sharply during the year. They fell 24 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively.Mentha oil, sugar and chana are ending the year in the red, Meanwhile, cotton, pepper and castor seeds are likely to register single-digit gains.For the most traded and, perhaps, most important energy commodity, crude oil, the year was unprecedented. In global markets, prices of crude futures dipped below zero at one point, leaving even the pundits in a state of shock.The prices remained subdued for most of the year. Even now, crude oil price is down 20 per cent from last year’s level. However, as the world opens up, recovery is likely to gain ground. Natural gas traded 9 per cent higher compared with last year.“Crude oil prices should head northward next year as demand is expected to normalise gradually through the course of the year,” said Jyoti Roy, DVP and Equity Strategist, Angel Broking.Demand for residential properties was low during the year due to low returns, but commercial properties gained traction. The year saw 1.28 lakh residential unit launches, a 46 per cent decline from 2019; and sale of 1.38 lakh units, a 47 per cent decline from 2019, an analysis by Anarock showed. Prices remained largely stable across the top seven cities compared with last year.At the same time, demand for warehousing rose, and with many large global corporates evaluating to completely or partially shift their production base from China to India, warehousing requirements are likely to rise further.“Calendar 2021 looks promising for the traditional real estate asset, classes including commercial office and residential properties, and also for the new-age ones such as warehousing and data centers. Co-working requirements may also rise once the vaccine becomes available for the masses,” said Anuj Puri, Chairman of Anarock Property Consultants.For equities, it was a year of great turmoil and then a record-breaking run. The indices and stocks crashed to their multi-year lows in March, only to recover and create a string of fresh record highs by the end of the year. For a change, the smallcap and midcap indices outperformed their larger peers.BSE Sensex climbed over 16 per cent for the year while BSE Midcap Index rose 20 per cent. BSE Smallcap index, which has over 650 actively traded constituents, has given an eye-popping 32 per cent return for the year.Massive money supply, especially from outside India, pushed the indices higher. Hopes of a swift recovery, vaccine approvals and good earnings growth were the major reasons behind the spectacular rally. Nifty traded at record valuations at the end of the year.“Earnings growth has remained subdued over the past few years on account of structural reforms such as GST, IBC and RERA. Largecap valuations are in the expensive zone, but earnings recovery going forward will likely provide a cushion to valuations,” said analysts at Motilal Oswal Private Wealth Management.Pharma and IT stocks were the biggest gainers of the year, benefitting from pandemic and the following lockdowns. Shares of chemicals and white goods makers shot up, as the government turned its focus on turning India into a manufacturing hub.Whatever the strategy, almost all mutual fund schemes gave good returns for 2020, with some returning up to 70 per cent year to date.The top five funds of the year were ICICI Prudential Technology Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life Digital India Fund, Franklin India Technology Fund, Tata Digital India Fund -- all four tracked prominently invest in IT stocks. PGIM India Midcap Opportunities Fund was placed fifth with 49 per cent returns.In the debt fund category, gilt funds, which primarily invest in government securities, outperformed, with some of them delivering 14 per cent, on par with Nifty return for the year. Dynamic bond funds and Banking and PSU funds also gave comparable returns. Credit risk funds were the worst performers of the year, especially the schemes from the stables of UTI AMC, Nippon AMC and Franklin Templeton.“Fixed income generated good returns for investors, a 115 basis points rate cut by RBI triggered a rally in bond prices. We expect relatively muted return from fixed income assets next year, as the rate cut cycle is behind us for now,” said Roy. | cryptocurrency was the asset class of the year as it surged sharply. it followed by precious metals silver and gold, which also delivered solid returns. equities and equity funds were the highlights of the year, as Sensex and Nifty saw rapid recovery to record highs from a historic crash. bitcoin was the asset to hold during Calendar 2020, as the cryptocurrency surged nearly 300 per cent for the year. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/easing-local-sourcing-norms-in-single-brand-retail-to-help-companies-firm-up-investments-experts-4174671.html | The government's decision to relax local sourcing conditions for foreign direct investment (FDI) in single brand retail trading would provide a certainty to companies that are looking to invest in the sector, experts say.
Deloitte Partner Anil Talreja said, while it would depend on the exact details of the relaxation of sourcing norms, the announcement is clearly laying out the carpet once again for the global single brand retail companies in India.
Many of these companies were sitting on the border in a dilemma over investment in the Indian market on account of difficulty in meeting these sourcing conditions, he said
"These companies will certainly have to re-look at their strategy to tap the large Indian consumption potential. It would now be a race for all these retail companies to evaluate the conditions and take a quick decision to invest into India," he said.
India Cellular and Electronics Association Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said that single brand retail adds to the country's economy and does not in anyway upset the equilibrium of the organic retail.
"By its core character, single brand retail promotes the brand, enhances retailing standards, keeps the sanctity of price which does not exert predatory pressure on our small retailers intact," he said.
The government Friday proposed to further relax FDI norms in the single brand retail sector with a view to attract more overseas investment.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech said "local sourcing norms will be eased for FDI in single brand retail sector".
It has also proposed to consider relaxation in the FDI norms in sectors such as aviation, media, AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming and comics) and insurance.
Commenting on this, Jehil Thakkar, Partner, Deloitte, said greater investment in media and animation services is key to taking advantage of the opportunities created by the drop in data charges.
"Greater investment in animation will also serve to make India a hub for animation and visual effects globally," he added. | single brand retail will be able to attract more overseas investment. the government has proposed to relax local sourcing norms for foreign direct investment. the announcement would provide a certainty to companies looking to invest in the sector. the single brand retail sector is a key sector for the global single brand retail industry. a number of companies are struggling to meet sourcing conditions in the country. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/sensex-surges-1500-points-stimulus-hopes-what-else-is-driving-this-rally/articleshow/74822743.cms | NEW DELHI: Domestic equity indices rallied for a third day on-a-trot, encouraged by reports of stimulus packages by large economies in order to soften the economic blow from the lockdown of businesses and offices.The bulls took heart from reports of India working on a $20 billion package while the US Senate passed a bill that will help American businesses and households.The 30-share pack Sensex advanced 1,564 points to 30,099 while broader NSE Nifty jumped 397 points to 8,715. Investors got richer by Rs 4.58 lakh crore as total market capitalisation of the BSE-listed firms jumped to Rs 1,13,04,448.08 crore.Here are the key factors driving the market today:Market sentiments improved after the US Senate unanimously passed a massive stimulus package meant to cushion the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic for American workers and businesses.The $2 trillion package includes billions of dollars in credit for struggling industries, a significant boost to unemployment insurance and direct cash payments to Americans.However, the bill still needs to be passed by the Democrats-led House, which lawmakers said will not be put to vote until Friday.Reports of India working on a similar package further boosted the morale on the Street. Reuters reported India is likely to agree to an economic stimulus package of more than Rs 1.5 trillion ($19.6 billion) to fight a downturn in the country that is currently locked down to stem the spread of coronavirus.The package, which could be announced by the end of the week, will be used to put money directly into the accounts of more than 100 million poor and to support businesses hit the hardest by the lockdown, the sources said.Nifty on Wednesday closed above its 5-Day EMA of 8,254, bridging the bearish gap in the 8,159-8,178 zone, which analysts said was a positive sign.“A phase of relief rally seems to be unfolding and once the index sustains above 8,300 zone expect a larger recovery towards 9,000. Short-covering rallies are usually sharper at least in the first phase of recovery,” said Amit Shah, Technical Research Analyst with Indiabulls Securities Milan Vaishnav, Consulting Technical Analyst and founder of Gemstone Equity Research Advisory Services said in order for Nifty to find a temporary bottom it will have to move past 8,500. Till the time, it stays below that, weakness will be there, he added.Banks shares ticked higher as investors rushed to accumulate stocks that had come down sharply. The heavy buying lifted benchmark indices higher.IndusInd Bank that had fallen more than 80 per cent from its highs, rallied 35 per cent to Rs 406. Its peers Axis Bank jumped 13.50per cent to RS 371 while ICICI Bank advanced 10.78 per cent to Rs 351.HDFC twins also registered smart gains as they jumped 6-9 per cent. Together they contributed nearly 500 points to Sensex’s rally. | domestic equity indices rallied for a third day on-a-trot. bulls took heart from reports of India working on a $20 billion package. the us Senate unanimously passed a massive stimulus package. the package will be used to put money directly into the accounts of more than 100 million poor. back to mail online home. back to the page you came from. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/taking-stock-india-china-clash-halts-d-st-rally-nifty-closes-below-10k-5411991.html | Indian markets, which started with a gap-up opening on June 16, pared most of the gains in the second half of the session and turned negative amid ongoing border dispute between India and China.
The bulls managed to push the market back in the green towards the close of the trade. The S&P BSE Sensex rallied nearly 400 points while the Nifty50 rose 100 points but failed to close above the crucial 10,000-level.
The Sensex closed 376 points higher at 33,605 while the Nifty ended with gains of 100 points at 9,914.
“The border dispute between India and China resulted in volatility in the stock markets on tensions of further escalation of the dispute. This was in spite of steady global markets following the announcement of the US Fed Reserve’s expanded bond-buying programme,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services told Moneycontrol.
“Investors seem to have set aside the news emerging from the border and are still hoping on the fact that liquidity will keep propping the markets, for the time being. India can ill-afford another battlefront since it is still battling the virus pandemic and will need to be watched out for.”
Sectorally, the action was seen in Finance, Bankex, Metals, IT, and Consumer Durable space while selling pressure was visible in telecom, realty, power, public sector, and FMCG space.
On the broader markets front, the S&P BSE Midcap index rose 0.37 percent while the S&P BSE Smallcap index was up 0.04 percent.
Top Nifty gainers included JSW Steel, ICICI Bank, HDFC and HDFC Bank.
Top Nifty losers included GAIL India, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Infratel, and Tata Motors.
Stocks & Sectors
Sectorally, selling pressure was visible in the S&P BSE Telecom index which was down 1.4 percent, followed by the S&P BSE Realty index that fell 0.75 percent, and the S&P BSE Power index was down 0.6 percent.
Action was seen in the S&P BSE Finance index which rose 2.3 percent, followed by the S&P BSE Bankex that was up 1.9 percent and the S&P BSE Metal index closed with gains of 1.4 percent.
A volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in stocks like Ambuja Cements, Jindal Steel, SAIL, JustDial and PVR.
Long Buildup was seen in stocks like Jindal Steel, Balkrishna Industries and REC Ltd
Short Buildup was seen in stocks like Tata Motors, Apollo Hospitals and Bata India.
Nearly 100 stocks hit their fresh 52-week high. These included Bayer Cropsciences, RIL, PI Industries, AstraZeneca, Ruchi Soya and Alembic Pharma.
Stocks in news
Tata Motors share price fell more than 5 percent after the company posted a consolidated loss of Rs 9,894.25 crore for the quarter ended March 2020.
Shares of HCL Infosystems shed 5 percent after the company’s consolidated loss widened to Rs 70.94 crore for the March 2020 quarter from Rs 43.9 crore in the year-ago period.
Shares of Jubilant Life Sciences fell over 2 percent after ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala raised his stake in the company.
The share price of Bayer CropScience touched 52-week high of Rs 5,721.30, gaining 4 percent after a tie-up with agri-business division of ITC.
Shares of Shilpa Medicare fell 6 percent on June 16 despite the company registering a 45 percent year-on-year growth in March quarter profit at Rs 34.57 crore.
Telecom stocks closed with cuts a day ahead of AGR hearing in the Supreme Court.
Axis Bank falls over 2 percent following the resignation of its retail banking head.
IT stocks gained with rupee weakening to 76.21 against the dollar; TCS and Infosys were up 1-2 percent.
Technical View
The Nifty formed a bearish candle on the daily charts. It hit an intraday high of 10,046 but selling pressure accelerated after news of a violent clash between Indian and Chinese troops along the line of actual control.
The Nifty fell more than 300 points from its intraday high of 10,046 but recovered about 200 points from lower levels.
The Index formed a small red body candle on the daily chart. Traders should look to buy the dip above 9,800 levels, experts said.
“Going forward, 9,777-9,720 zones would act as immediate support and we may see an up move towards 10,040 and 10,180 zone. Thus, traders are advised to look for buying opportunities on declines in market,” Chandan Taparia of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited said.
India VIX moved up by 1.20% at 32.97 levels. A further rise in volatility index may result in a roller-coaster move in the market.
On the monthly options front, maximum Put OI is at 9000 followed by 9500 strikes, while maximum Call OI is at 10000 followed by a 10,500 strike.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Read our complete coverage on the India-China border tension. | bulls managed to push the market back in the green towards the close of the trade. the Sensex closed 376 points higher at 33,605 while the Nifty ended with gains of 100 points at 9,914. the action was seen in Finance, Bankex, Metals, IT, and Consumer Durable space. selling pressure was visible in telecom, realty, power, public sector, and FMCG space. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/pm-modi-approval-rating-jumps-india-coronavirus-outbreak-handling-covid-lockdown-neta-app/1952387/ | Covid-19 crisis: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has got a thumbs up from people for his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic which has claimed lakhs of lives and infected millions across the world. India has so far recorded nearly 60,000 cases but it is nowhere close to the numbers in the US, where numbers are in millions. India, so far, has succeeded in slowing down the pace of infection and the primary reason cited behind it is the timely lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Modi. It is this and many other decisions that have propelled the nation’s trust in the Prime Minister at this hour of crisis even as he continues to win praise from the across the world for his farsightedness with which he took the call of going into a complete lockdown.
Today, Neta App said that its survey has found an upswing in Prime Minister Modi’s approval ratings since the beginning of the Covid crisis in the country. The app has recorded a significant spike of 8 per cent in PM Modi’s approval rating since February indicating people’s approval of his performance during the pandemic. According to the app, PM Modi’s current rating stands at 3.9/5 against 3.5/5 in February.
This is the third such report, showing people believe that the prime minister may be winning the perception war during the Covid-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, a survey conducted by Ipsos showed that an overwhelming 87 per cent of urban Indians gave high ratings to the prime minister and his team for their handling of the coronavirus. The survey was conducted from April 23-26 by seeking responses from about 26,000 people across 13 countries. In April, Prime Minister Modi secured the highest popularity among the top global leaders as per an analysis done by pollster Morning Consult.
BJP President JP Nadda and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman both shared the details of the analysis. “Our Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi leads the world in combating COVID-19. Ensuring safety and security for the Indian people on one hand and lending all necessary support to other nations on the other, he has been ranked number one amongst world leaders in the fight against the pandemic,” he had said. Sharing the charts of rating, Sithraman said that the prime minister’s office led India’s fight against coronavirus from the front. “Consistent high approval ratings for Narendra Modi. Nation has confidence in its leadership in an extraordinary situation due a pandemic,” she said.
While surveys show people have found the Modi government’s handling of Covid crisis satisfactory, the opposition led by Congress has been attacking the Centre for not being able to strike a balance between protecting human lives and saving the economy, without which millions of people would stare at hunger and poverty. The Congress had found several flaws with the way the Centre is handling the Covid crisis. In the last few weeks, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi have suggested that the Centre does not have a plan to address a number of issues like economy, job loss, movement of migrant labourers, economic package, tracing and testing.
The Congress leaders first claimed that Indian was not testing enough, therefore the number of cases was less. Now it says that complete lockdown will not solve the problem as it will just slow down the speed of infection, but resurface again as the country cannot be under lockdown for months. The Congress has also alleged that the economic package given to business enterprises is not enough. Just today, Rahul Gandhi claimed that the Congress CMs were not getting support from the Centre. He also said that the decision of categorisation of zones should be left to the chief ministers who will then leave that to DMs to take call whether the area should be under lockdown or not.
“Indian economy has stopped, businesses are collapsing and you (Centre) need to create demand immediately. You need to get the system started else there will be a catastrophe. You need to create demand, put money in the system, put money in poor people’s hands, help MSMEs and make sure you’re protecting some of the larger players because these are all interconnected,” he said. Gandhi also urged the Centre to take the idea of NYAY and start putting money directly into the hands of 50 per cent of India’s poor households. | neta app has recorded a significant spike in PM Modi's approval rating since the beginning of the Covid crisis in the country. the app has recorded a significant spike of 8 per cent in PM Modi's approval rating since the beginning of the crisis. a survey conducted by Ipsos showed that an overwhelming 87 per cent of urban Indians gave high ratings to the prime minister and his team for their handling of the coronavirus. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/pm-modi-sets-august-15th-2022-as-deadline-for-completion-of-udhampur-baramulla-rail-line-project-6288381.html | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday set August 15, 2022 as the deadline for completion of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) that would connect Kashmir with the rest of the country.
The Prime Minister chaired the 34th Pragati interaction with the union secretaries of various ministries and chief secretaries of states and union territories through video-conference, in which Chief Secretary, J&K, B V R Subrahmanyam and Financial Secretary Health and Medical education department Atal Dulloo participated from here, an official spokesperson said.
Modi reviewed 11 projects related to seven ministries including the prestigious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link being constructed in Jammu & Kashmir, the spokesperson said.
While reviewing the progress of the USBRL project, the PM was informed that all the issues have been resolved and works are progressing smoothly.
Underscoring the potential of the project to exponentially boost Kashmir''s tourism and economy, the Prime Minister fixed the deadline for completion of the project as August 15, 2022, the spokesperson said.
The 272 km railway line is being undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 28,000 crore by the Northern Railway.
The first section connecting Udhampur to Katra and the third section between Banihal and Baramulla have been completed with both sections operational. The work to complete the most difficult 111-km long Katra-Banihal section is going as per schedule, railway officials said.
The Udhampur-Katra (25 km) section, Banihal-Qazigund (18 km) section and Qazigund-Baramulla (118 km) section have already been commissioned.
The last remaining section, the 111 km Katra-Banihal section is currently under execution, the spokesperson said adding that 126 km out of 174 km of tunnels on this section has already been completed.
The USBRL project is highly essential to provide an alternative and reliable transportation system to Jammu and Kashmir and join the Kashmir valley with the Indian Railways network, the officials said.
The officials said that in view of the importance of this project in providing seamless and hassle-free connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir, the USBRL was declared a national project in 2002.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal also reviewed the progress of the ongoing USBRL National Project on Wednesday, the construction for which is on its last legs between Katra and Banihal.
The meeting was held over video conferencing and Goyal expressed satisfaction over the progress of the USBRL saying the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir have to be fulfilled by completing the project so that the region gets a good transportation system to remain connected with the rest of the country all the year round.
He called upon the engineers working on the project to expedite the remaining portion on mission mode. He also instructed them to complete the procurement of materials and permission procedures on time so that there is no delay in the construction of the line.
The general manager of Northern Railway, Ashutosh Gangal shared with the Minister that in spite of Ramban and Reasi districts where the project is under-construction being declared as Covid Red and Orange zones, the work on the projects continued following the Covid-19 SOPs.
Artisans camps and isolation centres have been provided on sites. As many as 366 people working on various points had been detected with the virus, but all have recovered well.
The USBRL is a national project undertaken by the Indian Railways for construction of broad-gauge railway line through the Himalayas with the aim of connecting the Kashmir region with rest of the country. The all-weather, comfortable, convenient and cost effective mass transportation system will be the catalyst for the overall development of the northern most alpine region of the country.
Construction of the first three phases of the project has been completed and the line is in operational use for running of trains between Baramulla-Banihal in Kashmir valley and Jammu-Udhampur-Katra in Jammu region.
Work on the intervening 111 km section Katra-Banihal, the most arduous and treacherous portion due to its geology and extensive riverine system replete with deep gorges is ongoing. Most of the rail track is slated to be in tunnels or bridges in this section.
In the absence of an effective surface transport system in this in-hospitable region, the Railways had to first lay access roads to the tune of 205 km to reach the construction sites.
Three agencies -- IRCON, KRCL and Northern Railway are involved in this project. Many international agencies and premier Indian institutes like IIT Roorkee, IIT Delhi, DRDO and Geological Survey of India are providing expertise in planning and implementation.
Presently 95 per cent of the arch work of the Chenab Bridge, the world’s tallest railway bridge, is complete while the work on the Anji bridge, an asymmetric cable stayed bridge, is on in full swing. Of the total 97.64 km main tunnelling, 81.21 km and 53.50 km out of 60.5 km escape tunnel works have been completed. Also, 12 mega and 10 minor bridges have been completed. Laying of the remaining 12 mega bridges and one more minor bridge is to be completed by 2021-22. | the project would connect Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country. the project is being undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 28,000 crore. the first section connecting Udhampur to Katra and the third section between Banihal and Baramulla have been completed. the last remaining section, the 111 km Katra-Banihal section is currently under execution. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/covid-pandemic-hiring-starts-picking-up-pace-its-not-all-gloom-and-doom-in-jobs-market/1984276/ | It’s not all gloom and doom in the jobs market. The number of openings may have fallen from around two lakh in April to an estimated 1.67 lakh in May end but the good news is 90% of these are permanent jobs.
Despite the uncertainty about the economy, there are opportunities in spaces such as IT, banking and financial services, online retailing and manufacturing. The demand for specialised knowledge in areas such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, risk management, robotics, IoT and analytics remains high across sectors. Most of all, every company is scouting for technology specialists — whether in engineering or analytics — with experience. But HR experts say companies are also looking for salespersons, collection agents, managers and account servicing executives.
With restrictions on travel and movement being gradually eased and the ‘unlocking’ of the country under way, companies are focusing on re-staffing. Nicolas Dumoulin, managing director, Michael Page India, confirmed there has been a mild uptick in hiring, of about 10%, in the last two weeks.
“We have also observed that positions that were put on hold in sectors such as technology and healthcare are now being filled where companies are open to hiring,” Dumoulin said.
To be sure it wasn’t as though hiring had come to complete halt. As Kamal Karanth, co-founder of Xpheno, told FE, despite the slowdown and some inevitable pruning of workforce expected, recruitment continued. “A moderation seems to be in play with the overall active jobs count dropping by little over 20% in May as compared to April. The total active job openings dropped from 2, 00, 000 in April to 1, 78,000 by mid-May and the closing figures are hovering around 1, 67, 000,” he said. The data is collated directly from employers accepting applications.
Despite the reduction in the count it is encouraging that over 90% of these openings are full time permanent opportunities, Karanth explained. “A notable 7% of these openings are for internships and part time opportunities and an increase of over 3% in this cluster reveals the willingness of enterprises to tap the pool of freshers and recent entrants,” he said.
Aditya Narayan Mishra, CEO, CIEL HR Services, pointed out there is good demand in the mid-to-junior levels for people with 1-10 years of experience. “This is understandable because companies will need some hands to keep moving the machinery,” he said. It is possible, some experts have pointed out, that a fair part of the demand could be replacement hiring given a good many junior employees may not want to return from their native places.
The e-commerce space continues to hum with activity and a good many start-ups too are beefing up their teams especially those in technology, healthcare, essential services, food production or edtech. Moreover, PE and VC players too are strengthening their teams, according to Dumoulin of Michael Page.
Lohit Bhatia, president, India Staffing Federation observed that hiring has begun in the FMCG space and e-commerce platforms and demand is coming in from the BFSI segment and also pharmaceuticals, cement and steel. The pace he said will pick up in the next two-three weeks. “As factories and offices start opening the companies get a sense of how much of the workforce is still available to come back to work and how many have left the cities. Our estimate is lot of gaps will need to be filled as the work begins,” he said.
Covid-19 has also created the need for a full-time business continuity process (BCP) person, according to Sanjay Shetty, head (strategic account management), Randstad India.” Shetty said risk management is being taken seriously to cope with uncertainty. “Traditionally, people in technology, facilities, administration would double up for BCP roles. But Covid-19 has rattled companies and bigger firms are considering a full fledged BCP department whose only job will be to look at risk mitigation at all levels and roles in the company,” Shetty said. | there are opportunities in IT, banking and financial services, online retailing and manufacturing. every company is scouting for technology specialists — whether in engineering or analytics. but HR experts say companies are also looking for salespersons, collection agents, managers and account servicing executives. restrictions on travel and movement being gradually eased and the ‘unlocking’ of the country under way. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/sensex-rises-100-points-nifty-tops-11250-on-easing-trade-woes/articleshow/69336014.cms | NEW DELHI: Domestic markets took heart from gains in US stocks in overnight trade, extending their gains to Wednesday's session. Improving global sentiment and renewed hopes of a trade deal lent some confidence to investors on Dalal Street.US President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that trade talks with China have not collapsed and called the widening US-China tariff war “a little squabble”, even as his administration readies 25 per cent duties on all remaining Chinese imports. Expanding on a stream of optimistic early morning tweets, Trump told reporters that he has a “very good dialogue” going with China and touted his “extraordinary” relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Soothing oil prices contributed to the upbeat mood. Oil eased on Wednesday after closely watched data showed a surprise rise in US crude stockpiles, but prices were supported by mounting tensions in the Middle East, Reuters reported.Rupee too rose against the US dollar amid ease in trade tensions between the US and China. The domestic unit rose 23 paise against the greenback to 70.22.At around 9:30 am, Sensex was up 102 points or 0.27 per cent at 37,420. In the Sensex pack of stocks, 18 advanced while 12 declined.Nifty50 rose 32 points or 0.28 per cent to 11,254. Among Nifty stocks, 29 stocks gained, 20 declined while one remained unchanged."The index has paused the ongoing correction by maintaining the rhythm of not correcting more than 10 to 11 sessions in a row, since July 2013. Therefore, follow through strength above 11,300 would be required to extend pullback towards 11,500 or else consolidation in the range of 11,000 – 11,300 as volatility ahead of key event of General Election 2019 would offer buying opportunity," said ICICI Securities.The markets would keep an eye on stocks such as Lupin, Torrent Power, Manappuram Finance, Adani Green, Jubilant Foodworks, KPIT Tech, Taj GVK Hotels, Central Bank, Amara Raja Batteries, Zuari Agro Chemicals and Aditya Birla Fashion which will report their March quarter results today.In the 30-pack Sensex, HCL Tech was the biggest gainer followed by Powergrid, Tata Steel, Vedanta, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank On the other hand, YES Bank was the biggest loser, falling over 4 per cent. Former Reserve Bank Deputy Governor R Gandhi has been appointed as additional director on the board of the private lender.Other losers were Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Auto.Off the main board, shares of Jet Airways sulked, shedding 5 per cent after its top brass took an exit. Lenders to Jet Airways and Etihad Airways have approached the Hinduja Group offering a stake in the grounded airline, said people close to the development, adding that exploratory talks are on. Meanwhile, four senior executives, including chief executive Vinay Dube and his deputy Amit Agarwal, have quit the ailing airline.BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap traded in the green, gaining 0.38 per cent and 0.48 per cent, respectively.On the BSE Sectoral front, barring telecom all other sectors showed some strength. Oil & Gas was the biggest gainer, up over 1 per cent led by Indian Oil corporation.Meanwhile, India’s wholesale inflation eased in April on cheaper fuel and manufactured items, even as the pace of price rise quickened in the case of food articles, according to data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Tuesday. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was pegged at 3.07 per cent in April, down from 3.18 per cent in the previous month and 3.62 per cent in April 2018. | domestic markets take heart from gains in US stocks in overnight trade. Sensex up 102 points or 0.27 per cent at 37,420 at around 9:30 am. meanwhile, nifty50 rose 32 points or 0.28 per cent to 11,254. Sensex: 'we are in a very good position to make a good start' | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/expert-view/we-would-like-to-see-how-and-which-part-of-yield-curve-fed-wants-to-depress-jan-lambregts/articleshow/76296019.cms | Ipca Lab will do very well irrespective of how market performs: IIFL
Bank & NBFC stocks’ valuations won’t be justifiable if RBI extends moratorium to March: Ajay Bagga
You need to adjust your valuation models in this market: Guy Spier
Two themes MOSL is bullish on right now
The government is likely to ask the next Finance Commission to consider a higher weight for the human development index (HDI) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) while recommending the distribution of resources among states.
US electric carmaker Tesla is willing to invest up to $2 billion for setting up a local factory if the government approves a concessional duty of 15% on imported vehicles during its first two years of operations in India.
As more women take up senior leadership roles in India Inc, their visibility in boardroom battles is also rising. In a clear break from the past, women are playing key roles in several ongoing boardroom conflicts, or family disputes that may extend into the boardroom, reflecting the rise in the number of women in positions where they can have their say.
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Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price | a new report by the etihad says that the government is likely to ask the next Finance Commission to consider a higher weight for the human development index (HDI) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) as more women take up senior leadership roles in India Inc, their visibility in boardroom battles is also rising. women are playing key roles in several ongoing boardroom conflicts, or family disputes that may extend into the boardroom. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/minute-by-minute-updates-of-budget-2020-ddt-removal-lic-ipo-i-t-sops/articleshow/73837058.cms |
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled her first full Union Budget in Parliament on February 1, 2020. ETMarkets compiles the minute-by-minute update that may matter to you.11.00 am: FM Sitharaman rises to present the Union Budget 2020-21.11.01 am: FM begins the budget speech 11.03 am: This is the budget to boost income and purchasing power of Indians11.05 am: Fundaments of the economy are strong and ensure macro stability. Inflation has been well contained.11.06 am: Government commits itself to serve people with humility.11.06 am: India now 5th largest economy globally11.07 am: Turnaround time of trucks has now reduced to 20 per cent due to GST.11.08 am: Effective tax incidence on almost every commodity came down substantially.11.08 am: GST has been gradually maturing; resulting in logistic efficiency.11.08 am: GST has been the most historic structural reform.11.09 am 60 lakh new taxpayers added in 4 years due to GST.11.10 am: GST benefit of Rs 1 lakh crore has been extended to consumers.11.11 am: Average household now saves about 4 per cent of monthly spends due to GST rates.11.12 am: Introducing a new simplified GST return system with effect from April 2020.11.14 am: Central government’s debt came down to 48.70 per cent of GDP on March 2019 vs 52.0 per cent in March 2014.11.14 am: Strive to bring ease of living to every citizen.11.14 am: India’s FDI rose to $284 billion in 2014-19 from $190 billion in 2009-14.11.15 am: FY21 Budget woven around three themes.11.15 am: Budget centers around economic development and caring society.11.20 am: The government is committed to double farmer income by 2022.11.20 am: Inspector raj has vanished.11.21 am: Govt to yield more space to the private sector11.23 am: Propose 16 action points to aid farmers.11.23 am: 6.11 crore farmer insured under PM Fasal Bima Yojana.11.24 am: Adopting sustainable cropping pattern.11.24 am: Encourage state government who undertake the implementation of model laws.11.28 am: To encourage balanced use of fertilizer11.28 am: Will help 15 lakh farmers solarise grid-connected pump sets.11.29 am: India has an estimated capacity of 162 million metric tonne for storage and warehouse11.29 am: Propose creating warehousing in line with WDRA norms.11.30 am: Govt will provide viability gap funding for setting up agri storage.11.30 am: Government will provide viability gap funding for setting up agri storage.11.30 am: NABARD to map, geo-tag farm warehouses, cold storage.11.30 am: Indian Railways to set up a Kisan Rail for transport of perishable goods.11.31 am: Propose to build seamless national cold supply chain.11.32 am: Zero-budget farming government’s focus area.11.32 am: Agriculture credit availability for 2020-21 has been set at Rs 15 lakh crore11.33 am: NABARD refinance scheme will be further expanded.11.33 am: To support states adopting ‘one fruit for one district’ plan.11.33 am: Propose to raising fish production to 200 lakh tone by 2022-2311.34 am: Aiming to double milk processing capacity from 53.50 million to 108 million metric tonne by 202511.35 am: Government plans to boost horticulture.11.35 am: Government to launch village storage schemes run by women self-help groups.11.35 am: MGNREGA to be used to develop fodder farms.11.37 am: For rural development and Panchayati Raj Rs 1.23 lakh crore has been allocated.11.38 am: Indradhanush plan expanded to cover 12 new diseases.11.39 am: Proceeds from taxes on medical devices would be used to support health initiative of the government.11.40 am: Viability gap funding for hospitals in 112 aspirational districts - which do not have hospitals for Ayushman Bharat.11.41 am: Government intends to eliminate Foot and Mouth Disease.11.42 am: Rs 3.60 lakh crore approved for Jal Jivan Mission. Allocated Rs 2.83 lakh crore for agri push, Rs 69,000 crore for healthcare sector and Rs 12,300 crore for Swachh Bharat.11.40 am: Agri credit target has been set at Rs 15 lakh crore for the year 2020-21.11.43 am: Study in India: Government wants India to be a preferred destination for higher education.11.43 am: To have a graduate-level online education plan for poor11.44am: Proposed to provide Rs 99,300 crore for the education sector in 2021.11.44 am: Proposed to attach a medical college to existing district hospital in PPP mod.11.44 am: The government will launch a campaign to eliminate tuberculosis (TB) by 202511.45 am: Moots 1-year internship for engineers by urban local bodies.11.46 am: To allocated Rs 3000 crore for skill development in 2021.11.50 am: Proposed a scheme focused on promoting the manufacturing of electronic goods.11.51 am: National technical textile mission is proposed to set up for Rs 1,480 crore.11.52 am: To refund duties and other levies to exporters.11.55 am: Need to boost manufacturing & attract investment in the electronics chain.11.55 am: Government proposed to set up National Police University and National Forensic University.11.57 am: National logistics policies will soon be released.11.57 am: Five new smart cities to be set up under PPP.11.58 am: Smart electricity metres to give consumer freedom to choose a supplier.11.58 am: Delhi-Mumbai expressway to be completed by 2023.11.58 am: 100 more airports to be developed by 2025 to support UDAN scheme.11.58 am: NHAI to monetise 12 highway bundles11.59 am: 9,000 km of economic corridors targetted11.59 am: 2,000 km of coastal roads targetted12.02 pm: More Tejas type train will connect iconic destinations.12.04 pm: Inland waterways received a boost in the last five years.12.08 pm: To take further measures to reform power DISCOMs.12.08 pm: Propose expanding the natural gas grid from 16,200 Km t Rs 27,000 Km12.09 pm: To allocate Rs 6000 crore to BharatNet Programme in FY21.12.09 pm: To come will policy soon to enable the private sector to build data centre parks.12.10 pm: To take more reforms for transparent price discovery in gas.12.14 pm: To provide Rs 8000 crore for national quantum tech plan over 5 years.12.15 pm: 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', a huge success, wish to restore women, self-help groups.12.15 pm: School enrollment is now higher for girls than boys across the country.12.16 pm: To provide Rs 28,600 crore for women-specific plans in FY21.12.17 pm: To provide Rs 35,600 crore for nutrition programmes.12.18 pm: Five archaeological sites to be developed with on-site museums.12.19 pm: Government to set-up Indian Institution of Heritage and Conservation.12.21 pm: Proposed to provide Rs 3,150 crore for Ministry of Culture for 2020-21.12.21 pm: Government allocates Rs 85,000 crore for scheduled castes and OBCs in FY21.12.22 pm: To allocate Rs 53,700 crore for Scheduled Tribes.12.25 pm: Will incentivise states promoting clean air in cities with a population above 1 million.12.25 pm: Centre proposes Rs 4,400 crore for clean air in FY21.12.26 pm: FM advised to shut thermal power units if emission above limit.12.26 pm: To allocate Rs 2,500 crore for tourism promotion in FY21.12.33 pm: Wish to enshrine a taxpayer chart in the statutes.12.35 pm: Tax harassment cannot and will not be tolerated.12.39 pm: To decriminalize some norm violations under Companies Act.12.39 pm: India will host G20 presidency in 2022.12.40 pm: Bank deposit insurance increased to Rs 5 lakh per depositor from Rs 1 lakh earlier.12.41 pm: Proposed to sell government’s balance holding in IDBI Bank.12.41 pm: To amend bank regulation act to strengthen co-op banks.12.44 pm: Encourage PSBs to approach capital market for fundraising.12.47 pm: Propose to introduce scheme to provide subordinate debt for MSMEs12.47 pm: Limit for FPI in corporate bonds to be raised to 15 per cent.12.47 pm: Government said to revise FY20 fiscal deficit to 3.80 per cent from 3.30 per cent.12.47 pm: Certain specified categories of government securities will be opened for foreigners.12.47 pm: Government to float new debt ETF of government bonds.12.50 pm: To set up an international bullion exchange at GIFT City.12.50 pm: Govt proposes amendments to facilitate separation of government pension trust from PFRDA.12.52 pm: Propose to sell part stake in Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) via IPO (initial public offering).12.52 pm: More than 5,00,000 MSMEs benefited from RBI's restructuring of loans12.55 pm: Government said to PEG FY21 divestment target of Rs 2.10 lakh crore.12.55 pm: Estimated nominal GDP growth for FY21 at 10%.12.59 pm: Sensex traded 183 points, or 0.45 per cent, down at 40,540.12.59 pm: Meanwhile, FY21 net borrowing set at RS 5.36 lakh crore against Rs 4.99 lakh crore in FY20. Good part of government borrowing to be used for capex.1.00 pm: Now Part B: Direct Tax starts1.04 pm: Proposes to lower personal income tax rate under new regime.1.05 pm: No income tax for income up to Rs 5 lakh.1.06 pm: 10% income tax for income between Rs 5-7.5 lakh.1.06 pm: 20% income tax for income between Rs 10-12.5 lakh against 30% earlier.1.07 pm: 25% income tax for income between Rs 12.5-15 lakh against 30% earlier.1.07 pm: For those at Rs 15 lakh plus income, tax will be 30 percent.1.07 pm: New income tax scheme is optional, without exemptions.1.08 pm: Concessional corporation tax rate for electricity generation companies in place.1.08 pm: Income tax rates will be significantly reduced for those who forego reliefs, exemptions.1.08 pm: Govt has spearheaded radical fiscal measures to ensure high growth1.09 pm: Current I-T Act offers more than 100 deductions & exemptions.1.10 pm: Government to amend I-T Act to allow faceless appeals.1.10 pm: For example, a personal earnings Rs 15 lakh and claiming no deductions now has to pay Rs 1.95 lakh as income tax under the new regime against Rs 2.73 lakh earlier.1.14 pm: To abolish dividend distribution tax for companies.1.14 pm: Dividend to be taxed in the hands of shareholder at applicable rates.1.15 pm: Revenue forgone on dividend distribution tax at Rs 25,000 crore.1.16 pm: Plan to extend corporate tax concession for power sector.1.17 pm: To defer tax payment by employees on ESOP by 5 years, or when they leave company.1.17 pm: 100% exemption on sovereign wealth funds’ infra invest.1.21 pm: 1.14 New power generation cos to be offered 15% tax rate.1.22 pm: Proposed to extend Rs 1.50 lakh interest benefit on affordable housing by 1 year.1.22 pm: FM makes housing more affordable, gives tax holiday to affordable housing developers.1.23 pm: Proposed to make tweaks to tax structure for start-ups.1.23 pm: FM extends concessional 5 per cent withholding tax to municipal bonds.1.23 pm: Audit threshold for MSMEs raised to Rs 5 crore from Rs 1 crore.1.23 pm: Cooperatives can be taxed at 22 per cent without exemptions.1.24 pm: Plan to extend corporate tax concession for power sector.1.26 pm: To waive interest on tax disputes if amount paid by March 31.1.28 pm: Centre to launch new direct tax dispute settlement scheme.1.30 pm: Direct taxes are now the lowest, simplest and smoothest.1.36 pm: Sensex traded 454 points, or 1.12 per cent, down at 40,269.1.37 pm: Looking at inverted duty structure under GST.1.38 pm: Some custom duty exemptions being withdrawn.1.39 pm: To review rules of origin for imports under free trade deal.1.40 pm: Custom duty on footwear and furniture raised.1.41 pm: Proposed to impose nominal health cess by way of duty of custom on import of medical equipment. | the government is committed to double farmer income by 2022. the government is committed to a sustainable cropping pattern. the government is committed to a balanced use of fertilizer. the government is committed to a double farmer income by 2022. the government is committed to a double farmer income by 2022. the government is committed to a double farmer income by 2022. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/economists-call-for-more-direct-cash-payments-tied-to-the-health-of-the-us-economy-5518761.html | Direct cash payments can improve financial security, boost consumer spending and may speed up the recovery, according to a letter from a group of economists calling on US policymakers to keep providing direct cash payments to Americans until the economy is stronger.
