The recent run on the US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the subsequent seizure of its assets by the regulators may have sparked a global wave of risk aversion, particularly for start-ups. However, the Indian banking sector is unlikely to be a victim of any contagion effects, said analysts. he bank, which played a big role in financing start-ups and technology players, faced stress after incurring huge losses on its holdings of US bonds, following the most-aggressive monetary tightening cycle by the Federal Reserve in around four decades.
The global financial services major had earlier said that the central bank would keep its policy rates on hold.
The Indian equity market has been dancing to the tune of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) for more than two decades now. Typically, when FPIs are net-buyers on Dalal Street (D-Street) and raise their ownership of Indian equities, the broader market rallies. Conversely, when FPIs turn net-sellers, the stock prices decline. FPIs have been net-sellers on D-Street for five quarters on the trot and the result has been predictable.
Higher for longer' may be the narrative in the developed markets, but interest rates might not stay high for very long in India, with a section of the market expecting rate cuts to begin this year. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to keep interest rates unchanged at 6.5 per cent in the April review - after hiking the policy repo rate in six previous meetings. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das emphasised that the pause was only for the April policy and that the central bank was ready to act if the situation demanded.
'We are committed to achieving the targets we had outlined.'
Riding on strong June-quarter numbers and positive brokerage outlook, the stock of retail major Trent hit a fresh all-time high on Monday (August 14). The stock has gained 14 per cent in five trading sessions. Continuing the trend of strong revenue growth over the last few quarters, the company posted 53.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in top line to Rs 2,536 crore in the June quarter (first quarter of financial year 2023-24 or Q1FY24).
There are conflicting views on Delhivery. The logistics player's results for the July-September quarter (Q2FY24) are being interpreted as good by some analysts and disappointing by others. As India's largest listed logistics player, the company stands to benefit from the formalisation across the mostly unorganised logistics space. Delhivery provides solutions to 23,113 customers, including e-commerce marketplaces, direct-to-consumer e-tailers, and enterprises across verticals.
The decline of over 5 per cent in PB Fintech's shares (the parent company of PolicyBazaar) in the past two days presents an opportunity for long-term investors to consider buying the stock, suggest analysts. By comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex has remained flat during the same period with a negligible gain of 40 points, or 0.06 per cent. Analysts believe that the recent selling is "overdone", as the company behind the online insurance portal remains committed to achieving profitability, and the potential threat from the government's online insurance portal, Bima Sugam, might be embellished.
The increase reflects a quarter-on-quarter increase of 2.6 per cent in October-December 2022-23. In absolute terms, the total liabilities, including liabilities under the 'Public Account' of the government, jumped to Rs 1,50,95,970.8 crore at the end of December 2022.
Raghuram Rajan on February 2 left the key interest rate unchanged.
Eicher Motors is a leader in the premium motorcycle segment, where it holds market share of over 85 per cent under the Royal Enfield (RE) brand. The company's joint venture VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) with Volvo, where it holds 54.5 per cent stake, gives it a strong footing in commercial vehicles (CVs). The company had good results in FY23 and it has a strong balance sheet and good operating margins.
After two years of a record low interest-rate regime, Indian corporate houses are experiencing a sharp and abrupt increase in funding costs. With the Reserve Bank of India last month making an unequivocal turn towards policy tightening amid high inflation, firms looking to tap the capital markets for funds are ending up shelling out more. The yield on the benchmark triple-A-rated corporate bonds maturing in three years has climbed 98 basis points (bps) since the policy rate hike in May. It was last at 7.47 per cent, Bloomberg data showed.
The 2022-23 (FY23) January-March quarter performance of the country's largest listed paint companies was better than Street expectations. Asian Paints, Berger Paints, and Kansai Nerolac Paints (Kansai Nerolac) registered double-digit revenue growth, compared with the year-ago quarter, reinforced by strong volume/value growth. Falling raw material prices also helped the paint majors hoist their gross margins.
