Which entrepreneur would willingly part with her or his hard-earned money for grasping, self-serving politicians? asks Debashis Basu.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded from early lows to settle higher on Wednesday following buying in Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and ITC and positive trends in Asian and European markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 173.22 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 66,118.69. The index opened lower and fell further to a low of 65,549.96 in morning trade.
Among the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance jumped the most by 4.64 per cent. Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, NTPC, JSW Steel and Tata Steel were among the major gainers. Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, IndusInd Bank and HCL Technologies were the major laggards.
JSW Steel was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 2.68 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Titan, ITC, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro. In contrast, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Asian Paints and Axis Bank were major laggards.
ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Infosys, M&M, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, SBI and Maruti were also among the gainers. On the other hand, IndusInd, TCS, Titan and Asian Paints declined.
Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, JSW Steel, Wipro, Maruti, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and ICICI Bank were the other major gainers. State Bank of India, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Nestle and HDFC Bank were the laggards.
Among the Sensex firms, ICICI Bank and SBI led the index with the maximum gains of 4.68 per cent and 3.99 per cent, respectively. Other major gainers were Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Wipro and Tata Motors defied the trend and traded in negative.
The ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company's net premium income in the third quarter (October - December) of the current financial year (Q3FY24) swelled by 4.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to touch Rs 9,929 crore. Income from investment rose 111.3 per cent Y-o-Y to touch Rs 16,315 crore. The Annual premium equivalent (APE), and new business premium (NBP) increased by 4.8 per cent Y-o-Y. Both declined 7.5 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively, quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q).
Financials were the top losers after sharp gains in the previous session along with ITC
Benchmark indices bounced back on Monday after a three-day fall, largely helped by buying in banking counters. After a weak beginning, the 30-share BSE Sensex recovered the lost ground and ended 300.44 points or 0.51 per cent higher at 59,141.23. During the day, it climbed 436.76 points or 0.74 per cent to 59,277.55. The NSE Nifty went higher by 91.40 points or 0.52 per cent to close at 17,622.25.
From the Sensex pack, State Bank of India, HDFC, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, NTPC and Bajaj Finserv were the major gainers.
Equity benchmarks started the first day of trade of the New Year on a positive note and ended with smart gains, propelled by buying in index majors Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank amid a firm trend in European markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 327.05 points or 0.54 per cent to settle at 61,167.79 on Monday. During the day, it jumped 382.05 points or 0.62 per cent to 61,222.79.
Seven of the top-10 valued firms suffered a combined erosion of Rs 1,54,477.38 crore in market valuation last week, with IT majors Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys emerging as the biggest laggards. Last week, the BSE benchmark index tanked 812.28 points or 1.36 per cent. Reliance Industries Limited, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India were the only gainers in the top-10 pack.
The Kochhars were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last Friday. Dhoot was arrested on Monday. The three were produced before special judge S H Gwalani at the end of their earlier remand on Thursday.
Former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar on Tuesday approached the Bombay high court, calling their arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation in a loan fraud case illegal. The high court, however, refused to grant an urgent hearing and directed the Kochhars to mention the matter before the regular bench once it resumes after vacation. A lawyer representing the Kocchars said that no prior sanction, as required under the law, was obtained by the CBI before their arrest.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation court here on Wednesday extended till December 29 the CBI custody of former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot in connection with a loan fraud case. The probe agency arrested Kochhars last Friday after questioning them briefly. Dhoot was arrested on Monday.
There has been a sharp recovery in the headline corporate earnings in the April-June 2023 quarter (Q1FY24), after a dismal showing by early bird companies. The combined net profit of the 983 listed companies that have declared their quarterly results, so far, was up 64.7 per cent year-on-year to record a high of Rs 2.68 trillion in the first quarter, but growth in earnings remained lopsided because most of the incremental gains came from a handful of companies. Moreover, the quarterly numbers showed a continued slowdown in revenue growth.
Kotak Mahindra Bank was the biggest loser from the Sensex pack, skidding 1.83 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, HCL Technologies, IndusInd Bank and Nestle. In contrast, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan, Infosys, HDFC Bank, HDFC and ITC were the gainers.
The bank, which has suffered reverses following a massive spike in dud assets and also the dismissal of its chief executive Chanda Kochhar over governance issues, however, hinted that the worse is behind.
From the Sensex pack, Sun Pharma, Maruti, Tata Motors, ITC, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, Asian Paints, Titan, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid and Reliance Industries were the major gainers. Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, State Bank of India, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finserv were among the laggard from the 30-share pack.
Investors should view any bounce-back in bank stocks as an opportunity to exit the pack, analysts suggested, as the worst may not be over yet. The recent quarterly results of HDFC Bank and Axis Bank disappointed the Street, triggering a marketwide selloff by foreign institutional investors, especially in banking counters. While HDFC Bank, which was the anchor for the market correction during the past week, ended 2 per cent higher amid short covering on Wednesday, Axis Bank's shares settled 3 per cent lower.