The stimulus payments should be issued automatically, based on certain economic indicators such as the unemployment rate, until there is enough evidence that the economy is recovering, the group of mostly left-leaning economists said in an open letter organized by the Economic Security Project and The Justice Collaborative.
"The first round of economic impact payments were a lifeline that helped some get by for a few weeks," the economists wrote. "Even after businesses start to re-open and jobs begin to come back, there will be significant economic fallout, and demand will continue to lag if people don't have money to spend."
The letter was signed by 153 economists, including Jason Furman, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers during the Obama Administration; Claudia Sahm, a former Fed economist; Darrick Hamilton from the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University; and Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director at the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. Some of the signatories are advising the campaign of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
The stimulus payments issued in April under the $2.3 trillion CARES Act helped lift spending for lower income households faster than higher income households, with much of the cash going to essentials, according to an analysis by Harvard University's Opportunity Insights.
COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show
The $600 supplement Congress added to weekly unemployment benefits are set to expire at the end of the month, leaving jobless Americans at risk of facing a cash cliff while jobs are still scarce.
Congressional lawmakers are on a two-week recess and will face pressure to make decisions when they reconvene in late July. | stimulus payments should be issued automatically until economy is stronger, group says. 153 economists sign open letter calling for more cash payments. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine based on a vaccine is a vaccine based on a bacterium. a vaccine based on a bacterium is a good way to prevent a pandemic. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/unemployment-rate-in-india-at-24-for-the-week-ended-may-17-cmie/articleshow/75821968.cms | Samvat 2080 Opens on a Positive Note Samvat 2080 started on a steady note for investors with India’s stock benchmarks gaining over half a per cent in the special 60-minute Muhurat trading session on Sunday evening to mark the start of the traditional Hindu new year.
Insolvency Gets All Personal Now in Boost for Recoveries Supreme Court (SC) order allowing bankruptcy proceedings against personal guarantors of loans to defaulter companies will open up a new window of recovery, potentially multiplying banks’ realizations. | india's stock benchmarks gained over half a per cent in the special 60-minute Muhurat trading session on Sunday evening. the move marks the start of the traditional Hindu new year. bankruptcy proceedings against personal guarantors of loans to defaulter companies will open up a new window of recovery. a new ruling by the supreme court will open up a new window of recovery. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/dream11-anticipates-more-secondary-transactions/articleshow/78138554.cms | Samvat 2080 Opens on a Positive Note Samvat 2080 started on a steady note for investors with India’s stock benchmarks gaining over half a per cent in the special 60-minute Muhurat trading session on Sunday evening to mark the start of the traditional Hindu new year.
Insolvency Gets All Personal Now in Boost for Recoveries Supreme Court (SC) order allowing bankruptcy proceedings against personal guarantors of loans to defaulter companies will open up a new window of recovery, potentially multiplying banks’ realizations. | india's stock benchmarks gained over half a per cent in the special 60-minute Muhurat trading session on Sunday evening. the move marks the start of the traditional Hindu new year. bankruptcy proceedings against personal guarantors of loans to defaulter companies will open up a new window of recovery. a new ruling by the supreme court will open up a new window of recovery. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/rbi-task-force-moots-central-corp-loan-contract-registry/articleshow/70965018.cms | MUMBAI: After corporate bonds, corporate loans may be bought in the secondary market. A task force appointed by the Reserve Bank of India has proposed that a self-regulatory body develop suitable benchmarks for trading corporate loans in the secondary market, among others.The Task Force appointed under T N Manoharan, chairman Canara Bank has suggested that a self-regulatory body (SRB) of market participants be set up to develop appropriate benchmark rates for secondary market purchase and sale of corporate loans. The SRB is expected to also finalise detailed modalities and formulate guidelines.Besides, it has also recommended various regulatory changes with respect to securitization, asset reconstruction, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) and external commercial borrowing. That would require amending regulations at SEBI, IRDA and PFRDA to enable broad basing the market with effective participation of non-banking entities such as mutual funds, insurance firms and pension funds, according to the task force.The Task Force recommends that to start with term loans be prioritized for sale in the secondary market. Subsequently, depending upon the experience gained, other categories of loans like revolving credit facilities -cash credit, credit card receivables, assets with bullet repayment and non-fund based facilities should follow suit.There are regulations in place to promote sale of corporate loans, like permitting transfer of borrowal accounts from one bank to another, take-out financing, inter-bank participation certificates, transfer of assets through securitization and direct assignment of cash flows, guidelines on sale of stressed assets by banks, and very recently, permitting banks to sell certain loans (availed domestically) through assignment to eligible External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) lenders.But the task force notes that while banks have been successful in transferring a significant quantum of their stressed loan portfolio to Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs) in recent years, the inter-bank bilateral transactions of loan accounts have been relatively infrequent. As regards the securitization market, it has mostly evolved in the retail segment and there has been no major break-through in the corporate portfolio.Principal factors that have impeded development of this market are absence of a systematic loan sales platform, lack of standardization in documentation and legal factors. Additionally, there is a lack of active participants and lack of an effective price discovery mechanism. Developing the secondary market for corporate loans would require enablers both on the demand as well as supply side. Some of the important enablers include changes in the regulatory framework for loan sales, broad-basing of the participant base, development of specialised entities required for expansion of secondary market, creation of market infrastructure like sales platform, and standardisation of documents and practices. The recommendations of the task force are expected to address these shortcomings. | task force appointed by the Reserve Bank of India has proposed a self-regulatory body. it has recommended various regulatory changes with respect to securitization, asset reconstruction, foreign portfolio investors and external commercial borrowing. task force recommends term loans be prioritized for sale in the secondary market. the inter-bank bilateral transactions of loan accounts have been relatively infrequent. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/once-called-living-monumental-of-failure-mgnrega-has-seen-increased-budget-allocations-since-inception-5277991.html | More than 1.04 crore migrant workers across the country returned to their home states amid the coronavirus pandemic-led livelihood crisis
In the final tranche of the Rs 20 lakh-crore COVID-19 economic relief package, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 17 announced an additional Rs 40,000 crore allocation under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). This is over and above the Rs 61,500 crore budgeted earlier in February.
This would take the total allocation to the scheme up to Rs 1.01 lakh crore.
In February 2006, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government notified MGNREGA for the first time on an experimental basis in about 200 districts.
MGNREGA's creation was unanimously regarded by economists and experts as a milestone in the right-based entitlement framework of India, providing for the first time, legal guarantee for wage employment.
Of the 365 days in a year, the Act guaranteed a minimum 100 days of employment to every willing household, within 15 days of making such a requisition. A failure to provide employment within 15 days from the date of requisition had to be compensated through an unemployment allowance.
COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show
In FY07, then finance minister P Chidambaram made a budget allocation of Rs 14,300 crore for MGNREGA. In FY08, Rs 12,000 crore were allocated to the rural employment scheme. The following year, the budget provided Rs 16,000 crore to the scheme.
FY10 saw a record jump in allocation for the scheme with the Centre announcing Rs 39,100 crore for it. Rs 40,100 crore were earmarked for the scheme each in FY11 and FY12.
The FY13 budget saw a decline in allocation to Rs 33,000 crore, which remained unchanged in FY14.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came to power in 2014, the budget allocation for MGNREGA in 2014-15 was Rs 34,000 crore.
In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Parliament that MGNREGA was a 'living monument of the failures' of the Congress party. However, two years of consecutive droughts and farm prices seeing historic lows due to slump in global commodities market, led the NDA government to use MGNREGA to revive and bailout rural India.
In the budget for 2015-16, the Modi government allocated Rs 34,699 crore to MGNREGA. Then finance minister Arun Jaitley allocated another Rs 7,000 crore through the supplementary demand for grants in the Monsoon Session. This took the total allocation for the year up to Rs 41,699 crore. This was the highest ever for any year and higher than the previous fiscal year’s revised estimates by around 26 percent.
In FY17, the budget allocated Rs 37,000 crore to the employment guarantee scheme. The following year, allocation to the scheme jumped to Rs 48,000 crore. In 2018-19, the programme again saw a sizeable increase in allocation to Rs 55,000 crore. In FY20, it was Rs 60,000 crore.
Also read | Govt allocates additional Rs 40,000 crore to MGNREGA, will help migrant workers headed home: FM
The novel coronavirus pandemic and nationwide lockdown has once again thrown India's poor into distress. While announcing the final tranche of economic relief measures, targeted to reach help and revive the economy, FM Sitharaman said the decision to increase MGNREGA's allocation is expected to generate nearly 300 crore person-days in total, and that the move will especially benefit those migrant workers who have returned to their native villages.
"Considering that monsoon is approaching and migrant workers are heading home because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the additional allocation will ensure jobs for them in rural areas," FM Sitharaman said. | more than 1.04 crore migrant workers across the country returned to their home states. the government has announced an additional Rs 40,000 crore allocation under the scheme. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. the good news is that the virus SARS-CoV-2 has been fairly stable. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/technology/raise-2020-intelligent-data-is-the-digital-capital-says-reliance-industries-chairman-mukesh-ambani-5926141.html | India is becoming a leading power in computer technology and all crucial pieces are in place to make the country a premier digital society, Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani said.
Ambani was speaking at the Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020 (RAISE 2020) summit, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 5. The event will discuss cross-sector subjects like Leveraging AI for Pandemic Preparedness, the Impetus that Innovation Places on Digitisation, and Inclusive AI and Partnerships for Successful Innovation.
Ambani congratulated the prime minister and the government for undertaking a massive digital mission six years ago. He stressed India's ability to provide 4G coverage to over 99 percent of its citizens.
"With 5G around the corner, India will maintain its leadership position," Ambani said.
He also highlighted India's ever-growing fibre-optic broadband network, which has spread the internet to the farthest corners of the country. He underscored India's growing data centres and the Make in India initiative that are empowering the country's digital revolution.
"Intelligent data is the digital capital," says Ambani. He stressed that data is the new currency of the world in the 4th Industrial Revolution. Ambani believes that digitally empowering 1.3 billion Indians is the way to create faster growth, better opportunities, and better standards of living. The eventual goal is AI made by Indians for all Indians.
Ambani said India has the resilience to bounce back from the hardships created by the coronavirus pandemic. The aim is to put AI at the forefront of the Indian economy and use the power of artificial intelligence to empower 1.3 billion Indians, he noted.
Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. | ambani is chairman of Reliance Industries. he is speaking at the Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020 summit. he stressed India's ability to provide 4G coverage to over 99 percent of its citizens. he also highlighted India's ever-growing fibre-optic broadband network. he said data is the new currency of the world in the 4th industrial revolution. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/companies/opinion-what-indias-pharma-ceos-can-learn-from-gsks-emma-walmsley-3312791.html | Emma Walmsley will leave GlaxoSmithKline Plc looking very different from when she took over. The chief executive officer, who’s been in office for eighteen months now, is moving to bulk up GSK and then break it up into two separately listed companies some years down the line.
Since she took over, on the deals front, GSK took full control of the consumer healthcare joint venture by buying out partner Novartis AG’s stake. Then GSK sold its Horlicks nutrition business to Unilever Plc for £3.1billion pounds, and on the same day announced the buyout of TESARO, an oncology-focused company for £4billion pounds.
Just as the investing community was ready to shutter their spreadsheets for the holidays, GSK followed up by hiving off its entire consumer health business to a joint venture with Pfizer. GSK conceded a premium to retain management control in the 68:32 venture, and within three years of the transaction closing, this venture would be demerged and listed separately.
That will leave GSK’s investors two distinct choices, to own a stake in the pharmaceuticals and vaccines business, or the consumer health business or both. The financial structure is such that the pharma business is being left with a lighter balance sheet, giving it the required ability to invest in research and in capital expenditure to grow.
As in most things corporate, the long run will reveal how all this actually works out. But the moves appear bold and sensible, reshaping the company to face up to a changed business environment.
Indian homegrown pharmaceutical companies could also do reflect on what kind of transformation their business model calls for. That painfully irritating interview question, ‘Where do you see yourself five years from now?’ is a question that investors should put to pharmaceutical companies more often. Most of them look like clones of each other, starting off with a domestic generic business that scaled up well, moving on to sell in relatively easy to enter emerging markets, and finally moving on to the lucrative western markets.
The situation today looks dramatically different from a decade ago, when all of this made eminent sense. US markets are no longer the gift that keeps on giving. A combination of competition, price erosion and quality problems at plants have affected sales growth of some of the biggest companies. While the worst can be said to be over, that’s hardly the phrase that excites. Myriad problems such as price controls, currency fluctuations and political upheavals are affecting their performance in other markets.
Companies are trying different tactics within existing business lines, to become more profitable, lower expenditure and focus their research investments. But is that enough? This may be the time when chief executives can call their boards’ attention to the transformative changes happening in the West, and argue it’s time for bolder steps. Most companies have healthy balance sheets and that’s an invaluable ally when attempting change. The decline in valuations in recent years may also make investors more receptive to plans that may have short-term costs.
There is the domestic complication of owners also being managers, and their desire to change. What could these steps be? It will vary but it could be one or more of acquisitions, divestments and even the unthinkable -- joining forces with domestic rivals in some markets or business lines.
(Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously said GSK had hived off its consumer healthcare business to Novartis, instead of Pfizer. The error is regretted.) | gsk has bought out partner's stake in consumer health joint venture. then sold its Horlicks nutrition business to unilever plc for £3.1bn. then announced buyout of TESARO, an oncology-focused company. gsk has also sold its entire consumer health business to a joint venture with Pfizer. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/gold-prices-may-cross-rs-52000-sunilkumar-katke-5532011.html | Representative image
Sunilkumar Katke
Gold has been the investor’s choice in recent time thanks to its ability to provide consistent returns especially when things across the globe are full of uncertainty.
Gold prices have risen multifold as the COVID-19 crisis acted as a catalyst in pushing the safe-haven demand.
Governments, however, are trying to uplift the crumbling economy through relief measures and stimulus packages and relaxing lockdowns measures to support the manufacturing sector which seems to be working in the short term but the long term view remains uncertain.
The equity markets witnessed a decent bounce back taking cues from stimulus measures, at the same time the yellow metal prices also kept its northward journey intact from its sub Rs 40,000 levels in March 2020 to the current levels of close to Rs 49,000 which is against its trait, but this time the situation is different as devaluing currency due to stimulus measures, lower interest rates, trade issues escalation between the US and China kept the safe-haven appeal intact.
The Gold prices touched a 9-year high recently crossing $1,800 per ounce mark at Comex and Rs 49,000 per 10 grams at MCX still looks like an open opportunity in the near term from a retail perspective as well.
With inflation on the rise as we witness more and more money being pumped into the economy by the central banks at the same time ongoing physical gold procurements by central banks suggests that the rally is not over yet.
If we also take into account the recent spike in Gold demand through ETF's where 2016 full year purchase value of $23 billion worth of ETF's was surpassed this year in the 1st half with a staggering number of close to $40 billion ETF investments already.
The ever increasing COVID-19 cases across the globe and the continued race for vaccines is a key factor to look at going forward as many things depend on the same.
With most of the central banks worried about the future state of the economy and the extent of damage this pandemic has brought on, the prices may remain in an uptrend and if things continue the way they are, we may see the prices cross Rs 52,000 per 10 grams mark by the year-end at MCX and close to $1,900 at Comex.
The Author is Head Commodities and Currency at Axis Securities
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. | sunilkumar Katke gold has been the investor’s choice in recent time thanks to its ability to provide consistent returns. gold prices have risen multifold as the COVID-19 crisis acted as a catalyst in pushing the safe-haven demand. government is trying to uplift the crumbling economy through relief measures and stimulus packages. the gold prices touched a 9-year high recently crossing $1,800 per ounce mark at Comex and Rs 49,000 per 10 grams at MCX. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mf/mf-news/amfi-proposes-a-17-point-budget-wish-list/articleshow/73296302.cms | Introduce “Debt Linked Savings Scheme” (DLSS)
Amfi has proposed that the investments up to Rs 1,50,000 under DLSS be eligible for tax benefit subject to a lock in period of 5 years (just like tax saving Bank Fixed Deposits). If large borrowers are persuaded to raise funds from the market (eg. Govt investment in the infrastructure), it will increase bond issuance over time and attract more investors, which will also generate liquidity in the secondary market. DLSS will help small investors participate in bond markets at low costs and at a lower risk as compared to equity markets. This will also bring debt oriented mutual funds on par with tax saving bank fixed deposits, where deduction is available under Section 80C.
Amfi has proposed that the investments up to Rs 1,50,000 under DLSS be eligible for tax benefit subject to a lock in period of 5 years (just like tax saving Bank Fixed Deposits). If large borrowers are persuaded to raise funds from the market (eg. Govt investment in the infrastructure), it will increase bond issuance over time and attract more investors, which will also generate liquidity in the secondary market. DLSS will help small investors participate in bond markets at low costs and at a lower risk as compared to equity markets. This will also bring debt oriented mutual funds on par with tax saving bank fixed deposits, where deduction is available under Section 80C. Mutual fund units should be notified as ‘Specified Long-Term Assets’ qualifying for exemption on long-term capital gains. In order to channelize at least some of the gains from sale of immovable property into capital markets, it is recommended to broaden the list of the specified long-term assets under Sec. 54 EC by including mutual fund units with a lock in period of three years.
Uniform tax treatment in respect of investments in mutual funds units and ULIPs of life insurance companies: In its “Long Term Policy for Mutual Funds”, Sebi has emphasised the principle that similar products should get similar tax treatment, under supervision of different regulators. Thus, there is need to have uniformity in the tax treatment for “Switch” transaction to have a level playing field.
Uniform tax treatment for retirement / pension schemes of mutual funds and NPS: NPS provides an avenue, albeit with limited reach. Mutual funds could provide an appropriate alternative, given the maturity of the mutual fund industry in India and their distribution reach. This could be better achieved by aligning the tax. A majority of NPS subscribers are from government and organized sector. Hence, MFLRP could target individuals who are not subscribers to NPS especially those from the unorganized sector and provide them an option to save for the long term, coupled with tax benefits.
Lower holding period of gold ETFs for taxation purpose: In order to make gold and commodity ETFs more attractive, it is proposed to lower the holding period for LTCG purposes from 3 years to 1 year, as in the case of listed debt securities. From liquidity perspective, Gold ETFs are superior as compared to SGB, as Gold ETFs provide continuous liquidity to investors. Gold ETFs & Commodity ETFs are globally popular with over $100 billion in AUMs. A favourable tax regime would go a long way in making ETFs popular among retail investors.
Lower dividend distribution tax on debt mutual funds: Amfi has proposed lowering of dividend distribution tax on debt mutual fund schemes at least brought at par with the corporate tax rate of 22% (as against the current rate of 25% for individual and 30% for corporates, plus applicable surcharge + cess). Lesser DDT will attract fresh flows into debt mutual fund schemes especially from retirees and can help inflow stable money into bond market through mutual fund route. It is only fair and just to bring parity in the DDT rate in line with the corporate tax rate of 22%.
Exemption from DDT in respect of tax-exempt Institutional Investors: Amfi has proposed exemption from DDT like EPFO, NPS, Insurance Companies, non-profit Section 8 companies who invest on behalf of their investors / contributors/ policyholders in Mutual Funds schemes or Infrastructure Debt Funds of Mutual Funds. The exemption from Dividend Distribution Tax would be under section 115R of the Income Tax Act.
While waiving DDT in respect of Tax-exempt institutional investors would not affect the Government’s revenue, it would eliminate arbitrage between incomes earned from MFs / MFIDFs vis-à-vis other interest-bearing financial instruments.
Clarity in respect of creation of segregated portfolio: Amfi has requested clarity in respect of segregated portfolio in mutual fund schemes, on the capital gains tax treatment upon the sale of Units with regard to the treatment of the Units allotted consequent on segregation of portfolio.
Creation of segregated portfolio is driven by the trustees to protect the interest of the investors, under certain adverse circumstances of rating downgrade / credit default, in accordance with Sebi guidelines. In the case of side-pocketing, the number of units remains unchanged — only the NAV of the units of the Main scheme reduces to the extent of the portfolio segregated from the main portfolio.
Pass-through status to Category III AIFs: Amfi has proposed to accord pass-through status to Category III AIFs for Income Tax Purposes, as done in respect of Category I & II AIFs.
Threshold limit in equity-oriented mutual funds to be restored to 50%: Amfi has proposed that the threshold limit in equity-oriented mutual fund schemes be restored to 50%. Reducing the threshold limit of equities from 65% to 50% for being regarded as ‘equity-oriented fund’ would encourage more investors with lower risk appetite to invest in equity mutual funds.
Revision in definition of equity0-oriented funds: Amfi has proposed that the definition of “Equity-oriented funds” (EOF), be revised to include investment in fund of funds (FOF) schemes which invest predominantly in units of equity-oriented Mutual Fund Schemes.
Some other proposals include to bring down the rate of TDS for NRIs on short term capital gains from debt schemes from 30% to 15% at par with TDS rate for equity schemes, uniformity in tax treatment of infrastructure debt funds of mutual funds and infrastructure debt funds of NBFCs, eliminate double taxation of STT on equity-oriented funds and ETFs.
Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) has proposed an elaborate 17-point budget pitch to help take Indian mutual fund Industry to next orbit of growth. Amfi chief is hopeful that these proposals will aim at bringing parity with comparable investment avenues, making mutual funds more retail investor friendly."Amfi’s suggestions have been in the Budget Proposal list for a few years. We are hoping this time our long pending submissions get addressed, which would help take the Indian MF industry, not only to the next level of growth, but also help in contributing to making economy stronger, especially with deepening of bond market, making long term availability of funds for infrastructure growth, and reducing the fiscal deficit by shifting investments from Pure Gold to Gold ETFs,” says N S Venkatesh, Chief Executive, Amfi.Some of the Amfi’s key wish list points are detailed below: | borrowers will be persuaded to raise funds from the market. DLSS will help small investors participate in bond markets at low costs. this will also bring debt oriented mutual funds on par with tax saving bank fixed deposits, where deduction is available under Section 80C. if large borrowers are persuaded to raise funds from the market, it will increase bond issuance over time and attract more investors. | Positive |
https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/company-stock/rakesh-jhunjhunwala-raises-stake-jubilant-life-sciences-stockrises/story/401606.html | Share price of Jubilant Life Sciences closed higher in a weak market today after ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala raised his stake in the pharma firm for the quarter ended March 2020. Jhunjhunwala increased his stake to 4.41% in Q4 compared to 3.45% shareholding for the quarter ended December 2019.
That amounted to buying 0.96% stake or 15.25 lakh shares in the company.
After the transaction, Jhunjhunwala held 70.25 lakh shares in Q4 against 55 lakh shares in December quarter. Share price of Jubilant Life Sciences hit upper circuit of 5% intra day at Rs 352 against the previous close of Rs 333.25 on BSE.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, wife Rekha sold 1 crore Titan Company shares in March quarter
Jubilant Life Sciences share closed 4.56% or 15.30 points higher at Rs 350.55 on BSE. The stock ended higher than 5 day and 20 day moving averages but lower than 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages
The mid cap stock has lost 50.05% during the last one year and fallen 34.65% since the beginning of this year. However, the stock has gained 24% in one month. Market cap of the firm ended at Rs 5,425 crore.
Total 0.53 lakh shares changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 1.84 crore. The stock hit its 52 week high of Rs 701.90 on April 22, 2019 and 52 week low of Rs 230 on March 25 this year.
Apart from Jhunjhunwala, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also raised their in Q4 to 27.91 percent from 27.43 percent on a quarter on quarter basis. Lazard Emerging Markets Small Cap Equity Trust hiked its stake to 1.78 percent in Q4 against 1.3 percent in Q3 of last fiscal. | Rakesh Jhunjhunwala raises stake in pharma firm for quarter ended march 2020. he bought 0.96% stake or 15.25 lakh shares in the company in the quarter. shares closed 4.56% higher at Rs 350.55 on the bSE. the stock has lost 50.05% during the last one year. but the stock has gained 24% in one month. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/stocks/buy-relaxo-footwears-target-of-rs-650-sharekhan-4609631.html | live bse live
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Sharekhan's research report on Relaxo Footwears
Revenue grew by 14.5% y-o-y, led by premiumisation, a favourable product mix and price hikes in select products. Benign input costs and a better product mix drove up gross margins by 309 bps, while comparable OPM rose by ~150 bps to 15%, owing to operating efficiencies; effect of Ind-AS 116 on PBT stood at Rs. 2.1 crore. Sustained volume growth, capacity expansion, cost efficiencies and wider presence in untapped markets will drive operating performance.
Outlook
We broadly maintain our estimates for FY2020 and FY2021 and maintain a Buy rating with a revised PT of Rs. 650.
For all recommendations report, click here
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
Read More | sharekhan's research report on Relaxo Footwears Revenue grew by 14.5% y-o-y, led by premiumisation, favourable product mix and price hikes in select products. a better product mix drove up gross margins by 309 bps, while comparable OPM rose by 150 bps to 15%, owing to operating efficiencies. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/market/future-supply-chain-ratings-company-is-poised-for-strong-growth/1520445/ | By Bank of Baroda Capital Markets
Future Supply Chain Solutions (FSCSL) is among the leading players in India’s contract logistics space, where its deep expertise in consumer-oriented supply chain management paired with astute technology investments equips it well to capitalise on the robust 3PL industry prospects (17-18% CAGR). We expect rapidly growing anchor customers (Future Group entities) and a diversified non-anchor clientele to catalyse strong revenue/earnings CAGR of 28/27% over FY19-FY21 – initiate coverage with Buy and a Mar’20 target price of `780.
Differentiated player with niche focus
Established as a captive supply chain management arm for the Future Group’s retail business in 2006, FSCSL has since emerged as one of the leading contract logistics players in India with niche expertise in consumer supply chains (90%+ of revenue) – a key competitive moat considering that consumer verticals (durables, retail, fashion) have complex logistic needs and also offer the best growth opportunities in the 3PL space.
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Rapidly growing anchor clients
Consensus estimates peg revenue growth for FSCSL’s three key anchor customers at 18% over FY19-FY21. FSCSL is more than doubling warehouse space to 10 mn sq ft by FY20 over FY18 to cater to its fast-growing anchor customers (62% of revenue, >40% growth over FY15-FY18) and expanding non-anchor base.
Strong growth ahead
Established credentials, a robust client base, technology investments and conducive industry dynamics are forecast to drive a 30/17% CAGR in FSCSL’s contract logistics/express businesses for FY19-FY21. Standalone revenue/ Ebitda/earnings are forecast to log a robust 28%/31%/27% CAGR.
Initiate with Buy
We value FSCSL at 25x FY21E P/E, at a 20% discount to Mahindra Logistics’ 30x P/E multiple, yielding a Mar’20 target price of `780.
Investment thesis
While retail-focused Future Group entities — Future Retail, Future Lifestyle and Future Consumer — remain the mainstay anchor customers, the company has broadened its client base such that non-anchor customers formed 38% of revenue in 9MFY19. It has also added several value-added services to its repertoire. | future supply chain solutions (fscl) is one of the leading contract logistics players in india. its deep expertise in consumer supply chain management paired with astute technology investments equips it well to capitalise on the robust 3PL industry prospects (17-18% CAGR) we expect rapidly growing anchor customers and a diversified non-anchor clientele to catalyse strong revenue/earnings CAGR of 28/27% over FY19-FY21. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/ipos/fpos/easemytrip-puranik-builders-2-others-get-nod-for-ipo/articleshow/73911132.cms | New Delhi: As many as four companies, including online travel firm EaseMyTrip and realty firm Puranik Builders , have received markets regulator Sebi 's go-ahead to float initial public offerings.Construction firm Montecarlo and manufacturer of pharmaceutical chemicals Chemcon Speciality Chemicals are the other companies that obtained clearance from Sebi.The companies had filed draft offer documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) during September-December 2019.According to latest update with the markets watchdog, EaseMyTrip and Puranik Builders obtained Sebi's "observations" on January 28, while the same for Montecarlo and Chemcon Speciality Chemicals was obtained on January 31.Sebi's observations are necessary for any company to launch public issues such as initial public offer, follow-on public offer and rights issue.Going by the draft papers, EaseMyTrip.com plans to float a Rs 510 crore initial public offering ( IPO ), through which the company's founders Nishant Pitti and Rikant Pitti will each sell shares to the tune of Rs 255 crore through offer-for-sale mechanism.EaseMyTrip.com is operated by Easy Trip Planners Private Ltd.The IPO of Puranik Builders consists of fresh issue of shares worth Rs 810 crore, besides an offer for sale up to 18,59,620 equity shares by the company's promoters and existing shareholders.According to market sources, the IPO size could be estimated at Rs 1,000 crore.Montecarlo filed fresh papers with Sebi in September 2019 to launch an IPO comprising fresh issuance of shares worth Rs 450 crore, besides an offer for sale of up to 30 lakh equity stocks by existing shareholder Kanubhai M Patel Trust.According to market sources, Montecarlo's IPO size is estimated to be Rs 550 crore.In May 2018, Montecarlo had approached Sebi with draft prospectus seeking its approval to raise funds through initial share-sale and secured the market regulator's nod in August last year to float the public issue. However, the company did not launch the IPO.Chemcon Speciality Chemicals' IPO comprises of fresh issue of shares worth Rs 175 crore and an offer for sale of 43 lakh equity shares from the promoters.Sources pegged the company's IPO size at Rs 350 crore. | as many as four companies, including online travel firm EaseMyTrip and realty firm Puranik Builders, have received clearance from sebi. construction firm Montecarlo and manufacturer of pharmaceutical chemicals Chemcon Speciality Chemicals are the other companies that received clearance. the companies had filed draft offer documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) during September-December 2019. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/features/new-ventures-help-office-goers-sail-through-commuting-chaos/articleshow/73370675.cms | The daily commute can eat up a decent chunk of one’s money, time, and peace of mind. Working professionals, living far from city centres and business districts and without convenient access to public transport, perhaps feel the pressure even more.Their need for reliable and affordable transport other than regular app-based cabs, increasingly scorned for cancellations and surge pricing, has spawned a new carpool market for startups.Quick Ride, sRide, and Shuttl are among the firms which offer to arrange carpools (basically connecting people heading in the same direction) and seats on chartered buses at much lower rates than those charged by Ola and Uber. In fact, at Rs 2-4 per km, they are up to 50 per cent cheaper.Chaitanya Madipally, a Hyderabad native, pays Rs 28 to travel 13km in carpool every day; she has purchased Quick Ride passes for this office commute. “It’s a more user-friendly app because you can chat or call the riders easily,” she said.Founded in 2015, the firm has 3 million registered car and bike poolers. “About 98 per cent of our customers are office-goers. To keep the numbers moving, we organise carpool awareness campaigns at companies, including Infosys ,” said Quick Ride founder KNM Rao. “If more employees carpool, companies won’t have to create or maintain huge parking spaces. It’s beneficial to both.”Industry representatives believe shared mobility has the potential to ease urban pain points such as traffic congestion and air pollution.Nitin Chadha, chief operating officer of Pune-based sRide, said the company was growing 5x year-on-year, and its appeal, apart from the cost factor, lay in point-to-point journeys. “Using data, we match customised routes for each user. One can travel with their colleagues, or to different offices in the same tech park from the same locality. Many riders develop a rapport, which makes the otherwise boring travel pleasant,” he said.Chadha and Rao said the business model of charging just 6 per cent commission for the rides from the driver, who could also be the owner of the car, would help players in the market achieve profitability faster while also being asset light.“Car owners save on fuel costs, riders pay Rs 3 to 4 per km and we, on average, earn revenue of Rs 3 lakh a day,” Rao said.Quick Ride aims to become profitable by year end. A general policy to not offer discounts is expected to help such firms achieve their targets quicker than players in other transport categories.Some firms, like Gurugram-based Shuttl, are using technology to improve the model of chartered buses. Shuttl offers a seat-based payment plan to commuters. “The price is Rs 2-2.5 per km; there is a balance of cost and comfort for commuters. The price point works in most cities. In fact, we think it’s suitable for markets across the country,” Deepanshu Malviya, co-founder and chief operating officer, Shuttl.He added: “On one side there are riders and on the other, there are vendors. We are the technology platform which draws up a route and offers an optimal solution that guarantees seats to passenger in air-conditioned buses.”Shuttl’s platform sees 1 lakh rides on “crowdsourced routes” every day. Riders pay as per to a subscription package. “They pay for an assured seat, which is different than riding in app-based cabs, where you pay for even unoccupied seats. The main challenge is to keep buses running during rain or shine and in heavy traffic and to send updates about any delay to riders,” Malviya said.The firm, currently operational in six cities, has planned campaigns to encourage office-goers to leave their cars and bikes home and try chartered buses. It is one of the highest funded startups in the space. So far, it has raised $119.4 million from SIG Global India Fund, Toyota Motor Corporation and other investors.ZipGo and Cityflo also offer tech support for bus travel but have not yet seen the same level of interest from investors. ZipGo, which has raised $43 million, has suspended operations in some cities. Cityflo has raised $750,000, according to business information platform Crunchbase.There has been some consolidation in the space: Shuttl, in a partnership with UAEbased Careem , has acquired Hyderabad’s Commut and ZipGo has snapped up Supreme Trans Concepts, a Pune-based provider of bus services.In addition to consumerfacing businesses, some companies such as Routematic and Moveinsync offer solutions to corporates which arrange transport for their employees. “For a long time, tech was restricted to GPS devices or an app for trip information. We offer fleet management software, which helps corporates plan and optimise routes and billing systems, manage supply chain, and prevent financial leakage,” said Routematic CEO Surajit Das. “The artificial intelligence-based system helps achieve up to 30 per cent budget savings and has provisions to ensure safety of women employees with verified drivers and SOS buttons.”The company is looking to expand its fleet by adding electric vehicles.Das said analytics-led predictive vehicle positioning and automated dispatch would be based on the city’s planning model. This would deliver benefits such as better vehicle utilisation, less congestion and a lower carbon footprint.Startups’ carpool and bus solutions are popular among women as they find these modes of transport safer. Women form about 40 to 60 per cent of their customer base. | companies offering carpools and seats on chartered buses are launching. quick ride, sRide, and Shuttl are among the firms offering carpools. at Rs 2-4 per km, they are up to 50 per cent cheaper than Ola and Uber. sRide is growing 5x year-on-year and its appeal lies in point-to-point journeys. | Positive |
https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/pm-modi-says-indian-economy-based-on-sound-fundamentals-will-soon-reach-5-trillion/story/320912.html | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the Indian economy is based on sound fundamentals and will in the near future double in size to $5 trillion, as he hardsold the country as a "land of opportunities" to investors in South Korea.
"No other large economy in the world is growing at over 7 per cent year after year," he said at the India-ROK Business Symposium here during his visit to the Republic of Korea. Over 600 Korean companies such as Hyundai, Samsung and LG Electronics are already invested in India and the Prime Minister said "we aspire to welcome many more."
"And, (car maker) Kia is soon to join this club," he added. To ease business visits, India since October last year is giving Korean nationals visa on arrival, he said. "The fundamentals of our economy are sound. We are well set to become a 5 trillion dollar economy in the near future," he said.
Read More: Many Indians rally behind PM Narendra Modi after Kashmir attack
Modi said hard policy decisions such as the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and opening up of more sectors has helped India jump 65 places on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business ranking to the 77th position.
"And, we are determined to move into the top 50 next year," he said. "We are one of the most open countries for foreign direct investment today. More than 90 per cent of our sectors are now on automatic route for approval. As a result of this and the confidence in India, we have received FDI worth over USD 250 billion over the past four years."
India, the world's sixth largest economy at USD 2.5 trillion, is changing from being agriculture-dominated to an economy led by industry and services and one that is globally inter-linked which rolls out red carpet instead of red tape, the Prime Minister said.
"India has emerged as a land of opportunities. While we work for realizing the 'Indian Dream', we seek like-minded partners. And, among them, we see South Korea is truly natural partner," he said.
India is among the top 10 trade partners of Korea and India is the 6th largest export destination for Korean goods. Trade between the two nations reached USD 21.5 billion in 2018.
"The negotiations to upgrade the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement have been fast-tracked to achieve the bilateral trade target of USD 50 billion by 2030," he said. "Not just trade, in investment terms also we are seeing a positive turn. And Korean investments into India have reached a cumulative figure of almost USD 6 billion."
Talking of initiatives taken by his government, the Prime Minister said over 300 million bank accounts have been opened for providing banking to the unbanked. As much as 99 per cent of Indian households now have a bank account.
More than USD 12 billion has been deposited in these accounts, microcredit of $90 billion has been extended to 28 million in the last three years, $50 billion of government benefits directly transferred to beneficiaries and huge strides made in rural electrification, he said.
