Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Unprecedented bribery charges, farewells, separation, failed union, monumental mergers and record-breaking IPOs, along with a healthy dose of online happenings in the form of spat and lessons in customer care, corporate India saw it all in 2024.
10 largecaps stocks which stand to gain from the Budget.
Future Gaming and Hotel Services whose director is the lottery magnate Santiago Martin is the top purchaser of electoral bonds having purchased bonds worth Rs 1,368, according to data uploaded by the Election Commission of India on its website on Thursday.
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.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) latest order on unsecured loans is set to hit the banking sector's growth in the near-term, cautioned analysts, as they see banks slowing down on aggressive retail lending. Besides, cost of funds for non-banking finance companies (NBFC) is expected to inch up as banks will pass on higher capital charge to NBFCs. "We believe the fallout of the RBI action will be mainly on growth, given the rising dependence on unsecured retail loans and lending to NBFCs for growth.
Why is the RBI harsh on Paytm Payments Bank? Why did it give Rana Kapoor of Yes Bank Ltd such a long rope?Often, it's a long investigation process, but the RBI doesn't discuss this openly since that can threaten financial sector stability, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
From the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paint, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel were the biggest gainers. HDFC climbed 2.59 per cent after the housing finance major on Thursday reported a 20 per cent growth in standalone net profit to Rs 4,425 crore for the quarter ending March 2023 on the back of higher interest income. IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Power Grid, ITC, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major laggards.
Following are comments from economists at leading financial institutions, banks and rating agencies on the interim Budget:
'I suggest Rahul Bajaj come out in the open and give us his own white paper on the perceived sense of fear that he thinks haunts corporate India,' says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Even as you fight the ongoing health challenge, here are some tips to strengthen your personal finance in the time of coronavirus.
The decision by the Reserve Bank of India to introduce a unified regulatory framework on connected lending for all the regulated entities (RE) is expected to reduce the influence of business conglomerates in the Indian lending space, said bankers and experts. "Connected lending pertains to lending to related parties within the same business group. "While the RBI might appear more agreeable to allowing business conglomerates to own banking licenses, it deems it crucial to bolster regulations that would prevent conglomerate-owned banks from gaming the system," said Shivaji Thapliyal, head of research and lead analyst, YES Securities.
'A close relationship between India Inc and the government cannot help the BJP win elections.' 'While Opposition parties may feel good about Mr Bajaj criticising the Modi regime, the BJP should be seeing the indictment as a political boon,' says A K Bhattacharya.
Investors' wealth grew by Rs 3.24 lakh crore on Thursday as the BSE Sensex jumped nearly 1 per cent after a two-day slide. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 490.97 points or 0.69 per cent to settle at 71,847.57. During the day, it rallied 598.19 points or 0.83 per cent to 71,954.79.
Operating margins have been the primary driver of corporate earnings in India in recent quarters, despite revenue growth suffering from weak consumer demand. Companies across sectors have reported a sharp improvement in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) margins over the past two years, benefiting from lower commodity and energy prices. Higher margins more than compensated for slower revenue growth, resulting in double-digit growth in net profit for five consecutive quarters.
Liquidity has improved, but 20 out of 24 NBFC stocks are staring at an over 5% reduction in 12-month target prices.
The brokerage earnings estimate for the January-March 2024 quarter (Q4FY24) for Nifty 50 companies hints at a slowdown in corporate profit growth while revenue increase is likely to be in low single digits as in the previous two quarters. According to various brokerage estimates, the companies' combined net profits are expected to grow 3.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q4FY24, the slowest in the last five quarters. For comparison, the index companies' combined net profits were up 8.2 per cent Y-o-Y in Q3FY24 and 3.4 per cent Y-o-Y in Q4FY23.
Eight of the top-10 most valued firms together lost Rs 2,21,555.61 crore from their market valuation last week in-line with the weak trend in the broader market, with Infosys and HDFC Bank suffering the biggest hit. The 30-share benchmark index, Sensex, lost 1,141.78 points or 1.95 per cent last week. From the top-10 pack, only Reliance Industries and Adani Green Energy emerged as the gainers.
Consumer businesses come to the rescue of large conglomerates in the midst of a meltdown in commodities.
Stocks of smallcap and midcap companies, which had caught the fancy of retail investors, also feature in the portfolio of leading politicians in addition to bluechip stocks.
From promoters losing their firms to consumers realising there are no free lunches, 2019 was a year of getting real,says Shailesh Dobhal.
Among the Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Nestle were the major laggards. Maruti, Power Grid, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, NTPC, HDFC Bank, ITC and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.
It is thanks to the policy of liberalisation conceived by Manmohan Singh and enforced by P V Narasimha that the Indian economy has now become the world's 5th largest economy by nominal GDP, asserts Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Which entrepreneur would willingly part with her or his hard-earned money for grasping, self-serving politicians? asks Debashis Basu.
Of these 26, Bajaj Finance, Associated Alcohols and Breweries, Garware Technologies, Filatex India, Tasty Bite Eatables, Aarti Industries and GMM Pfaudler saw an over 10-fold surge in price since 2014.
From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel fell 3.42 and Kotak Mahindra Bank declined 3.31 per cent. ICICI Bank, ITC, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies and Maruti were the other major laggards. Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Nestle, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.
The combined net profit of "early bird" companies, those that have declared their quarterly results, rose for the third consecutive quarter in July-September 2023 (Q2FY24). But the figures suggest a continued slowdown in revenue growth and stagnation in earnings over recent quarters. This slowdown is severe for companies in the manufacturing and non-financial service sectors.
With liquidity crunch hitting operations, many finance companies have put the brakes on sanctions in the third quarter in the aftermath of the IL&FS crisis.
Most NBFCs will have to slow down their loan growth. Some of the most leveraged will have to sell a part of their assets (or loan book) to banks to raise incremental capital. Others may have to knock on the door of their deep-pocketed parents.
Analysts believe that investors should look at stocks that hit 52-week lows only if they have a dividend paying track record, are debt-free and have sound fundamentals.
Licence winners are expected to be announced by the first quarter of 2014.
The Indian financial services space seems to be in a sweet spot as foreign investors have made a net investment of Rs 14,205 crore ($2.1 billion) in the sector in November amid strong credit growth and manageable non-performing loan portfolio. The investment comes following a net withdrawal of Rs 4,686 crore from financial services stocks in October on account of profit booking. Overall, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have made a net investment of Rs 36,238 crore in the country's equity markets in November.
ICICI Bank extended yesterday gains, rising 10% in two trading sessions
Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 7 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, HDFC, L&T, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma and NTPC. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, ITC and M&M were the laggards.
The Adani Group led in adding net fixed assets, which are up more than 90 per cent since September 2019 or before COVID-19.
Nifty50 surged 145 points to close at 8,468 after hitting an intra-day high of 8,475.
'India is showing a reasonable amount of resilience, but we are still living in a world that is quite fragile.' 'That's why we hope that the government will continue to invest significantly in public capex so that we are able to ride through this cycle till the private sector is able to play its part in investing and adding to the capex cycle.'
Companies which have been dropped from the list include Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, MRF, Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Healthcare, Pfizer, Dr Reddy's Labs, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank
From India, Reliance Industries is the only one in the overall top-200 list and is followed by HDFC Bank at 209th, ONGC at 220th, Indian Oil at 288th and HDFC Ltd at 332nd place.
The RBI has agreed to consider the application of India Post in consultation with the government.