Sentiments remained subdued largely in tandem with a weak trend in global markets where gold traded at a four-year low as surging dollar waned demand for the precious metals, traders said.
Gold prices recovered by Rs 50 to Rs 26,800 per 10 grams at the bullion market on Friday.
Manufacturing activities in India remained robust and price pressures were contained in October as new orders and production rose at a slower but stronger pace, according to a monthly survey released on Tuesday. The seasonally-adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was up from 55.1 in September to 55.3 in October. The October PMI data pointed to an improvement in overall operating conditions for the 16th straight month.
Listing out priorities for the Finance Ministry under Arun Jaitley and the Narendra Modi government as a whole, it said the growth rate can pick up to 6 per cent with the extent and pace of reform measures.
Will 2022 be a year of contrasting narratives -- one filled with caution and the other with continued optimism?
Many promoters still consider the cash in the company as their money and are averse to sharing this pie with minority investors, points out Akash Prakash.
The rupee commenced higher at 55.07 a dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market from last Friday's close of 55.16.
The domestic unit hovered in a range of 66.45 and 66.61 per dollar during the day.
Interrupting a two-month streak of decline, outward foreign direct investment (FDI) rose sequentially to $1.85 billion in July over $1.07 billion in June, an increase of 73 per cent. However, it was lower than the $2.18 billion in July last year, according to the Reserve Bank of India data. Outbound FDI, expressed as financial commitment, has three components - equity, loans, and guarantees.
Big test for India, Eng; minnows likely to shake applecart
Walt Disney Co and Reliance Industries on Wednesday announced signing of binding pacts to merge their media operations in India to create a Rs 70,000 crore behemoth. Reliance and its affiliates will hold 63.16 per cent in the combined entity while Disney will hold the remaining 36.84 per cent, the companies said in a statement.
Manufacturing activities in India eased marginally in September but remained in good shape amid companies hiring more workers and cooling price pressures, according to a monthly survey released on Monday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) indicated a strong improvement in the health of the Indian manufacturing industry, as companies stepped up production in tandem with a sustained increase in new work intakes. The PMI at 55.1 in September continued to be in expansion mode for the 15th consecutive month but was slightly lower than 56.2 recorded in August.
Gold price recovered a bit on favourable cues from global markets.
'We've got a huge track record and success in bringing several biosimilars to the market.'
The rupee depreciated further by 13 paise to hit a new life-time closing low of 82.30 against the US dollar on Friday as a firm American currency and risk-averse sentiment among investors weighed on the local unit. Moreover, a negative trend in domestic equities and elevated crude oil prices sapped investor appetite, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 82.19, then fell further to 82.43. It finally settled at an all-time low of 82.30 against the American currency, registering a decline of 13 paise over its previous close.
Gold prices rose by Rs 190 to Rs 27,190 per 10 grams at the bullion market on Friday.
The EIU said in a report on Wednesday forecast that the real GDP grew by 1.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter in India, but noted that this uptick was largely owing to base effect.
Its 11MFY24 production is around 40.2 mt. In FY25, it could hit 50 mt and it may reach 55 mt by FY26. The PSU has capex plans for multiple projects, which should improve the product mix and augment capacity to 100 mt for FY30.
In a fragmented electric three-wheeler market where no company has more than a 10 per cent share, leave alone a dominant presence, can Bajaj Auto storm in and become king? The company is set to launch its range of electric auto rickshaws in June and hopes to replicate its success in ICE three-wheelers where it is the undisputed market leader with a 63 per cent market share. Can it be crowned king of the electric three-wheeler market too? Overall, electric sale volumes are growing at breakneck speed.
The yellow metal has lost Rs 390 in last three days.
Fitch Ratings on Thursday retained India's growth forecast for the current fiscal at 6.3 per cent citing economic resilience despite tighter monetary policy and exports weakness, but upped year-end inflation projection on El Nino threat. The Indian economy grew 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter of current fiscal on strong services sector activity and robust demand. "The Indian economy continues to show resilience despite tighter monetary policy and weakness in exports, with growth outpacing other countries in the region," Fitch said, while projecting 6.3 per cent growth for current fiscal (April-March), and 6.5 per cent for next fiscal.
Bajaj Auto's market capitalisation (market cap) hit Rs 2 trillion mark for the first time. The stock of the two and three-wheeler major rallied 6 per cent to hit a new high of Rs 7,420 on the BSE in Tuesday's (January 9) intraday trade after its board approved Rs 4,000 crore share buyback at Rs 10,000 per share. The stock ended the day at Rs 7,093.75, up 1.55 per cent and its market cap a shade above Rs 2 trillion.