Benchmark indices failed to hold on to early gains and closed in the red for the seventh straight session on Thursday, with participants remaining in wait-and-watch mode ahead of the RBI's interest rate decision. Unabated selling by foreign funds added to the pressure, though a modest recovery in the rupee cushioned the fall, traders said. After rallying in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex came under selling pressure in the afternoon session and closed 188.32 points or 0.33 per cent lower at 56,409.96.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday replied to the 'history major central bank governor' taunt faced by him, questioning if Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi is also a post-graduate in history. An interviewer anchoring a fireside chat at a summit organised by Business Standard compared his position to an opponent facing Messi at a football arena in Qatar, to which Das replied with wit. "Don't mind it, but was Messi also a post-graduate in history? Not often, but I am sometimes reminded by people that I am supposed to have done history," Das said.
The outstanding credit card base dropped to 77.99 million in August from over 80 million in July, mainly on account of the new norms of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that warrant the deactivation of cards that are inactive for a year. While there was a 2.8 per cent decline in net card additions on a month-on-month (MoM) basis in August, a first in many months, credit card spends slipped 3 per cent on a high base. Still, spends topped the Rs 1-trillion mark for the sixth consecutive month.
This will be the lender's first result after its merger with HDFC Ltd, effective from July 1, and will keep analysts glued to the management's earnings growth guidance for the merged financial behemoth.
The Indian equity market is likely to remain under pressure and rangebound over the next few months. This comes as global central banks, led by the US Federal Reserve look at a possibility of hiking rates aggressively to tame inflation. Back home, the Reserve Bank of India, too, remains data dependent in its endeavour to keep inflation in check and pursue an aggressive monetary policy stance.
'Comparing the rates of interest with PSU banks, the three- and five-year time deposit rates of the post office are more favourable.'
Despite rising interest rates, leading home loan players SBI and HDFC have announced discounted interest rates beginning at 8.40 per cent as part of their festive offerings. SBI in a statement said that its home loan book has topped the Rs 6 lakh crore mark, a first in the industry. The leading lender said it is offering up to 25 bps discount on interest rate to new home loan borrowers, making the entry level rate at 8.40 per cent and the offer will run up to January 31, 2023.
Titan posted better than expected revenue growth in the March quarter of the financial year 2022-23 (Q4FY23), powered by strong demand trends in the jewellery and watch segment. Standalone jewellery sales for the firm were up 24 per cent year-on-year (YoY) on a slightly lower base and aided by like-to-like growth of 19 per cent. The company highlighted that new buyer growth was at 15 per cent while average ticket size was up 8 per cent.
Notwithstanding lower growth rates recorded in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24), which spanned from April to June, footwear stocks have seen some gains in the past two trading sessions. Bata India saw an increase of approximately 5 per cent, driven by positive expectations surrounding a potential tie-up in the sports/athleisure segment. This development is viewed favourably due to the segment's higher growth rates.
'We started affordable housing loans that has good traction and the books have grown to Rs 750 crore as of the end of last quarter.'
Abbott India outperformed the Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) with a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 23 per cent in February. The domestic market grew at a robust 20 per cent on a low base, primarily led by volume growth and price hikes. Abbott continued to outperform the sector in the anti-diabetic space with a growth of 20 per cent and key brands such as Thyronorm (hypothyroidism), biliary agent Udiliv, insulin Ryzodeg posted robust growth.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma) reported a turnaround in the January-March quarter of the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23), declaring a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1,984 crore versus a loss of Rs 2,277 crore in Q4FY22. However, that loss in FY22 was due to several exceptional one-time items -- with Rs 3,723.15 crore allocated to settlement of lawsuits in the US and other Exceptional Items adding up to Rs 3,935.75 crore. Adjusted for exceptional items, PAT in Q4FY22 amounts to Rs 2,155 crore, which is a year-on-year (YoY) growth of about 36 per cent.
The unprecedented rainfall in Chennai during the first week of December and the resultant flooding had impacted the business operations of companies operating in Chennai
The real estate market has seen a decline in affordability due to the recent rise in median loan rates as a result of the 50 basis points (bps) hike in repo rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). A cumulative increase of 0.95 per cent in median home loan rate has impacted the purchase affordability and purchase decisions of homebuyers, according to the Affordability Index by Knight Frank. The Affordability Index tracks the EMI (equated-monthly instalment) to income ratio for an average household.
