'Expect India to keep doing well irrespective of geopolitics.'
The April-June quarter (Q1) of the current financial year (FY25) may be soft for banks with loan growth moderation, net interest margin (NIM) pressures, and higher staff and credit costs inching up, according to analysts. Credit growth could ease due to the lagged impact of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightening and deposit growth has weakened, and the current account and savings account (CASA) ratio has declined 10-370 basis points (bps) quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) for many banks.
Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported a 25 per cent rise in net profit attributable to the owners of the company for the January-March quarter of 2024-25, owing to higher revenues and an exceptional gain. For the quarter under review, L&T posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,497.3 crore, while revenue rose 10.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 74,392.28 crore.
Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSE) plans to raise Rs 120 crore from investors in an attempt to stay afloat. The beleaguered exchange's board has approved issuance of 1.19 billion equity shares of face value Rs 1 at a premium of Rs 1 through private placements, according to a disclosure on its website.
'My job is to provide people with a bouquet of options they can choose from.'
The Supreme Court on Friday declared JSW Steel Limited's resolution plan for Bhushan Power & Steel Limited (BPSL) "illegal" and ordered the latter's liquidation, four years after the company was acquired by JSW Steel under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Following the ruling, JSW Steel shares fell sharply.
This is a good opportunity for long-term investors to pick quality small and midcap stocks at reasonable valuations.
An hour-long disruption could affect around 40 million UPI transactions.
For over a decade, HDFC Bank consistently outperformed industry growth rates in both deposits and advances, maintaining impeccable asset quality. Amid a landscape where other banks struggled with soaring non-performing assets (NPAs), HDFC Bank thrived, eventually surpassing ICICI Bank to become the largest private sector lender in India. Its net interest margin (NIM) remained stable in the range of 4.1-4.4 per cent.
This innovation has made mainframes the fastest-growing segment within IBM's Infrastructure business, demonstrating that even legacy technologies can continue to deliver value.
'Our new business premium is around Rs 700 crore, which we want to take to Rs 2,000 crore.'
'Growth for some companies has been hard to come by and this is a smart way to get there.'
'If the US stagnates and falls into a recession, the dollar will weaken, oil prices will also dip. This augurs well for India.'
Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, once hailed as rising stars in India's clean energy sector, are now facing serious regulatory action.
P K Mishra, a retired IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, is currently serving as the principal secretary to the prime minister.
Moody's Ratings on Wednesday said US tariffs will weaken credit conditions and raise defaults risks especially for low-rated and speculative grade corporates. It said that an unpredictable US trade policy will lead to a deterioration in global credit conditions and macroeconomic impact will slow growth with a growing possibility of recession.
India witnessed a record-breaking surge in deal activity in February, with 226 M&A and private equity deals totaling $7.2 billion -- the highest monthly deal volume in the last three years, according to the Dealtracker report of Grant Thornton Bharat. "This represents a 67 per cent increase in volumes and a 5.4-fold increase in values compared to February 2024, while a 14 per cent increase over the previous month," it said.
'Although we are facing constraints related to lending and resource mobilisation, the government is aware of these.'
Banks are preferring instruments with higher premium over government securities for their held-till-maturity (HTM) portfolio, following the new investment norms, which came into effect from April 1. They are stocking up on corporate bonds and state government securities to boost yield on their portfolio, according to market participants. "Definitely, if there is a good spread available and without lower credit risk, those instruments will be favoured to boost the yield on the portfolio.
If the gift is received from a relative, there is no tax implication. But if the gift is received from a non-relative and exceeds Rs 50,000 in value during a financial year, the entire value of the gift is taxable.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said action will be taken in case there are violations of well laid down processes for auctioning of gold by banks and NBFCs when a borrower fails to pay the gold loan. During Question Hour in Lok Sabha, she said Non Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) are guided by similar rules.