"Economic progress is closely tied to world-class infrastructure. Be it transport, power, ports, shipbuilding, housing, and urban infrastructure, there is a huge demand in India while there are strong technological capabilities and capacities in Korea. We estimate the investment requirements in infrastructure at over $700 billion by 2022," he said.
Listing projects that need foreign capital, he said the Sagarmala port projects need $10 billion in five years. Recognising the importance of supporting India's infrastructure development, India and South Korea have identified $10 billion under Korea's Economic Development Cooperation Fund and Export Credit to finance such projects.
Modi said the role of the government is to provide the support system and a flagship program Start-up India with $1.4 billion fund for four years to create a startup ecosystem in the country has been introduced.
"Our vision of India-Korea Startup Centre will provide a hub for Korean startups and Indian talent to freely communicate. South Korean national IT promotion agency has already opened Indian offices in Bengaluru," he added.
Read More: PM Modi-Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meet: 5 major agreements India, Saudi may sign today
PM Modi breaks protocol to welcome Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman | prime minister says the country is a "land of opportunities" to investors in south Korea. over 600 companies such as Hyundai, Samsung and LG Electronics are already invested in india. the country is giving Korean nationals visa on arrival to ease business visits. the country is the world's sixth largest economy at USD 2.5 trillion. he says the country is one of the most open countries for foreign direct investment. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/cryptocurrency/bitcoin-rises-7-back-in-the-green-for-2020-5114361.html | Bitcoin
Bitcoin rallied 7 percent on April 7 as investors turned to the digital currency amid the coronavirus outbreak that has roiled the equity markets.
The world's largest cryptocurrency has breached the $7,000 mark and is now trading above its 2019 closing price of $7,222. At the time of writing this copy, the digital currency was quoting $7,321.83, up 6.99 percent. It made a 24-hour high of $7,459.09 and a 24-hour low of $6,810.17.
Bitcoin has now recovered 90 percent from its 2020 low but is still trading nearly 31 percent lower from its 2020 high.
Before COVID-19 became a pandemic, Bitcoin was on a fairytale run this year rising over 46 percent YTD, ahead of all other asset classes. Like its peers, the cryptocurrency, too, succumbed to the turmoil as the economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic forced investors to the sidelines.
COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show
After two weeks of pain, the Bitcoin made a comeback on March 25 after the US Federal Reserve said it had "infinite cash" to deal with the implication of the virus on the economy.
Experts say it now has to reclaim $8,000 to start the bull run. | bitcoin rallied 7 percent on April 7 as investors turned to the digital currency amid the coronavirus outbreak. the digital currency is now trading above its 2019 closing price of $7,222. bitcoin has recovered 90 percent from its 2020 low but is still trading nearly 31 percent lower from its 2020 high. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/sme-sector/samhita-cgf-usaid-others-launch-programme-to-provide-help-for-covid-impacted-livelihoods/articleshow/78891535.cms | MUMBAI: In a bid to restore livelihoods lost during the COVID-19 crisis, Samhita-Collective Good Foundation ( CGF ), the US Agency for International Development ( USAID ), Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF) and Omidyar Network India have collaborated to launch a $6.85 million blended finance facility called REVIVE.The financing facility, also supported by corporates such as Arvind Limited and Godrej Consumer Products Limited and foundations like Brihati Foundation powered by Claris , will provide accessible and affordable capital in the form of grants, returnable grants and loans to previously employed or self-employed workers and at-risk nano and micro enterprises to either restart and sustain their work or find alternative business opportunities. The facility is expected to reach between 60,000-100,000 workers and enterprises and will give preference to youth and women. REVIVE will also undertake upskilling activities for laid-off youth and informal sector workers.In a statement, Founder and CEO, Samhita , Priya Naik, said, “This will have a positive impact on economic activity, self-employment, and household consumption, giving families and small businesses the agency to pay their dues, buy daily business supplies and invest in protective gear and other operations to sustain and thrive.”“The United States and India have a long history of collaboration in the health and development areas, and our cooperative response to COVID-19 builds on this strong partnership. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative impact on the global economy, including India and its citizens. The impact on women and youth has been higher,” said Ramona El Hamzaoui, USAID/India Acting Mission Director, in a statement.Rahil Rangwala, Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, added in a statement that, “COVID has displaced so many workers in the informal sector, and has had a tremendous impact on the economy. REVIVE is a powerful platform aligned with our goal to support programs that bring people back to a road to recovery and reignite the economy. “Siddharth Nautiyal, Partner, Omidyar Network India, said: “Through REVIVE, we aim to restore livelihoods with accessible and affordable capital thereby giving a much-needed impetus to small businesses and aiding economic recovery."The REVIVE Alliance will initiate partnerships with a range of stakeholders, including companies and foundations as fundraising partners, and business chambers, non-banking financial companies, social organisations and prominent sector influencers who will provide robust expertise and implementation support.Among the companies and foundations that have come onboard, Arvind Limited will support workers from the textile industry who have lost their jobs; Godrej Consumer Products Limited will support beautypreneurs; and Brihati Foundation powered by Claris will support farmers and street vendors. | the $6.85 million blended finance facility will provide access to affordable capital. it will provide grants, returnable grants and loans to previously employed or self-employed workers. the facility is expected to reach between 60,000-100,000 workers and enterprises. it will also undertake upskilling activities for laid-off youth and informal sector workers. the impact on women and youth has been higher, said the us agency. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/after-the-bell-sensex-inches-towards-47000-what-should-investors-do-on-friday-6239721.html | Indian markets closed in the green fifth day in a low on December 17 as the bulls pushed the benchmark indices to yet another record high as the S&P BSE Sensex hit 46,992 and the Nifty50 13,740.
The Sensex closed 223 points higher at 46,890, while the Nifty50, ended the day with gains of 58 points at 13,741.
Sectorally, action was seen in finance, capital goods, realty, while metals, oil & gas and utilities saw some profit-taking.
Here is what experts think that investors should do on December 18:
Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research, Kotak Securities
On the day of the weekly expiry of the Nifty and the Bank Nifty options, the market moved to expected levels of 13,770. HDFC twins, Bajaj twins and few pharmaceuticals supported the rally.
The market has formed one more indecisive candlestick at the top of the rally. The market should trade between 13,840 and 13,600 levels. Sell Nifty if it bounces to 13,840-13,850 levels and keep a final stop loss at 13,900.
Chandan Taparia, Vice President | Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited
The Nifty opened positive and moved to the new lifetime high of 13,773. It the day more than 50 points higher.
The index formed a small bullish candle on the daily scale, making higher high-higher lows on the lower time frame.
It has to hold above 13,600 to witness an up-move towards 13,850,and then towards 14,000, while on the downside, support exists at 13,500.
Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research, CapitalVia Global Research Limited
The market witnessed some strong trends and an attempt to overcome the resistance level at around 13,750. Sustaining above 13,750 is the key factor from a short-term perspective. | the Sensex closed 223 points higher at 46,890, while the Nifty50, ended the day with gains of 58 points at 13,741. sectorally, action was seen in finance, capital goods, realty, metals, oil & gas and utilities. the market moved to expected levels of 13,770 on the day of the weekly expiry of the Nifty and the Bank Nifty options. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/market/65-new-apmcs-to-join-enam-in-maharashtra/1745548/ | At least 65 more agriculture produce market committees (APMC) in Maharashtra are set to join the Centre’s eNAM platform, according to the Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB). Around 60 APMCs in the state are already part of the online market place.
At present, 585 mandis in the country have been linked to eNAM and 60 mandis in the state have become part of the national platform in two phases. In the first phase 30 market committees were included in eNAM from September 2017 and another 30 market committees were included from January 2018. Also, work is in progress to include Chamorshi in district Gadchiroli, Washim in district Washim and Kalamb in Osmanabad district in the national electronic platform. This means a total of 65 market committees will soon become part of eNAM.
According to Sunil Pawar, MD,MSAMB, regular training is being given to officers of the market committees, farmers, commission agents, adtyas and traders to ensure regular eNAM operations in 60 APMCs of Maharashtra. Village level meetings are organised on a regular basis to propagate the concept of eNAM. An eNAM cell has been opened to offer guidance regarding the platform and employees have been appointed as eNAM Mitra. Circulars are issued on a regular basis to popularise the platform in addition to publicising the concept through television programmes on Doordarshan channel. Farmers are also informed about e-auctions on a regular basis, the official said.
Pawar said that review reports are prepared every month and sent to the market committees. The reports are also sent for review to the district deputy registrar, cooperative societies, district collectors and the directorate of marketing. Around 67 lakh quintals of agri-produce worth Rs 2,085 crore has been sold through e-auctions since the implementation of the platform in the state.
Around 2.84 lakh lots of agri-produce has been assessed for quality through assaying labs. Through eNAM, the facility of e-payment is available and nearly Rs 51 crore has been deposited online into farmers’ accounts. Some 11.84 lakh farmers, 15,434 traders and 13,415 commission agents have been registered under eNAM in the 60 market committees in the state. Atleast 1,090 village level meetings have been held to popularise the concept of eNAM in order to reach out to 60,000 farmers.
Pawar said that although MSAMB is making all efforts to ensure that the eNAM process is 100 % complete in the 60 market committees, the work has not progressed as expected. On inquiry, it was revealed that the neighbouring market committees continued with the traditional method of auctions, and therefore, some elements in these 60 market committees opposed the e-auction process.
The Marketing Board has sent a proposal to include 37 market committees and 25 APMCs that currently conduct e-auctions under the Maharashtra Agricultural Competitiveness Project (MACP) under the World Bank project. Following approval from the Centre, some 65 market committees will soon be linked to eNAM, taking the total number in the state to 125.
The National Agriculture Market (NAM) is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. The NAM portal provides a single window service for all APMC related information and services. This includes commodity arrivals and prices, buy and sell trade offers, provision to respond to trade offers, among other services. The Centre has allotted around `30 lakh per mandi, which means the state has received Rs 9 crore for the project.
Out of 60 Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) in Maharashtra, 30 have switched to digital transactions and have begun e-auctions. These 30 APMCs were part of the first phase of the Union agriculture ministry-promoted electronic platform National Agriculture Market (eNAM). Maharashtra’s 60 Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs), which are part of the Centre’s eNAM platform, will soon move towards inter-state trade of farm products with markets in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. | 60 APMCs in the state are already part of the online market place. around 67 lakh quintals of agri-produce worth Rs 2,085 crore has been sold through e-auctions since the implementation of the platform in the state. around 11.84 lakh farmers, 15,434 traders and 13,415 traders have been deposited online. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/dow-soars-over-11-in-strongest-one-day-performance-since-1933/articleshow/74801968.cms | The Dow soared on Tuesday to its biggest one-day percentage gain since 1933, after U.S. lawmakers said they were close to a deal for an economic rescue package in response to the coronavirus outbreak, injecting optimism following the biggest selloff since the financial crisis.All three main U.S. stock indexes rebounded strongly from Monday's brutal selloff as the coronavirus outbreak forced entire nations to shut down.Senior Democrats and Republicans said they were close to a deal on a $2 trillion stimulus bill, aimed at providing financial aid to Americans out of work and help for distressed industries.The expected legislation adds to aggressive action announced by the Federal Reserve in recent days, including purchase of corporate bonds and announcing that the U.S. central bank will make direct loans to companies.King Lip, chief investment strategist at Baker Avenue Asset Management in San Francisco, said expectations on the stimulus bill were driving optimism on Wall Street, but said his firm was still waiting to buy back into the market."With all of this stimulus, we just need a catalyst to spark the fire," Lip said. "That spark will be a peaking of the cases, and when it starts to come down, I think that's when everything gets lit up."Investors were also pleased after President Donald Trump said on Monday he was considering how to restart parts of business life when a 15-day shutdown ends next week, even as the highly contagious virus spreads rapidly and poorly equipped hospitals struggle with a wave of deadly cases.A separate proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives to grant airlines and contractors a $40 billion bailout lifted the S&P 1500 airlines index by 15%.The severity of the spread of COVID-19 and expectations of aggressive stimulus measures have whipsawed financial markets and ended Wall Street's 11-year bull run. Boeing Co powered the Dow's gains, jumping nearly 21% after Chief Executive Dave Calhoun said the planemaker expected the 737 MAX jet to return to service by mid-year. Its shares have lost nearly two-thirds of their value so far in 2020.Data on Monday showed U.S. business activity hit a record low in March, bolstering expert views that the economy was already in a recession.Traders were still weighing the uncertainty of the path of the coronavirus outbreak."We don't know how long it's going to take to peak. We don't know how to treat it. We don't have a vaccine. So all of those uncertainties are causing a myriad of aftershocks," said Nancy Perez, senior portfolio manager at Boston Private Wealth in Miami.The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 11.37% to end at 20,704.91 points, while the S&P 500 jumped 9.38% to 2,447.33. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 8.12% to 7,417.86.The S&P energy index jumped 16.3%. The big banks index jumped about 13%, tracking an increase in U.S. government bond yields.Just 11 S&P 500 stocks ended lower.Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 8.53-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 6.22-to-1 ratio favored advancers.The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and four new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded four new highs and 85 new lows.Volume on U.S. exchanges was 15.3 billion shares, compared to the 15.9 billion-share average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. | the Dow soared to its biggest one-day percentage gain since 1933. lawmakers say they are close to a deal on a $2 trillion stimulus bill. the coronavirus outbreak forced entire nations to shut down. the u.s. economy is expected to recover in the coming months. a separate proposal in the house of representatives lifts the s&p 1500 airlines index. | Positive |
http://www.financialexpress.com/money/mutual-fund-assets-to-hit-rs-100-lakh-crore-in-next-10-years-mahindra-amc/1001640/ | Indian mutual fund industry’s assets under management (AUM) are expected to touch Rs 100 lakh crore in the next 10 years on account of strong participation from retail investors, a top Mahindra AMC official said today. At present, the mutual fund industry has an asset base of Rs 22.36 lakh crore. “People want to make money and they have understood the fact that only way to beat the inflation is investment in equity. They are moving away from traditional investment products like gold and real estate and focusing on mutual funds. This will help in reaching the industry AUM to Rs 100 lakh crore in the next 10 years,” Mahindra AMC Managing Director and CEO Ashutosh Bishnoi told reporters here. In 2017, the total asset base of all 42 active fund houses put together surged by an impressive 32 per cent, while it had risen by 24 per cent over the last five years.
The industry’s AUM had crossed the milestone of Rs 10 lakh crore for the first time in May 2014 and in a short span of about three-and-a-half years, the asset base shot up more than two-fold to over Rs 22 lakh crore at December-end 2017. It was at Rs 16.46 lakh crore at the end of December 2016. This was the fifth consecutive yearly rise in the industry AUM, after a drop in the assets base for two preceding years. The industry has been running a very ambitious investor awareness campaign, ‘mutual fund sahi hai’ or mutual funds are right for the investor and Bishnoi feels it may have added considerably to the growth. Overall, investor count is estimated to have risen by 1.7 crore to 6.5 crore, while retail investor accounts — defined by folios in equity, ELSS and balanced categories — alone grew by 1.4 crore to 5.3 crore.
Bishnoi was speaking at the launch of a new scheme — Mahindra Unnnati Emerging Business Yojna — which will predominately invest in mid cap companies. The new fund offer (NFO) will open on January 8 and closes on January 22. “Indian economy is poised for a multi-year growth phase, with the governments focus on reforms. Investment opportunities will also emerge with formalisation of economy leading to shifting of market share from unorganised to organised sector in highly fragmented consumer segments bringing nations progress closer to every household,” he said.
Further, he said that Mahindra AMC, which started operations in July 2016, is aiming to become largest investment house for semi-urban and rural areas in the next 10 years. Mahindra AMC is focused on the rural and semi-urban sector. | at present, the mutual fund industry has an asset base of Rs 22.36 lakh crore. in 2017, the total asset base of all 42 active fund houses put together surged by an impressive 32 per cent. the industry's AUM had crossed the milestone of Rs 10 lakh crore for the first time in may 2014. overall, investor count is estimated to have risen by 1.7 crore to 6.5 crore. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/commodities/news/gold-rises-on-coronavirus-worries-firm-dollar-limits-gains/articleshow/75044500.cms | The festive month of Diwali brought a much-needed boost in online shopping after a muted start to the year in the first half. Ecommerce platforms, retailers and online sellers reported a steady uptick in sales with categories like electronics, food and grocery, and jewellery reporting double digit growth over last year.
Supreme Court (SC) order allowing bankruptcy proceedings against personal guarantors of loans to defaulter companies will open up a new window of recovery, potentially multiplying banks’ realizations.
Samvat 2080 started on a steady note for investors with India’s stock benchmarks gaining over half a per cent in the special 60-minute Muhurat trading session on Sunday evening to mark the start of the traditional Hindu new year.
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Top Trending Stocks: Sensex Today Live | ecommerce platforms, retailers and online sellers reported a steady uptick in sales. categories like electronics, food and grocery, and jewellery reported double digit growth over last year. Sensex and nifty gained over half a per cent in the special 60-minute muhurat trading session on Sunday evening. Sensex and nifty are the most traded stocks in the world. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/commodities/zinc-futures-gain-on-demand-uptick-5365181.html | Zinc prices on Friday rose 0.43 per cent to Rs 162.15 per kg in futures trade tracking a firm trend in physical markets on the back of pick-up in demand.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange, zinc contracts for June delivery traded higher by 70 paise, or 0.43 per cent, at Rs 162.15 per kg with a business turnover of 2,506 lots.
Marketmen said widening of positions by participants, following pick-up in demand from consuming industries, kept zinc prices higher in futures trade.
For All Commodities Related News - Click Here | zinc futures trade rose 0.43 per cent to Rs 162.15 per kg. firm trend in physical markets on back of pick-up in demand. zinc contracts for June delivery traded higher by 70 paise, or 0.43 per cent. zinc contracts for June delivery traded higher by Rs 162.15 per kg. zinc prices rose by 0.4 per cent to Rs 158.15 per kg. | Positive |
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HYDERABAD: The ongoing digital transformation taking place globally is making India's information technology (IT) industry stronger, a trend that would continue its growth momentum at least in the foreseeable future, says an expert. Former President of the industry body NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies), R Chandrashekhar said 2018 has been a watershed year for the Indian IT industry because in 2016 people were writing its "obituaries."He said 2017 was a difficult year for the industry and there were many challenges during that period."And in 2018 headlines were all about how the IT industry has really made really big strides in digital transformation space globally...which basically shows that the shift to digital has not killed the IT industry", he said."On the contrary, it has actually made it stronger and more important as a partner for its clients," Chandrashekhar said."So, that's very big accomplishment by the industry and shows that the growth momentum will continue into at least foreseeable future because this a trend which is going to remain there for a long time now".It's a "clear and positive sign" for the industry, he said.Also, he noted that many big IT companies in India are reporting a very strong deal pipeline and, so, the growth momentum can be expected to continue.Several companies are forming joint ventures and also acquiring companies which, Chandrashekhar said, are important strategies to keep the growth. "Growth momentum is strong and is expected to continue."On things in 2019 which could have dampening effect on the export-dependent IT industry, he said if American economy slows down, it would have an impact, as also a "hard Brexit ". Appreciation of rupee would have impact on rupee earnings of companies.But he stressed that one should not be unduly concerned about those factors because they don't fundamentally affect the strength of the Indian IT industry. | a new report says the IT industry is making it stronger and more important. the report also says that many big IT companies are reporting a very strong deal pipeline. the report also says that a "hard Brexit" could have an impact on the IT industry. the report also cites the emergence of a "digital age" in the IT industry. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/time-to-cash-in-on-banking-stocks-top-10-strong-and-weak-rollover-for-december-series-4685121.html | The Nifty marked a fresh life above its impending resistance mark of 12,100, as the November series ended with a positive traction of more than 2 percent, and the strong rollover seen for the December series for the Nifty Bank suggests that banking stocks will remain in focus, according to a report.
Buoyancy in sentiments is seen as heavyweights such as Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were leading from the front to push the index to record highs.
Highlights for the series include: a) The Bank Nifty index was up 6.8 percent (expiry to expiry), outperforming the Nifty, b) India VIX remained below 15 mark c) Massive short covering on index futures seen from FIIs at the fag end of expiry days, and d) Options writing trades remained lucrative, as markets traded in a narrow band with low implied volatility.
Rolls for the Nifty and the Bank Nifty stood at 79 percent, and 70 percent compared to 84 percent and 63 percent in the previous month.
Aggressive long buildup with a sharp increase in open interest (OI) base was seen on the Bank Nifty led by ICICI Bank. The market-wide rollover was better than the previous month at 93 percent, compared to the 3-month average of 92 percent.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) positioning on the index futures’ long to short ratio stood at 1.54x. FIIs’ long index rollovers stood at 75 percent, compared to 3-month average of 67 percent along, unwinding on short positions was also seen.
“Maximum call/put OI on the Nifty for December monthly series stands at 12,500 calls (1.7mn) and 12,000 puts (OI 3mn). We expect a continuation of the rally, with mild periodic profit booking,” said the Yes Securities report.
Sectors that saw strong rollovers include banking, metals, and infra, with weak trends seen on capital goods, media and cement stocks.
Strong rollover
Strong rollover was seen in stocks such as Torrent Power, JSW Steel, Container Corp, ACC, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Godrej Consumer Products, MRF, Asian Paints and United Spirits.
Weak rollovers
Weak rollovers were seen in stocks like ONGC, Chola Finance, Voltas, Vedanta, Eicher Motors, Page Industries, NALCO, TVS Motor, Shree Cement, and Vodafone Idea.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. | the bank Nifty index was up 6.8 percent (expiry to expiry), outperforming the Nifty. heavyweights such as ICICI Bank and Torrent Power were leading from the front. a strong rollover was seen in stocks such as Torrent Power, JSW Steel, Container Corp, ACC, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, Godrej Consumer Products, MRF, Asian Paints and United Spirits. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/budget/budget-2019-major-hits-and-misses-of-interim-budget-from-taxpayers-common-mans-perspective/1472616/ | Union Budget 2019: The Interim Budget 2019, being the last budget before the country goes for polls in a few months, widely focused on providing relief to the middle-class taxpayers, small farmers and workers in the unorganized sector.
Here are the key takeaways of this year’s interim budget, which according to me, had a fair number of hits and misses:
Major Hits
> Relief to middle-class taxpayers: Two major announcements focusing on the middle class have brought a much-needed sigh of relief for this segment of tax payers. The first involve full rebate to those with a taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh and the second one involving an increase in standard deduction from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. Both these moves are expected to boost consumer spending and investment.
>Boost to affordable housing industry: The extension of Section 80IBA benefits for one more year has given a much-needed boost to the housing industry. This move will make more homes available in the affordable housing segment and assist in achieving the government’s aim of ‘Housing for All by 2022’.
>Tax relief for homeowners: In this year’s budget announcement, twin benefits have been extended to home owners. Firstly, for those who had to keep two house properties, the notional rent on second self-occupied house has been proposed to be waived off. Secondly, the benefit of roll over of capital gains up to Rs 2 crore has been increased from one residential house to two residential units, under Section 54 of the Income Tax Act. This move is expected to increase demand in the housing industry. However, such home owners must remember that they can claim this benefit only once in a lifetime.
Major Misses
>LTCG tax on equities and equity mutual funds not scrapped: Since equity market plays a vital role in the capital formation as well as overall development of economy, the removal of LTCG tax on stocks and equity mutual funds would have gone a long way in increasing the equity penetration, encouraged fresh inflows from retail investors and improved the overall investor sentiment. Moreover, this removal would have brought equities and equity mutual funds on tax parity with other equity-related investment options such as ULIPs and NPS, which still enjoy exemption from LTCG tax.
Read Also| Budget 2019: Taxpayers Alert! 5 significant personal tax changes you need to know
>No increase in deduction limit under Section 80C: An increase in the maximum deduction limit under section 80C would have helped in solving two major problem areas. One is the over-crowding of section 80C due to various compulsory payouts such as home loan principal repayment, children’s tuition fee, life insurance premium etc. which often leave no incentive for tax payers to save and invest in PPF, tax saving fixed deposits, ELSS, NPS, etc. Secondly, the issue of downfall in India’s household savings rate from over 23.6% in FY12 to about 16.3% by March FY17 would have received a helping hand through an increase in 80C limit to about Rs 2.5-3 lakh, and boosted the long-term investment in financial assets and helped in improving the long-term financial security of middle class households.
>No reintroduction of Section 80EE: Over and above the home loan interest repayment benefit of up to Rs 2 lakh in a financial year, the section 80EE extends an additional deduction of Rs 50,000 for first time home buyers, on interest repayment of home loan availed during financial year 2016-17, provided the loan amount doesn’t exceed Rs 35 lakh and the property’s value is up to Rs 50 lakh. Since this benefit was primarily aimed at boosting the affordable housing, a reintroduction of this additional deduction for all fresh first home purchases in the affordable housing segment would have assisted in further boosting the housing demand and also achieve the policy objective of ‘Housing for All’.
(By Naveen Kukreja. The author is CEO & Co-founder, Paisabazaar.com) | the interim budget was widely focused on providing relief to middle-class taxpayers, small farmers and workers in the unorganized sector. major hits include full rebate to those with a taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh and an increase in standard deduction from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. major misses include removal of LTCG tax on stocks and equity mutual funds. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/dumps-to-dizzy-heights-stocks-treasuries-defy-doom-to-soar/articleshow/65747943.cms | The global economy appeared to slip into an abyss in 2008-09 as markets collapsed and banks teetered on the edge of insolvency. A decade later, the financial crisis is only a distant memory as economies and asset classes stage a remarkable rebound due to central bank pump-priming, fiscal stimulus in some countries and inherent resilience of certain economies. The figures below tell the story better. Despite the steep plunge in 2008-09, key asset classes are now much higher when compared to their 2007 highs. Commodities are the exception as the world renews its love affair with stocks
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) chief Punit Goenka’s position as MD and CEO of the proposed Sony-Zee merged entity is on shaky ground as he continues to be under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for the alleged diversion of funds from ZEEL to promoter entities, people aware of the development told ET.
Luxury car buyers in India are getting younger with two out of five Audi buyers aged less than 40. At Mercedes-Benz India, buyers have an average age of 38 years, the youngest for the German luxury carmaker globally. The scenario is similar at BMW India where consumers aged 35-40 contribute bulk of the sales.
Apple Inc set a new quarterly revenue record in India with a strong double-digit year-on-year growth in the September quarter, chief executive Tim Cook said on Friday, adding that the world’s second-largest smartphone market is a key focus for the Cupertino, US-based company where it currently has a low share.
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Top Trending Stocks: Sensex Today Live | despite the steep plunge in 2008-09, key asset classes are now much higher when compared to their 2007 highs. luxury car buyers in india are getting younger with two out of five Audi buyers aged less than 40. apple set a new quarterly revenue record in india with a strong double-digit year-on-year growth in the September quarter. Sensex today live on tlc, s&p 500, s&p 500, s&p 500, s&p 500, | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/india-moves-one-notch-up-to-44th-rank-in-imds-competitiveness-rankings-2574729.html | India Economy
India has moved one notch higher, to the 44th place in terms of competitiveness, in the annual rankings compiled by International Institute for Management Development (IMD) which placed the US in the top slot.
The US became the most competitive economy globally driven by its strength in economic performance and infrastructure, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore in the second and third place, respectively.
The Netherlands and Switzerland were the other two nations in the top five slots.
This year, though India has moved up to 44th position worldwide, up one rank from last year, it is ranked the 12th most competitive economy out of the 14 Asian countries on the list.
Regarding India, the report said, "some of the challenges which India has to face for the year 2018 would be skilling of manpower and employment generation, streamlining the implementation of goods and services tax and balancing high growth with sustainable development goals".
The report further noted that "digital literacy and adequate bandwidth at rural areas and mobilisation of resources for infrastructure development needs are few more key areas where the government needs to concentrate".
The other top 10 countries include Denmark (6th), the UAE (7th), Norway (8th) and Sweden (9th) and Canada (10th).
Meanwhile, China (13th) continued with its steady rise in rankings over the past five years, climbing 10 spots since 2014, fuelled by a strong economic performance of its domestic market and workforce employment.
"Countries at the top of the rankings share an above average performance across all competitiveness factors, but their competitiveness mix varies. One economy, for example, may build its competitiveness strategy around a particular aspect such as its tangible and intangible infrastructure; another may approach competitiveness through their governmental efficiency," said Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center.
The IMD World Competitiveness Center, a research group at IMD business school in Switzerland, has published the rankings every year since 1989. This year 63 countries are ranked with Cyprus and Saudi Arabia making their first appearance. | the US is the most competitive economy globally, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore. the Netherlands and Switzerland were the other two nations in the top five slots. this year 63 countries are ranked with Cyprus and Saudi Arabia making their first appearance. the report also noted that digital literacy and adequate bandwidth are key areas. a strong economy in china continues to climb 10 spots since 2014. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/gold-price-today-yellow-metal-trades-lower-likely-to-find-support-near-rs-46800-5394741.html | India Gold August Futures traded lower on June 12 despite a steady trend seen in the international spot prices. Experts are of the view that the yellow metal should be able to find support above Rs 46,800 per 10 gm but the trend is likely to remain on the upside.
Experts say that rising fear of the second wave of COVID-19 cases, weak economic outlook and a selloff in equity markets will keep the interest in yellow metal alive.
On the Multi-Commodity Exchange, June gold contracts were trading higher by 0.56 percent at Rs 47,149 per 10 gram at 1000 hours. July futures for silver were trading 1.4 percent higher at Rs 47,942 per kg.
International gold almost touched $1,755 per troy ounce and silver also tested $18.34 per troy ounce during the session. At MCX, gold made a high of 47,680 and settled above crucial resistance of 47,330.
Silver also made a high of 49,600 but profit-taking in the last hours erased intraday gains and it settled around 48,500 levels.
Gold & Silver Rates Today Gold Rate in Mumbai Today 10g of 24K gold in Mumbai ₹ 60,620 60,620
10g of 22K gold in Mumbai ₹57,730 57,730 View more Silver Rate in Mumbai Today 10g silver in Mumbai ₹ 792 792
1kg silver in Mumbai ₹79,200 79,200 View more Show
“Investors also turned cautious amid fear of the second wave of coronavirus and bet on safe-haven assets once again. Buying is seen in gold and dollar. US dollar index spikes from the lows,” Manoj Jain, Director (Head - Commodity & Currency Research) at Prithvi Finmart Pvt Ltd told Moneycontrol.
“We expect due to panic selling in global equities, rebound in the dollar index and fear of the second wave of coronavirus will keep both the precious metals volatile. Both the precious metals remain volatile and buy on dip strategy will work in Friday’s session.”
Jain further added that gold futures are expected to hold key support of $1,700 per troy ounce /INR 46,800 level, prices sustain above $1745 per troy ounce /47500 could extend the gains towards $1755-1762 per troy ounce / INR 47850-48000 levels.
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Expert: Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities
International bullion prices started lower on June 12 in Asian trade as the dollar continued to move higher, supported by safe-haven appeal for the currency amid a possible second wave of COVID-19 cases in the US.
Technically, LBMA gold spot took resistance of $1,744 levels and gave a fall up to $1,725 levels where prices can trade sideways in a range of $1,715-$1,736 levels.
MCX Gold August contract made a day high of Rs 47,680, where it was sustaining above 47,000 levels. Further, it could trade in the range of 46900-47500 levels. However, a bullish momentum will continue to push prices to the higher side.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. | experts say yellow metal should find support above Rs 46,800 per 10 gm. but trend is likely to remain on the upside. gold contracts were trading higher by 0.56 percent at Rs 47,149 per 10 gram. silver also tested $18.34 per troy ounce during the session. gold made a high of 47,680 and settled above crucial resistance of 47,330. | Positive |
https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/commodities/rupee-vs-dollar-rupee-rises-22-paise-to-7148-per-us-dollar-as-trump-avoids-military-action-on-iran/story/393436.html | The Indian rupee advanced 22 paise to 71.48 per US dollar in opening trade on Thursday as global markets stabilised after the US and Iran toned down their war rhetoric.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened strong at 71.44 against the greenback.
The domestic unit had settled at 71.70 per dollar on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Washington did not necessarily have to respond to Iranian attacks at American military bases in Iraq.
The comments came after Iran fired rockets at US facilities in Iraq in response to the killing of its top general Qassem Soleimani.
Reports said there were no US or Iraqi casualties from the Iranian strikes, amid speculation that Tehran may have deliberately pulled its punches to avoid a wider conflagration.
Taking cues from the easing tensions, Asian stocks darted up in opening trade while oil markets recovered from supply disruption fears.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures was trading 0.64 per cent up at USD 65.86 per barrel.
Domestic equity benchmarks too participated in the relief rally.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 449.56 points or 1.10 per cent higher at 41,267.30 and the broader NSE Nifty surged 134.05 points or 1.11 per cent to 12,159.40.
Foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 515.85 crore on Wednesday, provisional data showed.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 per cent lower at 97.27.
Stocks in focus: RCom, Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel, TCS, MMTC, NMDC, BHEL and others
Share Market LIVE: Sensex climbs 450 points, Nifty above 12,150; Bharti Airtel, YES Bank, TCS top gainers | rupee opens strong at 71.48 per dollar in opening trade. domestic unit settled at 71.70 per dollar on Wednesday. easing tensions between the two countries helped boost global markets. global oil benchmark Brent crude futures trading 0.64 per cent up at USD 65.86 per barrel. broader nifty and Sensex also surge in opening trade. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/taking-stock-terrific-tuesday-sensex-rallies-by-over-700-points-nifty-above-11k-5644331.html | The bulls returned in force to push the benchmark indices above crucial resistance levels on August 4, as the S&P BSE Sensex reclaimed 37,000 while Nifty50 closed just a shade below 11,100.
The S&P BSE Sensex rose 748 points to close at 37,687 while the Nifty50 closed 203 points higher at 11,095.
Tracking positive global cues, and strong buying in index heavyweights both the Sensex and the Nifty surpassed crucial resistance levels.
"Indian benchmark indices ended the day with gains with positivity emerging post the RBI decision to approve the new CEO for HDFC Bank. Private Banks and RIL supported the gains in the benchmark indices. Global cues were also mostly positive, and aided the markets, following better US manufacturing data," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services told Moneycontrol.
"With Indian exports reaching almost the same level on a YoY basis, economic activities are showing signs of revival, which offset concerns about the increasing viral infections and the uncertainties that this brings across. The markets may look to consolidate but as things stand, the current liquidity can ensure that any corrections will be bought into," he said.
Sectorally, action was seen in energy, banks, consumer durables, healthcare, and oil & gas stocks while mild profit-booking was visible in IT space.
On the broader markets front, the S&P BSE Midcap index rose 1.02 percent while the S&P BSE Smallcap index was up by 1.23 percent.
Top Nifty gainers included Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and RIL.
Top Nifty losers included HCL Technologies, IndusInd Bank and Tech Mahindra.
Stocks & Sectors
Sectorally, the S&P BSE Energy index rose 5.6 percent followed by the S&P BSE Finance index that was up 2 percent and the S&P BSE Realty index closed with gains of 2.01 percent.
A volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in stocks like HDFC Bank, ZEE Entertainment, BPCL, Voltas and Exide Industries.
Long buildup was seen in stocks like Apollo Tyre, Voltas and MRF.
Short buildup was seen in stocks like Bandhan Bank, Shriram Transport, and MFSL.
Alkem Laboratories, Torrent Pharma, L&T Infotech and MCX India were among more than 100 stocks on the BSE hit a 52-week high.
Stocks in news
HDFC Bank’s announcement of RBI’s nod for new CEO helped the stock gain 4 percent.
Reliance Industries surged 7 percent to post the biggest one-day gain in more than three months.
Auto stocks move higher on hopes of demand recovery and Maruti Suzuki up over 3 percent.
Varun Beverages up nearly 5 percent after earnings.
Godrej Consumer fell 1 percent after it reported Q1 domestic volume growth that was below estimates.
IT Stocks slipped after the US President Donald Trump signed executive order to prioritise American workers.
Technical View
The Nifty formed a bullish candle on the daily charts. It recovered most of the losses seen on August 3.
The index negated the formation of lower high - lower lows of the last three trading sessions which is a positive for the bulls.
Major trend of the index is positive and emergence of buying after the dips of 450 zones suggests that the bulls could be back on track, say experts.