The stock of India's largest agrochemical player - UPL (formerly United Phosphorus) - fell 2.8 per cent in trade. It was among the top losers in the BSE 100 on Tuesday. Weak 2022-23 (FY23) January-March quarter (fourth quarter, or Q4) performance and muted near-term outlook led to the decline. The company reported lacklustre growth in revenue of 4 per cent on the back of a price reduction of 3 per cent and volume growth of 1 per cent.
Benchmark BSE Sensex closed above the historic 66,000-mark for the first time while NSE Nifty hit a new all-time closing high driven by heavy buying in IT counters and fresh foreign fund inflows. Optimism in global equity markets also helped the local markets maintain their winning momentum for a second day. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 502.01 points or 0.77 per cent to settle at its new all-time closing high of 66,060.90.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday hiked key benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 per cent, citing sticky core inflation. This is the sixth time interest rate has been hiked by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) since May last year, taking the total quantum of hike to 250 basis points. Announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) by a majority decided to raise the policy repo rate by 25 basis points and keep a 'strong vigil' on inflation outlook.
Concerned over inflationary pressures in the economy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is bringing down surplus liquidity in the system rapidly. It has fallen to pre-Covid levels and almost 2 per cent of banks' net demand and time liabilities (NDTL). NDTL shows the difference between the sum of demand and time liabilities (deposits) of a bank (with the public or the other bank) and the deposits in the form of assets held by the other bank.
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.
At a time when banks are engaged in a fierce battle to gain market share in the credit card segment, Citibank India has been losing its share, both in terms of outstanding cards and spends in the last few years. Still, average spends on Citi cards are higher than any other Indian bank. Last year, the global banking behemoth announced exit from its consumer banking franchises in 13 markets across Europe, Middle East and Asia, including India, citing lack of scale.
The banking system's liquidity slipped into deficit for the first time in the current financial year (2023-24) due to the imposition of the Incremental Cash Reserve Ratio (I-CRR) for banks and outflows from goods and services tax (GST) payments, according to dealers. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data shows it injected Rs 23,644 crore on August 21. The last time liquidity was in deficit was on March 27, when the RBI injected Rs 45,575 crore.
The rupee plunged 20 paise to close at an all-time low of 78.13 against the US dollar on Monday, as a lacklustre trend in domestic equities and stronger greenback overseas weighed on investor sentiments. Forex traders said weak Asian currencies and persistent foreign capital outflows were the other major factors that dragged the local unit down. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 78.20 and witnessed an intra-day high of 78.02 and a low of 78.29 against the US dollar.
Besides high portfolio yield, investors may enjoy capital gains in debt funds in 2023 as bonds rally in anticipation of rate cuts.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) disappointed the Street with its results for the January-March quarter of the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23) due to weaker core engineering & construction (E&C) segment performance by the engineering giant.' Although core E&C order inflows for FY23 rose 19 per cent year-on-year (YoY), with orders from railways, metals and water sectors, margins in the infrastructure segment crashed to all-time low. Revenue at Rs 58,300 crore was up 10 per cent YoY but somewhat below expectations.
In a double delight, retail inflation eased to a one-year low of 5.72 per cent - staying below the upper tolerance limit for two months in a row, while factory output rose sharply to 7.2 per cent on the back of healthy growth in manufacturing. The retail inflation numbers based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) will provide some room for the Reserve Bank to further moderate the quantum of hike in key interest rate or even press a pause button. The RBI has been on a rate hiking spree since May 2022 in its bid to tame inflation, having raised the repo rate by a cumulative 225 basis points (bps).
The recent currency volatility - rupee's depreciation against international currencies - may have given heartburns to automakers that rely on imports or pay royalty to parent companies abroad. But for Maruti Suzuki India, favourable movement of the yen - the currency that matters the most - against the Indian rupee, has given it reasons to cheer. The yen's sharp fall against the rupee and the rupee's depreciation against the US dollar, which in turn will bump up export realisations, are set to give a margin boost to the maker of Baleno and Brezza, said analysts. The softening of commodity prices and slew of new SUV launches in the coming months will also aid margins, they said.
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