Markets have slipped into the red after opening on the positive zone. The Sensex is down 35 points at 17,394. Nifty is down 10 points at 5,269.
In a significant development, India is believed to have placed a funding request of around $55 million in its first call with the Pandemic Fund of the World Bank, sources said. The fund has been set up to finance critical investments in a bid to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities at national, regional, and global levels, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. It was created in the aftermath of the Covid-19 global pandemic.
If military power is all it would take to finish the menace of an awful terrorist organisation like Hamas, how come five Israeli wars in Gaza since 2003 have failed to do so? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Benchmark Sensex rallied 455 points and Nifty rose more than 133 points to close above the key 18,000-mark for the first time since April on Tuesday as foreign institutional investors continued to be bullish on the domestic market. Continuing its rally for the fourth straight session, the 30-share Sensex rose 455.95 points or 0.76 per cent to close at 60,571.08 points. The broader Nifty climbed 133.70 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 18,070.05 points. Previously, the Nifty had closed above the 18,000-mark on April 4 this year.
The rupee depreciated 44 paise and slipped below the 81-mark against the US dollar for the first time in early trade on Friday, weighed down by the strong american currency and risk-off sentiment among investors. Forex traders said escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine and rate hikes by the US Fed and Bank of England in a bid to contain inflation sapped risk appetite. Further, the strength of the American currency in the overseas market, a negative trend in domestic equities, and risk-off moods amid escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine weighed on the local unit.
The country's new economic roadmap highlights the importance of creating a virtuous cycle of investment, savings and exports in order to sustain rapid economic growth over the next five years.
India is in a much better position to deal with the challenges related to growth and inflation, said Sanjiv Bajaj, president of industry body CII. According to official figures, India's retail inflation continues to remain above the Reserve Bank's tolerance level of 6 per cent since January, while the economic growth in the first quarter of the fiscal was 13.5 per cent, lower than the central bank's estimate of 16.2 per cent. "I don't want to say we don't have our own challenges with growth, with inflation but we are in a much better position and credit must go to everybody including the central and state governments.
Equity indices overcame a wobbly start to clock gains for the third session on the trot on Tuesday, propped up by banking, metal and energy stocks amid a mixed trend in global markets. A recovery in the rupee also bolstered sentiment, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 246.47 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 54,767.62 after starting the trade on a weak note. In a volatile session, the benchmark hit a high of 54,817.52 and a low of 54,232.82 during the day.
'This resilience should be viewed as reflecting the strength of the structural story.'
IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting over 5 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank. NSE Nifty jumped 203.15 points to 17,780.00.
Axis Bank emerged as the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, surging 6.62 per cent, followed by SBI at 5.88 per cent.
While the RBI can nudge things along, ultimately bank owners must recapitalise and review internal processes to ensure that a culture of irresponsible lending doesn't continue, says Devangshu Datta.
Walmart, the world's largest retailer, has paid $1.4 billion to buy out US-based Tiger Global's investment in e-commerce firm Flipkart, according to sources. The transaction puts Flipkart's valuation at $35 billion, against nearly $38 billion in 2021 when it raised funds from Japan's SoftBank, Walmart, and other investors. Tiger Global, Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, and Accel now have all fully exited the e-commerce firm by selling their stake to Walmart.
As the world celebrated International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) on December 3, corporate India has kept up with efforts to make workplaces more inclusive and accessible. Organisations across sectors are taking initiatives such as equipping offices with practical work tools like Braille-friendly and voice-enabled lifts and screen readers. While inclusion has gained pace, only 11.3 per cent (or 3.4 million out of 30 million) Indians with disabilities have jobs.
All five African teams at the last World Cup in Russia failed to get past the first round and the continent's football leaders have said their future priority is to make sides more competitive in the international arena.
ICICI Bank will offer shares to Japanese investors without getting listed in Japan as a part of its upcoming Rs 2,300-cror
L&T top gainer among the Sensex stocks.
After 2014, our growth has been average of around 5%. If this continues, we will remain here like Egypt, Brazil, South Africa and Bangladesh, points out Aakar Patel.