“Now, if it managed to hold above 11050 zones then buying interest could emerge towards 11250 zones while on the downside support exists at 10900-10880 zones,” Chandan Taparia, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited said.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. | the bulls returned in force to push the benchmark indices above crucial resistance levels. the S&P BSE Sensex reclaimed 37,000 while the Nifty50 closed just a shade below 11,100. global cues were mostly positive, and aided the markets, according to geojit financial services. top Nifty gainers included maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and RIL. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/interviews/aadhaar-model-can-help-in-vaccinating-population-quickly-infosys-chairman-nandan-nilekani/articleshow/77754261.cms | India must replicate the Aadhaar model — built to enroll over a million people a day — to create a massive vaccination programme that can cover 3-5 million people daily, says Nandan Nilekani , the architect of the unique identification programme. In a wide-ranging interview with, Nilekani says it is “supercritical” that India uses its “best digital infrastructure” to speedily inoculate its population. The Infosys chairman said the country stands to gain amid the economic disruption wrought by Covid-19, with the world looking for prowess in manufacturing. Edited excerpts.India has a significant opportunity because of the change in the relationship between the US and China, which had built a huge manufacturing capability over the past 20 years. Now, India has a great opportunity to emerge as a safe alternative base for global manufacturing. India is also a big market. We just have to ensure that infrastructure pipes work. I am confident that manufacturing in India will take off, both because of the internal market and geopolitical (changes).In the next few months, we have to redouble our efforts. First of all, (continuing) behavioural changes, like wearing masks, washing hands, keeping a physical distance of 6 feet and so on, avoiding crowds. We need to continue testing, with contact-tracing and quarantining so (that Covid-19) doesn’t flare up. We are fortunate that India is the vaccine capital of the world. By January, you should see at least a couple of vaccines in the market. We have amazing firms such as Serum Institute that can make a billion vaccines or more, and six to seven (other) such companies doing domestic research or licensing.These companies will be able to make 100 million vaccines a month, and even if some of that is used for other countries, we will have a lot more choices. Combined with the fact that we have 1.25 billion people who have a unique Aadhaar identity, we can create a massive vaccination programme. We must ensure that everybody gets a digital certificate with the date of vaccination, name of the vaccine and through which vendor and at what location.We can use the Aadhaar model. It was built to enroll 1.5 million people a day. We can easily think of building a vaccination system that vaccinates 3-5 million people a day. If we get to 50-60% vaccination, we’ll reach vaccine-induced herd immunity. That would be the longer-term solution, I mean 4-5 months from now.The big ‘if’ is that we implement it the way I just described. We must have vaccination agencies certified and approved by the government with trained people. If it is designed well, I don’t see why we can’t create a system to vaccinate 3-10 million people a day. Then, it’s a matter of a few months before we get this right. Every month that we lose on vaccination will further impact the economy. Getting the population vaccinated with the best possible vaccine in the shortest possible time with the best digital infrastructure is supercritical.It’s about execution…Somebody has to sit down and build this stuff.There is no doubt. If you look back, the starting year will be 1991, when the Berlin Wall fell (marking) end of the Cold War era and India liberalised its economy. Then China joined the WTO in 1999, and the dominant mood was globalisation and most countries endorsed it. So, from 1991 to 2016, we had a period of great global growth led by the rise of the internet-enabled economy and containerisation, which dramatically reduced the cost of shipping goods. But the western middle class felt it had not benefited from globalisation, leading to a political response. Specifically, on US-China, there was a period of great bonhomie, but now that has changed quite dramatically.I don’t think we can do what China has done in terms of creating the great firewall. We should be an open economy and at the same time we need to create digital public goods. India has Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), account aggregator framework which will democratise lending, the Prime Minister has announced the digital health mission which will create a modern infrastructure for health records, GST is the most advanced indirect tax system in the world. We have a nationwide RFID tag system for smooth movement of trucks and cars, and the Supreme Court is applying AI, using modern techniques of neural machine translation to convert all its judgements in multiple languages. One part of securing our digital economy is creating these kinds of digital public goods. The other (is that) we should have a fairly open economy that will allow competition from domestic as well as international players.In a difficult time, it has confirmed faith in India’s future. That a single company has managed to raise billions of dollars is a vote of confidence in India’s economy. I have to commend Mukeshbhai (Ambani) and his colleagues for raising capital in very difficult times. It also validates that the digital economy is the future of India with both large companies such as Reliance and smaller startups. We will see a lot of competition in ecommerce and smartphone prices falling. It’s not a winner-takes-all market (but one where) multiple players matter and niche players matter.I am of the firm belief that it’s not about a few companies creating millions of jobs, but millions of companies creating a few jobs each — that’s what I see as the future.English will continue to be aspirational, and a big reason for private schools (to exist) is that they teach English. Also, the notion that all the people in Karnataka speak Kannada and all the people in Maharashtra speak Marathi is not true. In Maharashtra, you have eight languages. You will also see massive internal migration — from east to west and north to south — leading to mingling of languages. Kids in Kerala speak Oriya. That’s why technology is very useful. With neural machine translation, you can create real-time translation. Teachers can be speaking in Malayalam , and children will receive it in Bengali. We have to unlock our minds and make it so fungible and so fluid that to learn in any language is not an issue.It’s a journey. I am satisfied. We have complete board stability, management stability and excellent leadership. Salil Parekh’s business performance has been the best in the industry. Infosys is regaining its bellwether status. But a lot needs to happen too. The industry is in a state of great transition with cloud and AI. So successfully transitioning that would be the goal for the next few years.They can’t say, how can I say?I have reconciled myself to being house-bound till June of 2021. It might happen earlier… I am putting a lot of time into fitness, going for walks twice a day. Set some goals, don’t worry about this, and enjoy what’s happening. My wife says I’m an incurable optimist. But when you die, whether you’re a pessimist or an optimist, the optimist has had more fun. | india must replicate the Aadhaar model to create a massive vaccination programme that can cover 3-5 million people daily. the country stands to gain amid the economic disruption wrought by Covid-19. the world is looking for prowess in manufacturing. india is a big market and manufacturing in india will take off. by January, you should see at least a couple of vaccines in the market. | Positive |
https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/jio-partnership-will-help-build-similar-products-around-the-world-says-mark-zuckerberg/story/402465.html | Facebook's recent investment of $5.7 billion which is over Rs 43,000 crore in Jio platforms will help the social-media giant build similar products for other markets around the world, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, news agency IANS reported.
"Certainly all the products and technology that we're building to enable that (Jio) partnership are going to be things that we want to do around the world. So we're very excited about working with them to drive this vision forward and then extending it everywhere over the coming months and years," Zuckerberg told the analysts during an earnings call.
Zuckerberg further said that Jio has had the Jio Mart vision for a while. "There are millions of small businesses and shops across India and they want to try to help get them on to a single network that you'll be able to communicate with through WhatsApp and do payments online through WhatsApp," Zuckerberg said.
Last week Facebook invested 9.99 per cent in an equity stake in Reliance Jio becoming its largest shareholder. Facebook intends to bring Reliance's Jio Mart to its messaging app, WhatsApp.
It has piloted the project in some suburban Mumbai areas of Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan.
Jio launched JioMart last December and with WhatsApp's backing, it can now reach 400 million users.
JioMart has given a WhatsApp number 88500 08000 which is to be added for customers to place orders on JioMart. JioMart then sends a link to the customers which is active for 30 minutes. The link then directs the user to a new page where details are to be filled. Once this is done, the customers can get access to the list of products.
Zuckerberg said that Facebook is looking to merge the family of apps including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger. This will help small businesses have a presence on all the apps. Through this integration, the small businesses "can communicate organically and then increasingly can do things that can help them drive transactions," Zuckerberg said.
"We started rolling out things like catalogs in WhatsApp, we're working on payments to be able to complete transactions and we've rolled out a new ad format, click to messaging ads, where basically small businesses and different businesses are finding that their message threads with people perform better for driving sales than their websites or other presences; they buy ads inside Facebook or Instagram and send people through chat threads," Zuckerberg elaborated. | facebook invests $5.7 billion in Jio platforms. the investment is over Rs 43,000 crore. the social-media giant is looking to integrate the family of apps. small businesses will be able to communicate with each other through the app. a new ad format will help businesses drive transactions. a new ad format will be introduced to help businesses sell more products. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/present-scenario-an-opportune-time-for-industry-to-re-invent-itself-pawan-goenka-5485661.html | live bse live
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Terming the coronavirus pandemic as an unprecedented challenge, Mahindra & Mahindra MD Pawan Goenka on Tuesday said the present scenario is an opportune time for industry verticals to re-invent itself.
The auto industry leader, while speaking at a covocation ceremony of a post graduate institute here, said that businesses that will redefine themselves will be the ones to survive the current scenario.
"The past few months have taught us a lot, it has made average person rethink, businesses rethink and the government rethink," Goenka said in a webinar to mark the 22nd convocation ceremony of New Delhi Institute of Management.
COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly thrown greatest ever challenge to all industry verticals but it may also be an opportunity for every business to rethink, redefine itself, he noted.
"There are some businesses which will emerge stronger out of this crisis while there will be others which will vanish," Goenka said.
COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show
Citing example, he said the lockdown period has pushed boundaries of verticals like e- commerce.
Describing the current situation as unprecedented, Goenka said that the narrative has changed in the last three months.
"World has turned upside down, optimisim has given way to despair... there is huge economic impact. Going into financial year 2021, we are staring at negative GDP growth, first time in over 40 years and an uncertain future," he noted.
Goenka said this is the time to think as how do we transform manufacturing to be globally competitive and achieve scale as well.
This is the time to upgrade technology, look at sectors like affordable housing, agriculture growth and healthcare services, he added.
"In fact every sector of the economy will require to be rebooted and this will require some very innovative thinking and approaches of scientific management," Goenka said.
Comparing the current situation with 1991, when economic reforms were initiated, Goenka said the next 3-5 years will be "something similar to modern context of geopolitics and new economy where the world order is changing and global value chains are getting redefined".
On his own experiences of dealing with slowdowns in his long career, Goenka said that the current situation is much more difficult than any of the challenges he faced anytime earlier.
"Seen many slowdown in many career but nothing like this. What are the learnings? most important is to manage the present without mortgaging the future. To manage the present you need to conserve cash, manage cost but you need to prepare to sprint when growth returns and it always does," he noted.
"You have to make systematic changes for the future, should not cut down investment for the future," he added.
Difficult periods are also time for the leaderships to to build teams, to make relations with dealers, customers and the society at large, Goenka said.
"And no compromise with core values of the company," he noted.
He acknowledged that there is strong focus of the government to become self-reliant across various sectors.
"What does it mean? It is leveraging our own strengths and global expertise together to create India a source of distinct value add and be globally competitive," Goenka said. | auto industry leader says the present scenario is an opportune time for industry verticals to re-invent themselves. he says some businesses will emerge stronger out of this crisis while others will vanish. a vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. a vaccine helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/reserve-bank-moots-checks-and-balances-to-tackle-nbfc-stress/articleshow/69491885.cms | MUMBAI: The central bank on Friday proposed a set of strict norms for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), including mandatory investments in government bonds and maintenance of cash thresholds, to enable them to tide over liquidity problems without causing disruptions to the broader financial system.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also proposed that asset-liability mismatches at NBFCs not go beyond 20% of the outflows. The regulator has further suggested that NBFCs publicly disclose their funding concentration by way of both instruments and counterparties.The Liquidity Coverage Ratio ( LCR ) rule for NBFCs begins April 2020, and thresholds must be implemented in stages by March 2024, the central bank has proposed.“All deposit-taking NBFCs, irrespective of their asset sizes, shall maintain a liquidity buffer in terms of a liquidity coverage ratio, which will promote resilience of NBFCs to potential liquidity disruptions by ensuring that they have sufficient high-quality liquid asset (HQLA) to survive any acute liquidity stress scenario lasting 30 days,” said the draft rules posted on the RBI’s website.These rules have been prescribed for all NBFCs with assets of more than Rs 5,000 crore. The boards of these NBFCs have to ensure that they put in place comprehensive risk mitigation policies, the RBI said.The regulator’s proposals follow disruptions and a protracted credit squeeze in the financial markets since September after Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) and some of its operating units defaulted on repayment commitments. Many NBFCs were exposed to serious asset-liability mismatches, leading to pronounced declines in these stocks.“The stock of HQLA to be maintained by the NBFCs shall be a minimum of 100% of total net cash outflows over the next 30 calendar days,” the RBI said.HQLA could include cash and government bonds without haircut and with graded haircut from 15-50% of securities belonging to state-run companies and other sovereign-backed paper.“The liquidity management guidelines are clearly intended to ensure a strong liquidity management culture among large NBFCs,” said Nachiket Naik, head, corporate lending, Kirloskar Finance. “A lot of the means elaborated in the guidelines to monitor ALM are akin to those prescribed for banks and demonstrate the RBI’s intent to harmonise governance and supervision standards between banks and large NBFCs.”The RBI has suggested that NBFC boards must monitor off balance sheet items as well.“The management of liquidity risks relating to certain off balance sheet exposures on account of special purpose vehicles, financial derivatives, and guarantees and commitments may be given particular importance due to the difficulties that many NBFCs have in assessing the related liquidity risks that could materialise in times of stress,” the draft rules said.Yet another mandate is to diversify the source of funds so that over-reliance on one stream doesn’t choke the system.“There should not be over-reliance on a single source of funding,” according to the draft rules. “Funding strategy should also take into account the qualitative dimension of the concentrated behaviour of deposit withdrawal (for deposit-taking companies) in typical market conditions and over-reliance on other funding sources arising out of the unique business model." | the central bank has proposed a set of strict norms for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) the rules include mandatory investments in government bonds and maintenance of cash thresholds. asset-liability mismatches at NBFCs should not go beyond 20% of the outflows. the regulator has suggested that NBFCs publicly disclose their funding concentration by way of both instruments and counterparties. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/stock-market-update-top-nifty-gainers-and-losers-of-thursdays-session/articleshow/65149497.cms | NEW DELHI: State Bank of India , Eicher Motors, Power Grid Corporation of India, Grasim Industries and ICICI Bank emerged as the top gainers in the Nifty index.On the other hand, YES Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Indian Oil Corporation, HPCL and BPCL stood as the top losers in the Nifty index.Frontline indices Sensex and Nifty attained fresh closing-highs on Thursday owing to gains led by bank, financial and FMCG stocks, as investors embarked on short-covering of bets on the last session of the futures and options contracts of July series.Sensex scaled the all-time peak of 37,061.62 soon after opening Thursday's session in the wake of overnight gains in the Wall Street after the US and European Union agreed to take steps to mitigate the prospects of a trade war. However, major Asian markets remained subdued owing to earnings woes.At the closing, Sensex was 126 points, or 0.34 per cent, up at 36,985, with 18 stocks advancing and 13 declining.Nifty finished the day at 11,167, up 35 points, or 0.32 per cent. Overall, 26 stocks settled in the green and 24 in the red in the index.Nifty Media, metal, IT and auto indices closed the day with losses. | Sensex and Nifty attained fresh closing-highs on Thursday. gains led by bank, financial and FMCG stocks. yES Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Indian Oil Corporation, HPCL and BPCL stood as the top losers in the Nifty index. Sensex was 126 points, or 0.34 per cent, up at 36,985 at the closing. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/daily-voice-autos-banks-nbfcs-and-capital-goods-players-likely-to-get-rerated-mayuresh-joshi-of-william-oneil-india-5696461.html | The economy-correlated sectors which include autos, banks, NBFCs and capital goods players can be on the radar in the second half as the economy normalises, as the sector outlook related to demand and fixed cost absorption being better placed leading to earnings recovery estimations might work in their favour, Mayuresh Joshi, Head - Equity Research, William O'Neil India, said in an interview with Moneycontrol’s Kshitij Anand.
edited excerpts:
Q) We are heading towards a historical event i.e. Independence Day. Amid the pandemic, how important is financial independence for investors, and how best they can attain it?
A) Financial independence is absolutely necessary to ensure that all our needs that are existing right now are getting serviced through a regular flow of income currently, and continue in our retirement days as well.
So, to have necessary savings done in diversified modes shall ensure the regular flow of income in the latter stages of life to take care of all holistic needs and wants.
The best way to go about the same is to carry on investing systematically with the right proportion of money in diversified instruments in order to have a regular flow of income through capital appreciation over a longer period of time.
The 'right proportion of money' is the absolute amount of investments being done right now in lieu of generating regular cash flows in the future to carry on a similar lifestyle as well as account for inflation-adjusted returns and other mandatory outgoes like medical and insurance payments.
Q) Your view on the RBI Monetary Policy announcement of August 7.
A) More or less on expected lines in terms of holding up of rates. The other announcements in terms of liquidity support, expectations of transmission of rates trickling in the system, and data points which are expected to gradually improve, leave a window open for some easing in the next meet.
The overall policy remains constructive and accommodative as far as the changes in the macroeconomic cycle and its associated dynamics are concerned.
Q) Some new NFOs have been launched recently to tap US markets. Do you think that investing abroad is a must in one’s portfolio? What are the factors one should watch for before investing in overseas funds?
A) It is a way to diversify the return expectations by diversifying one's risk across multiple geographies. In the current context, some areas of global equities can be outperformers assuming the business dynamics they are in and the moats they operate out of.
One should however be aware that significant global macro changes or any disruptive macro changes for any particular economy can have an impact but that element of risk is what equity markets are fraught with.
In today's context equities globally are more complexly intertwined and the entire decoupling argument is still debated. So, exposure partially can be undertaken based on one's risk/reward appetite.
Q) Gold surpassed $2000/ounce just last week. Equity markets are also up by about 50 percent from the March lows, but will still beat Equity Asset Class hands down in 2020. Do you think investors should tweak their portfolio allocation strategy?
A) Solid move by the precious metal; the two factors leading the price move were the fall in the dollar index along with the fall in the real yields globally.
As the asset allocation and diversification strategy mandate some proportion of one's portfolio being in precious metals, a systematic investment can continue in the yellow metal.
Q) Someone who is already invested or long in the market since March, what would you advise – book profits or hold for more potential gains?
A) One needs to see in which sectors the exposure is to and what broad expectations are being laid out for the sectors as a whole. Sectors that have outperformed and where earnings have relatively held up have continued doing well.
Clearly, one needs to have two broad perspectives; one, the sectors which are performing significantly better until the vaccine is found and the sectors which shall be in focus on the announcements of the vaccine.
So the tale of two halves suggests defensive sectors are outperforming right now both on earnings delivery and management outlook but one needs to keep an eye on the economy-related, beta-correlated sectors for the second half which is beaten down and can start reacting hopefully, as some development on the vaccine front might come through in the next 1-2 quarters.
Q) Which are you re-rating themes in markets and why? Or sectors which could get rerated as the economy normalises?
A) The economy-correlated sectors which include autos, banks, NBFCs and capital goods players can be on the radar in the second half as the economy normalises, as the sector outlook related to demand and fixed cost absorption being better placed leading to earnings recovery estimations might work in their favour.
These sectors can be kept on the watch list and numbers getting reported in the second quarter to be closely monitored as a testimony for the thesis to start playing out in the second half.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. | autos, banks, NBFCs and capital goods players can be on the radar in the second half as the economy normalises. the sector outlook related to demand and fixed cost absorption might work in their favour. the best way to go about this is to carry on investing systematically with the right proportion of money in diversified instruments. the best way to go about this is to carry on investing systematically with the right proportion of money in diversified instruments. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/10-stocks-that-won-covid-19-war-in-q4-itself-show-promise-to-go-the-distance/articleshow/76059558.cms |
NEW DELHI: March quarter earnings have been marred largely by bottom line shrinkage. But 10 BSE500 companies have stood out by clocking 20-30 per cent sales growth and up to four times profit expansion in a challenging quarter.Analysts says most of these firms could fare better than peers post Covid-19 crisis, both in terms of earnings growth and market share gains.For this study, only those firms were considered whose quarterly sales exceeded Rs 500 crore.Retailer Trent surprised Dalal Street by reporting a four-fold jump in March quarter profit at Rs 32.65 crore against Rs 8.13 crore in the same quarter a year ago. The company also showed a 20 per cent jump in sales to Rs 842.93 crore from Rs 694.32 crore."Trent, like peers will go through its Covid-19 blues. However, its ability to navigate the crisis is strongest among the peer set, as the retailer remains well-capitalised. Ergo, it remains best-placed to gain market share in the aftermath of the crisis," said HDFC Securities ICICI Securities also likes Trent as it is a net-cash positive company better positioned to tide over current turbulent scenario, the brokerage said.Agrochemicals company UPL reported over 2.61 times jump in profit at Rs 761 crore against last year’s Rs 291 crore. Sales jumped 30.68 per cent for the quarter to Rs 11,141 crore from Rs 8,525 crore YoY. Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities has maintained a price target of Rs 643, a 70 per cent upside on current market price.Brokerage Emkay sees the stock at Rs 500. It said the stock will earn a re-rating from its five-year-low valuations due to continued market share gains, improvement in margins and a reduction in adjusted net debt/Ebitda to two times by FY22 Hyderabad-based drug maker Laurus Labs reported over 100 per cent jump in profit. The bottomline for this drugmaker expanded 155 per cent to Rs 110.15 crore from Rs 43.17 crore YoY. Sales grew 32 per cent to Rs 839 crore for the quarter. The company expects to sustain the earnings momentum in FY21, backed by strong order visibility in formulations.BoB Capital Markets said that benefits of hydroxychloroquine (HCQS) supplies, being used as Covid-19 treatment, will reflect from June quarter onwards. It has revised its price target on the stock to Rs 630 from Rs 510. Motilal Oswal has raised its price target to Rs 615 from Rs 520 earlier.Two other drugmakers Alembic Pharma and Ajanta Pharma reported 30-32 per cent rise in sales and 45-55 per cent jump in Q4 profits. YES Securities believes the market would reward Alembic on better visibility of revenues and profits. It said the stock could trade at a premium to the sectoral average."The company is set to monetise Rs 2,000 crore worth of capex over the next three years, as filings commence from new facilities. This would drive a 20 per cent growth CAGR (ex-Sartans) surge in US revenues to $450 million by FY24. Moreover, the domestic business bottomed out in FY20. While we remain cognizant that gross margins would give up recent gains, Ebitda would pick up pace, especially beyond FY22," the brokerage said.In case of Ajanta Pharma, which derives 30 per cent revenues from India, the management has guided for 10-11 per cent growth for branded business. ICICI Securities said a slowdown in the dermatology segment is a near-term challenge. But “the overall, calculated focus, healthy margins and return profile and lighter balance sheet, are some key differentiators for Ajanta. The company remains a play on global branded generics space."Bottler Varun Beverages also surprised the Street with a 53 per cent YoY jump in profit to Rs 60 crore on a 23 per cent rise in sales at Rs 1,699.24 crore.“Varun Beverages will witness a relatively faster recovery in earnings growth versus other discretionary consumption products given the relatively low ticket size of soft drinks versus other discretionary products," said Axis Securities The company is expected to consolidate its position in newly acquired territories, and gain market share in existing territory.Among others, Avenue Supermarts, Hexaware Technologies , L&T Infotech and TV18 Broadcast also reported solid top and bottom line expansion in March quarter. However, despite strong growth, analysts see up to 20 per cent downside for Radhakishan Damani-led Avenue Supermarts, citing expensive valuations.Hexaware says the current crisis will provide opportunities for market share gains, but expects meaningful weakness in revenues and margins in June quarter. Analysts are largely neutral on this stock. L&T Infotech expects Covid-19 impact on revenues to be minimal thanks to its lack of exposure to BPOs.But analysts find the stock richly valued. “We value LTI now on 16 times earnings multiple to arrive at a changed target price of Rs 1,598 (from Rs 1,403). Valuations will curtail upside now. We maintain ‘hold’ rating," said Prabhudas Lilladher. This stock traded at Rs 1,800-odd level on Wednesday.In case of TV18 Broadcast, analysts' 'buy' ratings on the stock remain same today as they were three months ago. | 10 firms have clocked 20-30 per cent sales growth and up to four times profit expansion in a challenging quarter. retailer Trent reported a four-fold jump in profit at Rs 32.65 crore against Rs 8.13 crore in the same quarter a year ago. agrochemicals company UPL reported over 2.61 times jump in profit at Rs 761 crore against last year’s Rs 291 crore. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/world-bank-goi-ink-pact-for-usd-500-mn-project-to-develop-green-safe-highway-corridors/articleshow/79879375.cms | The World Bank and the Government of India on Tuesday inked a pact for a USD 500-million project to build safe and green national highway corridors, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said. The highway corridors will be developed in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh."The Government of India and the World Bank today (on Tuesday) signed a USD 500-million project to build safe and green national highway corridors in the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh," the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said in a statement.The project will enhance the capacity of the MoRTH in mainstreaming safety and green technologies.The Green National Highways Corridors Project will support MoRTH construct 783 km of highways in various geographies by integrating safe and green technology designs such as local and marginal materials, industrial byproducts, and other bioengineering solutions."C S Mohapatra, additional secretary, Department of Economic Affairs , Ministry of Finance, stated that the Government of India is committed to environmentally sustainable development in its infrastructure projects. This project will set new standards in the construction of safe motorable roads," the statement said.The selected stretches in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh will also help improve connectivity and promote economic development.The agreement was signed by Mohapatra on behalf of the Government of India and Sumila Gulyani, acting country director, India, on behalf of the World Bank.The ultimate objective of transport infrastructure is to provide seamless connectivity and reduce logistics costs, the statement said.It added that the government has launched many investment programmes in road sector infrastructure to strengthen and improve logistics performance.This project will also support analytics to map the freight volume and movement pattern on the national highway network, identify constraints, and provide innovative logistics solutions."Historically, the transport sector in India has offered limited employment opportunities for women," it said.The project will support the ministry with an in-depth analysis of gender-related issues in the transport sector, it added. It will also help in creating jobs for women by training women-led micro enterprises and women collectives to implement green technologies in the highway corridors.World Bank Country Director (India) Junaid Ahmad said, "Connectivity for economic growth and connectivity for sustainable development are two important aspects of a country's development trajectory. This operation brings these two priorities together in support of India's growth strategy."He added that this project will provide efficient transportation for road users in the four states, connect people with markets and services and promote efficient use of construction materials, among others.The national highways carry about 40 per cent of road traffic.However, several sections of these highways have inadequate capacity, weak drainage structures and black spots prone to accidents.The project will strengthen and widen existing structures; construct new pavements, drainage facilities and bypasses; improve junctions; and introduce road safety features."It is imperative that the infrastructure investments are climate resilient. To this effect, disaster risk assessment of about 5,000 km of the national highway network will also be undertaken under the project," the statement said.The USD 500-million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a maturity of 18.5 years including a grace period of five years. | the highway corridors will be developed in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. the project will enhance the capacity of the MoRTH in mainstreaming safety and green technologies. the selected stretches in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh will also help improve connectivity and promote economic development. the project will also help create jobs for women by training women-led micro enterprises and women collectives to implement green technologies. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/expert-view/ashima-goyal-on-arun-jaitleys-legacy-as-finance-minister/articleshow/69559737.cms | Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses Offering College Course Website IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Marketing Officer Programme Visit IIM Lucknow IIML Chief Operations Officer Programme Visit Indian School of Business ISB Chief Digital Officer Visit
Under Jaitley , the Finance Ministry has major structural reforms as well as other contributions. Including GST, inflation control and more, said, Member,in an interview with ETNOW.Edited excerpts:Under him, the Finance Ministry has major structural reforms as well as other contributions. GST is one and in particular getting states to come together in a chief consensus is a really difficult issue. Also very quick feedbacks, very quick response to feedback and adjustments according to feedback, was a major contribution. Also, the bankruptcy code is really going to change lending behaviour in India. Another major contribution was sticking to a fiscal consolidation path despite slower growth and giving the signal very clearly that this government is committed to fiscal consolidation.ll these things are very important and very relevant but one thing that we all were taking for granted and we forget to give Mr Jaitley credit for is allowing the new monetary policy framework, which will also come into existence because in the past, finance ministers were very vocal about their demand to RBI to cut their rate of interest, but once the MPC was constituted, and once the government gave its mandate for the new monetary policy framework, Mr Jaitley never tried to exercise any view or opinion or to thrust his views down RBI’s throat. He had a hands-off approach. That is also something I want to give him credit for. In hindsight, do we really need to review the monetary policy framework to ensure that the RBI sets flexible rather than inflexible targets?Yes, there was over-enthusiasm in the beginning. It is important to remember that what have been implemented is flexible inflation targeting and that means when inflation is in the targeting band, growth can be given priority.This government was focussed on structural reforms, partly because they inherited a lot of macroeconomic vulnerabilities. There were twin deficits and high inflation and so they were focussed on that. Now that this period has passed and the framework is well established, it is important to recognise that what we are implementing is flexible inflation targeting and therefore weight must also be given to both.Since the inflation target has to hold over a number of years and not over two years, there is scope for some deviation in the short run without really upsetting inflation expectations. Research suggests that household inflation expectations are getting somewhat anchored and that might be responsible for the fall in core inflation. Now, the policy can afford to look at the cycle to be more counter cyclical.That whole NPA issue and bank recapitalisation dragged on because we were waiting for the bankruptcy code. We needed something like that because for the first time, a lot of money had gone to private industrialists and the tax payers were asked to bail out all these people. They had to take part in the resolution. Now that it is in place and there has been some sort of mergers and improvements in board composition, etc, in public sector banks, as well as some improvements in governance, it is really time to complete the bank recap because we are seeing the slowdown in credit growth in consumption and investment.So, credit is not reaping, banks are not lending as much as they should be and NBFCs also are not being bailed out NBFCs even though the Reserve Bank has given permission to make it easier for them to do so. Once there is full recapitalisation, there will be more confidence to start lending again.: I think Mr Jaitley really deserves all the praise that we have been showering on him, but in the hindsight would you also agree that Mr Jaitley was extraordinarily lucky as a finance minister because throughout most of the period when he was FM, oil prices were very soft and the next FM just might not have that luck!: Yes I agree about the oil price softening but we have to give him credit that he did not pass on all the cuts despite a lot of pressure to do so. He helped contribute to the fiscal consolidation that we saw. But also people got used to the fact that oil price cuts are not necessarily going to be passed on because from the longer term point of view, key weakness for India really is a dependence on oil imports and although we need to reduce our dependence on oil and so the initiatives towards renewable energy, etc, but then you need to discourage consumption. So, to that extent keep, oil prices remained relatively high in the Indian economy and despite that, inflation came down.The next finance minister, even if he is not so lucky with respect to oil prices, will benefit from better anchored household inflation expectations perhaps.One thing that we saw under NDA-1 was that before election, there was this distinct shift to the left. Do you think that would continue under the new FM in which case will the new FM be little bit more willing to ease the fiscal deficit target?: I think that the popular schemes were coming more from the Congress via the Nyay Scheme, etc. While the payment to farmers was very targeted, a lot of this government’s schemes such as Swachh Bharat are nearing completion. So, there will be money available to re-allocate and they have demonstrated that they are committed to fiscal consolidation.I do not think with this government we are going to see a very large rise in fiscal deficit or spending. Normally in an election cycle, you see a lot of money coming into the economy as political parties spend but this time it was very tight and people in the market everywhere were saying that there is no money, no liquidity, etc.Perhaps the government stopped spending to meet their fiscal deficit targets or that seems to have outweighed the election spent factor. We saw cash leakages rise, M3 growth was very low, money was not coming into the economy. Banks were not lending and therefore deposits were not growing. A large amount of unspent cash balances were also with the government. Mr Jaitley quite successfully frontloaded government spending. Otherwise, it always used to be left for the last and then it would not be spent. Because it is the same government coming in, they hit the road and will be able to give enough of stimulus without increasing fiscal deficit targets.: I believe Mr Jaitley has said that he would continue to advise the government and I am sure he will continue to be an aggressive user of Twitter and defend the government actions. He will be an insider in the policy decisions. So his role in articulating the government’s point of view and defending its actions will continue I am sure.: If you were to advise the next finance minister, would you tell the next FM unofficially that maybe you could just put in a word to the governor of Reserve Bank of India that he also needs to have monetary policy ease a little bit? Of course, you cannot tell the governor directly or officially, but is there a chance for sitting together with the governor and saying that yes you have been easing but maybe you need to do more?: This governor is very open to advise. He is consulting with a lot of groups and a lot of people are saying they are seeing the growth slowdown. The ultimate aim of inflation targeting is to allow countercyclical macroeconomic monetary policy and that is the dharma of monetary policy. If we have got inflation within the target band, I am sure they will be more flexible in implementing inflation targeting and responding to the growth slowdown.And even though there is an MPC, the ultimate decision will depend on the voting etc but there is a lot that RBI can do in terms of pass through just by easing up on the liquidity front where they have full control, increasing the share of durable liquidity which will bring down market rates also and do something for the NBFCs which will increase borrowings.A promise that Mr Jaitely did not deliver fully was on cutting corporate tax to 25%. Do you see the next finance minister deliver on the promise?: Yes, but I think it was always the idea that you will remove exemptions etc and they have done this for the smaller corporates but given that there is a slowdown and you need to reverse it I am sure -- first they will act on simplifying GST which is a big demand which can also help business, exporters especially. | under Jaitley, the finance ministry has major structural reforms. he said GST, inflation control and more were contributions. he also said the bankruptcy code is going to change lending behaviour. he also said the government is committed to fiscal consolidation. he said the government is 'not going to be able to do anything about it'. he said the government is 'not going to be able to do anything about it' | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/adani-wants-to-bring-in-googles-amazons-of-the-world-with-indian-data-hubs/1640380/ | A string of successful bets on ports, mining and commodities helped transform Gautam Adani from a nondescript diamond trader into a tycoon with a net worth of almost $10 billion.
Now the Indian businessman is setting his sight on what he believes could become another big money maker: Selling data storage services to companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
India’s government is weighing a new law that would require data to be stored locally, and his conglomerate Adani Enterprises Ltd. has said it expects to invest 700 billion rupees ($10.2 billion) to build data parks in a southern state over the next two decades. The billionaire’s hope is to capitalise on demand from foreign technology companies, who are expanding in India as the use of smartphones and Internet surges.
If the proposed law goes through “it will explode data storage requirements, and that will need capacity,” Adani said in a rare interview in New Delhi. “This will be a multi-billion-dollar project that will bring in the Googles and the Amazons of the world.”
It’s an approach that’s been a hallmark of Adani’s empire: Pick a hot new industry — especially one favoured by the government — build the infrastructure, and keep going till you hit the top. Much like China, India has sought to draw more private investment to ramp up its infrastructure as it attempts to double GDP to $5 trillion over coming years.
‘Nation Building’
When the Indian government pushed for gas projects in cities for cooking and transportation, Adani’s group bid for and won many licenses, a move that could make it the biggest player in gas retailing. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to develop local manufacturing of defense equipment, Adani quickly built the capacity to supply the military by going on an aggressive shopping spree of defense contractors.
And when Adani’s group decided to get involved in operations of airports, it bid almost double its main competitors in some cases. A clean sweep in the bidding process is set to add six airfields to the business overnight.
“Our main goal is nation building through infrastructure,” the billionaire said. “The Adani Group has always focused on businesses in line [with] the government’s vision.”
Shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd., the flagship company, were little changed Thursday in Mumbai. The stock has declined 14% this year, compared with a 7.2% gain in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.
Regulated Businesses
Adani, 57, built his empire around heavily regulated businesses of coal mining, electricity and ports, a reflection of his ability to navigate different political parties and governments in states and at the center in New Delhi.
The focus of his empire is the 15,000-hectare industrial zone at Mundra in the western state of Gujarat, which houses the group’s largest port and the country’s largest power plant. Adani began commercial operations of its largest port in Mundra in 2001 and built the industrial cluster around it in the following years, when Modi was the executive head of the state of Gujarat. Since then, Adani has rapidly expanded his various businesses, many of which complement each other.
As in other infrastructure businesses, by expanding into data centers, the businessman would be entering a space that demands large investment. He would also have to contend with competition from any other large Indian players who decide to make a big push into the industry.
Personal Data
One of the big supporters of data localization has been Adani’s fellow billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man. Ambani has argued that India’s data must be controlled and owned by Indians, and not by global corporations. Ambani’s younger brother, Anil, has also built data centers in India.
A draft of India’s 2018 Personal Data Protection Bill mandates storage of personal data on a server or in a data center located in the country, citing the need to protect the autonomy of individuals and their personal data. The bill would need to be approved by lawmakers.
“The concerns over data security is fueling the need for countries to demand localization of data and India being a growing economy, I don’t expect global data giants like Google, Amazon or Alibaba to overlook this market,” said Apalak Ghosh, industry manager for digital transformation at Frost & Sullivan.
While that would offer a big business opportunity for service providers, the need for real estate would mean that investments could run into “billions of dollars,” Ghosh said. | india's government is weighing a new law that would require data to be stored locally. his conglomerate has said it expects to invest 700 billion rupees ($10.2 billion) to build data parks in a southern state over the next two decades. the billionaire's aim is to capitalise on demand from foreign technology companies, who are expanding in india as the use of smartphones and Internet surges. | Positive |
https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/stocks/bse-bullion-trade-associations-join-hands-to-deepen-commodity-derivatives-market/story/412634.html | Leading stock exchange BSE on Tuesday said it has joined hands with two bullion trade associations for deepening the commodity derivatives market in the country. BSE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Akola Sarafa Association and Akola Sarafa Va Suvarnakar Yuva Sangh in this regard.
These associations represent members engaged in retail sale and trade of bullion. The pact is aimed at facilitating cooperation between BSE and physical markets represented by these two trade bodies in areas such as knowledge sharing, education and training, events as well as to explore areas of mutual interests to ensure the best interests of jewellers.
BSE said it aims to organize seminars and awareness programmes on price risk management for bullion traders and jewellers, and help them move to more organised forms of trading. Awareness about effective hedging tools such as derivatives contracts, especially 'options in goods' to enable jewellers face a volatile market would also be provided, it said.
The 'options in goods' contract offered by BSE makes it extremely beneficial for jewellers and bullion dealers, who can not only hedge their price risk but also avail delivery on expiry of the contract. "Joining hands with Akola Sarafa Association and Akola Sarafa Va Suvarnakar Yuva Sangh brings expertise in creating suitable products, create deep physical network needed in bullion trade and added transparency in the domestic bullion derivatives markets," BSE Chief Business Officer Sameer Patil said.
"This engagement would benefit all market participants trading and hedging in Indian bullion derivatives market," he added.
Also read: Rupee gains 8 paise to 74.82 amid weak dollar, positive equities | BSE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two bullion trade associations. the pact is aimed at facilitating cooperation between BSE and physical markets represented by these two trade bodies. the pact is aimed at facilitating knowledge sharing, education and training, events and to explore areas of mutual interests. it aims to organize seminars and awareness programmes on price risk management for bullion traders and jewellers. | Positive |
https://www.livemint.com/market/mark-to-market/accommodative-central-banks-play-santa-claus-for-markets-paving-way-for-christmas-rally-11608453680304.html | Continuing accommodative stance of global central banks has added to the equity market’s comfort of more easy money. At their latest policy meetings, the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, among others, remain committed to supporting economic growth via monetary policy expansions.
Stock market analysts say, this bodes well for the equity market sentiment and could led to some more upside as the year comes to an end. “The promise of a long-term expansive monetary policy by the most important central banks, the prospect of further fiscal policy support and the hope of a containment of the corona pandemic through the vaccines now being used could give the stock markets a Christmas rally," analysts at European private bank and asset manager LGT Group said in a report on 18 December.
Concurring, Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab said in his latest blog, “Despite equities already being at record highs, vaccination optimism and continued bullish sentiment point to at least a modest “Santa Claus" rally for next week; that is assuming Congress reaches an agreement on a new fiscal stimulus bill."
In-keeping with the global market sentiment, bulls are raging on the Dalal-Street as well. Yet again, benchmark indices the Nifty and the Sensex hit their respective fresh highs last week. Apart from the gush of global liquidity, a weak US dollar is aiding sentiment towards India and other emerging markets.
The latest by fund flow tracker EPFR showed that Emerging Markets Equity Funds extended an inflow streak stretching back to mid-September during the week ending December 16 as the diversified Global Emerging Markets Equity Funds absorbed over $3 billion for the second week running and retail investors committed fresh money for the ninth straight week. In terms of style, investors continue to favor funds managed for growth which have outgained – in flow terms – their value counterparts 17 of the past 19 weeks, it said in its weekly newsletter.
Also, there are wide-held expectations that India Inc earnings will revive as the economy has largely reopened.