A National Commission order held that the buyer was the borrower and so the bank was entitled to demand the EMI payments from him.
'There must have been some wonderful genetic disorder due to which I was attracted towards filmi songs.'
From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Titan, UltraTech Cement, ITC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major gainers. Tata Steel, Axis Bank, NTPC, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank were the major laggards.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms touched an all-time high of Rs 296.48 lakh crore on Friday as the benchmark Sensex hit its new life time peak amid bullish investor sentiments.hit its new lifetime peak. Rallying for the third day running, the 30-share Sensex surged 499.42 points or 0.78 per cent to reach its all-time high of 64,414.84 in early deals. Thanks to the rally in equities, the market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed companies jumped to Rs 2,95,72,338.05 crore.
In a recent note, the global brokerage firm said India now commands a weight of 19 per cent in the above-mentioned portfolio as compared to 18.2 per cent in September 2023. India, it said, is a large liquid market and remains a counter-weight to North Asia if a slowdown in the West occurs and China's recovery disappoints.
The combined market valuation of six of the 10 most valued companies surged by Rs 1,56,247.35 crore last week, with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) emerging as the biggest gainer. While RIL, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Bajaj Finance saw gains in their market capitalisation (m-cap) in the holiday-shortened week, Infosys, HUL and LIC suffered losses. Stock markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Muharram.
From the Sensex pack, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Steel, HCL Technologies, Sun Pharma, Nestle, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and ITC were the major laggards. Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Titan and ICICI Bank were among the major gainers.
After a sequential fall in November, due to high base and waning of the festival season effect, credit card spends have picked up again in December, recording over Rs 1 trillion for the 10th consecutive month. Latest figures released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) show that credit card spends in December 2022 touched Rs 1.26 trillion, up 10.21 per cent compared to November. And, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, spends were up 34.31 per cent during this period.
Four of the 10 most valued domestic firms together added a whopping Rs 231,320.37 crore in market valuation last week, with market heavyweight Reliance Industries contributing the most to the overall gains. Last week, the Sensex jumped 884.57 points or 1.61 per cent. While TCS, Infosys and ICICI Bank were the other gainers from the top-10 pack, HDFC Bank, HUL, LIC, SBI, HDFC and Bharti Airtel faced erosion from their market valuation.
The combined market valuation of three of the 10 most valued domestic firms eroded by Rs 73,630.56 crore last week, with Reliance Industries Limited taking the biggest hit. While HUL and ICICI Bank were the other laggards from the top-10 pack, TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys, LIC, SBI, HDFC and Bharti Airtel were the gainers. However, the combined gain of the seven firms at Rs 49,441.05 crore was less than the total loss suffered by the three companies.
Credit card spending dropped 11 per cent sequentially in November at Rs 1.15 trillion, but topped Rs 1 trillion for the ninth month straight, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed as the festive season ends and consumption activity slows down. Year-on-year (YoY), spending was up 29 per cent. Card spends have consistently topped the Rs 1 trillion mark, led by the rising share of e-commerce transactions.
The Bombay high court on Friday heard prosecution and defence arguments on the applications of former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her businessman-husband Deepak Kochhar, challenging their arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in an alleged loan fraud case, and reserved its verdict which will be delivered on Monday. The Kochhars, along with Videocon group founder Venugopal Dhoot, were arrested by the CBI late last month for their alleged roles in the case and the trio is currently in jail under judicial custody. The Kochhar couple has termed their arrest as "illegal" on the ground that no sanction was obtained prior to the CBI action as required under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).
Nine of the 10 most valued firms together added over Rs 2.12 lakh crore in their market valuation last week, with HDFC Bank and TCS emerging as the lead gainers. Last week, the 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 844.68 points or 1.38 per cent. The stock markets were closed on Tuesday for Guru Nanak Jayanti.
A special court here on Thursday rejected Videocon founder Venugopal Dhoot's plea which claimed that his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the alleged loan fraud involving former ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar was illegal. The CBI court also rejected applications of Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar for home food, beds, mattresses and chairs. The court directed jail authorities to provide them diet food in consultation with the medical officer.
Axis Bank has strengthened its positioning -- on both the assets and liability side -- and it may be set to deliver sustained improvement in performance. The valuation gap between Axis Bank (which trades at 1.4x core book value (or BV) and peers like ICICI Bank (valued at 2x BV) is expected to narrow.
Among the Sensex stocks, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever and Power Grid were the major gainers. NTPC, Axis Bank, Nestle, HCL Technologies and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.
Equity benchmark indices rallied nearly 1 per cent to re-visit the 59,000-mark on Monday, tracking heavy buying in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. The BSE benchmark rose 442.65 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 59,245.98. During the day, it jumped 504.92 points or 0.85 per cent to 59,308.25.
The Bombay high court on Thursday said Chanda Kochhar's termination as CEO of ICICI Bank was prima facie 'valid' and dismissed her interim application seeking post-retirement benefits.
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