The National Stock Exchange (NSE), which is once again in the eye of a storm due to the co-location scandal, has said it has taken several transformational steps in the past few years on the regulatory, technological, and surveillance fronts to help improve stakeholder experience and to protect investors. Senior officials of the exchange briefed the media over the steps the exchange has taken on various fronts following changes at the helm with former managing director and chief executive officer Chitra Ramkrishna's ouster in December 2016. "Over the last few years, we have been looking to modernise and transform the entire value chain of technology.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T), India's largest construction and engineering player, has lost as many as 14 large orders in the country because companies that don't possess adequate technical expertise and experience, of late, have won the projects by bidding lower, claimed A M Naik, non-executive chairman of L&T. But the company has made up for the losses by winning projects overseas, where it has acquired a sizeable market share amid tough competition from large global players, he said.
'But we are much better than what we all had expected and planned, and what all the prophets of doom had predicted.'
'We are very watchful about inflation and growth. But the main challenge is economic revival and growth.'
'A strong foreign exchange reserve is the best safety net against global spillovers.'
'Valuations were depressed at 8,000 (Nifty 50 index) levels. It was a free ride to 12,000 levels.' 'What went down had to come up. Now fundamentals have to support further gains.'
'Mostly, the relief, if needed, would be for housing loans where a person has lost a job and is unable to pay his EMI or there has been a temporary salary cut.'
'People are doing a lot of trading.' 'Short-term euphoria can be seen.' 'Retail participation is best through MFs and PMS.'
'Four times in Indian history, in 1992, 2000, 2007 and now, markets are at 25 times price-earnings.'
The bigger worry is that the miss for FY19 is likely to be significant even after assuming macro factors such as crude oil prices, rupee, input costs, and interest rates, do not worsen from the current levels, reports Vishal Chhabria.
The strong correlation between its sales (revenue or turnover) and crude oil prices (average for the financial year) suggests that Ambani may be proved right.
After 42 years at Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and different roles across Unilever's global operations, Harish Munwani, 65, retired as HUL's non-executive chairman. A day before Manwani bid adieu at HUL's 85th annual general meeting on Friday, he spoke to Viveat Susan Pinto & Vishal Chhabria on what kept him going at the firm and the challenges that await HUL.
Despite the headwinds both on the domestic and global fronts, Ramesh S Damani, member, BSE and a prominent investor, says India will weather a global trade war better than a lot of other Asian countries.
Stick to export-focussed plays, large-caps, say analysts
The double-digit growth in itself is eye-popping, given the FMCG sector has seen low single-digit volume growth in recent times.
Higher rural incomes, pay commission benefits, and lower interest rates are key positives: Analysts
Maharashtra raises vehicle registration fee, Tamil Nadu ups entertainment tax
These consistent performers are expected to maintain momentum.
In a conversation with Vishal Chhabria and Hamsini Karthik, Gautam Chhaochharia, executive director & head, India Research, UBS, explains why implementing goods and services tax (GST) may not be as disruptive as many perceive it to be. But, he warns investors shouldn't have high expectations on corporate earnings.
Number of stocks trading above 50 times and 100 times earnings are at record highs. When this happened in 2015 and 2016, the Sensex fell 22.6 per cent in a little over a year's time after peaking in January 2015, while it fell by 11.3 per cent in two months from its peak in September 2016.