There is euphoria in the primary market as well. Baker and biscuits maker Dr Bector’s initial public offering received an impressive response in terms of subscriptions from market participants. Analysts expect the stock to make a stellar stock market debut, especially after Burger King shares hit two days of upper circuit after a bumper listing.
Financial stocks were also in focus last week with many of them reclaiming their pre-Covid highs. Following the decent earnings of IT company Accenture, investors expect IT stocks to perform well going ahead. Sugar stocks were also on the radar screens of investors after an export subsidy was announced for the sector.
Not only in equities, but other asset classes such as crude oil and metals are also on an up move. So, analysts warn that rising commodity inflation would weigh on margins of India Inc unless they resort to price hikes.
While equity markets remain in a cheerful mood, analysts caution that renewed lockdowns in some countries and ongoing Brexit negotiations, are some downside risks that investors should watch out for.
Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. | accommodative stance of global central banks has added to equity market's comfort of more easy money. stock market analysts say, this bodes well for the equity market sentiment and could lead to some more upside as the year comes to an end. bulls are raging on the Dalal-Street as well. yet again, benchmark indices the Nifty and the Sensex hit their respective fresh highs last week. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/real-estate/data-story-heres-how-much-land-you-can-buy-for-usd-1-million-in-cities-around-the-world-2526975.html | If you have USD 1 million and you are looking to buy a luxury home anywhere in the world, the most value for money option would be Sao Paulo.
The largest city in Brazil can also get you the biggest prime housing space in USD 1 million—173 sqm. This is nearly 11 times the landmass you will get in Monaco in the same amount.
Cape Town, which is currently battling a water crisis has the second most inexpensive housing space in the world as per the Knight Frank study. One can buy 157 sqm of prime property in USD 1 million in the South African city.
The Las Vegas of the Middle East, Dubai, is also among inexpensive cities as far as prime properties are concerned with 138 sqm luxury space available in USD 1 million. The same amount can get a buyer a decent 93 sqm in the Indian financial capital - Mumbai.
The report cites demonetisation, implementation of GST (goods and services tax) and RERA as challenging for real estate market in India. Consequently, luxury property prices rose at the rate of a meagre 0.6 percent in Mumbai. Though the report adds that ‘the market confidence is now improving’.
The tiny (area: 499 acres) European city-state of Monaco, which is home to upscale casinos and yacht-lined harbour has one of the most expensive property rates in the world, according to the Knight Frank study. Here you can get only 16 sqm housing space in USD 1 million.
For Monaco, 2017 was a year of two halves. Prices climbed 2 percent in the first six months of the year but later stabilised, resulting in annual growth of 0.5 percent, the report says.
Hong Kong (22 sqm), New York (25 sqm), London (28 sqm) and Singapore (39 sqm) were among the top cities with the most expensive prime property.
Among them, three (including Monaco) are city-states which is understandable. Given the low area availability and space constraint plus the booming economy, the property rates in these cities go through the roof. | the largest city in Brazil can get you the biggest prime housing space in USD 1 million—173 sqm. this is nearly 11 times the landmass you will get in Monaco in the same amount. Cape Town, which is currently battling a water crisis, has the second most inexpensive housing space in the world. the same amount can get a buyer a decent 93 sqm in the Indian financial capital - Mumbai. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/auto/car-news/hyundai-rolls-out-8-millionth-car-in-india-10-million-in-next-3-years-to-sweeten-the-success-story-bets-big-on-new-santro/1201379/ | New 2018 Hyundai Creta is the 8 millionth vehicle manufactured by Hyundai Motor India from its plant in Chennai. Ever since its inception in 1998, Hyundai has sold a total of 5,300,967 units in the Indian domestic market and exported 2,703,581 units to other global markets.
India’s second-largest carmaker, Hyundai Motor India has reached a new milestone of rolling out 8 million cars from its manufacturing unit in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The newly launched 2018 Hyundai Creta was the 8 millionth vehicle manufactured by the Korean carmaker in India. It took Hyundai India 19 years and 6 months to achieve this milestone and claims to be the fastest to produce 8 million cars in India. Ever since its inception in 1998, Hyundai Motor India has sold a total of 5,300,967 units in the Indian domestic market and exported 2,703,581 units to other global markets. In 2018, Hyundai Motor India is also celebrating 20 years of being in India. Hyundai now aims to reach the next 10 million production milestone in 2021.
The company rolled out its first million car, the famous Hyundai Santro in 2006 in about 8 years of its production and since then has been constantly hitting the next million with an average of 18-19 months. In FY 2017-18 the company sold over 5.46 lakh units at a growth of 5.2%.
Also read: Biggest car battle of 2018: All-new Hyundai Santro vs 2018 Maruti Suzuki Wagon R
Speaking about Hyundai’s latest success story Y.K Koo, Managing Director and CEO, Hyundai Motor India Limited said, “Evolution of a Revolution is Hyundai’s DNA. Today marks a momentous and landmark day in the history of Hyundai Motor India with the achievement of 8 Millionth Milestone. Hyundai is the only manufacturer to achieve this feat in the shortest span of time while strengthening our Manufacturing Excellence, Customer Experience, Marketing Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Hyundai Motor India’s Sales Milestones
1 Million 2006 7 Yrs 6 Months 2 Million 2008 2 yrs 7 Months 3 Million 2010 1 Yr 9 Months 4 Million 2012 1 yr 7 Months 5 Million 2013 1 Yr 6 Months 6 Million 2015 1 yr 7 Months 7 Million 2016 1 Yr 5 Months 8 Million 2018 1 yr 7 Months Total 19 Years 6 Months
“Thanking 8 Million Customers and remembering their Brilliant Moments with Hyundai cars, we will be launching a series of activities and Emotionally Connecting Campaigns to mark the 20th year of excellence in Sales and Production in India. “ – he added.
Hyundai started its India journey with the launch of Santro in 1998 and over the years have introduced many quality products that have ensured the company success in India. The SANTRO sold more than 1.85 Million units worldwide from the Hyundai India manufacturing Plant. Hyundai i10, Grand i10, i20 and Hyundai Creta have been some of the most successful models for the company.
Also read: Old vs New Hyundai Santro: New features, prices, launch details of the new 2018 Hyundai Santro
To understand the needs of Indian Customers and to strengthen Indian product portfolio and development of global cars adaptive to the local terrain, the company set up an R&D centre in Hyderabad in the year 2006 to offer steady support to Namyang R&D centre and Hyundai Motor India plant. Hyundai was one of the first global carmakers to invest heavily in local manufacturing cars and have a huge plant spread at over 535 acres with a cumulative production capacity of 700,000 cars per annum.
Hyundai has also tasted success in exports and is the largest car exporter from the country since its inception. It all started in 1999 when Hyundai Motor India started its export journey by shipping 20 Hyundai Santro to Nepal. Hyundai Motor India now claims that it has contributed 40% of passenger vehicle exports from India with a volume of 2.7 Million vehicles since the year 1999. Hyundai Motor India currently exports to over 88 countries across Africa, Middle East, Latin America and the Asia Pacific.
Also read: All-New Hyundai Santro interiors spied: Most premium Santro ever?
In the coming months, Hyundai is all set to launch the new 2018 Santro in the county. Codenamed as AH2, the new 2018 Hyundai Santro is likely to launch towards the latter half of the year as the company will look to celebrate its 20 years in India by bringing back its iconic car back to the market. | the 2018 Hyundai Creta is the 8 millionth vehicle manufactured by Hyundai Motor India from its plant in Chennai. it took Hyundai India 19 years and 6 months to achieve this milestone. the company rolled out its first million car, the famous Hyundai Santro in 2006 in about 8 years of its production. in FY 2017-18 the company sold over 5.46 lakh units at a growth of 5.2%. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/et-editorials/streamlining-logistics-during-lockdown/ | It is welcome that the initial glitches in the movement of essential goods — from the manufacturer to warehouses, from warehouses to distribution centres and thereon, the last mile — are being sorted out, finally. Clear instructions have gone out from the home, roads and commerce ministries. Digital tools are being used and have to be used more widely still, in everything from upstream logistics to sanitised, authenticated last-mile delivery. The likes of Walmart and Amazon can help in this regard.
Since passenger trains are off the tracks, goods trains can move fast and help with inter-state movement of goods. The roads ministry is reportedly setting up a 24×7 helpline number for truck drivers for speedy help in case of any interruption on highways; it is crucial that state and local authorities ease, rather than hinder, movement of trucks.
The Indian Global Positioning System needs to be gainfully leveraged to track produce deliveries with accuracy. Further, it is crucial that the public distribution system and fair price shops keep their supply lines intact and there is prompt delivery to the beneficiaries, preferably at the latter’s doorstep. We need to call upon civil society organisations and others to take up the task in an orderly manner. e-Marketplaces must be allowed to deliver their orders. Traditional markets must also employ the likes of Ola and Uber to deliver necessities to neighbourhoods.
Perishables like fruit, vegetables and milk all call for greater proactivity. It would make perfect sense to suspend the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act, so that civil society groups, NGOs and even agricultural companies can directly procure from the farm and supply to consumers. A fully functional eNam, the online National Agriculture Market, would help.
Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Economic Times.
END OF ARTICLE | digital tools are being used and have to be used more widely. the likes of Walmart and amazon can help in this regard. the roads ministry is reportedly setting up a 247 helpline number for truck drivers for speedy help in case of any interruption on highways. e-Marketplaces must be allowed to deliver their orders. traditional markets must also employ the likes of Ola and Uber to deliver necessities to neighbourhoods. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/commodities/dnp-monday-gold-2019-yellow-metal-set-to-post-its-biggest-annual-gain-since-2010-4752511.html | By Hareesh V
The spot gold hit a 6-year high of $1,557 in September and is all set to post its biggest annual gain since 2010. Gold’s performance in the domestic market was somewhat different, surging prices to an all-time high of Rs 39,890 per 10 grams.
After facing significant headwinds for the last many years, gold started gaining since the start of the year. London spot prices opened at $1,282 an ounce and gradually rallied to a high of $1,557 an ounce by September.
However, even though a mild profit booking was witnessed from its recent peak, it is on the track to close the year by gaining more than 15 percent.
In the domestic futures market, prices hit an all-time high of Rs 39,885 for ten grams in September gaining more than 25 percent.
Gold & Silver Rates Today Gold Rate in Mumbai Today 10g of 24K gold in Mumbai ₹ 59,250 59,250
10g of 22K gold in Mumbai ₹56,430 56,430 View more Silver Rate in Mumbai Today 10g silver in Mumbai ₹ 760 760
1kg silver in Mumbai ₹76,000 76,000 View more Show
Bullish overseas market sentiments coupled with weak domestic currency lifted the sentiments. A weak rupee increases the landed cost of commodities imported into the country.
A sharp rally in gold during this year as a result of feeble global economic outlook amid a trade dispute between the world’s top two economies, Brexit uncertainties, and other geopolitical tensions.
Central bank's demand, U.S rate cuts and performance of dollar also sway prices during this period. Intensifying economic uncertainties led investors to stay away from riskier assets and depend on traditional safe-haven commodities like gold.
The trade dispute that continued for the last 16 months hit the global economic sentiments adversely and fanned fears of a possible recession. Concerns over economic slowdown led global agencies like IMF to cut global growth rate for the current year and next.
Hopes of slow global growth dampened the appeal of risky assets, and investors sought shelter in bullion. As a safe-haven, gold’s demand historically has been strongly responsive to periods of heightened risk.
Central banks across the globe have taken policy easing measures to scramble their economy from the trade war fallout this year. Measures like lowering interest rates boosted gold as it decreases the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like bullion.
U.S Federal Reserve cut rates two times this year amid concerns over inflation and low job growth. China cut its prime lending rates and brought trillions of Yuan into its economy to boost growth. Reserve Bank of India also reduced its key rates four times this year. These actions have lifted gold’s appeal as an inflation hedge taking prices to multi-year highs.
The unprecedented worries over Britain’s exit from the European Union have continued for the last three-and-a-half years. The delay in a decision created uncertainty across the region which led investors from taking big bets on riskier assets.
Geopolitical risks in many countries also assisted gold this year. Gold is usually positively correlated with rising geopolitical tensions.
Tensions between U.S-Iran on the nuclear deal have raised fears of a military confrontation between the countries.
Heightened tensions in the Korean peninsula, military operation by Syria in Turkey and protests in Hong Kong were the other factors that urged investors to keep their money in safe commodities.
Domestic market rates are on the way to post a fourth consecutive year of gains this year. Prices hit an all-time high of Rs 39885 per ten grams in the domestic futures market due to high overseas prices coupled with a weak Indian rupee.
An increase in import duty to 12.50 percent in the latest budget also caused higher local prices. However, domestic demand was rather steady as buyers deterred from purchasing due to record level prices.
Going forward, progress in the U.S-China trade deal, global growth outlook, and central bank actions remain to guide the direction of the metal.
Also, the performance of the dollar and demand from key consumers like China and India are the other factors that may direct the trend of gold next year.
(The author is Head Commodity Research at Geojit Financial Services)
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. | spot gold hit a 6-year high of $1,557 in September and is all set to post its biggest annual gain since 2010. gold's performance in the domestic market was slightly different. prices hit an all-time high of Rs 39,885 for ten grams in September gaining more than 25 percent. a weak rupee increases the landed cost of commodities imported into the country. | Positive |
http://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/zappfresh-raises-rs-20-crore-from-dabur-indias-amit-burman-and-sidbi-venture-capital/1105229/ | Gurugram based DSM Fresh Foods fresh meat brand Zappfresh has raised Rs 20 crore in pre-series A round of investment from the Vice Chairman of Dabur India, Amit Burman and SIDBI Venture capital. The company plans to use the funds in driving business strategy, expanding supply chain and to scale up geographically.
Commenting on the investment, Amit Burman, Vice Chairman at Dabur India said, “I see a great potential in the ‘e-market for meat’ and Zappfresh has had an impressive growth story. The business model is innovative and the use of technology in the supply chain management has allowed for the possibility of a sustainable scale up capability. I look forward to be part of this venture and its success.”
The company claims to have reached the breakeven point in the first 8 months, after raising the angel investment from renowned HNIs. The company has scaled rapidly since its inception in 2015 and now claims to provide services to entire Delhi NCR from its Gurgaon based factory.
Zappfresh was founded by Deepanshu Manchanda and Shruti Gochhwal in 2015. They procure meat from the farms and delivers it to the end-customer in the selected time-slot on the same day. The company deals in raw meat and cooked meat products.
The company in a media release stated that the investment has laid the foundation to validate this category of business to have a growth potential. While investing partner Amit Burman will offer mentorship to the company.
Commenting on the investment and why Zappfresh, Sajit Kumar, Senior Vice President at SIDBI Capital said, “Investing in a firm many times translates to investing in an idea with the potential to scale up. This in my mind is the story of Zappfresh. The fresh meat industry is highly fragmented and digitization of the market can also improve the value chain operating system of this industry. Zappfresh’s promise to offer a hassle-free meat buying experience of highest quality is unique and has great potential.”
The company has pioneered the concept of ‘Farm to fork’ via the use of Farm-Tech to optimize their time-to-delivery and costs.They are engaged with a number of farms to ensure absolutely fresh and chemical free products. Their technology helps connect farmers, vendors and retail channels. This is done via real time data and inventory tracking, reducing time-to- consumer from farm.
Talking about the latest round of funding, Deepanshu Manchanda, CEO & Co-Founder, Zappfresh said, “The company would use the funds to hire people in key departments and increase storage capacity. We are very excited to have Mr. Burman and SIDBI Venture Capital on board believing in our business and supporting our expansion plans. This investment will aid our back-end support along with expansion in newer markets after having laid a strong foundation in Delhi-NCR” | Zappfresh was founded by deepanshu manchanda and Shruti Gochhwal in 2015. they procure meat from the farms and delivers it to the end-customer in the selected time-slot on the same day. the company plans to use the funds to drive business strategy, expanding supply chain and to scale up geographically. the company claims to have reached the breakeven point in the first 8 months, after raising the angel investment from renowned HNIs. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/indl-goods/svs/metals-mining/coal-india-plans-to-employ-6600-new-staff-this-year/articleshow/75464868.cms | Kolkata: Coal India, the monopoly miner of the solid fuel, has firmed up plans to recruit around 6,600 people in executive and non-executive cadres this year even as its sales reflect the declining demand trend in the broader economy.“The pace of recruitment, which has currently slowed down due to the lockdown , will be considerably accelerated by Coal India and our subsidiaries once the situation normalizes as a large number of posts are vacant and many more are to fall vacant during the year,” a senior Coal India executive said.Last year, Coal India recruited about 8,000 people in both executive and non-executive cadres.It has already conducted written tests for recruiting 1,326 executives, but interviews were postponed due to the lockdown. The process will be completed in a few weeks after the lockdown is withdrawn.Coal India also recruits a large number of doctors since mining is prone to accidents. About 400 doctors will be appointed in the executive cadre by subsidiaries in a recently decentralized recruitment process.The operating units will also need to recruit workmen.“This year, about 1,000 workmen are estimated to be appointed at all subsidiaries,” said the Coal India executive.The company also offers jobs to families displaced by its projects. Land acquisition for new projects and expansion of existing projects have slowed down in a few states due to the current situation, but the process will be speeded up after the lockdown and 500-600 jobs offered.The largest public sector employer after the railways, Coal India employs around 2.8 lakh employees, of which 19,000 are executives. The rest are in non-executive and workmen cadres. Every year, about 10,000 employees have been reaching the superannuation age. | coal india has firmed up plans to recruit around 6,600 people in executive and non-executive cadres this year. the company has already conducted written tests for recruiting 1,326 executives, but interviews were postponed due to the lockdown. about 400 doctors will be appointed in the executive cadre by subsidiaries in a recently decentralized recruitment process. about 1,000 workmen are estimated to be appointed at all subsidiaries. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/allcargo-logistics-buys-controlling-stake-in-gati/articleshow/72393154.cms | MUMBAI: Allcargo Logistics on Thursday said it is acquiring a controlling stake in express logistics company Gati The all-cash deal will see the company eventually acquiring about 45% in Gati through a direct purchase of the promoters’ stake and a subsequent open offer . It values the company at about Rs 1,000 crore.ET reported the deal on December 4, 2019, a day before its announcement.“The exponential rise in crossborder and domestic ecommerce has opened up new markets for traditional express players such as Gati. With Allcargo’s existing strength in the ocean transportation business and Gati’s expertise in land and air transportation, we are now in a unique position to offer our customers a suite of truly multimodal solutions,” said Allcargo Logistics chairman Shashi Kiran Shetty.The express logistics industry is expected to reach Rs 48,000 crore ($7 billion) by 2023, according to a study led by Deloitte in 2018. This growth will primarily be driven by domestic consumption, shift from unorganised to organisedtrade, ecommerce (domestic and crossborder) and significant demand from small and medium B2B segment.Allcargo is funding this deal through a mix of internal accruals and debt. Internal accrual is through monetisation of non-core assets including land parcels.Allcargo had been in advanced talks for the transactions in August last year, but withdrew subsequently. ET reported the first round of talks on August 15, 2018. Talks were renewed earlier this year. The final agreement between the parties was held up by Kintetsu World Express, a Japanese freight forwarder that owned 3.99% stake in Gati as of September end. | all-cash deal will see company eventually acquiring about 45% in gati. it values the company at about Rs 1,000 crore. express logistics industry is expected to reach Rs 48,000 crore ($7 billion) by 2023. final agreement held by Kintetsu world express, a Japanese freight forwarder that owned 3.99% stake in Gati. | Positive |
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/personal-finance/stock-and-bond-markets-what-they-indicate-about-each-other-2491001.html | Joydeep Sen
In this article published earlier, we discussed that both the markets, equity and debt, look stretched on valuations. At that point of time, the yield on the 10-year government security was approx 6.5% and the overnight interest rate, represented by the RBI repo rate, was 6.25%. The spread was only 25 basis points between overnight and 10-years. This was an anomaly as per the theory of time value of money because the compensation was only 25 basis points for sparing money for 10 years.
Since then, the RBI has cut policy rate in August ’17, thereby bringing the overnight rate to 6%. The bond market has corrected and the 10-year G-Sec yield currently is at around 7.35%, taking the average of the existing benchmark 6.79% GoI 2027 and the new benchmark 7.17% GoI 2028. The 10-year to overnight spread at approx 1.35% is attractive.
The equity market has run up further since July '17. The PE Ratio in July ’17 was approx 25 on trailing EPS basis. Currently, it is approx 27.5 on trailing EPS basis. As per the thumb rule to figure out the relative attractiveness between the two markets i.e. equity and debt, the inverse of the 10-year bond yield is compared with the equity PE. Inverse of 7.35% is 13.6, which denotes that if the equity PE is at or less than 13.6, equity is very attractive. Now that equity PE is at approx 27.5, it is not cheap. However, the equity market may witness a PE rerating driven by better earnings growth. Since there is a discounting of future growth in equities, which is not the case with bonds, some premium is justified.
Let us now look at what history tells us by taking a cue from movement in one market and impact on the other.
Source: IDFC Mutual Fund Report dated Jan '18
The chart above shows the 10-year Government Security yield (line, marked to right hand side) and returns from Nifty over next one year (bars, marked to left hand side). It presents a long history, from CY98 to CY17. It is not a perfect correlation, because markets are influenced by a multitude of dynamic factors. Broadly, when bond yield is moving up, returns from Nifty have been moving up and vice versa.
This is because yield moves up when the economy is looking up and demand for money is higher. When growth in the economy is picking up, inflation also picks up. Consequently, earnings growth of corporates, which is measured in nominal terms (i.e. not adjusted for inflation) is that much higher. On the reverse side, when the economy is slowing down, demand for money is lower as fresh capacities are not created, leading to lower interest rates. With slowing economy and easing inflation, corporate earnings growth is soft. Hence, earnings from equity is muted.
From CY03 to CY07, we see bond yield moving up and equity returns buoyant. In CY08, both move southwards. From CY09 to CY14, both move in similar fashion, apart from one exception in CY11. At the current juncture, corporate earnings growth is expected to gather pace. Given that bond yields have moved up over the last 7 months or so, GDP growth is projected to pick up and inflation is projected to be little higher than RBI’s central target of 4%, all this are positive indicators for equities. The only cause for concern in equity is the stretched valuations.
Having said that, calling the market is anybody’s guess. As investors, we should be guided by prudent allocation between the two asset classes. Allocation should be guided by the parameters of risk-return profile and horizon. In case the equity valuation looks stretched, invest with a long horizon. In the fixed income segment, things are expected to be stable in the foreseeable future as the RBI is not going to hike rates in a hurry.
Another perspective, for deployment of incremental flows of investors in view of uncertainty in equity market on stretched valuations, could be alternate avenues like structured products (market linked debentures), where the downside in case equity markets don’t give returns is protected but the market linked coupon provides the equity upside. This is suitable for investors who want to participate in the equity market upside but are wary of the downside. However, there is a minimum ticket size required for structured debentures and is available to HNIs, not retail investors. In the mutual fund space, there are certain funds that do the asset allocation between equity and debt as per valuation levels in the market and restructure the portfolio at periodic intervals, as per the fund manager’s views on market movements. Retail investors, as well as HNIs, can take the benefit of the fund managers’ allocation in these dynamic asset allocation funds.
(The writer is founder of wiseinvestor.in) | the 10-year government security yield was approx 6.5% and the overnight interest rate, represented by the RBI repo rate, was 6.25%. the spread was only 25 basis points between overnight and 10-years. since then, the RBI has cut policy rate in august ’17, bringing the overnight rate to 6%. the 10-year to overnight spread at approx 1.35% is attractive. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/india-us-relationship-rough-weather-better-environment/2124839/ | It is too early to say how India’s relations with a Biden administration will pan out, especially since the contours of its policy towards Chinese expansionism are unclear—many suggest a more accommodative policy—but it does seem likely India is not going to find a policy environment that is as alive to its sensitivities as the Trump government was; certainly a decision to revoke the Donald Trump ‘Muslim’ ban—Trump had banned travel from several Muslim majority countries including Iran and Syria—suggests that attempts to portray India as anti-Muslim may get more traction and that more uncomfortable questions will be asked about Kashmir.
While many believe Republican regimes are friendlier to India than Democratic ones, how this pans out really depends on India’s own pro-growth and investment policies. Not only was India growing at 7-8% in the days George Bush offered the nuclear deal, with investment levels at 38-39% of GDP levels at that point, India’s potential looked bright.
GDP will not just contract this year, potential growth over the next few years looks a lot less robust, and India’s treatment of several large global majors suggest a less rosy future; India’s inability to sign even a limited trade deal with the Trump administration has to be seen as a negative.
The immediate preoccupations apart, a lot of the excitement about a Biden administration is the promise of correcting Trump’s climate-scepticism. How much Biden is able to push the agenda, of course, will depend upon whether, by the end of January, the Democrats are able to wrest a majority in the Senate; that Florida, one of the states most vulnerable to climate change, went to Trump suggests climate change isn’t a hot-button issue for most of the country.
Biden has promised the US will be rejoining the Paris Accord on the first day of his presidency and that his administration will also be looking at injecting $2 trillion as a “green stimulus” to ease the US into a low-emission economic growth trajectory; given this will require higher taxes in other areas and tighter emission norms will hit large parts of the economy, delivering on this is not going to be easy, more so since not all Democrats are convinced about this either.
As president, though, Biden could make a start using the executive route; he could start with rolling back the dilution and overturning of nearly 100 environmental regulations that the Trump regime affected including the one that asked every federal agency to dismantle their climate policies.
Biden is pledging to cut US emission to net-zero by 2050 and clean up the power sector by 2035. If he is able to deliver on this, taken together with China’s pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2060—EU targets 2050 for net-zero status—the US achieving the Biden target could pull global warming down to 2.3-2.4oC above the pre-industrial levels by the end of this century, as per the Climate Action tracker.
And, with the US willing to join China, the largest current emitter, and India, another top emitter (though a much smaller per capita emitter) on climate action leadership, chances of reaching the Paris accord ideal, of limiting global warming to 1.5oC would rise meaningfully, as per an expert cited in a Financial Times report. | a lot of the excitement about a biden administration is the promise of correcting Trump’s climate-scepticism. as president, biden could be a key player in the country’s economic recovery. he could also be a key player in the global economy. he could also be a key player in the global economy. he could also be a key player in the global economy. | Positive |
https://www.businesstoday.in/markets/market-perspective/share-market-live-sensex-nifty-dalal-street-stock-outlook-bse-nse-news-may-8/story/403199.html | Sensex, Nifty Updates: Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Friday, tracking bullish rally from overseas as investors shook off weak economic data and focused on upcoming earnings and stock specific action. Market indices were off day's high, closed on a bullish note on the last day of trading in the week. Reversing from losses after two straight sessions, Sensex climbed 199 points higher at 31,642 and Nifty rose 52 points to 9,251. Yesterday, Sensex closed 242 points lower at 31,443 and Nifty fell to 9,199, down 71 points. US indices turned green as investors turned optimistic over following a clutch of upbeat earnings reports and looked past the weak economic data due to lockdowns to combat the virus spread. Asian and European markets were also tracking bullish trend from overseas.
Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today
3.45 PM: Closing bell
Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed higher on Friday, tracking bullish rally from overseas as investors shook off weak economic data and focused on upcoming earnings and stock specific action. Market indices were off day's high, closed on a bullish note on the last day of trading in the week. Reversing from losses after two straight sessions, Sensex climbed 199 points higher at 31,642 and Nifty rose 52 points to 9,251.
Expressing views over the market trend today, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said,"Nifty fluctuated around 150 points in another day of volatile trades, tracking uncertainty in the markets. Gains were led by Reliance, which succeeded in another round of fundraising even in this adverse scenario. Global market trends were also positive following attempts to defuse tensions around the US-China trade talks. While the earnings season has been lacklustre, markets seem to be awaiting announcement of a stimulus package from the government".
3.32 PM: SBI Cards share price falls 3.66% lower post results
SBI Cards share price, that earlier opened with a gain of 2.45% fell 3.66% lower intraday to Rs 552.8 after the company reported its quarterly results. The company reported 66% drop (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 83 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as against Rs 248 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Its total income rose 20% (YoY) to Rs 2510 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 2076 crore in the same period last financial year.
3.25 PM: Market update
Market indices were off day's high, although traded on a bullish note on the last day of trading in the week. Reversing from losses after two straight sessions, Sensex climbed 220 points higher at 31,661 and Nifty rose 59 points to 9,258.
3.18 PM: Lloyds Metals and Energy shares climb 10%
Lloyds Metals and Energy share price climbed 10% intraday to Rs 7.75 on BSE after the company board approved MoU for JV.
Company has entered into the MoU with Thriveni Earthmovers Private Limited (TEPL) to incorporate a new joint venture company in the state of Maharashtra for carry mining operations in Maharashtra & neighbouring states but starting with the iron ore mining operations of Lloyds Metals Energy Limited (LMEL).
3.07PM: IIFL share price falls 3.6%
IIFL Finance share price touched an intraday low of Rs 69, falling 3.63% on BSE after the company said its board has approved allotment of 1000 NCDs
2.55 PM: Result announcements
Orient Abrasives: May 11, 2020
Saurashtra Cement: May 18, 2020
2.36 PM: Adani Gas share price gains over 9% post result
Adani Gas share price opened with a gain of 2.4% today and later touched an intraday high of Rs 113.8, rising 9.27% after the company reported its March quarterly numbers. The company reported 5.2% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 121 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as against Rs 115 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Its total income fell 5% (YoY) to Rs 121 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 115 crore in the same period last financial year.
2.22 PM: Market Update
Market indices were off day's high, although traded on a bullish note on the last day of trading in the week today. Sensex climbed 326 points higher at 31,770 and Nifty rose 76 points to 9,275. US indices turned green as investors turned optimistic over following a clutch of upbeat earnings reports and looked past the weak economic data due to lockdowns to combat the virus spread. Asian and European markets were also tracking bullish trend from overseas.
2. 10 PM: European markets open higher
European markets opened higher today tracking the bullish rally from overseas, with FRSE, CAC and DAX each gaining over 1%.
1.51 PM: P&G Healthcare rises 1.5%.
Shares of P&G Healthcare gained 1.5% to the day's high of Rs 10313.85 on BSE after the company reported its March quarterly results.
The company reported 1.1% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 91 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as against Rs 90 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Its total income fell 6% (YoY) to Rs 656 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 699 crore in the same period last financial year.
1.44 PM: BASF share price declines 2%
BASF India share price fell to 1.9% to the intraday low of Rs 971 on BSE after the company said it received demand notices from Commercial Tax Department, Karnataka for commercial papers worth Rs 85 crore inclusive of penalty and interest, by treating the stock transfers of its Mangalore Plant as interstate sales to dealers.
1. 35 PM: Coronavirus toll
Globally, there are 39.17 lakh confirmed cases and 2.7 lakh deaths from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. India has reported more than 3,500 cases in the last 24 hours taking the tally of total cases to 52,953, including 15,266 recoveries and 1,783 deaths.
Coronavirus India Live Updates: Maharashtra lockdown may extend to May-end, hints CM Thackeray; cases-17,974
1.22 PM: Biocon share prcie up 3%
Biocon shares touched an intraday high of Rs 360.05, rising 2.97% on BSE after the company said it has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Pre-Approval and GMP inspection of its small molecules api manufacturing facility at Biocon Park SEZ, Bommansandra, Bengaluru
1.18 PM: Dr Reddy share price rises 7%
Dr Reddy share price touched an intraday high of Rs 4099.9, rising 6.93% on BSE. The company has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from US FDA, for the aAPI manufacturing plant at Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh (CTO VI), indicating closure of the audit and the inspection classification of this facility is determined as Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI). With this, all facilities under warning letter are now determined as VAl, the filing added.
1.09 PM: RBL Bank share price gains 3.5%
RBL Bank share price touched an intraday low of Rs 124.15, falling 3.69% on BSE after the company reported its quarterly results. The company reported 49% drop (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 114 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as against Rs 227 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Its total income rose 24% (YoY) to Rs 2782 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 2243 crore in the same period last financial year.
1.05 PM: ICICI Securities share price gains 13.8% post result
ICICI Securities share price opened with a gain of 13.81% today and touched an intraday high of Rs 429 after the company reported its quarterly results. The company reported 10.45% rise (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 542 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as against Rs 490 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Its total income fell 0.12% (YoY) to Rs 1724 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 1727 crore in the same period last financial year. ICICI Securities board recommends final dividend of Rs 6.75 per share.
12.36 PM: Gillete shares drop 2%
Gillette share price dropped 2% intraday to the day's low of Rs 4990 on BSE after the company reported its March quarterly results. The company reported 40% drop (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 45 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as against Rs 176 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Its total income rose 2.9% (YoY) to Rs 1073 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 1105 crore in the same period last financial year.
12.13 PM: SKF India share price gains 6%
SKF India share price gained 6% intraday to the high of Rs 1479.35 on BSE today after the company reported its March quarterly numbers. The company reported 8% drop (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 75 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as against Rs 82 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Its total income fell 15% (YoY) to Rs 656 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 777 crore in the same period last financial year. SKF India board recommended a special dividend of Rs 130 per share.
12.03 PM: Bajaj Consumer Care shares gain 2.5%
The share price of Bajaj Consumer Care gained 2.5% intraday to the day's high of Rs 144 on BSE after the company announced that it has launched Bajaj Nomarks hand sanitizers.
11.56 PM: Cigniti Technologies share price locks lower circuit
Cigniti Technologies share price was locked at 5% lower circuit of Rs 293 after the company reported weak quarterly results yesterday. The company reported 8% drop (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 75 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as against Rs 82 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Its total income fell 15% (YoY) to Rs 656 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 777 crore in the same period last financial year.
11.47 PM: Nifty's outlook
Expressing views on Nifty's near term outlook, Sameet Chavan (Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking) said, "We remain hopeful as long as a key support zone of 9100-8900 is not violated. On the upside, intraday resistances are seen at 9277 followed by 9350. A sustainable move beyond this would trigger a good upmove to test the sturdy wall of 9450 - 9550."
11.32 AM: Tata Motors share price gains 2.8%
Tata Motors share price gains 2.8% to the intraday high of Rs 84.85 on BSE after the company said it has decided to withdraw the Rs 1,000 crore NCD issue due to tight money market conditions. The company board plans to consider the issue once the situation returns to normal.
11.24 AM: Tata Consumer Products share price gains 2.8%
Tata Consumer Products share price gains 2.8% to the intraday high of Rs 351 on BSE after the company said it has strengthened its direct distribution model by partnering with India's most popular food delivery applications such as Domino's Pizza and Zomato.
11.15 AM: SBI Cards shares up 2% ahead of results
SBI Cards and Payment Services share price gained 2.44% to Rs 587.80 compared to the previous close of Rs 573.80 on BSE. This was ahead of its March quarterly results scheduled to be released today.
SBI Cards share price rises over 2% ahead of Q4 earnings today
11.10 AM: Oil gains today
Brent crude futures, the international oil benchmark was trading 1.29% higher at $29.84 per barrel.
11.07 AM: Top gainers/Losers
IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Hindustan Unilever and Axis Bank and Reliance Industries were among the top gainers on Sensex today.
On the other hand, PowerGird, HCL Tech, Asian Paints and NTPC were among the top losers.
10. 45 AM: Cyient share price gains 8.5%
Cyient share price opened with a loss of 5.48% and later fell 8.5% to an intraday low of Rs 212 on BSE after the company reported its March quarterly numbers. The company reported 74% fall (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 45 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020 as against Rs 176.6 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Its total income rose 2.9% (YoY) to Rs 1073 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 1105 crore in the same period last financial year.
10.35 AM: Rupee opens at 75.27 per dollar
Rupee on the interbank forex market opened 45 paise higher at 75.27 against US dollar.
Rupee vs dollar: Rupee rises 45 paise to 75.27 amid weak dollar, fund inflows
10. 30 AM: Expert oulook on gold
Anuj Gupta, DVP-Commodities & Currencies Research, Angel Broking said, "Yesterday gold prices increased almost 1.74% and closed above 46100 levels . In international market, gold is also trading on a positive note. This is due to weakness in dollar due to dovish US economic data and expectation of negative interest rates in the next year in US. Today, Gold may trade on a positive side. Traders can buy gold at 45900 levels with the stop loss of 45650, for the target of 46500 levels. In international market, Gold may test $1730 levels."
10.20 AM: Tata Motors share price gains 2.85%
Tata Motors share price opened with a gain of 2.67% today and climbed 2.85% to the intraday high of Rs 84.85 on BSE after the company said that it has decided to withdraw the Rs 1,000 cr NCD issue due to tight money market conditions. The company board plans to consider the issue once the situation returns to normal.
10: 10 AM: Positive global cues
Asian markets traded positive led by Nikkei tracking overnight gains made in US.
US markets closed in green led by tech heavy Nasdaq as investors focused on reopning of economy.
European markets had closed higher led by retail stocks as investors digested easing restriction by many EU states.
10.07 AM: Market Update
Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty rose higher on Friday, tracking bullish rally from overseas as investors shook off weak economic data and focused on upcoming earnings. Reversing from losses after two straight sessions, Sensex climbed 450 points higher at 31,892 and Nifty rose 103 points to 9,307.
9.50 AM: News Alert
- US jobless claims rose 3.17 million taking 7 week total to 33.5 million.
-Bank of Australia in its statement said that global GDP is expected to fall shaply in H1 2020.
-Bank of England kept rates at 0.1% but hints at its preparedness to fight.
9. 40 AM: RIL gains 2.83%
Shares of RIL rose in early trade today after the company announced today that VistaEquity Partners will invest Rs 11,367 crore into Jio Platforms. This investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore, the filing added further.
Index heavyweight RIL's market cap touched 10 lakh crore after today's deal with Vista.
Following the update, the share price of Reliance Industries rose 2.83% to the intraday high of Rs 1550 on BSE.
Reliance Industries share gains over 4% as Vista Equity Partners to invest Rs 11,367 crore into Jio Platforms
9.31 AM: Why markets rising today
US indices turned green as investors turned optimistic over following a clutch of upbeat earnings reports and looked past the weak economic data due to lockdowns to combat the virus spread. Asian indices were also tracking bullish trend from overseas.
9.20 AM: Opening bell
Sensex and Nifty opened sharply higher today, tracking bullish rally from overseas. Reversing from losses after two straight sessions, Sensex climbed 510 points higher at 31,954 and Nifty rose 131 points to 9,340.