Among Sensex stocks, Wipro gained the most by 3.29 per cent. Ultratech Cement, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, NTPC, M&M, HDFC Bank, ITC, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank were among the winners. On the other hand, HCL Tech fell the most by 1.24 per cent. SBI, TCS, Infosys, IndusInd Bank and Tata Steel also dropped.
Broader market outperformed with the S&P BSE Midcap index adding 0.7%, while S&P BSE Smallcap index gained 0.6%.
India will drive growth in the Asia-Pacific (Apac) region as the growth engine is likely to shift from China to South and Southeast Asia in the coming years, S&P Global Ratings said in a report on Tuesday. The rating agency's report projected China's growth to slow down to 4.6 per cent by 2026 from an estimated 5.4 per cent in 2023. India is likely to clock 7 per cent economic growth from 6.4 per cent estimated for 2023.
India, the world's third-largest energy consumer and importer, on Wednesday warned of high oil prices hurting the nascent and fragile global economic recovery and floated an idea of long-term supply contracts that provide predictable and stable pricing. Speaking at the India Energy Forum by CERAWeek, Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said there was a mismatch between demand for oil and the supplies producers such as OPEC+ were making and there was a case for raising the production. The world, he said, needs "predictable, stable and affordable" prices for it to recover back to pre-pandemic levels.
Moody's Ratings on Thursday raised India's GDP growth forecast for FY24 to around 8 per cent from 6.6 per cent on the back of strong domestic consumption and capital expenditure. The estimate comes a day after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the economic growth in the current financial year could be close to 8 per cent in view of the third quarter GDP data released by the government. The latest estimate of Moody's is about 140 basis points higher than the earlier projection of 6.6 per cent made in November 2023.
Top gainers include Yes Bank, HUL, Vedanta, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, PowerGrid and Tata Motors, rising up to 5 per cent.
The Indian entrepreneurship success story will soon see one more company debuting on the public markets. Ola Electric, the electric vehicle (EV) company, has become the first such firm that has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for its initial public offering (IPO). This is a fresh issue of equity shares of up to Rs 5,500 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of more than 95 million equity shares at a face value of Rs 10.
The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday said the monsoon this year is expected to be 'above normal.'
The rupee on Tuesday recovered from its all-time intra day low of 77.79 to close higher by 7 paise on a stellar rally in domestic stock markets. After opening lower at 77.67, the local unit plunged further to its all-time intra-day low of 77.79 due to a spike in crude oil prices and disappointing macroeconomic data. However, a strong rally in domestic equities helped the rupee rebound and close at 77.48 (provisional), showing net gains of 7 paise over the last close of 77.55. The forex market was closed on Monday on account of Buddha Purnima.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty stayed on the back foot for the second straight session on Friday as investors offloaded FMCG, IT and teck stocks amid a weak opening in European markets. Selling pressure in index heavyweight Reliance Industries also added to the weak trend in equities. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 223.01 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 62,625.63.
Powered by a rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries, equity benchmark Sensex broke its four-session losing run to close above the 55,000-mark on Thursday despite a weak trend overseas. Investors made a cautious return to IT, pharma and bank stocks after their recent sell-off. However, a depreciating rupee and persistent foreign fund outflows capped the gains, traders said. Overcoming a lacklustre start, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 427.79 points or 0.78 per cent to close at 55,320.28.
India is expected to ramp up its purchase of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the coming months following discussions between the two countries on the sidelines of the ongoing COP28 summit in Dubai, multiple sources in the know said. The UAE has historically been India's third-largest source of crude. It has suffered the largest drop in shipments since Indian refiners began to binge on Russian crude in 2022.
Manufacturing activities in India touched a three-month high in March boosted by faster expansions in new orders and output amid demand resilience and easing of cost pressures, according to a monthly survey. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 55.3 in February to 56.4 in March, signalling the strongest improvement in operating conditions in 2023 so far. The March PMI data pointed to an improvement in overall operating conditions for the 21st straight month.
From the Sensex pack, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, Wipro, UltraTech Cement, Maruti and Infosys were the biggest gainers. Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors and Titan were among the laggards.
S&P Global Ratings on Monday retained India's GDP growth forecast at 6 per cent saying it will be the fastest growing economy among Asia Pacific nations. The GDP growth forecast for the current and the next fiscal has been kept unchanged from the forecast made in March partly on account of domestic resilience. "We see the fastest growth at about 6 per cent in India, Vietnam, and the Philippines, S&P Global Ratings said in its quarterly economic update for Asia-Pacific.
From the Sensex pack, Infosys, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Maruti, HDFC and Tata Steel were the major laggards. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, Nestle, Titan, State Bank of India and Reliance Industries were the gainers.
The rupee gains became pronounced just before mid-day in Europe as the euro rose against the dollar after German judges removed a major obstacle to the region's new bailout fund, European Stability Mechanism.
Its success script: Investing more in local content ecosystem; growing its partnership footprint.