Dubai is positioning itself as a springboard for Indian companies looking to tap into fast-growing emerging markets, including Africa, banking on low tariffs, long-standing trade relations, and a shared vision for regional economic growth, said Mohammad Ali Rashid Lootah, president and chief executive officer, Dubai Chambers, at the Dubai-India Business Forum in Mumbai.
Only investors with a higher risk appetite should enter these funds.
'If the markets correct further, PSU stocks could continue to decline.'
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday questioned Amazon's announcement of $1 billion investment in India, saying the US retailer was not doing any great service to the Indian economy but filling up for the losses it had suffered in the country. He said that their huge losses in India "smells of predatory pricing", which is not good for the country as it impacts crores of small retailers.
Retail investors have been the hardest hit in the recent market downturn, with stocks where they hold over 20% falling 45% from their 52-week highs.
Fundraising by Indian companies through equity and debt reached an all-time high in the financial year 2024-25 (FY25), according to data collated by primedatabase.com. Fundraising through debt stood at Rs 11.1 trillion in FY25, including contributions from InvITs (infrastructure investment trusts) and REITs (real estate investment trusts).
HDFC Bank's latest shareholding data showed that the room for foreign investment has fallen just 5 basis points short of the threshold set by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) to fully include the stock in its indices. Currently, the index provider has applied an adjustment factor of 0.5 since the foreign room is less than 25 per cent. Removal of the adjustment factor will result in inflows of a massive $4.8 billion (Rs 40,000 crore) into HDFC Bank, according to Brian Freitas, a New Zealand-based analyst with Periscope Analytics.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group is in advanced talks to acquire real estate company Emaar India for an enterprise value of around $1.4-1.5 billion as it looks to expand its property business, according to sources. Dubai-based Emaar Properties entered the Indian real estate market in 2005 in partnership with India's MGF Development and invested Rs 8,500 crore through the joint venture firm Emaar MGF Land.
The government on Friday approved an electric-vehicle policy, under which duty concessions will be given to companies setting up manufacturing units in the country with a minimum investment of $500 million, a move aimed at attracting major global players like US-based Tesla. According to an official statement, the companies setting up manufacturing facilities for e-vehicles will be allowed to import a limited number of cars at lower customs duty. The policy seeks to promote India as a manufacturing destination for EVs and attract investment from reputed global EV manufacturers, it added.
'The introduction of a reasonable MDR for large merchant transactions will allow the industry to continue investing in innovation, cybersecurity, grievance redressal, and merchant support, ultimately ensuring that UPI continues to thrive.'
'They have since only tried to improve systems. Also, with regulatory guidance from time to time, we are in a position to assess a situation and react in time.'
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will meet top executives of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) on Friday to take stock of the sector. During the meeting, ARCs will also seek clarity from the regulator on bank borrowing. While there is no regulatory ban in place, ARC sources said banks often refuse funding.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies soared to an all-time high of Rs 406.52 lakh crore on Monday thanks to a rally in equities where the BSE Sensex climbed over 1 per cent. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 941.12 points or 1.28 per cent to finish at 74,671.28. During the day, it zoomed 990.99 points or 1.34 per cent to 74,721.15.
US-based private equity firm Blackstone and Bengaluru-based real estate developer Sattva Group filed the draft initial public offer (IPO) papers for India's biggest real estate investment trust (Reit) named Knowledge Realty Trust to raise ?6,200 crore. The Reit will be the largest in India in terms of net operating income (NOI) and gross assets value (GAV).
The stocks are largely from sectors such as chemicals, finance and cement, which struggled earlier but the worse seems to be behind them.
'Consider 40% to 50% in equities, 10% in gold as a hedge, and the remaining 30% to 40% split between multi-asset funds and hybrid funds.'
Fintech firm BharatPe is targeting an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 18-24 months with the company expecting profitability at an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and ammotisation (Ebitda) level for FY25, chief executive officer (CEO) Nalin Negi said.
'The deal pipeline across products is robust for 2024.'