9.10 AM: Stock in news on May 8
SBI Cards, ICICI Securities, RBL Bank, P&G Hygiene, Gillette, Cyient, Cadila among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Friday's trading session
Stocks in news: SBI Cards, ICICI Securities, RBL Bank, P&G Hygiene, Gillette, Cyient, Cadila and more
9.00 AM: Pre-open session today
Market indices Sensex and Nifty pre-opened sharply higher today. Sensex climbed 650 points higher at 32,085 and Nifty rose to 9,442, up 244 points.
8. 50 AM: Global cues
US indices turned green as investors turned optimistic over following a clutch of upbeat earnings reports and looked past the weak economic data due to lockdowns to combat the virus spread. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.89%, the S&P 1.15% and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.41%. Yesterday, Sensex closed 242 points lower at 31,443 and Nifty fell to 9,199, down 71 points.
8. 45 AM: Earnings Q4
SBI Cards and Payment Services, Adani Gas, Shree Cement, Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care, Reliance Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Capital, Valiant Organics, Uttam Galva Steels, TCI Express, Swaraj Engines, R Systems International among others will be reporting their March quarterly results today.
SKF India, HCL Technologies, Cyient, Gillette India, RBL Bank, 5paisa Capital, Cigniti Technologies, ICICI Securities, Solara Active Pharma reported their quarterly results yesterday.
8.40 AM: SGX Nifty positive today
SGX Nifty traded 95 points higher at 9,294 level, indicating a positive start in domestic grounds today.
8. 30 AM: Rupee closing on Wednesday
On Wednesday, Rupee ended 13 paise higher at 75.75 per dollar as against the last closing of 75.62 per dollar.
8. 20 AM: FII/ DII action on Thursday
FIIs bought Rs 19,056 crore and DII too bought for Rs 3,818 crore worth in equities on Thursday, taking the total net buy in the equities today to Rs 22,874.9 crore
8. 10 AM: Coronavirus toll
Globally, there are 39.17 lakh confirmed cases and 2.7 lakh deaths from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. India has reported more than 3,500 cases in the last 24 hours taking the tally of total cases to 52,953, including 15,266 recoveries and 1,783 deaths.
8.00 AM: Closing bell on Thursday
Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed on a bearish note on Thursday, backed by weak global cues as investors globally fretted over the weak economic data and rising COVID-19 cases. Sensex closed 242 points lower at 31,443 and Nifty fell to 9,199, down 71 points.
Share Market Update: Sensex ends 242 points lower, Nifty at 9,199; BPCL, ONGC, NTPC top losers | Sensex and Nifty closed higher on friday, tracking bullish rally from overseas. yesterday, Sensex closed 242 points lower at 31,443 and Nifty fell to 9,199, down 71 points. gains were led by Reliance, which succeeded in another round of fundraising. global market trends were also positive following attempts to defuse tensions around the US-china trade talks. | Positive |
https://www.livemint.com/market/stock-market-news/sensex-nifty-live-today-17-11-2020-nifty-nse-bse-news-updates-11605580180958.html | Sensex ends at record high led by banks, gains 314 pts; Nifty closes at 12,874
12 min read . Updated: 17 Nov 2020, 03:48 PM IST
Sensex gained 314 points to end at record high of 43,952 after crossing 44,000 in early session, while Nifty closed at 12,874. Tata Steel was the leader in the metals pack, gaining 6% | Sensex ends at record high led by banks, gains 314 pts; Nifty closes at 12,874 12 min read. Sensex ends at record high led by banks, gains 314 pts; Nifty closes at 12,874 12 min read. Sensex ends at record high led by banks, gains 314 pts; Nifty closes at 12,874 12 min read. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/how-logistics-e-commerce-companies-are-gearing-up-for-upcoming-festive-sales/2088746/ | After a halt, the upcoming annual festive season is likely to inject the much-needed cheer back into the economy, especially on the back of e-commerce sales.
The e-commerce companies in India organise several sale events during the festive season. In anticipation of the surge in orders, logistics companies such as Ecom Express, Blue Dart and Shadowfax have started ramping up their infrastructure and hiring manpower.
The flagship sales by Amazon and Flipkart — The Great Indian Festival and Big Billion Days — are the highlights of the season and mark the onset of shopping festivities. The first event of last year’s festive sales, according to RedSeer Consulting, had raked in $2.7 billion in GMV (gross merchandise value). According to the consultancy firm, this year’s first festive sales (dates of which are currently being finalised) are likely to grow 50% year-on-year and reach $4 billion in GMV.
The logistic firm, Ecom Express, has plans to create more than 30,000 seasonal jobs, while last-mile delivery player — Shadowfax — has already onboarded 35,000 people and plans to add another 35,000. E-tailers, too, are gearing up for the sale season. Flipkart, for instance, has hired 70,000 people for its supply chain operations.
According to Manish Saigal, MD, Alvarez and Marsal India, e-commerce shipments have witnessed a revival since July and stand at 42 lakh shipments a day. “We expect a jump of 35% during the festive season and the shipments may go up to 55-60 lakh a day,” Saigal said.
Industry watchers expect that a significant share of orders this year might come from smaller towns. Similarly, RedSeer estimates that over 50% shoppers this season will be from tier II and beyond markets. “We plan to add 500 cities and be in 1,000 cities by the end of this year; most of this would be tier II, III and IV cities,” says Praharsh Chandra, co-founder and COO, Shadowfax.
Amazon, too, plans to set up 10 more fulfilment centres in India ahead of the festive season, two of which have opened in Ludhiana and Patna. Similarly, about 75% of the Ecom Express’ seasonal positions have been created in towns beyond metros. “While we have been ramping up our infrastructure in smaller towns, we have to apply data science to offer a good delivery experience,” says Siddharth Agarwal, vice-president, and head of strategy and planning, Ecom Express.
The industry is also bracing up for a surge in demand for different product categories. “We are seeing increased demand for consumer durables and electronics that enable work-from-home, such as headphones, printers, smartphones and others,” said Ketan Kulkarni, CMO and head of business development, Blue Dart.
Flipkart and Amazon together control about 55% of shipments (in volumes) in the e-commerce market. While their respective captive logistics arms Ekart and ATS manage 70% of these shipments, 30% of it is outsourced. Overall, independent logistics players have a 65% share in this market. Due to the increased demand during the festive season, both the leading marketplaces outsource a large share of their shipments. Though these companies are anticipating a massive surge in order volumes, servicing them would not be easy due to the localised lockdowns across the country.
“There has been a significant increase in operating cost of logistics players due to supply-side issues such as shortage of drivers,” said PS Easwaran, partner and leader, supply chain, Deloitte India.
Besides this, experts say higher cash on delivery (COD) orders from smaller towns might present another challenge for these companies. “Reaching these far-off areas is not easy and since customers here still like to use COD options, it adds to the problem as returns are higher on COD orders,” Saigal said.
Read Also: How shopping malls are strategizing to reach customers ahead of the festive season
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook | e-commerce companies in india organise several sale events during the festive season. logistics companies such as Ecom Express, Blue Dart and Shadowfax have started ramping up their infrastructure and hiring manpower. the flagship sales by Amazon and Flipkart — the Great Indian Festival and Big Billion Days — are the highlights of the season. the first event of last year's festive sales, according to redseer consulting, had raked in $2.7 billion in GMV. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/medical-tourism-brings-more-cash-to-exchequer-arrivals-more-than-double-in-three-years/1741739/ | Medical tourism in India has turned out to be a lucrative source of earnings for the Indian economy with the total number of inward medical tourists doubled in a span of just three years to 2017. Around 22 per cent arrivals from West Asia was for medical purposes, followed by 15.7 per cent from Africa, according to the Indian Tourism Statistics, 2018 report. The sector has performed well in the last decade by getting adequate promotion from the government’s side as well. The Indian government had stated in its National Health Policy, back in 2002, that medical tourism is considered to be a deemed export and it has been given fiscal incentives, including lower import duties, prime land at subsidised rates and tax concessions.
To make it easier for the medical tourists to visit India, the government has also allowed an e-Medical Visa for the foreign nationals, with which they may undertake medical treatment including treatment under Indian systems of medicine, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The medical tourism markets of Singapore, Dubai, India, Thailand, and Malaysia should be considered as the first wave of Asian medical tourism, suggests a report by the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD.
Does medical tourism raise treatment cost for Indian patients
However, there have been various accusations that in some countries private-sector medical tourists may be accumulating medical resources and taking healthcare services and personnel away from the local population.
“Almost 80 per cent of the hospital beds in India are in the private sector. Even unwillingly, patients have to depend on the private hospitals for their treatments as the waiting time in government hospitals such as AIIMS is too long. On the other side when the private hospitals are looking for more and more medical tourists for higher profits, it becomes difficult for the Indian patients,” Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti, Former President, RDA, AIIMS, told Financial Express Online.
The government must enhance public sector to take care of poor Indian patient who gets neglected due to costly private healthcare, Dr Harjit Singh added.
To provide free health care to the extent of 20 per cent of resources, regular checks are also carried out so that the private hospitals in India deliver responsibility under the Public Trust Act.
“Price band for foreign and Indian patients are different and even among the Indian patients, the price bands are divided among three categories, viz A, B and C. A being the band reserved for patients of relatively lower-income groups; B band where the patients avail facilities such as Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS); and band C, which is smaller, where the patients pay the entire treatment fees in cash, Dr Neha Singh, Physiotherapist, Max Hospital, Delhi, told Financial Express Online.
There are 10-15 per cent bed reserved for the patients in band A and appropriate measures are taken to make the Indian patients avail such medical facilities, Dr Neha Singh added.
Chances of infections in migrating in and out of different ecosystems
Medical travellers may be travelling from home to countries with very different ecosystems and disease profiles, and in some destinations may encounter diseases such as malaria, dengue and other arthropod-borne infections, said a report by OECD. The report also suggests that all people, whether medical travellers or not, who are travelling to different countries should be made aware of the potential for acquiring diseases and injuries which are not common in their own countries and immunisations, preventative medications and general precautions should be considered and arranged for prior to the trip overseas. | around 22 per cent arrivals from west Asia was for medical purposes. this was followed by 15.7 per cent from africa. the sector has performed well in the last decade by getting adequate promotion from the government as well. the government has also allowed an e-Medical visa for foreign nationals. 80% of the hospital beds in india are in the private sector. | Positive |
http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/india-peru-fta-talks-to-take-stage-in-march/1008609/ | With bilateral trade between India and Peru touching an all-time high of $1.57 billion, the second round of talks for the trade agreement between the two countries is scheduled to take place in March. The FTA between the two countries aims at liberalising norms for trade in goods and services with a view to further boost bilateral economic ties and to expand India’s trade and investment, especially in agri-business and commodities. Talking to FE, Arup Kumar Saha, head of Chancery, Embassy of India, Peru, said, “Peru could be used by Indian investors as a gateway to the region. With the government of Peru planning to rebuild after last year’s devastating floods, there is a huge opportunity for Indian companies to invest in various sectors, including construction of roads, highways, ports and airports.” The sudden spurt in the trade figures is a result of Peru’s increase in export of commodities including gold, silver and copper, officials told FE. The LatAm nation is the world’s sixth largest producer of gold, second largest of sliver, and third largest of copper, tin, zinc and lead. Peru started exporting gold to India only in 2012, but imports from Lima seem to have increased within short span of time. In fact, to meet the rising demand of gold in India, three Indian investors have decided to invest in gold mines in Peru.
As reported earlier by FE, while India is working on a different model for pepping up economic relations with Peru, “The first round of discussions between the two sides had taken place in Lima last year. An FTA between the two countries is not going to happen soon, so the government has decided to work on a new, unique model, wherein the government has agreed to do single undertaking discussions on services investment and goods.” In 2015, Peru became the second largest exporter of table grapes — Red Globe variety — to India, a position it holds even today. These grapes are typically available in Indian supermarkets between December and April every year. Also, Indian importers have shown a growing interest in Peruvian avocados, leading to a steady increase in its consumption since 2016.
“Open trade barriers between the two countries provide Peru with a new and significant trade partner, because of which the economy is enjoying a surge,” said a statement issued by the Commercial Office of the Embassy of Peru. | bilateral trade between the two countries is at an all-time high of $1.57 billion. talks for the trade agreement between the two countries are scheduled to take place in march. sudden spurt in the trade figures is a result of Peru’s increase in export of commodities including gold, silver and copper. in 2015, Peru became the second largest exporter of table grapes — red globe variety — to India. | Positive |
http://www.livemint.com/Money/sVh0fRH8r86UUXSq417uXM/You-cant-increase-adoption-by-launching-more-digital-banki.html | When Shantanu Sengupta, managing director and head of consumer banking at DBS Bank India, stepped into his role in 2015, the retail banking landscape was changing fast with technology developments being the driver both in payments and lending businesses. Since then, DBS Bank has launched Digibank app, through which one can open a bank account on phone after the Know Your Customer (KYC) process. This year, the bank will target lending by providing digital credit to its customers, and also launching credit cards. The bank has already launched mutual funds on its digital platform and plans to offer insurance as well. Sengupta spoke to Mint about his plans for DBS Bank in India for 2018. Edited excerpts:
You took charge in 2015. What has changed since then and what is your outlook for this year?
When I joined, the bank was at a stage where we were thinking of launching a digital bank. Lots of banks offer a digital platform but it doesn’t necessarily mean being completely digital. In the mean time, IndiaStack came in, which the government had built, and was in sync with what we wanted. (IndiaStack is a system that has five programmes: Aadhaar, e-KYC, e-signature, Digital Locker and Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Financial services companies can use this platform to access information about customers.)
In 2015, we had a limited presence in the country on the retail side of the business. We were thinking if we could build a solution where a customer didn’t have to talk to the bank. Then, in April 2016 we launched our DigiBank product. The concept of banking itself had changed to being on the go. By then, a large part of the population had started using smartphones. At that time, this was a new concept and we knew it would take time to catch up. We started with banking and payments solutions. While we were doing this, the payments landscape was changing even faster in India. Initially, there were IMPS, RTGS and NEFT (Immediate Payment Service, Real Time Gross Settlement, and National Electronic Funds Transfer). Gradually, UPI came in and there was scepticism about how long it will take to grow. We integrated UPI in the second quarter of 2017 and QR code in the first quarter of calender year 2017.
We believe that you can’t increase adoption simply by launching more products.
After UPI and QR code were launched, what kind of transactions did you see?
We launched UPI in May 2017. We wanted to build the UPI infrastructure within the bank app; most banks have built a separate app for UPI. In terms of UPI, we have done over 6 million transactions so far, we can do much more. Many non-bank fintech (firms) are offering UPI. As that happens, you will see a rise.
The average transaction on UPI for our customers is Rs2,000-3,000. But it is too early to call it a trend. It is not a trend that we see going forward because in the past 2-3 months, there has been an increase.
In case of QR code, the reason why the adoption rate is not as per what we anticipated is that the acceptance of QR code has not been that high. You have to build both sides of infrastructure. The government is promoting QR code. I think it will pick up. Charges are coming down.
How many customers was the bank able to get through the mobile-only banking product? Have you made any changes since the launch of your mobile-only bank app?
Though there is 100% tele density, the infrastructure is not good. Sometimes you don’t get connection and there are blind spots. Hence, after we launched the mobile banking app, we later provided internet banking (also) for this product. We built phase 1, which is a basic internet bank account to access your money and make payments. In the next phase, you can make investments through the platform and add payees. We have got close to 2 million customers and have just crossed 500,000 savings account holders. We started with an e-wallet and then moved to savings account. Recently, RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has allowed banks to use Aadhaar for OTP-based eKYC, which we launched 2 months ago. It is a limited savings account.
Opening a savings account is just the first leg. Have you been able to cross-sell products to the 2 million customers who came in through the mobile-only bank app?
When it comes to the demography of customers, 80% are below the age of 30, and are male. All of them have PAN (Permanent Account Number), Aadhaar and smartphones. Most are salaried and in the top three markets—Mumbai, Delhi and Pune. For these customers, we have launched mutual funds, and the process is paperless. By the first quarter of calendar year 2018, we plan to launch digital loans.
We are also using the data that we have. As banks we have not done a good job in terms of using data adequately.
Next is bancassurance. We have three partners—Tata AIA Life Insurance Co. Ltd, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd and Aviva Life Insurance Co. India Ltd. We have built an open architecture where the system throws an option based on customer’s search choices. We have taken out mis-selling from the whole equation. We plan to offer health, general and life insurance. This should happen by the second or third quarter of 2018, since it is a bit complex.
Will you offer small-credit unsecured loans?
Looking at the profile of our customers, it is not going to be a very small amount—Rs5 lakh being the maximum amount. The minimum would be Rs1 lakh. It would be an instant loan. Loans will be integrated and it would be a pre-approved loan. To provide credit we will be looking at a combination of both traditional data such as Cibil score and alternate data such as payment transaction data. Towards the last quarter of 2018, we will offer credit cards. Currently, we don’t have unsecured loans.
Coming to mutual funds, how many fund houses have you tied up with? Will you give advice as well?
We already have 12 fund houses and we are expanding further. We want to be selective and we don’t want to confuse customers. We also want to focus on our partners’ abilities to provide products online. We are not into the advisory business; we are purely distributors. We are not expecting big-ticket transactions. The target customers are young and we want to create discipline around savings. In terms of choice of partners, we looked at the top partners and the ability to create digital platforms. We are assuming that the customers who are on our platform know the basics of mutual funds. We only have equity, balanced and debt funds and we encourage SIPs. Since the bank customer has KYC, it becomes seemless to provide mutual funds.
When you launched the mobile banking app, the focus was on bots. Isn’t that just a fancier version of a search engine?
Bot as an industry is evolving. You have to work with the bot to make it intelligent. In the past 2 years we have been making it more knowledgeable to respond to the queries. Over the past 12 months, we have worked on it. The bot can now handle a large part of the basic transactions. Well, has it reached where we want it to be? No, not yet. We want to take the bot to the next level where it can engage with customers. Today it responds to the customers. We want to make it more engaging. It is more than a search engine but not a complete virtual assistant. It can execute transactions for you but it is not intelligent enough to take decisions yet. Hopefully, in the next 1 year, you should see it become far more efficient.
Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. | dbs bank's digital bank is a digital platform that aims to be fully digital. the bank has already launched mutual funds and plans to offer insurance. the bank has also launched a mobile app to help customers open an account. the bank has also launched a mobile app to help customers open an account. it is also planning to launch a credit card and a mobile payment solution. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mf/analysis/fund-review-parag-parikh-long-term-equity-fund/articleshow/65395780.cms | ET Bureau
A mutual fund scheme which offers geographical diversification could be ideal for long-term conservative investors. This provides some amount of advantage to investors as favourable business situation in geographies other than domestic markets could help a scheme boost its performance.Among schemes which provide such geographical diversifications with strict adherence to conviction-based stock selection, Parag Parikh Long Term Equity is a placed reasonably well. In May this year, the scheme completed five years of existence.The scheme’s fund managers, Rajeev Thakkar, Raunak Onkar and Raj Mehta, strictly follow time-tested principles of buying companies based on parameters such as return on capital, entry barriers, and growth prospects. After sifting through these variables, the fund managers select companies which also seem reasonably attractive as far as valuations are concerned. Based on these principles, 27.3 per cent of the scheme’s portfolio is dedicated to international companies such as Alphabet Inc , Suzuki Motor Corp and Facebook Inc. These are largecap companies trading at attractive valuations and high visibility of sustainable earnings. The remaining part of the scheme’s portfolio is geared towards Indian markets.The fund managers are sitting on 25 per cent cash holdings and arbitrage investments, which indicate they are willing to wait for valuations to turn reasonably attractive. This scheme works for ultra conservative investors who are willing to take a very long-term call on equities . In the past three- and five-year periods, the scheme has given 13 per cent and 20 per cent returns, while its benchmark index, Nifty 500 TRI, has given 12 per cent and 19 per cent during the same period, respectively. | scheme offers geographical diversifications with strict adherence to conviction-based stock selection. in five years, the scheme has given 13 per cent and 20 per cent returns. the scheme's fund managers strictly follow time-tested principles of buying companies based on parameters such as return on capital, entry barriers, and growth prospects. based on these variables, 27.3 per cent of the scheme's portfolio is dedicated to international companies such as Alphabet Inc, Suzuki Motor Corp and Facebook Inc. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/upside-looks-limited-for-balkrishna-industries-on-slowing-demand-trend/articleshow/76530713.cms | The stock of off-highway tyre maker Balkrishna Industries has gained 77% in the past three months, outperforming the 45% return of the S&P BSE Auto index. While investors have rewarded the company for its resilient volume growth in challenging times, its current valuation looks stretched. In addition, given the slower expected volume growth for the current fiscal and dwindling demand from its overseas industrial clients, the upside for the stock looks to be limited.Mumbai headquartered Balakrishna caters to the agriculture, and industrial sectors including mining. The company’s volume grew by 5% in the March 2020 quarter thanks to a steady replacement demand from the overseas market. The demand for the agricultural tyres in the US and the European markets was able to offset lacklustre volumes from the industrial sectors.The demand for agricultural tyres, which form two-third of the total volume, grew by 8% year-on-year to 37,678 tonnes in the March quarter. On the other hand, the tyre volume from the industrial and mining operations fell by 2.7%. The company’s volume grew by 9% annually between FY10 and FY20 to 2,01,760 tonnes. But, the pace is likely to slow down.The demand from the industrial segment will be most affected due to slower ramping in mining activities and lower capital expenditure by global companies. The company expects FY21 volume trend to be similar to the previous year when the volume dropped by 4.5%. In addition, the revenue trajectory of global peers such as Trelleborg Wheel and Titan International has not been encouraging. The deceleration in volume from the historical average and a hazy demand visibility may impact the company’s stock valuation.On the flip side, a backward integration to produce carbon black, a key raw material, may support operating margin to some extent. Analysts expect a margin of 30% for the current and the next fiscal compared with 28.5% in the previous fiscal.Balkrishna has so far enjoyed a steep premium valuation over the conventional tyre makers due to superior margins and a higher market share led by a strong labour arbitrage. At Tuesday’s closing price of Rs 1,242, the stock was traded at 25 times one-year forward earnings. This was at a 45% premium to its five-year average, according to Bloomberg. The extent of the premium valuation may compress due to slow volume growth and muted global demand. | the stock of off-highway tyre maker balkrishna Industries has gained 77% in the past three months. the company's volume grew by 5% in the March 2020 quarter thanks to a steady replacement demand from the overseas market. the demand for agricultural tyres in the us and the european markets was able to offset lacklustre volumes from the industrial sectors. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/markets-cheer-fall-in-ny-covid-toll/articleshow/75038979.cms |
Mumbai: The stock market soared 9 per cent on Tuesday — its biggest one-day gain since May 2009 — as early signs of Covid-19 cases peaking in countries hit hard by the pandemic boosted confidence among investors . The fall in death toll in New York, which has seen the most number of cases in the US, fuelled an overnight rally on Wall Street and in Asian and European markets on Tuesday. The renewed market strength, however, was met with cynicism at home as the number of people infected by the virus in India has shown no signs of abating despite the lockdown.The Sensex surged 2,476.26 points, or 9 per cent, to close at 30,067.21. The Nifty ended up 708.40 points, or 8.8 per cent, at 8,792.20. Banking stocks led the gains with the Bank Nifty index rising over 10 per cent. India's volatility gauge VIX fell 6 per cent to 52, suggesting the risk perception among traders is declining.The rally in Indian stocks was sharper than their Asian peers, which rose 1.8 per cent to 4 per cent on Tuesday. European markets were up 3-4 per cent midway in trade.“Globally, there has been a rally as people are hoping that new cases have peaked. Since Indian markets were oversold, we have seen a good short covering rally though cases in India are still rising,” said Mahesh Patil, co-chief investment officer at Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund.Optimists could take heart from the foreign investors’ purchases on Tuesday.Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth ₹741.8 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth ₹422.5 crore. In the past 27 sessions since February 20 — when the market sell off started — FPIs have net bought in only four sessions, including Tuesday. In this period, FPIs have net sold shares worth over ₹3,000 crore on an average every day.Analysts said the momentum of Tuesday’s rally could take the Nifty above the 9,000-levels.Yogesh Radke, head of alternative and quantitative research at Edelweiss Securities, said the market rally may extend to 9,160 levels on the Nifty. “Prima facie, the rally (on Tuesday) was driven by short covering in index futures, which reflects in the premium expansion of Nifty April futures,” said Radke. “The market is not out of the woods and would largely be driven by the Covid-19 news flows. The rally that happened two weeks back stretched 20 per cent before getting fizzled out.”On Monday, US markets rallied after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the coronavirus death toll has been flat for two days. China said it did not have any new deaths for the first time since it started reporting the virus cases though global financial markets remain sceptical about the country’s official figures.Cases are yet to show signs of peaking in India, which has seen the total number of confirmed cases rise above 4,400. Globally, the number of cases have crossed 1.36 million. “The slowdown in the number of new Covid-19 cases in Europe and the US suggests that the lockdown measures may be working in reducing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Kotak Institutional Equities in a client note.“We would expect India to go through a similar phase but with hopefully lower peak numbers given the extensive lockdown in India,” the firm added. | the Sensex soared 2,476.26 points, or 9 per cent, to close at 30,067.21. the nifty ended up 708.40 points, or 8.8 per cent, at 8,792.20. the rally in Indian stocks was sharper than their Asian peers. a fall in death toll in new york has fuelled an overnight rally. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/long-standing-indo-nepal-partnership-threatened-by-vested-interests-in-kathmandu/articleshow/76404008.cms | Indo Nepal friendship has been strengthened over decades due to cultural similarities and links between families. But that friendship is confronted with challenges due to vested interests of certain powers.After India became independent, the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru stressed for economic development of Nepal to continue with the existing good relations between the two countries.India continued to offer jobs to Nepalese citizens in Indian Army and Para Military Forces. After their retirement, the Nepalese nationals get the same retirement benefits which is given to their Indian counterparts. Nationals of both the countries can travel both to India and Nepal freely. Nepalese do not require any work permit in India.Many in Nepal and the world thought that India might annexe the Himalayan nation after its victory with Pakistan in 1971 and Sikkim’s merger in mid-1970s. But India had refrained from troubling its neighbour.India has been continuously assisting Nepal through infrastructural development, airport in Kathmandu , and support for health, education and many other sectors. India was the first country to reach to Nepal within six hours to provide relief after the devastating earthquake in 2015. Then Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj committed assistance of nearly one billion dollars. In 2018, India finished constriction of 42,786 houses at a cost of Rs 131 crore in Nuakot and Gorkha districts.India does not have fenced borders with Nepal and the Indian border is guarded by paramilitary force SSB and not BSF. The patrolling by India at the border is also very limited. Currently, six lakh Indians stay in Nepal whereas number of Nepalese nationals in India is more than seven million, one third of the whole population of Nepal. 40,000 Nepalese nationals work in seven Gorkha regiments of Indian Army. Besides, Nepalese nationals are working in Indian police also. Around 80,000 Nepalese who retired from Indian Army get pension and Indian army also attends to 11000 widows of Nepal soldiers and 17,000 Retired soldiers of Assam Rifles. India spends around 12 billion dollars for pension to Nepalese nationals only in a year.The Government of India’s development assistance to Nepal is a broad-based programme focusing on creation of infrastructure at the grass-roots level, under which various projects have been implemented in the areas of infrastructure, health, water resources, education and rural & community development.In recent years, India has been assisting Nepal in development of border infrastructure through upgradation of 10 roads in the Terai area; development of cross-border rail links at Jogbani-Biratnagar, Jaynagar-Bardibas; and establishment of Integrated Check Posts at Birgunj, Biratnagar, Bhairahawa, and Nepalgunj. The total economic assistance earmarked under ‘Aid to Nepal’ budget in FY 2019-20 was INR 1200 crore. During the visit of Prime Minister of Nepal in April 2018, the two Prime Ministers jointly inaugurated the Integrated Check Post at Birgunj (Nepal) built with GoI assistance. On 31 August 2018, the two Prime Ministers jointly inaugurated the Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharmashala in Kathmandu. On 21 January 2020, the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal remotely inaugurated the Integrated Check Post at Biratnagar (Nepal) built with GoI assistance. Apart from grant assistance, Government of India has extended Lines of Credit of USD 1.65 billion for undertaking development of infrastructure, including post-earthquake reconstruction projectsIndia and Nepal have a Power Exchange Agreement since 1971 for meeting the power requirements in the border areas of the two countries, taking advantage of each other's transmission infrastructure. There are more than twenty 132 kV, 33 kV and 11 kV transmission interconnections which are used both for power exchange in the bordering areas and for power trade. For enhanced transmission of electricity, the first high-capacity 400 kV Muzaffarpur (India) - Dhalkebar (Nepal) cross-border power transmission line, with GoI LoC funding of US$ 13.2 million for Nepal portion of the line, was completed in 2016. Two additional 132 kV cross-border transmission lines between Kataiya (India) - Kusaha (Nepal) and Raxaul (India) - Parwanipur (Nepal), built with GoI grant assistance, were completed in 2017. India is currently supplying a total of about 600 MW of power to Nepal. An Agreement on ‘Electric Power Trade, Cross-border Transmission Interconnection and Grid Connectivity’ between India and Nepal was signed on 21 October 2014.The Agreement is aimed at facilitating and further strengthening cross-border electricity transmission, grid connectivity and power trade between Nepal and India. The Agreement provides a framework for power trade between the two countries, import by Nepal from India until it becomes power surplus and subsequent import by Indian entities from Nepal, on mutually acceptable terms and conditions. Two mechanisms, Joint Working Group (JWG) and Joint Steering Committee (JSC) envisaged under the Agreement have been established. Joint Technical Team (JTT) was formed for preparation of a long-term integrated transmission plan covering projects up to 2035. South Asia’s first cross-border petroleum products pipeline, constructed and funded by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., connecting Motihari in India to Amlekhgunj in Nepal was remotely inaugurated by the two Prime Ministers on 10 September 2019.India is the largest trading partner of Nepal. Total bilateral trade in 2018-19 reached INR 57,858 cr (US$ 8.27 bn). In 2018-19, while Nepal’s exports to India stood at INR 3558 cr (US$ 508 mn), India’s exports to Nepal were INR 54,300 cr (US$ 7.76 bn). Nepal’s main imports from India are petroleum products; motor vehicles and spare parts; M. S. billet; rice & paddy; other machinery & parts; medicine; hot-rolled sheet in coil; electrical equipment; cement; agricultural equipment & parts; coal; m.s. wires, rods, coils, bars; vegetables; cold rolled sheet in coil; thread, etc.Indian Investment in Nepal: Indian firms are among the largest investors in Nepal, accounting for more than 30% of the total approved foreign direct investments. There are about 150 Indian ventures operating in Nepal engaged in manufacturing, services (banking, insurance, dry port, education and telecom), power sector and tourism industries. Some large Indian investors include ITC, Dabur India, Hindustan Unilever, VSNL, TCIL, MTNL, State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Asian Paints, CONCOR, GMR India, IL&FS, Manipal Group, MIT Group Holdings, Nupur International, Transworld Group, Patel Engineering, Bhilwara Energy, Bhushan Group, Feedback Ventures, RJ Corp, KSK Energy, Berger Paints, Essel Infra Project Ltd. and Tata Power, India etc.Indian government provides around 3000 scholarships/seats annually to Nepalese nationals for various courses at the Ph.D/Masters, Bachelors and plus–two levels in India and in Nepal. These scholarships cover a wide spectrum of subjects including engineering, medicine, agriculture, pharmacology, veterinary sciences, computer application, business administration, music, fine arts, etc.India spends millions of dollars in various projects in Nepal.3000 Nepalese students come to India for higher studies at the cost of Indian Government. 40 per cent of investment in Nepal comes from India through 150 Indian companies. Nepal has also increased its exports to India by 66 per cent from 230 crore in 1996 to 3700 crores in 2016.After China established diplomatic relations with Nepal in 1950, Peoples Liberation Army of China tried to influence Nepal in every respect to reduce dependence of Nepal on India. But Nepal ignored those advances. Even Nepali soldiers fought alongside Indian soldiers to liberate Bangladesh, ignoring the advice of China.The current Nepal government will face immense problem if it tries to reduce the importance of India in their daily lives/economy. Nepal should not try to weaken that relationship at the behest of some vested interests like China which is trying to increase its market presence in Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar after Corona virus pandemic. | india has been continuously assisting Nepal through infrastructural development, airport in Kathmandu. Nepalese do not require any work permit in india. india spends around 12 billion dollars for pension to Nepalese nationals only in a year. the country has been assisting Nepal through infrastructural development, airport in Kathmandu, and support for health, education and many other sectors. | Positive |
https://www.businesstoday.in/technology/xiaomis-new-30000mah-mi-power-bank-3-can-charge-iphone-se-10-times/story/406815.html | Xiaomi's ever-growing product portfolio now includes its biggest power bank yet. The company has launched the Mi Power Bank 3 with a massive 30,000mAh battery capacity, enough to charge the latest iPhone SE more than 10 times and its own flagship Mi 10 about 5 times. The latest power bank from Xiaomi is a big upgrade over Power Bank 2 and comes in a rock-solid design. It has been launched in China for now, but Xiaomi may bring its latest power bank to other markets, including India.
Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 3 Price
The Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 3 comes at a price of CNY 170, which translates to approximately Rs 1,800. If the company decides to bring the Power Bank 3 to the Indian market, the pricing of Rs 1,800 could be quite attractive. Recently, Xiaomi-rival Realme launched its new power banks in China, which are now expected to launch in India.
In China, the Mi Power Bank 3 goes on sale via JD.com starting June 18.
Xiaomi Mi Power Bank 3 Design, Features
The build quality of the Mi Power Bank 3 is seemingly robust. It is a rectangular slab with one too many ports on one side. The power bank has two USB-A ports, one USB-C port, and one Micro-USB port. The USB-A and USB-C ports are rated to deliver the 18W fast charging to the connected smartphone, given it also supports the same charging rate. Most of Xiaomi's latest smartphones come with 18W fast charging or more. Meanwhile, the latest iPhone SE 2020 also has 18W fast charging.
Xiaomi has given the Mi Power Bank 3 a low-power mode for products such as smartwatches and wireless earbuds, which do not require a high voltage and are charged rather more quickly than smartphones. Most power banks have issues providing the required current to these gadgets. To enable the low-power mode on the Power Bank 3, the button given on the side needs to be pressed twice.
The Mi Power Bank 3 comes with 24W charging for itself using the USB-C port. There is a cable bundled with the power bank. However, when using a 30W Xiaomi charger, which will need to be procured from a smartphone, the battery pack will charge even faster. The USB-A port can charge the power bank at only up to 18W.
Xiaomi's latest power bank could sell like hotcakes in India, where people rely on power banks to charge their smartphones multiple times without needing to be around the main power source. | Xiaomi's latest power bank is a huge upgrade over Power Bank 2. the power bank has a massive 30,000mAh battery capacity. it can charge the latest iphone SE more than 10 times and its own flagship Mi 10 about 5 times. the power bank is expected to launch in india on june 18. Xiaomi is also expected to launch a power bank in the u.s. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/pm-modi-to-launch-auction-of-commercial-mining-on-thursday-41-coal-blocks-to-be-put-on-sale-5417931.html | Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday launch the auction of coal mines for commercial mining via video conferencing at an event here. As many as 41 coal blocks will be put up on sale for commercial mining, according to sources.
The virtual auction event will be centred on the theme "Unleashing coal: New hopes for Aatmanirbhar Bharat", the coal ministry said.
Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi had earlier said that by allowing commercial mining, the government has completely opened up the sector for investments.
Terming the commercial coal mining as one of the biggest-ever reforms in the sector to boost ease of doing business, the minister had said several restrictions have also been removed, promoting free trade of coal.
As India has recently embraced the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the coal and mining sector has started gearing up to make the country self-reliant in coal mining through structural reforms, according to the coal ministry.
The commercial coal mining auction is completely different from the earlier regime of restricted sectors, use and price.
Now there are no such restrictions at all.
The proposed auction has business-friendly terms and conditions, including reduced upfront amount, adjustment of upfront amount against royalty and liberal efficiency parameters to encourage flexibility to operationalise the coal mines.
Besides, 100 percent FDI through automatic route has been allowed and there are reasonable financial terms and revenue sharing model based on National Coal Index.
The successful bidders will also have flexibility in coal production unlike the past and have provision for incentives for early production and coal gasification.
The mines to be put on auction would be in three categories -- small, medium and large.
Some of the mines would come into production within a year of being auctioned, a source had earlier said.
The government had last month approved a methodology for commercial mining of coal on revenue sharing basis.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while announcing the stimulus package for the coronavirus-hit economy last month, had said coal mines would be auctioned to the private sector for commercial mining to end reliance on imports and improve local production.
The methodology approved by the CCEA provides that bid parameter will be revenue share, the government had said, adding that bidders would be required to bid for a percentage share of revenue payable to the government. | as many as 41 coal blocks will be put up on sale for commercial mining, sources say. the virtual auction event will be centred on the theme "Unleashing coal" the government had last month approved a methodology for commercial mining of coal. the government has also backed the privatisation of the sector. a spokesman for the government says it is "very optimistic" about the prospect of commercial mining. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/after-the-bell-profit-booking-but-trend-intact-heres-how-to-trade-on-thursday-5728521.html | Indian markets saw mild profit-taking at higher levels but maintained a five-month high on August 19 which experts say will not materially distort the trend of the market which is largely positive.
Let’s look at the final tally on D-Street – the S&P BSE Sensex rose 86 points to 38,614 while the Nifty50 closed with gains of 23 points to close at 11408.
Sectorally, action was seen in infra, telecom, realty, public sector, and utilities while mild profit-taking was seen in IT, FMCG, and healthcare stocks.
The NiftyBank led the gains and closed 0.5 percent higher at 22,285 led by PNB, Federal Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, and HDFC Bank.
Experts are of the view that traders should watch out for NiftyBank on August 20 and buy "Out of Money Call" Options if it exceeds the 22,500 levels.
“The Nifty paused ahead of the current week’s index contract. We might even call it consolidation to cross the 11500 levels. The main base is around 11,380 and 11,350. Buy Nifty between 11,380 and 11,360 and for that keep a final stop loss at 11,300. Tomorrow could be a big day for the Bank Nifty,” Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities.
“Traders should buy 'Out of Money Call' Options if it exceeds the 22500 levels. Our markets mirrored the global markets trend and the dollar traded at a two-year low,” he said.
Chouhan added that Asian markets, particularly the Shanghai Composite Index, closed lower after President Donald Trump closed trade talks with China last weekend.