The Indian economy recovered from the Covid-induced downturn during 2022 and is poised for further improvement in the coming quarters though downside risks emanating from geopolitical tensions, strengthening dollar and elevated inflation will continue. The positive trajectory in the growth trend and improved fundamentals will help the nation in neutralising the impact of global headwinds which are expected to have a bearing on the country's exports in the months to come. The challenges before the government and the Reserve Bank in the new year would be to arrest inflation, check declining value of rupee against US dollar and promote private investment and growth, with a view to ensure that the country remains one the fastest growing major economies of the world.
Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's itinerary for his June 21-24 US visit could include an address to a fledgling business advocacy group, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Wednesday refused to speculate on whether the G20 foreign ministers' meeting would be able to come out with a joint communique against the backdrop of widening differences between the West and Russia on the Ukraine conflict.
BSE mid-cap index slipped 0.6% at 6,266. Small-cap index held on to gains and traded unchanged at 6,034.
Asia would become a major hub for corporate and investment banking in five years, according to a report released by McKinsey.
China, the Ukraine crisis and Quad will dominate the discussions, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Led by Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the combined revenue of the Tata group's listed firms crossed the Rs 10-trillion mark for the first time, in 2022-23. The group's 14 key listed companies in which Tata Sons holds a direct equity stake reported a combined revenue of Rs 10.07 trillion in FY23, up 15.3 per cent from Rs 8.73 trillion in FY22. The combined net profit of these companies was, however, down 10.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 66,670 crore in FY23, from a record high of Rs 74,540 crore in the previous financial year, when the profit had jumped 156 per cent YoY, aided by Tata Steel's strong showing.
Barely days after imposing a 40 per cent export tax on onions to cool down soaring prices, which, in turn, triggered widespread protests across the main growing belts, the Centre on Tuesday sought to mitigate both political and economic tensions gripping parts of Maharashtra. It decided to procure an additional 200,000 tonnes of onions at Rs 2,410 per quintal for its buffer stock from farmers, a rate that is strikingly close to the price at which they were being exported before the 40 per cent duty was levied on August 19. The export price before the imposition of the duty stood at around $320 per tonne free on board (approximately Rs 2,650 per quintal).
'We had tremendous faith in honorable Modiji in his second term as he was well-settled. Sadly that has been belied.'
'We should look at is full year's growth rather than quarter numbers.'
Policies to break down the business group format are far more likely to be effective, argues Simon Commander.
In the Sensex pack, other gainers were Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, HUL, Asian Paints, HDFC duo and ONGC -- gaining as much as 2.87 per cent.
After the recent attack on debit cards exposed the gaps in their security systems, banks are getting serious about data privacy.
BSE Realty index and BSE Bankex indices surged by over 2%.
The Sensex was pulled lower mainly by Maruti, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI -- which suffered losses to the tune of 3 per cent.
Kotak Mahindra Bank was the biggest gainer on both the indices, ending nearly 9 per cent higher following reports that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc was planning to pick up stake in the private sector lender.
The RBI refuses to classify a cryptocurrency as an asset since it doesn't have future cash flow and its value is always fluctuating because of speculation. There is also no consumer protection, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay, and hence the e-rupee trial run.
With Lok Sabha elections months away, the visits are vital politically as these would showcase Modi's standing as a world leader to the home electorate.
The coming together of the Quad and the Australia-UK-US grouping would be a formidable adversary, moving toward the creation of a 'thousand ship navy' that reins in the PLA navy in the Indo-Pacific.
Japanese telecom major would invest $50 mn in the start-up in 'December or latest by January'.
The NSE Nifty settled the day 38.85 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 10,500.90 after shuttling between 10,590.55 and 10,456.65, intra-day.
Among the prominent gainers on the Sensex chart were Bajaj Finance, Bajaj FinServ, ICICI Bank, Axis bank, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank and HDFC Bank -- rising as much as 3.50 per cent. NSE Nifty soared 271.65 points to settle at 17,625.70.
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