The country's largest lender SBI on Friday reported an 80 per cent surge in standalone net profit at Rs 6.450.75 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2021, aided by decline in bad loans. State Bank of India (SBI) had registered a profit of Rs 3,580.81 crore during January-March period of 2019-20, the lender said in a regulatory filing. Total income of the bank during the March quarter of the last financial year rose to Rs 81,326.96 crore, from Rs 76,027.51 crore in the same period of 2019-20.
Private sector lender ICICI Bank has revised its external benchmark lending rate (EBLR) to 8.10 per cent, and state-owned Bank of Baroda has raised the rate to 6.90 per cent with immediate effect after the RBI hiked the key repo rate. Likewise, two other public sector banks -- Bank of India and Central Bank of India -- have also raised the repo linked lending rate. In an out of turn Monetary Committee Meeting (MPC), the Reserve Bank on Wednesday announced to hike the benchmark repo rate -- the short term lending rate it charges to banks -- by 0.40 per cent to 4.40 per cent with immediate effect, aimed at taming the rising inflation caused by the global geopolitical situation.
Total wireless subscribers increased from 1.1 billion, in January to 1.2 billion in February, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.72 per cent.
Slide in the rupee, surging oil prices, and rising bond yields have triggered the latest fall in the market.
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.
HUL was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 5 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Asian Paints and RIL.
NTPC, Maruti, SBI, PowerGrid, Bajaj Auto, UltraTech Cement and Axis Bank rose up to 2.95 per cent.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has directed the new board of the debt-ridden IL&FS Group to distribute Rs 16,361 crore of cash and InvIT units available across the Group to its creditors on pro-rata basis. The interim distribution award of Rs 16,361 crore includes Rs 11,296 crore in cash and Rs 5,065 crore in InvIT units (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) and a majority of this is to be distributed to the creditors of three large group firms -- IL&FS, IFIN and ITNL. "The interim distribution shall be confined only to the entities as reflected in Annexure-6 except those excluded and for the amount of Rs 16,361 crores i.e Rs 11,296 crore of cash and Rs 5,065 crores of InvIT Units," said an order by a two-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in a Twitter post that the government appreciated all of Rajan's good work and respected his decision
Leading bourse BSE has also declared Karvy Stock Broking as a defaulter and expelled the brokerage house from its membership after a similar action was taken by the NSE. Investors having any outstanding claims against the brokerage can file their claims with the exchange within 90 days from the date of issue of the notice -- by February 22, 2021 -- the BSE said in a circular on Tuesday.
Among Sensex stocks, Maruti rose the most, followed by Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra and Asian Paints. Gains in Reliance, TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, HDFC and ICICI Bank also helped the barometer extend its rally for a second day.
On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank was the biggest gainer, spurting 5.45 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, SBI, M&M, Kotak Bank, Tata Steel and HDFC Bank.
According to Mukesh Ambani, this is the country's largest bonus issue.
Equity benchmarks mustered gains for the first time this week on Thursday as investors piled into the recently-battered metal, bank and IT stocks amid expiry of monthly derivative contracts. Snapping its three-session losing streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 503.27 points or 0.94 per cent to settle at 54,252.53. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty gained 144.35 points or 0.90 per cent to end at 16,170.15.
Most members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) argued for front-loading interest rate hikes in view of rapidly rising inflation during the off-cycle monetary policy review earlier this month - the minutes of the meeting published on Wednesday showed. In early May, the rate setting committee met unscheduled and unanimously decided to hike the repo rate by 40 bps. This was the first repo rate hike in four years, and an inter-meeting hike in more than a decade.
ITC was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, HUL and HCL Tech. On the other hand, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers. NSE Nifty fell 53.25 points to 14,146.25.
Ultratech Cement was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 4.37 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, L&T, Reliance Industries, SBI, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ONGC and ITC.
IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 7 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, RIL was the top laggard, crashing over 8 per cent. HCL Tech, TCS, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and UltraTech Cement also ended in the red.
BSE benchmark Sensex plummeted over 388 points to close at 58,576.37 on Tuesday, tracking weakness in index majors Wipro, RIL and Bharti Airtel amid a weak trend in global markets. Investors also remained cautious ahead of crucial macroeconomic data announcements -- industrial production for February and inflation rate for March -- post trading hours. The Sensex declined 388.20 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 58,576.37. During the day, the benchmark tanked 666 points or 1.12 per cent to 58,298.57.
Bharti Airtel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, dropping 2.23 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries, L&T, Sun Pharma, HDFC Bank, Maruti, Titan and Kotak Bank.
Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is examining allegations of front-running and other irregularities against a host of domestic fund managers across the asset management industry, said people in the know. Developments at Axis Mutual Fund have prompted the regulator to speed up probe to ensure that there is no drop in confidence in the Rs 39-trillion mutual fund (MF) industry. "We have received complaints against a few fund managers and are looking into possible violations, including those related to code of conduct," said a regulatory source, refusing to divulge names of fund houses as things are at a preliminary stage.