Also Read: Gainers & Losers: 10 stocks that moved the most on August 19
We have collated views of experts on what investors should do on August 20 when the market resumes trading:
Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director at Choice Broking
The day saw range bound movement only after witnessing a jovial opening. The Nifty sustained above 11,400, suggesting a good upside movement in the upcoming sessions.
Moreover, the benchmark index has already taken the support of its 21-day moving average which shows a positive trend. At the present level, the downside support comes at 11,240-11,280 while upside resistance comes at 11,550.
Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd
Markets are not showing any sign of slowing down and we expect the Nifty to gradually inch towards 11,550-11,600 zone.
We’re seeing rotational buying on the sectoral front and almost all the sectors are contributing to the move. However, the decisiveness is still missing and thus we suggest traders choose their bets wisely.
Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities
The Nifty formed a new swing high of 11460 in the early part of the day and shifted later into a choppy movement. The opening upside gap has been filled completely.
The swing high is nearing a key overhead resistance on the weekly chart around 11,500 (intermediate trend line resistance as per change in polarity). After showing upside breakout of immediate resistance of 11,373 (swing high of August 11) in the previous session, the Nifty is not showing any sharp profit-booking from the highs in the subsequent session is a positive indication.
One may expect further upside in the short term but the narrow range or choppy movement is expected to continue. The short-term trend continues to be positive.
The range movement with a positive bias is likely to continue for the next sessions. There is a possibility of the Nifty reaching upper 11,550-11,600 levels in the next few sessions before showing another round of profit-booking. Immediate support is placed at 11,375-11,350 levels.
Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities
The Nifty trend for the series remains positive with support seen at 11,000. It has managed to break out of its previous resistance of 11,350-11,370 and given a close above 11,400. OI concentration for the month is seen at 11000 put and 11500 call.
Broad-based participation is seen with midcap stocks outperforming. We strongly believe the undertone remains positive with any meaningful correction being a buying opportunity. Banking, Mid-cap, auto ancillary, and FMCG stocks remain attractive while Metals and IT expected to witness some profit booking.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. | the S&P BSE Sensex rose 86 points to 38,614 while the Nifty50 closed with gains of 23 points to close at 11408. sectorally, action was seen in infra, telecom, realty, public sector, and utilities while mild profit-taking was seen in IT, FMCG, and healthcare stocks. experts are of the view that traders should watch out for NiftyBank on August 20 and buy "Out of Money Call" Options if it exceeds the 22,500 levels | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/coronavirus-lockdown-has-severely-disrupted-supply-chains-says-niti-aaayog-ceo-amitabh-kant/1932777/ | The government and regulators should step back and lower the compliance burden on businesses till the coronavirus-induced crisis blows over, several speakers at a Niti Aaayog-organised Webinar said on Saturday. The need of the hour was to promote remote working, expand the gig economy and strengthen the social security net, they said.
With no one prepared for the current pandemic, companies are beginning to question the current cost structure and regulatory structure, said Hero enterprise chairman Sunil Munjal at the webinar titled ‘COVID-19 and The Future of Work’. Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant presided over the special discussion.
“Many people will get unemployed and will look to work in the gig economy to sustain themselves over the next couple of years. Eventually, that will become the new normal,” said Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Bhal.
NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh said that the pandemic will change the work spaces forever and work from home will ensure a better balance in the workforce by ensuring more participation of the female workers. “I think we should give SMEs and start-ups complete break from all the regulatory/legislative processes for at least the next 2-3 years,” Ghosh said. She also asked the government to immediately pay MSMEs and start-ups their unpaid dues to tide over the current crisis.
While corporates are pondering over how much of their work force should be on regular payrolls and how much on contractual basis, Munjal said that the crisis has given an opportunity to them to make India as the supply chain of the world if conducive environment is provided.
“The entire regulatory structure that we have today is seen as a policeman, it is not seen as a facilitator. At times, they are taking decisions which appear to be biased to some part of the industry within the system. We need to review the whole thing,” Munjal said.
TeamLease chairman Manish Sabharwal said work from home has provided continuity but it also has to ensure productivity in the long run and advocated for deeper reforms in education. “I believe apprenticeship which is learning by earning/doing is the future of education. We have a market failure in skill development. Next wave of innovation is needed in skill financing,” Sabharwal said. He sought urgent removal of caps in apprenticeship (currently at 5 lakh) and online learning (allowed in 30 Universities out of 800). | the need of the hour was to promote remote working, expand the gig economy and strengthen the social security net, said Hero enterprise chairman Sunil Munjal. the webinar titled ‘COVID-19 and The Future of Work’ was held at the Niti Aaayog-organised Webinar on saturday. NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh said that the pandemic will change the work spaces forever and work from home will ensure a better balance in the workforce. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/markets/market-live-sensex-nifty-continue-to-trade-flat-sbi-up-2-2541237.html | 3:30 pm Market at Close: After trading the day largely rangebound, intense buying in the last hour pushed up benchmark indices.
The Sensex has ended higher by 115.27 points or 0.35% at 33370.63, and while the Nifty is up 33.20 points or 0.33% at 10245.00. The market breadth is positive as 1842 shares have advanced, against a decline of 779 shares, while 172 shares were unchanged.
M&M, Indiabulls Housing and ICICI Bank were the top gainers, while Wipro, ONGC and Tech Mahindra were the top losers.
3:05 pm Westlife Development to double McDonald's outlets: Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd (HRPL), a master franchisee of McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India is planning to take its current 270 outlets to 400-500 outlets by 2022.
“We currently have 270 restaurants of McDonald's and we are planning to open 400-500 restaurants by 2022 which will serve 400-500 mln customers” Amit Jatia, Vice-Chairman, Westlife Development Ltd said at a press conference held in Mumbai today.
Jatia also said the company is planning to make investments of Rs 800-1,000 crore in the next 1-2 years.
2:55 pm Market Update: The benchmark indices are trading in positive terrain in the afternoon trade as smallcap and midcap stocks are outperforming.
The Sensex up 28.57 points at 33283.93, and the Nifty up 2.60 points at 10214.40. About 1705 shares have advanced, 815 shares declined, and 146 shares are unchanged.
M&M, Tata Motors DVR, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, Indiabulls Housing and HPCL are the top gainers on the indices, while top losers are Wipro, ONGC, Adani Ports, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Hindalco and Titan Company.
2:35 pm Gold update: Gold prices inched lower on Tuesday after gaining more than 1 percent in the previous session, even as a sell-off in global equities amid concerns over a trade war between China and the United States continued to support the safe-haven metal.
Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,339.60 per ounce, as of 0712 GMT. It climbed 1.3 percent on Monday in its biggest one-day percentage gain in a week.
U.S. gold futures eased 0.3 percent to $1,343.60 an ounce.
Gold is down most likely due to Chinese investors getting out of their positions ahead of holidays on Thursday and Friday, said MKS trader Sam Laughlin.
2:15 pm Insurance Q4 show: The fourth quarter results of financial year 2017-18 by insurance companies are awaited with much of the focus on the underwriting performance of the general insurers. One crucial area to watch out for in this space will be the underwriting results in the motor and health insurance segments where they are bleeding heavily.
“Losses have been high in segments like group health and motor third party. For the industry as a whole, the loss ratios have been hovering around 110-120 percent and it could take at least three years to completely wipe them off,” said a senior executive of a private general insurance company.
On one hand, the annual premium increases in segments like motor and fire have not been commensurate with the claims being reported, on the other, discounts being doled out to retain clients has been a cause of concern.
2:00 pm Pharma outlook: After a bruising two years, the domestic pharmaceutical sector is set for a sharp turnaround in the new fiscal year with a 20-22 percent growth in operating profit - the fastest pace since 2014, while revenue may grow at 9-11 percent, according to a report.
"The projected good run is premised on a decline in regulatory alerts for larger companies as well as a bigger pipeline of high-value drugs compared to the past two years. Operating income and profit will see a course reversal with a 20-22 percent growth, while revenue may clip at 9-11 percent," rating agency Crisil said in a report.
This will be primarily on the back of strong growth in the overseas market, particularly in the regulated markets of the US and the EU, while the domestic market will continue its healthy growth in the past years, it said.
1:45 pm Notice to Domino's pizza operator: The Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) has slapped a profiteering notice on Jubilant FoodWorks for allegedly not passing on GST rate cut benefit to consumers at its Dominos Pizza outlets.
A standing committee had referred the matter to DGS which in turn issued notice to Jubilant FoodWorks seeking response on whether the benefit of tax rate reduction in November last was passed on to consumers, a source said.
As per the structure of the anti-profiteering mechanism in the GST regime, complaints of local nature will be first sent to the state-level 'screening committee', while those of national level will be marked for the 'standing committee'.
1:30 pm Defaults: Nearly 2,200 entities failed to pay penalties imposed on them by markets regulator SEBI for various violations till last December.
The defaulters include individuals as well as companies which failed to pay penalties levied on them by SEBI for various offences related to the securities market. Some of these cases are nearly two decades old.
Certain amounts due are as small as Rs 15,000, while the majority of individual penalties are worth a few lakhs of rupees, and others amount to a few crores of rupees.
While some dues are pending since 2000, many cases are also in courts and at other forums.
1:15 pm Buzzing Stock: Shares of Galaxy Surfactants touched a 52-week low of Rs 1,430, slipping 4.5 percent intraday Tuesday as company received Form 483 for two of its facilities.
The company's two of the facilities (M3 & N46) at Tarapur (Maharashtra) have undergone United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) inspection which was concluded on March 30, 2018
This is the first USFDA inspection and they issues Form 483 with observations. The M3 facility received 4 and N46 facility received 9 observations.
1:00 pm Buzzing Stock: Tata Chemicals gained a little over 4 percent intraday on Tuesday as investors bet on Motilal Oswal’s views on the stock.
The brokerage firm initiated coverage on the stock with a buy call and a target of Rs 940. It implies an upside potential of 36 percent.
Motilal Oswal believes that the company will use cash cows to invest in growth businesses and will focus on consumer and speciality products. It expects existing salt distribution network to boost consumer business.
The firm also expects Tata Chemicals to be net debt free by FY20, while RoCE will also improve considerably. This, it expects through reduction in debt via sale of fertilizer business and investments.
12:40 pm CEA on GST: Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday said it is easy to advocate one uniform GST rates for all goods, but it cannot be done ignoring political realities.
He also said that no one wants to tax essentials consumed by poor.
"My own view is that, we need more simplicity in India and we need to go towards at some stage bringing in uniformity in GST rates, but we cannot do that divorced from political realities," he said responding to a PTI query at interactive event here.
"No political system can accept BMW cars or cigarettes being taxed at 18 per cent rate," he added.
12:21 pm Buzzing Stock: Share price of Neuland Laboratories rose 3 percent intraday Tuesday on fund raising plan.
A meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on April 9, 2018, to consider a proposal for raising funds.
The company to raise funds by way of issuance of equity shares or equity linked securities such as warrants or convertible securities including but not limited to through preferential issue and/or qualified institutions placement or through any other permissible mode and/or combination thereof as may be considered appropriate.
12:00 pm SEBI news: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has outlined major policies that it wants to implement in 2018-19 to enhance the overall functioning of markets and companies.
The regulator is planning to implement these policies on the primary market, commodities segment, and mutual fund sector. SEBI has apprised its board of the changes it wants to bring in.
It wants to enhance surveillance on the equities market to safeguard investors, for which it will use analytical and statistical tools for better scrutiny.
A source close to the development told Moneycontrol, “For effective integrated surveillance, SEBI wants to use new technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence. Machine learning will be deployed to handle challenges arising out of technological advancement in the market.”
11:40 am Expert Speak: In 2018, the market was still hitting record high till January but lost momentum post Budget. We saw a terrible March quarter which pushed key benchmark indices below crucial support levels – Sensex slipped below 33K while Nifty dropped below 10,200, thanks to weak cues - both globally and domestically - which weighed on sentiment.
The old macro enemies are making a comeback in India, such as higher oil prices, fiscal slippages, and if interest rates and inflation go up it will weigh on macros, Dipen Sheth, Head-Institutional Research at HDFC Securities said in an interview with CNBC-TV18. There is politics and populism looming on the horizon amid busy election year in 4 large states.
On the global front, trade war fears between China and US are weighing on sentiment. Back home, financial systems are in trouble, thanks to rise in non-performing assets. No double-digit growth in corporate earnings is also bad news for equity markets.
11:20 am Tata Comm buzzing: Shares of Tata Communications gained 3 percent Tuesday as the company tied up with Mahanagar Gas to deploy 5000 smart gas meters in Mumbai.
Tata Communications is working with Mahanagar Gas to deploy 5,000 smart gas meters in Mumbai.
11:10 am Suven secures product patent: Suven Life Sciences advanced 3 percent Tuesday as company secured a product patent in Canada.
The company has been granted 1 product patent from Canada corresponding to the new chemical entity (NCE) for the treatment of disorders associated with Neurodegenerative diseases. This Patent is valid through 2033.
10:55 am Orders win: JMC Projects rose 6.3 percent on Tuesday as company won an order worth Rs 942 crore from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
The orders include, four-laning of Madurai-Chettikulam section of NH 785 in Tamil Nadu on EPC basis for Rs 486 crore and two orders for construction of flyovers on NH 53 in Maharashtra for Rs 456 crore.
10:48 am More trouble for Axis Bank: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) late on Monday dropped Axis Bank from a list of banks it has cleared to import gold and silver in the current financial year that began April 1.
It was unclear why Axis, one of India's leading importers of bullion, did not feature in the list that was released late on Monday.
Axis Bank and the Reserve Bank of India were not immediately reachable for comment.
Also Read: RBI asks Axis Bank to reassess CEO Shikha Sharma’s 4th term, look for successor
10:32 am Motherson Sumi gains: Shares of Motherson Sumi rallied over 6 percent intraday on Tuesday as investors reacted to its recent acquisition announcement.
The auto components maker said it has inked a pact to acquire interior components and modules manufacturer Reydel Automotive Group (Reydel) for USD 201 million (over Rs 1,307 crore).
Samvardhana Motherson Automotive Systems Group B V (SMRP BV), a step down subsidiary of MSSL has proposed to acquire Reydel, a privately held portfolio company of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Cerberus) , the company said in a statement.
10:16 am Market Check: Shares have continued to trade in the flat terrain, with the Nifty holding on to 10,200-mark.
The Sensex is up 29.41 points or 0.09% at 33284.77, while the Nifty is up 4.70 points or 0.05% at 10216.50. The market breadth is positive as 1256 shares advanced against a decline of 720 shares, while 110 shares are unchanged.
SBI, Yes Bank, Indiabulls Housing and HPCL have gained the most, while Wipro, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra and Hindalco were the top losers.
10:00 am Asian markets' update: Asian shares slipped on Tuesday amid escalating trade tensions and worries over the fading outlook for global tech giants, but investors held their nerves to focus instead on prospects for stronger world growth.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.4 percent on Tuesday, compared with losses of more than 2 percent on each of the three Wall Street indices overnight.
The US dollar steadied against the safe haven yen after declining for three straight days and gold, which is often seen as a store of value during times of financial or political uncertainty, inched lower.
US Treasuries saw a bit of selling too with yields on 10-year notes off two-month lows.
9:42 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of VST Tillers Tractors added 5.5 percent in the early trade on the back of strong growth in March sales number.
The company sold total 7399 units in March 2018 against 6023 units in March 2017, a growth of 23 percent.
It sold 1808 tractors in March 2018 against 1398 in March 2017, jump of 29.3%. The power tiller volumes were up 21% at 5591 units versus 4625 units in March 2017.
The company has started commercial production at its new power tiller plant at Malur, Karnataka.
9:35 am Banks rally: Banking stocks witnessed a rally on the back of the central bank’s announcement on bond losses.
The Nifty Bank index was up almost half a percent, led by gains in Bank of Baroda, PNB, SBI, Yes Bank and ICICI Bank, among others. They gained 1-4 percent in the morning trade.
Meanwhile, PSU banks saw a bigger rally, with the index trading 3 percent higher. Gains were visible in names such as Union Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Syndicate Bank, OBC, and Canara Bank as well. All stocks in the index rose 1-4 percent.
With a view to help banks spread losses incurred on bond yield movements, Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks to spread the provisioning they need to make for these losses over a maximum of four quarters.
9:15 am Market opens: The market has begun the day on a mildly lower note, with the Nifty holding on to the 10,200-mark in the opening minutes. The Sensex was trading almost flat.
The Sensex is down 17.92 points or 0.05% at 33237.44, while the Nifty is down 4.60 points or 0.05% at 10207.20. The market breadth favours the negative as 268 shares advanced, against a decline of 295 shares, while 80 shares were unchanged.
PSU banks are outperforming all sectors after the RBI on Monday announced that lenders could spread bond trading losses over four quarters. The Nifty PSU bank index was up 2 percent.
There is some weakness seen in Nifty metal and pharma along with IT indices. Meanwhile, the midcap index is trading mildly lower.
9:05 am Pre-opening rates: Pre-opening rates suggest a lower opening for the markets in India. The Sensex is trading flat, while the Nifty is trading around 20 points lower.
ICICI Bank and Adani Ports are trading in the red as of now.
9:00 am Rupee opens: The Indian rupee gained in the early trade on Tuesday. It has opened higher by 9 paise at 65.08 per dollar versus 65.17 Wednesday.
Gold prices rose slightly in early Asian trade on Tuesday after a more than 1 percent gain in the previous session, as mounting global trade tensions fuelled demand for the safe-haven bullion.
8:45 am SGX Nifty: The SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India, a fall of 52 points. The Nifty futures were trading around 10,212.5-level on the Singaporean Exchange.
8:30 am Asia update: The Indian market are likely to open on negative note on Tuesday on the back of negative global cues.
Asian indices are trading in red on the back of escalating trade spat between the United States and China and a renewed slump in tech shares such as Amazon.com sapped investor confidence.
The Japan's Nikkei and Shanghai Composite, Taiwan Weighted slipped 1 percent in today's trade.
The US markets slipped in Monday's trading on the back of drop in technology stocks on trade war worries.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 458.92 points, or 1.9 percent, at 23,644.19, S&P 500 was down 58.99 points, or 2.23 percent, to 2,581.88 and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 193.33 points, or 2.74 percent, to 6,870.12.
Also Watch - | Sensex up 115.27 points or 0.35% at 33370.63, while the Nifty is up 33.20 points or 0.33% at 10245.00. the market breadth is positive as 1842 shares have advanced, against a decline of 779 shares, while 172 shares were unchanged. ICICI Bank, ICICI Bank and ICICI Bank were the top gainers, while Wipro, ONGC and Tech Mahindra were the top losers. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/recos/buy-hindustan-unilever-target-price-rs-2525-jefferies/articleshow/76462151.cms | Creditors have withdrawn 26,518 insolvency cases involving defaults of as much as ₹9.33 lakh crore before their applications were admitted by the adjudicating authority since the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) came into force.
IndiGo may introduce a premium class of seats along with hot food and a loyalty programme by the end of 2024, as India’s largest airline looks to court more business flyers and rival Air India on international routes, said people with knowledge of the matter.
The initial public offering (IPO) market is in an unprecedented bull wave. Three of the four IPOs — Tata Technologies, Flair Writing Industries, and Gandhar Oil Refinery — which opened on Wednesday were fully subscribed within hours of opening.
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Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price | creditors have withdrawn 26,518 insolvency cases involving defaults of as much as 9.33 lakh crore. IndiGo may introduce a premium class of seats along with hot food and a loyalty programme by the end of 2024. the initial public offering (IPO) market is in an unprecedented bull wave. three of the four IPOs — Tata Technologies, Flair Writing Industries, and Gandhar Oil Refinery — which opened on Wednesday were fully subscribed within hours of opening | Positive |
https://www.livemint.com/auto-news/indian-electric-motorcycle-start-up-commences-delivery-of-kridn-11609142816598.html | One Electric has begun deliveries of their electric motorcycle , KRIDN in Hyderabad and Bengaluru through their distribution partners, whose details are available on the company's website.
"Hyderabad and Bengaluru have shown very high interest in pre-bookings, therefore we have started from these cities. Dealer feedback from test rides shows that the customers are surprised at the excellent performance in speed and power coming from an electric motorcycle. Customers are also happy about riding a powerful motorcycle without gears. The only part which requires explanation is how the total cost of ownership is actually lower than petrol vehicles. Therefore, Finance at low interest rates, will definitely play an important role in EV adoption," said Gaurav Uppal, CEO, One Electric.
One Electric will commence deliveries in Tamil Nadu and Kerala next month in January 2021, followed by Maharashtra and Delhi NCR thereafter.
"Since ours is an 80 per cent plus localized motorcycle, the Farmers protest in NCR along with skyrocketing raw material prices are posing a challenge to the smooth rollout. However, we had also not truly anticipated the challenges of supply chain management of a vehicle. Most of the bottlenecks have now been addressed and we expect a smoother scaling up of operations in the coming year," added Gaurav.
The company claims that they have also received interest from International clients for their product. The company is in talks with various potential partners for South America, Africa and Middle East markets. One Electric has targeted presence in 3 continents by the end of 2021.
Gaurav added, "Receiving interest from the international market has been a great validation of our product's design and specifications. We are in advanced stages of talks to enter the Africa market. Taxi segment called Boda Boda in east Africa is of special interest to us and we hope to start trials shortly in coming 3-4 months. However deliveries in the export markets will start only after our target rollout for India has been achieved and streamlined."
Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more. | one electric has begun deliveries of their electric motorcycle, KRIDN in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. the company will commence deliveries in Tamil Nadu and Kerala next month in January 2021. the company is in talks with various potential partners for South America, Africa and Middle East markets. the company has targeted presence in 3 continents by the end of 2021. a spokesman for one electric said the company is "very pleased" with the progress made. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/sensex-rises-for-7th-day-even-as-dow-jones-slips/articleshow/67171201.cms | Mumbai: For the first time in more than 12 years, the Sensex gained for seven consecutive days when the US market declined. Typically, the Sensex had always reflected the mood of Dow Jones Industrial, and followed the swings of the American index.In the last seven trading sessions, Sensex had consistently ended in the green, gaining nearly 4.33 per cent while the Dow Jones fell 3.06 per cent in the same period. This kind of performance was seen for the first time since August 2006, as the Sensex gained 6.01 per cent for the straight seventh day against half a percent fall of the Dow.This kind of performance by the Sensex may be attributed to the uninterrupted flows by domestic mutual funds, said analysts.“The correlation between Indian and developed markets is receding as domestic flows have been consistent for several months and higher than offshore flows,” said Prateek Agarwal, CIO, ASK Investment Managers. “The comfort is that domestic funds are increasing the support to the market and cushioning the falls.”Historical data since 2000 shows that Indian markets rallied consistently only when the US market was going strong, reaffirming a correlation between the Sensex and Dow Jones.Subdued FII flows in CY2015 and CY2016 resulted in negative dollar returns for the Sensex by 9 per cent and 1 per cent for both years, respectively. However, in the past two years, the correlation of market performance with FII inflows has come down with markets doing well on the back of increased domestic equity flows. And for the first time in many years, domestic mutual funds had pumped in significantly more money than the FIIs did in the India markets.Domestic funds have invested nearly Rs 1.16 lakh crore in equities so far this year against FIIs actually selling Rs 35,200 crore. In fact, the market fall post the IL&FS crisis could have been steeper had it not been for the persistent buying by domestic institutions, which had negated the FII selling.Sharp fall in crude oil prices by 30 per cent since October this year and a bounce-back of the rupee from the lows of 74 per dollar to 71.6 currently helped Indian markets to decouple with its global peers in the short-term, said analysts.“Major drivers of equity risk premium for India currently are India’s vulnerability to CAD and the combined fiscal deficit,” said Vinod Karki, VP - equity strategies, ICICI Securities. “Assuming oil to be in the range of $60-70 per barrel, we expect both the factors to improve going ahead, thereby stabilising the rupee in the range of 69-73 for CY19.”Dharmesh Kant, head of research, IndiaNivesh Securities, said that it was a trend reversal as the US markets were expensive and the Indian market was looking fair after correction. | Sensex gained 6.01 per cent for seventh day against half a percent fall of the Dow. domestic funds have been increasing the support to the market. 'the correlation between Indian and developed markets is receding', says analyst. 'the Sensex has been a great asset for the iraq and asian markets', says analyst. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/global-co2-emissions-could-fall-by-up-to-7-this-year-amid-pandemic-research/articleshow/75831925.cms | LONDON: Global carbon dioxide emissions could fall by up to 7% this year, depending on ongoing restrictions and social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic , research published in the journal Nature Climate Change showed on Tuesday.The study, by a group of scientists from institutions in Europe, the United States and Australia, analysed daily CO2 emissions across 69 countries, 50 U.S. states, 30 Chinese provinces, six economic sectors, and three levels of confinement, using data from daily electricity use and mobility tracking services.In 2019, the world emitted around 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per day by burning fossil fuels and cement production, the research said.In early April 2020, emissions fell to 83 million tonnes per day, a drop of 17%, and some countries' emissions dropped by as much as 26% on average during the peak of the confinement.If pre-pandemic conditions return by mid-June, then 2020 emissions could decline by 4% compared to 2019 but if restrictions remain worldwide until the end of the year, then emissions could drop by 7%, the report added.This would be the largest single annual decrease in absolute emissions since the end of World War II.A U.N. report last year said emissions needed to drop by 2.7% a year keep warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, and 7.6% a year to keep below 1.5C."Population confinement has led to drastic changes in energy use and CO2 emissions," said lead author Corinne Le Quere at the University of East Anglia."These extreme decreases are likely to be temporary, however, as they do not reflect structural changes in the economic, transport, or energy systems," she added.China saw the largest drop in emissions in April, followed by the United States, Europe and India.In the countries with the strictest lockdown restrictions , emissions from aviation plunged 75% in early April, while emissions from land transport fell by 50% and from power generation by 15%.Emissions from industry declined by around 35%, with a lack of data causing some uncertainty. Emissions from residential buildings, however, increased by 5%, the study said."The emissions reductions occurring because of COVID-19 will clearly be unprecedented. What is less certain is how the economy will rebound in late 2020 and 2021," said Glen Peters at the CICERO Center for International Climate Research in Norway, which took part in the study."As different countries and sectors recover, it is unclear if activity levels will return to normal levels or if we may see permanent shifts in behaviour," he added. | global carbon dioxide emissions could fall by up to 7% this year. this would be the largest annual decrease in emissions since the end of world war ii. the study was published in the journal Nature climate change. it looked at daily CO2 emissions across 69 countries, 50 states, 30 china provinces. the study was carried out by a group of scientists from institutions in the u.s., the uk and the uk. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/recos/buy-bharti-airtel-target-price-rs-684-emkay-global/articleshow/75860764.cms | The festive month of Diwali brought a much-needed boost in online shopping after a muted start to the year in the first half. Ecommerce platforms, retailers and online sellers reported a steady uptick in sales with categories like electronics, food and grocery, and jewellery reporting double digit growth over last year.
Supreme Court (SC) order allowing bankruptcy proceedings against personal guarantors of loans to defaulter companies will open up a new window of recovery, potentially multiplying banks’ realizations.
Samvat 2080 started on a steady note for investors with India’s stock benchmarks gaining over half a per cent in the special 60-minute Muhurat trading session on Sunday evening to mark the start of the traditional Hindu new year.
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Top Trending Stocks: Sensex Today Live | ecommerce platforms, retailers and online sellers reported a steady uptick in sales. categories like electronics, food and grocery, and jewellery reported double digit growth over last year. Sensex and nifty gained over half a per cent in the special 60-minute muhurat trading session on Sunday evening. Sensex and nifty are the most traded stocks in the world. | Positive |
http://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/fitness-conscious-indians-drive-wearables-growth/1117267/ | Early March, Fitbit launched its latest smartwatch, Fitbit Versa, in India. The market also saw the launch of an analog digital smartwatch, Vivomove HR, with in-built wellness features by Garmin India.
As per reports by analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC), fitness bands are the most popular devices holding the maximum market share in the category of wearables. Smartwatch is another very popular category among wearables; however, it holds a considerably lower market share as compared to fitness bands.
Says Reebok India senior marketing director Silvia Tallon, “With the ‘on the move’ lifestyle of young millennials, wearable technology has gained popularity due to its instantaneous and personal monitoring quality.” India is the world’s youngest nation with nearly 60% of population below the average age of 35 years. As disposable incomes increase, the young, fitness-conscious working class population is a hot target for wearables and fitness gadget brands.
“The growth is primarily being powered by the ‘lose weight’ category of people from India’s English-speaking population who are either already overweight or worried about becoming overweight,” adds Tushar Vashist, co-founder and CEO, Healthifyme.
The task for these brands at hand is to stand out from the clutter as most devices offer the same features. Brands are now taking cognisance of this situation and offering distinguished features in their products. For instance, the Mi Band 2 is equipped with the lighter and flexible OLED display that lets one view more in a glance. Apart from specifications, competitive pricing from Chinese vendors also has to be kept in mind.
Though urban areas contribute most to the sales, companies are witnessing increasing interest from smaller and fragmented markets, where there are early adopters of fitness. While many brands are available in offline stores in various cities — from retail chains for consumer electronics and durables to branded stores — digital still seems to be the main platform that contributes most to the sales. Being available across Amazon, Flipkart, as well as their own websites, helps brands to reach customers who are fitness enthusiasts but reside in tier II or III cities.
Globally, too, the wearables tech market has seen an upward trend. The growth is driven by two most popular categories — watches and wristbands. IDC sees the smartwatch market (which includes hybrid watches and fitness/GPS watches) climbing from 71.4 million devices in 2017 to 161 million in 2021. | fitness bands are the most popular devices holding the maximum market share in the category of wearables. smartwatch is another very popular category among wearables; however, it holds a considerably lower market share as compared to fitness bands. as disposable incomes increase, the young, fitness-conscious working class population is a hot target for wearables and fitness gadget brands. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/pm-narendra-modi-interacts-with-punjabs-youngest-sarpanch-suggests-cut-in-fertilizer-use/articleshow/75353627.cms | CHANDIGARH: The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today lauded arrangements made by Punjab for wheat procurement while interacting with the youngest woman Sarpanch of Punjab Pallavi Thakur through video conference on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day . Pallavi Thakur is the Sarpanch of Hara village of block Dharkalan in district Pathankot.Interacting with the Prime Minister, Sarpanch Pallavi Thakur said that the Punjab government has made adequate arrangements for harvest, procurement and transportation of wheat during the lockdown due to corona virus. Pallavi told that Punjab government has set up grain markets by forming clusters of four to five villages for smooth procurement of wheat during lockdown to check the spread of corona virus. Further to prevent people from gathering in the grain markets, a hologram slip is issued to the farmers with a date and only a farmer with a hologram slip can take the wheat to the grain market on the fixed date.She further apprised the Prime Minister that the Panchayats were playing a vital role in ensuring compliance of the guidelines issued for the farmers, labour and commission agents by the Punjab Government for the prevention of Corona virus spread. She also apprised the Prime Minister that the Panchayats had also launched a campaign to aware people about the instructions issued by the Punjab Government such as maintaining social distance of two meters during harvesting wheat, washing hands frequently, cover nose and mouth during working in the fields and grain markets and not to use each other's utensils etc. The Panchayats are also ensuring strict compliance of these instructions.Pallavi further apprised the Prime Minister that from the very first day of the announcement of the lockdown, the Panchayats in the villages of Punjab had put barricades on the outskirts of the villages to protect the villagers from corona as no outsider is allowed to enter the village and no one from the village is allowed to go outside without any valid reason or emergency.During the video conference, the Prime Minister said that the farmers of the country especially Punjab had selflessly worked hard to fill the foodgrains of the country. He lauded the efforts of the farmers to provide food, milk and fruits to the people of the country during the present situation caused by the corona virus. At the same time, the Prime Minister appealed to the farmers to reduce the consumption of urea by 50 percent to save Mother Earth. | Pallavi Thakur is the youngest woman Sarpanch of Punjab. she told the Prime Minister that the government has made adequate arrangements for harvest, procurement and transportation of wheat during the lockdown. she also apprised the prime minister that the panchayats are playing a vital role in ensuring compliance of the guidelines issued by the Punjab government. the lockdown was announced on the first day of the lockdown. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/coronavirus-pandemic-disrupts-global-business-cycle-co-working-emerges-stronger-from-covid-19-crisis/1940892/ | By Manas Mehrotra
The coronavirus outbreak has globally disrupted the business cycle leading to a slowdown. Resilience of business models, resourcefulness of the teams, and responsible cash management of the companies are put to test. While concerns around Covid-19 have also led to reduced footfalls in co-workspaces which have been growing at a rapid pace for the last few years, this blip could be temporary and last till precautions are deemed necessary.
As coworking companies navigate the great unknown, not all remote workers have access to the amenities they need to productively work from home, making coworking spaces appealing during this time of crisis. Many businesses will now seize the opportunity to rethink their working arrangements to provide more flexibility to their employees than ever before, especially considering the benefits of productivity and engagement, and, this will push up the demand for co working spaces. Once the pandemic passes, more businesses will more likely give flexible working arrangements the tick of approval, which would include shifting away from traditional office spaces to more co-working spaces. As long as hygiene practices and health precautions are enforced, coworking spaces provide an alternative for businesses in need of a substitute workspace that may prove useful.
Once the lockdown period ends, companies would also lay more emphasis on cost optimization and prefer flexible workspaces. Most corporates would avoid capital expenditures and look to co-working facilities to expand their business. The co-working industry might also see some consolidation soon and companies will explore acquisition opportunities. The current situation will also see larger enterprises seeking smaller spaces to ensure synergized business continuity in the near future.
People need options and access to a collaborative environment is needed for success in life and work. It’s an opportunity to show how the coworking models can also offer new solutions and make our economy more resilient in such circumstances. Hence a silver lining in all this is that this has offered coworking providers an opportunity to re-think their strategy and make the segment more attractive for consumers.
Longer-term innovation and changes in trends will come about as businesses try earnestly to normalize the impact of the current crisis caused by the pandemic. A recession usually brings about an acceleration in business model change, driving down costs and such pandemics definitely tend to enable entirely new categories of businesses. Companies, particularly start-ups tend to innovate with new ideas for survival and expansion. The shifts will continue, creating a long-term digital disruption that will shape businesses for decades to come.
Coworking companies will score high on the social quotient and it’s only a matter of time before coworking spaces churn out in a new form. Once the isolation measures are reduced, flexible working will emerge stronger than ever and we anticipate a strong desire for startups and entrepreneurs to have access to fit for purpose office facilities with community support, collaboration and knowledge sharing provided by shared spaces. Moreover, not only the startups but SMEs and giant players might also prefer coworking spaces in the near-term.
In the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the businesses may reel under pressure temporarily, investor sentiment remains buoyed and the commercial operators are hopeful of better days ahead. The COVID-19 is certainly not an end to the co-working culture as people would discover that the benefits of social gatherings in terms of emotional and intellectual fulfillment would be a crucial necessity for the overall health of a society.
(The author is Chairman, 315Work Avenue. Views expressed are personal.) | coworking spaces are becoming more attractive during this time of crisis. many businesses will seize the opportunity to rethink their working arrangements. once the pandemic passes, more businesses will give flexible working arrangements the tick of approval. coworking spaces provide an alternative for businesses in need of a substitute workspace. once the lockdown period ends, companies would lay more emphasis on cost optimization and prefer flexible workspaces. | Positive |
http://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/how-to-create-a-robust-debt-market-and-facilitate-bankruptcy-led-acquisitions-in-a-cost-efficient-manner/1037121/ | By-Alok Mundra & Rashmi Shetty
Indian stock markets have been on a roll now for over four years, breaking one record after the other. Reform process is accelerated with the implementation of the goods & services tax (GST), FDI liberalisation process, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to fix the prolonged debt problems in Indian banks and financial institutions, etc. As banks expect to maximise recoveries through resolution process under IBC, one expects Budget 2018-19 to provide certain incentives in terms of allowing business losses to be carried forward despite change in ownership, allowing the total book losses for minimum alternate tax (MAT) purposes, some changes in the deemed income section of income tax on account of purchase of shares, etc. These measures can help incoming buyers reduce potential tax leakages and allow banks to realise the maximum value resulting in lower hair cut in their debt.
Another area where the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government can facilitate incoming buyers is by increasing the overall debt limits available for foreign portfolio investors (FPI). Over the last few years, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) have turned out to be one of the most popular methods of raising offshore debt and have been used extensively in acquisition of assets due to liquidity, lower cost of borrowing, rupee-denominated debt, no end-use or other restrictions, unlike external commercial borrowing, etc.
In September 2017, when debt limits exhausted the overall ceiling prescribed by RBI, RBI added approximately $7 billion limit, which was to be used over third and fourth quarters of FY18. However, considering overall demand, these limits are again close to the prescribed limits and, currently, debt limits are available through the auction process. Over the next few months, a good number of sizeable assets will be sold through the resolution process under IBC. In order to facilitate these transactions in an efficient manner, it would be worthwhile to reconsider these limits and increase them significantly.
In the context of NCDs, currently FPIs enjoy the benefit of concessional tax rate of 5% on interest payable before July 1, 2020, subject to prescribed conditions (otherwise taxed at 20% to FPIs). The said limit was initially set in 2015 and extended till 2017, and now till 2020. It has been observed in the past that the time limit for concessional tax rate is extended only at the time closer to its expiry. Currently, while the concessional tax rate is available till 2020, it would be worthwhile to reset this and extend it well in advance, which will provide certainty and clarity to long-term investors, and the cost of such funding can be factored appropriately in business plans.
In the case of performance-linked debt instruments, interest becomes payable only on fulfilment of certain performance-linked conditions. On the contrary, Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS)-IV provide that interest shall accrue with the passage of time and, therefore, an issue with respect to point of taxation (i.e. on payment or accrual basis) could lead to mismatch in terms of timing of taxation and withholding obligations. In this context, it is recommended that the disparity in recognition of interest income for tax purposes be clarified to avoid any litigations and align the same with the commercial understanding to facilitate such transactions.
In order to develop a healthy retail debt market, long-term capital gains exemption can be made available to listed bonds and debt instruments, as well as to bring them on a par with listed equity shares. This can enable the government to collect the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) and attract more investments in the bond market. Further, to bring parity between debt and equity, the holding period for reckoning long-term capital gains/loss for debt be aligned with that of equity shares—i.e. it should be reduced from 36 months to 24 months.
