With the Supreme Court not getting into the valuation part and leaving it to the two parties, lawyers said there was nothing much for Mistry Group to negotiate.
'They can shift to dynamic asset allocation funds to automatically rebalance their equity exposure.'
However, despite Covid, Indian markets registered their best financial year performance in a decade, with the Sensex and Nifty50 rallying 68 per cent and 71 per cent, respectively, in FY21.
The entire proceeds from the sale of Reliance Centre will be utilised only to service YES Bank debt.
Even as lenders are getting ready to send more companies to bankruptcy courts from this week, several old cases are still awaiting resolution with no clarity on the completion of the process. This includes some high profile cases from the first list of 40 companies including Videocon Industries, Bhushan Power and Steel and Lavasa Corporation, sent by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for resolution. The delay is mainly due to litigation and late clarifications by various government agencies including the Reserve Bank of India and litigation by the Enforcement Directorate.
The divestment process, however, will not be an easy affair as there are multiple stakeholders, including the employee unions, whose concerns will have to be addressed.
The markets have been unable to sustain at higher levels as a rise in bond yields globally, especially in the US have dented sentiment. Surging commodity prices, especially crude oil that have now hit $70 a barrel (Brent) coupled with inflation woes and fear of sporadic lockdown across major economic hubs back home as Covid cases rise have chased the bulls away. In the short-term, analysts expect the markets to remain volatile as they react to news flow - both from overseas and developments back home. Investors, they say, need to keep a tab on how the US treasury yields move, which in turn will have a ripple effect on how big money moves across developed (DMs) and emerging markets (EMs), including India.
Despite a massive underperformance at the bourses since the last six months, analysts are turning optimistic on Reliance Industries (RIL). Those at Jefferies, for instance, say that the company is a proxy play for India's consumption growth story. The key catalysts for the stock, according to a Jeffries note, include faster-than-expected market share gain in retail, oil-to-chemicals (O2C) stake sale, recovery in gross refining margins (GRM), potential public listing of Jio and even a possible banking licence going ahead. That apart, analysts feel any tariff hike in Reliance Jio (RJio) - its telecom venture - will also aid performance. With balance sheet adequately de-levered, proceeds from a strategic stake sale in the O2C business will create a sizeable war chest for the company, analysts say.
The recent report in the New York Times that China had brought India's financial capital - Mumbai - to a halt by hacking the electricity supply grid has not come as a surprise to the CTOs (chief technology officers) and cyber security experts. Indian companies, including critical infrastructure providers such as power grids, ports and radar systems, lack the IT infrastructure to prevent hacking from hostile state actors like China and North Korea, warn security experts. Recently, the United States government warned of yet another breach of critical systems tied to Microsoft Exchange email systems that the company has blamed on China. The breach has impacted thousands of organisations in the US and its impact on India is still unknown.
Indian corporate are fast tapping the international bonds market to raise funds for their operational expenses even as they reduce their presence in the rupee bond market. As bonds are costlier for companies and investors are more sceptical than the banks, chief financial officers say they are looking at other avenues for raising funds in the coming months as dollar bond rates are lower in the range of 100 to 250 basis points. "For corporate with reasonable credit quality, the Indian bond market has become less of an option from a cost point of view. "In addition, conditions imposed in the Indian bond market by investors post Franklin episode have also become very onerous," said Prabal Banerjee, president-finance of Bajaj group. "Hence very few corporate are looking at the local bond market for resource mobilisation, since both, bank loans and the overseas bond markets are much more attractive," he said.
The current up move, according to analysts, closely resembles the rally post the global financial crisis in 2008-09, not just in quantum and speed, but also the way small-and mid-cap indices outperformed large-cap peers.
'The hackers' objectives were centred around smearing India's reputation, causing productivity loss, creating operational damage and seeking financial gains.'
IMD expects day temperatures to remain above-normal in select regions across the country between March and May 2021.
'We are working in association with the state government and other transmission companies to make sure that the city never experiences blackouts'
The pandemic caused construction delays at its ongoing projects due to several factors such as lockdowns enforced by government agencies, work-stoppage orders, disruptions in the supply of materials and shortage of labour resulted in failure to meet development milestones.
sharper-than-expected economic recovery back home, analysts say, can fuel a further rally in domestic cyclicals, industrials, and financials as global central banks continue with their easy money policy.
Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies reiterate his bullish view on Indian equities on the back of a steady fall in Covid cases coupled with a sharp economic recovery in India, reports Puneet Wadhwa.
Auto companies are now grappling with a slowdown in sales, triggered by pent up demand due to the COVID-led lockdown easing a bit and supply-side issues for raw material.
Analysts, however, suggest investors remain selective on realty stocks and buy only where there is revenue visibility and a credible promoter backing.
CEOs expect to finish the ongoing March quarter with positive growth as the corporates get back to work in full strength.