Sebi on Monday barred total 85 entities, including Sunrise Asian Ltd, from the capital markets for up to one year for manipulating the company's share price. In its order, the regulator restrained Sunrise Asian and its then five directors from the capital markets for one year and the 79 connected entities for six months. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had conducted an investigation in the scrip of Sunrise Asian for the period from October 16, 2012 to September 30, 2015, based on a reference received from the Principal Director of Income Tax (Investigation), Kolkata.
Global rating agency Moody's on Monday said HDFC Bank's multiple digital outages are credit negative as such recurring incidents could lead to moderation in revenue and flight of customers to other banks. The recurring outages also risk hurting the bank's brand perception among a growing and increasingly digitally savvy customer base, and increases the potential that clients switch to other banks, which would lead to a reduction in revenue and low-cost retail funding, Moody's said in a statement.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Wednesday said it has secured a large contract to construct the country's longest road bridge across river Brahmaputra connecting Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya. The contract was bagged by the company's subsidiary L&T Construction. As per the company, a large contract is worth Rs 2,500-5,000 crore.
The output of eight core sectors jumped by 56.1 per cent in April mainly due to a low base effect and uptick in production of natural gas, refinery products, steel, cement and electricity, official data released on Monday showed. The eight infrastructure sectors of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity had contracted by 37.9 per cent in April 2020 due to lockdown restrictions imposed to control the spread of coronavirus infection. In March this year, the eight sectors had recorded a growth rate of 11.4 per cent.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's holding value in Nazara Technologies crossed the Rs 1,000-crore mark. In the past one month, the market price of Nazara, a diversified gaming and sports media platform, has zoomed 78 per cent. In comparison, the Sensex was up 3 per cent during the same period.
Benchmark indices bounced back on Wednesday after falling for five straight sessions, with investors snapping up the recently-mauled IT, finance and consumption stocks amid a supportive trend overseas. A rebounding rupee further bolstered sentiment, traders said. Halting its five-session slide, the BSE Sensex jumped 574.35 points or 1.02 per cent to finish at 57,037.50. Similarly, the NSE Nifty surged 177.90 points or 1.05 per cent to 17,136.55.
L&T was the top gainer in the Sensex pack followed by M&M, SBI, Titan, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and Ultratech Cement.
Skills and democracy are the main drivers of sustainable growth, ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said on Friday, adding that he is bullish on the Indian market. "If you examine history, democracy creates chaos and forces people to think and act. "Therefore, skills and democracy are the main drivers of sustainable growth...It is most needed..," Jhunjhunwala said at the 'India Today Conclave 2021'. On markets, he said he is inherently bullish and India is coming to a phase economically that it has never seen before.
Ola Electric on Monday said it will foray into the electric car segment with plans to launch its first model by 2024. The company, which struggled with deliveries for its electric scooters after it announced entry into the segment exactly a year ago, has set an ambitious target of selling 10 lakh electric cars by 2026-2027. In a press conference, Ola founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said Ola Electric aims to provide a range of electric two-wheelers to electric cars which are priced in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.
Supply chain constraints will keep plaguing automobile companies even though demand significantly improved resulting in a 13 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in sales in financial year 2021-22 (FY22). Executives at auto firms fear that the Russia-Ukraine war will further dent the sector's prospects of recovery as supply chains face more disruptions. "The visibility in the supply side is so hazy that it is difficult to give even one quarter projection. But all the parameters of demand like pending bookings and enquiries are increasing.
Its debit card holders can now withdraw cash from any ATM without charges till June 30.
PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging over 4 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, NTPC, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement and Kotak Bank. On the other hand, TCS, Nestle India, Reliance Industries and HCL Tech were among the laggards.
Past data shows that in 20 Budget sessions, the market has ended with gains only on eight occasions.
The country's largest housing finance company HDFC Ltd will merge with the country's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank, according to a regulatory filing. The scheme of amalgamation will be subject to various regulatory approvals, including from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), HDFC Bank said in the filing on Monday.
Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing over 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto, Maruti, Reliance Industries, ONGC and UltraTech Cement.
Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, soaring over 13 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finance. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, UltraTech Cement, Titan and Asian Paints were among the laggards.
Ultratech Cement, TCS, Kotak Mahindra, M&M, Maruti, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Auto were the prominent gainers. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Asian Paints, ONGC and ITC ended in the red.
With retail inflation surprising on the upside, the six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to increase the repo rate by 35-50 basis points (bps) in the review scheduled for September 28-30. According to economists, the central bank will continue to focus on bringing inflation down even though economic growth has remained sluggish. Data released by the government on Monday showed that the consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation increased by 7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in August, thus, staying above the upper tolerance limit of the central bank for all the eight months of 2022.
The development marks a watershed moment in India's telecom history since fixed-line or landline connections formed the final segment where a State-owned operator was in the top spot.