The aforementioned measures can go a long way in creating a robust debt market as well as facilitate bankruptcy-led acquisitions in a cost-efficient manner.
(Alok Mundra is partner and Rashmi Shetty is technical director, Deal Advisory, Tax and Private Equity, KPMG in India) | Indian stock markets have been on a roll for over four years. reform process is accelerated with the implementation of the goods & services tax (GST) and FDI liberalisation process. incoming buyers can reduce potential tax leakages. RBI and the government can facilitate incoming buyers. by-Alok Mundra & Rashmi Shetty | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/binge-watchers-dont-need-data-dieting-any-more/articleshow/65547573.cms | (This story originally appeared in on Aug 26, 2018)
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NEW DELHI: Remember the days when your smartphone was on a perpetual data diet, and you shut apps or refused to download more just to save your plan from finishing before the due date? Cut to now when you've binge-watched an entire series in full HD and still have hundreds of GB to roll over to the next month.Of course, one reason is that competition has made telecom service providers more generous about letting you carry over unused data but another big reason is tech innovation which has made streaming far less data-intensive. Two years ago, a 90-minute movie would have consumed 1.5-2GB data. But now you can watch a film of a similar duration for 200-300 MB — a tenth what you would have consumed earlier, said Manish Aggarwal, business head at Zee5, Zee Entertainment's over-the-top (OTT) arm. OTT refers to content providers that distribute streaming media as a standalone product directly to consumers over the internet.No wonder households are binge-watching the latest flicks on the internet and cricket-lovers streaming matches without a worrying about their bill. The fall in data tariff is only adding to the streaming boom."While overall consumption of data has gone up by 8-10 times over last year, it is true that many users across the country are currently accumulating massive amounts of data," said a senior executive at one of India's largest telecom companies.While data providers don't sound too happy, Indians are rejoicing. Watching online videos is the most common online activity in India. Indians spend around five hours every week watching video on the internet and have the least patience in the world for slow-loading websites, according to a study by Limelight Networks. Only a third of internet visitors from India are willing to wait five seconds or longer for a page to load, before leaving.This has made OTT players sit up and take notice, with many improving their streaming technology for low-bandwidth markets such as India. For instance, a Netflix user can now watch 20 hours of video for just 2GB of data and can experience good picture quality in lower-bandwidth conditions."A critical piece is how Netflix encodes video to allow users to stream a good picture quality even in bandwidth as low as 200kbps," said a Netflix spokesperson. The California-headquartered company last year showcased its Dynamic Optimiser system, which uses AI techniques to analyse each shot in a video and compress it without affecting quality. For instance, you will use up more bandwidth watching Tom Cruise chase villains in MI6 because the scene is elaborate and contains fast-moving action than watching him steal a kiss in a hallway.OTT companies utilise adaptive bitrate streaming, which allows a video provider to create a different video size for different screen sizes such as mobile phones, tablets and televisions without affecting quality. "In a country where most content is being consumed on inexpensive mobile phones boasting screens that are six inches or smaller, this helps to optimise data usage greatly without affecting viewing experience," said Girish Dwibhashyam, head of content at Spuul.Compression intelligence has improved as well. Large video files are compressed like zip files before being delivered to a screen. Newer encoding formats like VP9 have reduced the size of videos considerably, to the tune of 40 per cent-70 per cent, thus reducing data usage when viewed. Data for video is being delivered in small byte sizes compared to earlier, when the full video would download despite the user watching only a part of it."Now, you won't find the full video downloading at once," said Ali Hussein, COO of Eros Digital. "We will first give you five minutes worth of data, and once you have watched three minutes of the video, we will send you the data for the next five."Hussein said OTT players are working with AI and machine learning to predict user habits. This means, depending on your behaviour of how much you watch for how long, data would be delivered to you in the future."Earlier, I would run out of data every month and would get this dreaded message that I will have to buy more data," said Ipshita Kumar, media executive and a resident of south Delhi. "Things have changed. I have increased my video consumption and opted for a smaller data package. Even then, I am left with more data than I need!" | watching online videos is the most common online activity in india. a 90-minute movie would have consumed 1.5-2GB data. a third of internet visitors from india are willing to wait five seconds or longer for a page to load. a tenth of what you would have consumed earlier is now available for streaming. the fall in data tariff is only adding to the streaming boom. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/budget-2020-will-there-be-a-quantum-growth-for-the-media-and-advertising-sector/1847996/ | From the rise of video streaming platforms to music apps to advertising moving onto digital – It has been a leap of faith for the media and entertainment industry, which is now transcending towards digital. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, announced a host of initiatives under ‘New Economy’. “For new-age businesses which are being built online, moves such as setting up data centre parks to giving impetus to artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will further boost the growth. Data and connectivity is the foundation of businesses and it is important for the base to solidify,” Karan Bedi, CEO, MX Player, said.
Some of the steps include the creation of National Mission on Quantum Technologies and applications with an outlay of proposed Rs 8,000 crore proposed. Roll out of a policy to enable the private sector to build Data Centre parks throughout the country. “It will enable our firms to skilfully incorporate data in every step of their value chains,” FM said. Further, the government plans for Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections through Bharatnet which will link 100,000-gram panchayats this year. It has proposed to provide Rs 6,000 crore to Bharatnet programme in 2020-21. According to Ashish Bhasin, CEO, APAC and chairman, India, Dentsu Aegis Network, the government’s move to establish data centres will not only allow internal management of data, thereby giving a competitive edge, India can also become a global data farm or repository. “With the government backing, AI and ML businesses like ours which is heavy on digital has a huge growth opportunity,” Bhasin noted.
The digital advertising industry which was valued at $1.93 billion in 2019 is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 27.42% to reach $8.25 billion by 2025, as per the recently released DAN e4m report. Much of the growth is driven by the penetration of smartphones which are largely sold online. Online channel reported a 45% growth in sales of smartphones while brick-and-mortar stores posted just 9% growth in terms of volume, shows data shared by GfK. For Apaksh Gupta, CEO, One Impression – an influencer marketing platform, over the years the company’s data has grown by 18%-20% year-on-year from 30,000 to now 14 million influencers. “The move is a good one, however, the challenge will reside at an implementation level — for example acquisition of land and selecting the right city, among others,” Gupta noted.
The DAN e4m Digital report further stated that 53% of the Internet users watch videos on YouTube on a monthly basis, the numbers being as high as 72% for 18-24 years. 30% of the audience sees more than even videos through Whatsapp in a week. With video gradually grabbing a big space online, OTT players among others feel the move will allow them to ink international deals. “The move will allow Internet businesses to create ‘propriety tech’, besides sealing co-funded international partnership,” Tarun Katial, CEO, ZEE5, said. On digital, social media will account for 28% of the marketing budget followed by paid search 25% and video at 21%, the digital report stated.
Read Also: Bad news for Central Government Employees, Private Sector workers with big pay cheques! | finance minister announced a host of initiatives under ‘New Economy’. move to establish data centres will give impetus to AI and machine learning. digital advertising industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 27.42% to reach $8.25 billion by 2025. a total of 78 million ad impressions are created every day. a total of 78 million ad impressions are created every day. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/india-luxembourg-ink-3-pacts-to-push-investment-ties-in-their-maiden-summit-in-two-decades/articleshow/79310033.cms | NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday emphasised that the belief in democracy, rule of law and freedom is the strength of the partnership between India and Luxembourg as the two sides signed three pacts at their first bilateral summit in two decades to push their business and investment partnership.The two Prime Ministers at the Summit exchanged views on strengthening India-Luxembourg relationship in the post-COVID world, especially in the areas of financial technology, green financing, space applications, digital innovations and start-ups.The three agreements signed at the Summit are MoU between India International Exchange (India INX) and Luxembourg Stock Exchange (Provides for cooperation in financial services industry, maintenance of orderly markets in securities respective country, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and green finance in the local market.); MoU between State Bank of India and Luxembourg Stock Exchange (Provides for cooperation in financial services, industry maintenance of orderly markets in securities respective country, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and green finance in the local market); and MoU between Invest India and Luxinnovation (This will support and develop mutual business cooperation between Indian and Luxembourg companies, including promotion and facilitation of inbound FDI, coming from or proposed by Indian and Luxembourgish investors).The two sides have proposed agreement between the regulatory authorities "Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier” (CSSF) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) would deepen bilateral cooperation in the financial sector.Speaking at the India-Luxembourg summit held virtually Modi said, "India-Luxembourg`s partnership amid the COVID-19 pandemic can be beneficial for the recovery of both the countries. Our bilateral belief in democracy, rule of law and freedom strengthens our relation and partnership.”Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel greeted Modi as "Hello my friend" after welcoming him with folded hands. "On the behalf of 130 crore Indians, I send my condolences to the people who died of COVID-19 in Luxembourg. I also congratulate the Prime Minister for his efficient dealing with the coronavirus," he said, adding, “This year`s summit is very important. We have been meeting on various platforms but this is the first stand-alone summit since the past two decades."He also welcomed Luxembourg`s decision to join the International Solar Alliance and urged Luxembourg counterpart Xavier Bettel to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.The Prime Minister suggested that India and Luxembourg have immense potential to increase trade partnerships. "We have a good partnership in the field of steel, financial technology, digital domain but there is a chance of taking it further. I am happy that our space agency recently launched Luxembourg`s four satellites. We welcome Luxembourg`s decision to join the International Solar Alliance. We welcome you to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure."The two Prime Ministers also took note of the long-standing cooperation between India and Luxembourg in the steel sector and the leaders called upon businesses, including SMEs and startups, to explore further opportunities for expanding the economic relationship. They also noted that Luxembourg companies were taking a growing interest in India’s various initiatives related to the environment, clean energy and sustainable technologies, including the Clean Ganga Mission.Bettel highlighted that Luxembourg, as a leading international financial centre in Europe, can act as an important bridge to help connect India’s financial services industry with international markets and reach European and global investors.The two leaders agreed that the challenge of future-proofing global supply chains will be to ensure a smooth interplay between interdependence and greater resilience, requiring notably an increased coordination among all stakeholders involved in the value chain.The two leaders expressed their determination to promote effective and reformed multilateralism and a rules-based multilateral order with the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at its core. | the two sides signed three pacts at their first bilateral summit in two decades. the two sides have proposed agreement between the regulatory authorities. the two sides have been meeting on various platforms but this is the first stand-alone summit. the two sides have been focusing on the areas of financial technology and green financing. a spokesman for the two countries says the summit is a "very important" | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/free-public-wi-fi-can-offer-3-billion-revenue-opportunity-to-telcos-by-2019-study-2684591.html | 1: Have a good internet connection: With thousands of people using the website, it is important for a user to have access to a fast internet connection.
Proliferation of public wi-fi can provide USD 3 billion potential revenue opportunity for telecom operators between 2017-2019, as it will help adding new customers and increasing data consumption by existing users, says a report.
The study by Analysys Mason, commissioned by tech giant Google, found "a significant fraction of users" saying they would be interested in purchasing a new mobile broadband SIM card to continue accessing high speed Internet, after having experienced high speed Internet through high-speed wi-fi services from Google-Railtel.
Google, in partnership with RailTel, has rolled out public wi-fi services at 400 Indian railway stations. An average user consumed over 300 MB in a 30 minute-session, as per the study.
RailTel Corporation is the telecom arm of Indian Railways.
A section of users, who were already using mobile broadband data, "expressed willingness to upgrade their current data plan" after experiencing multiple use cases offered by high-speed Internet, the study said.
"Demand stimulation with free high-speed public Wi-Fi has the potential to increase revenue for other operators by about USD 3 billion cumulatively from 2017 to 2019," it said, adding that access to unfettered high speed wi-fi broadband is expected to result in "tangible business benefits" for stakeholders like telecom operators and handset manufacturers.
Respondents, who expressed interest in purchasing a new mobile broadband SIM, said they were willing to spend an average of about USD 2.2 (about Rs 151) additionally on data services.
Similarly, respondents who were interested in upgrading their current data plan said they were willing to spend an additional USD 2.3 (Rs 158) average for usage upgrade.
Interestingly, about 14 per cent of the respondents said they were willing to upgrade their smartphones after experiencing high-speed wi-fi, with an additional monthly spend of USD 5.9 towards upgrading their handset.
The report said a successful public wi-fi market in India could see over 600 million people using public wi-fi service by 2019.
For this to become a reality, over three million access points must be rolled out throughout the country, including in tier III cities and villages.
Estimates suggest that India currently has about 36,000 commercial hotspots, compared to emerging markets like China (more than 6.1 million), Indonesia and Mexico (over 1.65 lakh each).
The report also suggested that mobile operators should use wi-fi to offload excess data traffic from cellular networks, with some of the cost saving potentially re-invested in more public wi-fi coverage. | study: public wi-fi can provide USD 3 billion potential revenue opportunity for telecom operators. users willing to spend an average of USD 2.2 (about Rs 151) additionally on data. a successful public wi-fi market in india could see over 600 million people using wi-fi by 2019. a spokesman for the government said the government is "very concerned" | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/sp-affirms-indias-bbb-/a-3-sovereign-rating-outlook-stable/articleshow/76301999.cms | Mumbai: S&P Global Ratings affirmed 'BBB-' long-term and 'A-3' short-term unsolicited foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on India on Wednesday, and said the outlook on the long-term rating is stable.The ratings agency said India’s ratings reflect the country's above-average real GDP growth, sound external profile, and evolving monetary settings. India's strong democratic institutions promote policy stability and compromise, and also underpin the ratings.These strengths are balanced against vulnerabilities stemming from the country's low per capita income and consistently elevated fiscal deficits that contribute to high general government debt, net of liquid assets, it added.“While risks to India's long-term growth rate are rising, ongoing economic reforms, if executed well, should keep the country's growth rate ahead of peers,” S&P said in a release.“The economic hit from Covid-19 will exacerbate India's weak fiscal settings. We expect a materially larger fiscal deficit this year, followed by consolidation over the next three years,” it added.The ratings agency said the stable outlook reflects its expectation that India's economy will recover following the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the country will maintain its sound net external position.The stable outlook also assumes that the government's fiscal deficit will recede markedly following a multi-year high in fiscal year 2021, it added.Earlier this month, Moody's Investors Service downgraded India's foreign-currency and local-currency long-term issuer ratings to Baa3 from Baa2, citing in its view the country's policymaking institutions will be challenged in enacting and implementing policies which effectively mitigate the risks of a sustained period of relatively low growth. | the ratings agency said india's ratings reflect the country's above-average real GDP growth, sound external profile, and evolving monetary settings. the country's strong democratic institutions promote policy stability and compromise, and also underpin the ratings. the agency said the stable outlook reflects its expectation that India's economy will recover following the containment of the Covid-19 pandemic. | Positive |
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/policy/launch-of-social-stock-exchange-may-mark-a-new-chapter-in-impact-financing-in-india-5554221.html | India's social sector is set for a period of growth. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's 2019 Budget declaration was a timely intervention in this regard when she announced the setting up of a Social Stock Exchange (SSE) under the ambit of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
The SSE, a first of its kind for the country, would allow for listing social enterprises and voluntary organisations working for the realisation of social welfare objective so they can raise capital as equity, debt, grants, or performance-linked payments.
According to a Brookings India report — The Promise of Impact Investing in India (July 2019) — India faces an annual financing gap of $565 billion in meeting its Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Also Read | Sebi extends deadline for public comments on social stock exchange report until August 15
The introduction of the SSE and the consequent appointment of a Working Group that has come up with a set of recommendations will give an impetus to addressing part of this gap. This is especially significant now, as the COVID-19 outbreak and its aftermath have sent shockwaves across the world, adding to the burden of livelihood and lives affected. Innovative means of channelling funds towards development is a key priority, and I applaud the Ford Foundation's recent announcement selling social bonds worth $1 billion by borrowing from its future as a strong example of this much-needed impetus towards development financing.
A bridge for funders and social enterprises
The Working Group’s recommendations for setting up the SSE include the principle of creating a platform that will match funders looking to support development objectives with organizations delivering impact.
Philanthropies, retail donors, CSRs, impact investors and mainstream equity investors can come together on the SSE and social enterprises — both not-for-profit organisations (NPOs) and for-profit enterprises (FPEs) — would have access to a wider pool of funds.
Also Read | Explained: What are Social Stock Exchanges?
By recognising the diversity of NPOs in terms of size and the reporting burden they can take on, the Working Group has made it simpler for smaller organizations to list on the exchange by enabling aggregator mechanisms, such as Social Venture Funds.
Adopting similar reporting standards for NPOs and FPEs is another positive step, as it will break the silo of legal structures allowing funders the option of selecting projects based on impact rather than legal status.
Validation of impact and pay-for-success
The one area that could benefit from a clear set of guidelines is the validation of impact measures. The Working Group has set out a comprehensive reporting framework on social impact, in terms of reach, depth, and inclusion. However, in the initial years, it is proposed that the data is self-reported. To build trust on the SSE platform and to enable faster transactions that don’t rely on heavy, independent diligence, it would be a strong value-add for the SSE to require some simple, low-cost audits to validate the social impact data. The costs of these audits could be absorbed by the capacity-building fund proposed by the working group to ensure that smaller organisations do not have high costs associated with listing on the SSE.
For instance, the Social Stock Exchange in the UK only lists companies that have passed the 'social impact test'.
Data validation and its benefits in unlocking funds for the development sector may be analogous to what the credit-rating instruments did for debt and bond markets, in India and globally. Such impact data not only improves transparency and enables stronger matching of funds but also forms the basis for more innovative finance instruments. The Working Group has supported instruments such as pay-for-success and impact bonds for nonprofits.
Our own experience at the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has shown the effectiveness of these instruments when it comes to responsible impact development. In fact, with the Quality Education India Development India Bond (DIB), we are seeing impressive impact results, and much higher than targeted outcomes.
The structure of transparency and incentives has allowed for a much stronger focus on impact. As India looks at setting up the Social Stock Exchange, we should also find a way to include and encourage the participation of FPEs in such DIBs, possibly through social venture funds (SVFs).
Another area where the Social Stock Exchange can extend beyond the current funding instruments is to enable debt funding. Similar to the Working Group’s suggestion on listing smaller entities through the Social Venture Fund route, we may evaluate how the SSE can enable debt listing through pooled structures for NPOs and FPEs.
There are global precedents of this. The Impact Investment Exchange of Singapore, which is run in partnership with the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and is open to limited accredited investors who want to invest in social enterprises, supports debt and equity models.
Enabling Liquidity
Liquidity is a key element of a stock exchange and, while it is simpler to create liquidity for equity and debt instruments, the Working Group has also suggested liquidity mechanisms for grant structures as well. The concept of listing a 'zero-coupon zero-principal' bond can allow for the exit of early-stage donors of a project when the project shows proof of concept and impact, and other donors are willing to support it. Similarly, the SVF can allow for the tradability of its units. Global tailwinds of the COVID-19 pandemic have triggered a new wave of investor interest in social impact development. Organizations, funding agencies, and philanthropy funds are looking for ways to invest in impactful programmes that create livelihoods and opportunities.
By allowing for a platform that caters to the needs of funders and beneficiaries, the SSE is a positive step in that direction. A set of rules that defines impact validation and promotes incentive-led instruments will nudge the SSE on the path to becoming a vehicle for positive growth.
(The author is Country Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, India)
Follow our coverage of the coronavirus crisis here | the social stock exchange (SSE) would allow for listing social enterprises and voluntary organisations working for the realisation of social welfare objective. the first of its kind for the country would allow them to raise capital as equity, debt, grants, or performance-linked payments. india faces an annual financing gap of $565 billion in meeting its Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. the introduction of the SSE and the subsequent appointment of a Working Group will give an impetus to addressing part of this gap. | Positive |
https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/trends/men-in-north-and-west-india-spend-more-on-grooming-than-south-and-east/story/390471.html | At a time when the economy is facing a serious consumption slowdown and FMCG head honchos are complaining about growth stalling, the one segment that has been showing impressive growth is male grooming.
As per a report by Nielsen, the Rs 5,000-crore male grooming segment has grown by 12.3 per cent compared to 9.4 per cent last year. In fact, the last one year has seen the launch of 177 new male grooming products.
A largely urban trend, especially popular among men in the North and West (30 per cent and 28 per cent of men in North and West, respectively invest in male grooming products, while in the South and East it is relatively lower at 23 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively), Indian men are not just investing on traditional shaving creams and razors (which continues to contribute about 53 per cent of the male grooming basket), but have also started indulging in a variety of other products in the hand and body category such as body butters, wax and face washes, especially targeted at men.
This category contributes 41 per cent (Rs 2,100 crore market) to the sales and is growing at 17 per cent. However, the category that is growing the fastest at 20.4 per cent is men's hair care, despite being a Rs 300-crore market. Here, the maximum social media chatter (almost one-fourth share of voice) happens around beards.
Beard and moustache care products in the form of oil, wash and wax have become a topic of discussion on social media and companies are going all out to innovate in this category. This also explains why the likes of Marico have invested in start-ups such as Beardo.
Social media chatter on beards and other male grooming products has also led companies to introduce male grooming gift packs on e-commerce platforms and in modern retail stores, which have increased trial of these products, says the Nielsen Report. Companies are even coming up with smaller pack sizes of products such as deodorants and body gels to trigger frequent use, as men are also learning that grooming requires careful planning and dedicated time.
The metrosexual man, according to the report, is comfortable with following a grooming regimen to look their best continuously. Sales figures also suggest that men's face cleaning products and creams, alongside deodorants, are growing in modern trade five times as fast as the growth in traditional trade. "Men want to look younger and better and that is driving consumption," says Sharang Pant, Lead, Retailer Vertical, Nielsen South Asia.
Male grooming products are growing 1.5 times higher in modern retail stores and they are doing a lot to amplify the presence of these brands by keeping them at the beginning of the personal care aisle so that it doesn't miss the attention of consumers.
Also read: Indian men spend 42 minutes everyday on grooming, says report | the Rs 5,000-crore male grooming segment has grown by 12.3% compared to 9.4% last year. last one year has seen the launch of 177 new male grooming products. social media chatter on beards has led to companies introducing male grooming gift packs. a largely urban trend, especially popular among men in the north and west. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/more-evidence-of-gsts-benefit-for-economy-dramatic-growth-in-warehousing-space/1335369/ | GST boost for Indian economy: Amid dissenting voices on success and effectiveness of the GST, here’s yet another proof that India’s sweeping indirect tax reform has provided a major impetus to the economy, in the dramatic rise in handling of goods. GST has improved efficiencies and cost savings for warehouses, resulting in a significant growth in warehousing space, according to a report.
The total warehouse space in eight primary locations in India is expected to reach 204 million square feet by the year 2019, driven by strong demand and investment in the short to medium-term, KPMG said in a recent report. Further, warehousing spaces is expected to witness an increase of 112 per cent by 2021, said the report citing industry experts as saying.
“It is noteworthy that the implementation of GST has dramatically improved efficiencies and cost savings with a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model of warehousing. Pre-GST implementation CAGR (2014–16) of 15% has increased to an expected post-GST implementation CAGR (2017–21) of 21% for Grade A and B warehouse stock projections in the top eight cities in India,” said the KPMG report.
Notably, transaction volumes of warehousing spaces has registered a massive rise, increasing by more than 85% in 2017 to 25 million square feet across India’s top cities – Mumbai, NCR, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
Explaining how GST has led to such a significant improvement, KPMG said that smaller and fragmented warehouses are getting consolidated into centralised warehousing hubs with increasing focus on supply chain efficiencies. Implementation of GST is leading to consolidation in larger warehouses to help attain benefits from economies of scale. This in turn, is driving the demand for efficient and larger warehouses.
Further, GST has also reduced the need to maintain high inventory levels resulting in increased demand for shared and centralised warehousing hubs, which aid in improving inventory turnover rates, said the report.
Apart from the eight major locations, strategic locations such as Nagpur, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Guwahati are expected to become regional warehousing hubs connected to smaller local nodes via secondary logistics, says KPMG.
The government’s move to award infrastructure status to the logistics sector including warehousing in November 2017, has paved the way for institutional players to invest in the sector, bringing in a number of benefits for the warehousing realty, said the report. “India is expected to witness investments of approximately Rs 500 billion for creating storage facilities between 2018 and 2020, leading to an approximate CAGR of 21% by 2021,” the report noted. | GST has improved efficiencies and cost savings for warehouses. warehousing spaces expected to witness an increase of 112% by 2021. implementation of GST is leading to consolidation in larger warehouses. this in turn, is driving the demand for efficient and larger warehouses. the total warehouse space in eight primary locations in india is expected to reach 204 million square feet by the year 2019. | Positive |
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/Ai5FuBv15LlgiSe6sLPrFN/Finance-ministry-official-says-committed-to-lowering-fiscal.html | New Delhi: The government is “committed" to bringing down fiscal deficit in the medium term, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Wednesday.
The government in its budget last month announced a fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of the gross domestic product for 2018-19 fiscal year starting April, higher than its previous target of 3.0%.
Besides, the government also expects Asia’s third largest economy to grow at 8% in the next couple of years, the official said. Reuters
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Topics | the government has announced a fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of the gross domestic product for 2018-19 fiscal year starting April. the government expects Asia’s third largest economy to grow at 8% in the next couple of years. the government also expects the country to grow at 8% in the next couple of years. livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/budget/budget-2019-rs-70k-crore-capital-infusion-psbs-credit-positive-boost-economy-says-sp-global-ratings/1636287/ | Union Budget 2019: The proposed Rs 70,000-crore capital infusion into public sector banks (PSBs) will provide a timely booster to these lenders, S&P Global Ratings has said. The move, announced in the Budget, is likely to be credit positive for the banking sector and the economy, S&P said in a note titled ‘India’s Budget attempts to address trust deficit in the financial sector.
“We believe the capital infusion will help PSBs make necessary haircuts on their weak corporate loans and shore up their capital adequacy,” said S&P Global rating credit analyst Geeta Chugh.
The capital infusion will help some banks to come out of the central bank’s prompt corrective action and resume lending and clean up their balance sheets, she added. S&P said it believe PSBs still require substantial reforms to improve risk management, service quality, efficiency, and diversity of product offerings.
“While the government has infused large amounts of capital into PSBs in the past few years, the progress on reforms has been rather lackluster,” S&P said. The US-based rating agency said the government has also signalled liquidity support for the financially sound non-bank finance companies (NBFCs).
PSBs’ purchase of high-rated pooled assets of Rs 1 lakh crore will now be eligible for a one-time six months’ partial credit guarantee by the government for a first loss of up to 10 per cent. “We believe this will shore up demand for these assets. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will also facilitate these transactions by providing banks a liquidity backstop against their excess holdings of government securities,” S&P said.
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The growth and profitability of NBFCs in India has been under pressure since the past nine months as the cycle of easy liquidity and low cost of funds reversed. “The budget proposals may help NBFCs to sell their highly-rated retail pool of assets and address their immediate liquidity needs and correct asset-liability mismatches. However, the asset-quality stress emanating from their wholesale real estate related portfolio will not be alleviated,” it added.
The budget also proposes to transfer regulation of housing finance companies (HFCs) to the RBI from the National Housing Bank (NHB).
Besides being the regulator of HFCs, the NHB was also the refinancer and lender for these companies, which led to a conflicting mandate.
“This proposal will alleviate this conflicting mandate and make RBI the sole regulator for key financial sector entities,” S&P said.
The government also announced the amendment to the Reserve Bank of India Act to strengthen the powers of the central bank over non-government-owned NBFCs and allow for effective resolution of stressed financial institutions. These powers include supersession of boards under certain conditions; removal of directors on the board; and wide ranging resolution powers including amalgamation with any other non-banking institution, reconstruction of the NBFC, splitting NBFCs into different units or institutions, and vesting viable and non-viable businesses in separate units or institutions.
“The wider mandate and broader powers could lead to RBI evaluating asset quality review (AQR) and higher provisions for finance companies, similar to what was done in the banking sector. Such a move would help address the trust deficit that the sector has been struggling with in the past few months,” S&P said. | the move is likely to be credit positive for the banking sector and the economy. the capital infusion will help some banks to come out of the central bank's prompt corrective action and resume lending. the progress on reforms has been 'rather lackluster', says S&P. the government has also signalled liquidity support for the financially sound non-bank finance companies (NBFCs) | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/cabinet-approves-rs-3500-cr-aid-for-sugar-exports-in-2020-21/2151386/ | The Cabinet on Wednesday approved an assistance of Rs 3,500 crore for exports of six million tonne of sugar in the current marketing year through September 2021 to cut a glut in the domestic market and help cash-strapped mills clear dues to cane farmers.
This subsidy amount, however, will be directly credited into the accounts of cane farmers against outstanding dues of mills. It also cleared an allocation of Rs 5,361 crore towards subsidy for the last marketing year (2019-20), when it had announced an export assistance of Rs 10,448 per tonne.
Cane arrears carried forward from the last marketing year stood at a record Rs 3,500 crore. The Cabinet decision also coincides with the agitation led by farmers in the national Capital against three farm Bills of the Centre.
The latest move will catalyse exports of `18,000 crore (including the subsidy amount) in the 2020-21 marketing year. It will benefit about five crore farmers and their dependents, and five lakh workers employed in the sugar sector, information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar said after the Cabinet meeting.
This subsidy aims to cover sugar mills’ marketing costs, including handling, upgrading and other processing charges, costs of international and internal transport, and freight charges on exports, subject to the cap of six million tonne, in the current marketing year.
Against their mandatory target of six million tonne set for 2019-20, mills had shipped out 5.7 million tonne. India, the world’s second-largest sugar producer, was forced to extend export subsidies in the past two years to enable mills to trim record inventory, caused by successive years of surplus production, and clear cane dues to farmers.
Hailing the Cabinet decisions, Abinash Verma, director general of the Indian Sugar Mills’ Association, said it will help reduce the country’s sugar stocks to 9.6 million tonne by October 1, 2021, from 10.7 million tonne in the beginning of this marketing year. This will also boost the sugar realisation of mills.
“Even though two-and-a-half months of the current season is over, considering that several large importing countries have been enquiring about Indian sugar and also considering that the drop in sugar production from Thailand gives an opportunity to India to export to traditional markets like Indonesia, Malaysia etc., our sugar industry should be able to fulfill the target of 6 million tonne of exports in 2020-21,” Verma said. | cabinet approves aid for exports of six million tonne of sugar in current marketing year through September 2021. cane arrears carried forward from last marketing year stood at a record Rs 3,500 crore. move will catalyse exports of 18,000 crore (including the subsidy amount) in the 2020-21 marketing year. it will benefit about five crore farmers and their dependents, and five lakh workers employed in the sugar sector. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/non-metro-markets-likely-to-propel-indias-recovery-post-coronavirus-ey-survey/articleshow/77129785.cms | Non-metro markets likely to propel India's recovery post coronavirus: EY Survey
The non-metro markets are likely to recover faster than metro markets, once the pandemic is over, finds an EY survey.
Synopsis
The report, ‘Will non-metro markets propel India's recovery’, reveals that a higher percentage of respondents from non-metro markets expect to spend more than before on several categories compared to metro markets. | higher percentage of non-metro markets expect to spend more than before on several categories compared to metro markets. higher percentage expect to spend more than before on several categories compared to metro markets. higher percentage of non-metro markets expect to spend more than before on several categories compared to metro markets. 'will non-metro markets propel India's recovery', says survey. | Positive |
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/modi-pledges-1-44-trillion-on-infrastructure-in-re-election-bid/articleshow/68781117.cms |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party pledged spend $1.44 trillion on infrastructure to boost the economy and raise living standards, in a bid to match its main rival’s populist promises.The BJP, which is seeking to retain power in elections starting April 11, released its manifesto in New Delhi on Monday, reiterating its pledge to double farmers’ income by 2022, improve GDP share from manufacturing and double exports. It will also scrap Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which grants special concessions to the disputed state of Kashmir.India’s 263 million farmers are a key voting bloc in the world’s largest democracy. The main opposition Congress Party has promised to write off farm loans throughout the country. To match it, BJP said it would invest 25 trillion rupees ($359 billion) in rural development and offer farmers 6,000 rupees per year in income support.The infrastructure promise ties in with estimates reflected in the 2017-18 Economic Survey document by former adviser and economist Arvind Subramanian, who pegged the needed investments at $4.5 trillion till 2040. BJP’s figure is roughly one fourth of this requirement. In comparison, the government has set aside $57 billion for spending on roads, railways and airports in the year ending March 2020.The manifesto lists banking reforms and lower inflation as achievements that can help raise funds for building infrastructure, but gives no details of how the party will ensure funds will be raised."The essence of the manifesto is to deplete poverty to single digits in next five years and then eventually eliminate it," said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley . "This manifesto has been prepared with a strong nationalist vision."It also promised to take its flagship programs -- providing toilets, electricity connections, houses, cooking gas, crop insurance and loans for small businesses -- to more beneficiaries by allocating additional resources.The ruling party, which is leading in opinion polls, is offering giveaways to stave off a challenge from Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi . Congress has promised in its manifesto to rid India of poverty by 2030 by providing income support to the poor, waiving farm loans and creating jobs.The BJP is playing catch up with Congress, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, New Delhi-based political analyst and Modi’s biographer said by phone Monday."It’s a fusion of populist nationalism and majoritarianism," Mukhopadhyay said. "After all their criticism of the Congress about being shallow on specifics in their manifesto, the BJP’S own document lacks in details."It’s banking on the support of around 220 million Indians who have benefited directly from the government’s flagship programs, as well as a 750 billion rupees ($10.8 billion) income support program for small farmers and lower taxes for middle-class.Modi has been criticized by the opposition for not fulfilling his promise of creating 10 million jobs each year -- a pledge that helped him win over India’s youth in the 2014 election. The ruling party denies this charge.The boost to infrastructure will also "lead to creation of a large number of jobs and livelihood opportunities," the manifesto reads, noting the government would target "untapped employment-generation of potential of sectors such as defense and pharmaceuticals." | BJP's manifesto reaffirms pledge to double farmers' income by 2022. it will also improve GDP share from manufacturing and double exports. BJP will invest 25 trillion rupees ($359 billion) in rural development. it will also offer farmers 6,000 rupees per year in income support. the main opposition party has promised to write off farm loans. | Positive |
https://www.financialexpress.com/market/manager-who-dodged-global-crisis-sees-20-year-bull-run-in-india/1447652/ | In his two-decade career as an asset manager, Pankaj Murarka hasn’t shied from calling time on Indian stocks.
At the first signs of the financial crisis, he took cover when many others thought the country’s shares would be immune to any global turmoil. So when the benchmark stock gauge shed more than half its value in 2008, Murarka, by his own account, was one of the few investors who preserved his clients’ capital.
“The theory prevalent then was India was decoupled” from the global economy, Murarka, the founder and chief investment officer of Renaissance Investment Managers Pvt., said in an interview in Mumbai. “But we could understand that the coming tsunami was so big that it was all hogwash.”
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While Murarka’s current fund is small, he has a long history in money management, beginning his career in 1998, a few years after the Indian asset management industry took shape. During his stint at Axis Asset Management Co., his Long-Term Equity Fund returned 20 percent annually during the six years through 2015, compared with a 9.2 percent gain in the benchmark S&P BSE 200 Index.
Great Opportunity
Today, the veteran manager has dispensed with caution, even as the nation’s banks grapple with bad loans and investors get jittery about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election prospects. Where others see reason for concern in Indian equities’ recent outperformance against emerging-market peers, fearing a reversion to the mean, Murarka says they’re poised for a “once-in-a-century” bull run that will last for 20 years. It will be backed by an economy in transition into a global power, he says, which will eventually become the third in the world to join the $10 trillion club.
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The S&P BSE Sensex was one of the world’s few benchmark equity gauges to rise last year, delivering an almost 6 percent gain for its third straight yearly advance, even as an index of emerging-market equities plunged almost 17 percent. In fact, the measure of Indian equities has almost quadrupled since the financial crisis. Still, Murarka thinks the best is yet to come.
“You won’t get this opportunity again,” Murarka, 43, said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as the country is likely to go through its best growth cycle.”
In the last 25 years, India has expanded ninefold to become a $2.6 trillion economy, despite the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the bursting of the dotcom bubble at the turn of the millennium and then the global financial crisis. Murarka says Indian equity investors will face short-term corrections over the next 20 years, but they will just be chances to buy. He cites trade tensions and central banks across the world looking to trim their balance sheets as potential risks.
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“Crisis is the order of the day and we will get one every three four years and it is an opportunity,” Murarka said. “India will keep growing despite that, that’s my view.”
Murarka is avoiding businesses linked to consumption, because he says their shares have gotten far ahead of earnings. Instead, he’s been buying stocks such as banks and engineering and construction firms that aren’t heavily indebted, which he says will benefit from economic growth and spending by both the government and the private sector.
‘Two-Speed Economy’
“India has had a two-speed economy in the last five years, a parallel bull and bear market, where it experienced an industrial recession, but at the same time consumers did well,” Murarka said. Companies linked to the consumer side of the economy such as those producing durables and staples have done well, but that bull market has peaked, he said.
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Murarka was among the founding team at Axis, which he joined in 2009 and helped build into a 450 billion rupees ($6.3 billion) firm by the time he left in 2016 as head of equities.
Before that, he worked as a portfolio manager at Merrill Lynch for about four years, including during the global financial crisis. He started to move his Indian hedge fund, which managed about $300 million at the time, away from property and infrastructure stocks in 2007, and began shorting property stocks in February 2008. His fund underperformed the benchmark index by about eight to 10 percentage points in 2007, but the following year, when most India hedge funds got wiped out, he protected his clients’ money, he said.
New Venture
Murarka founded Renaissance in December 2016. The investment house oversees almost $25 million of assets. He tends to pick companies with a dominant market share that are likely to take a “disproportionate share of the profit pool.” His mid-cap fund dropped 9 percent in 2018, compared with a 15 percent fall in the Nifty Midcap 100 Index, while his multi-cap fund slid 4 percent versus a 1 percent decline in the NSE Nifty 200 Index, according to Murarka.
Only a reversal in India’s economic policy would give him sleepless nights, he says, and that’s unlikely to happen. He thinks India can gain from the U.S.-China trade war by serving as a substitute destination for global supply chains dominated by China.
“Take a 20-year view on India,” Murarka said, citing parallels with Japan and China. “Each nation gets this period once in a century.” | pankaj murarka has been an asset manager for two decades. he took cover when many thought the country's shares would be immune to global turmoil. he says the country is poised for a 'once-in-a-century' bull run. he says the country will become the third in the world to join $10 trillion club. | Positive |