Many investors want to exit equities now and re-enter when they begin to rise. Such timing is difficult to pull off.
Despite gold prices hitting record highs, analysts aren't gung-ho about the outlook for gold financiers Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance. This, they said, was due to intense competition from banks, coupled with stagnating loan books and likely pressure on margins.
Aided by the $57.8-billion merger of HDFC Bank and HDFC, India Inc reported its highest ever mergers and acquisitions in calendar 2022 at $171 billion as against deals worth $145 billion announced last year. The acquisition by the Adani group across cement, media and ports dominated the headlines with the conglomerate making its foray into the cement sector by buying Swiss materials firm Holcim's stake in Ambuja Cements for $6.5 billion. The Adani family's additional $4-billion open offer for Ambuja did not get a response because shareholders preferred to stay invested with the new owner.
Fitch Ratings has upgraded Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) rating to 'BBB', one notch above India's sovereign rating, as the company benefits from cash flow generation across diversified business segments and continuation of deleveraging. In a statement, Fitch said it has upgraded RIL's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) to 'BBB', from 'BBB-', with a negative outlook. At the same time, the agency has affirmed RIL's long-term local-currency IDR at 'BBB+' with a stable outlook.
Embattled Adani group has appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton for an independent audit of some of its companies in a bid to come clean of the damning allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research and to assure investors and regulators. Sources said the audit is primarily to show to regulators like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the group has nothing to hide and it is in compliance with relevant laws. The audit will specifically look into if there was any misappropriation or repatriation of funds and if loans were used for any purpose other than the one they were intended for.
Adani group firm Adani Ports & SEZ paid Rs 1,500 crore loan and promised to repay more as the embattled conglomerate mapped a comeback strategy after a sellout triggered by a damning report by US-based Hindenburg Research. Adani Ports and SEZ paid SBI Mutual Funds' due amount of Rs 1,500 crore on Monday and will also pay another Rs 1,000 crore of commercial papers due in March (as per the payment scheme), a company spokesperson said. "This part prepayment is from the existing cash balance and funds generated from the business operations," the spokesperson said.
Shares of IT major Infosys tanked 9 per cent on Thursday as the company expects sluggish growth in the January-March quarter due to muted spending by clients, especially in the retail sector.
'Indian single malts have a very specific character.' 'They are sweet when you take a frontal palette approach and change significantly with the addition of water.'
While the company will gain from enhanced scale and size following the merger with Mahindra Satyam, its ability to bag large deals will be a key growth driver.
'Markets could face uncertainty in the short to medium term.' 'It would be prudent to invest in alternative asset classes, especially debt, for about a year.' 'Bank fixed deposits are offering rates as high as 9 per cent per annum and these can be used as a great hedging tool until equity markets stabilise.'
Stocks of gold jewellery retailers have been able to retain their sheen in 2023 despite volatile gold prices. Kalyan Jewellers, Titan, PC Jewellers, Thangamayil Jewellery, and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri (TBZ) have rallied 21-72 per cent so far since April as compared to a 13 per cent gain in the benchmark Sensex index. The rally gained steam on the back of gold's 6 per cen
Despite lay-offs and the threat of automation, the industry will continue to be an important driver of growth in employment and GDP, says Ashok Soota.
The Economic Survey 2022-23 (FY23), to be presented a day before Union Budget 2023-24 (FY24), is likely to project India's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth between 6 per cent and 7 per cent for FY24, Business Standard has learnt. The broader theme of the Survey could be on how India has dealt with two years of a global pandemic and the ongoing geopolitical disturbance, the strengths and weaknesses that emerged, and what lessons may be learnt. The much-awaited Survey will be the first one by Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran and his team in the finance ministry's economic division.
The re-opening of the Chinese economy, as it moves away from its zero-Covid policy, could help stabilise commodity prices, according to some of the country's top metal companies. They view this as a positive for demand, at a time when markets such as the US and Europe have been largely weighed down by slowdown concern now. "Most of us in the metals business are hoping the Chinese economy picks up because half of any metal demand, including demand for aluminium, comes from China.
In the April-June period, bond yields rose by 30 bps.
India's services sector activities improved further and expanded at strongest rate in over 11 years in May, supported by a substantial pick-up in new business growth, even as input cost inflation climbed to a record high, a monthly survey said on Friday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index jumped to 58.9 in May, up from 57.9 in April, amid better underlying demand and strong inflows of new work. For the tenth straight month, the services sector witnessed an expansion in output.
'Earnings will be the catalyst for markets to march higher from here on out.'
Currently, TCS is India's second most valuable firm after Reliance Industries, which has a market cap of nearly Rs 12.9 trillion.
Indian equity markets should be able to withstand inflation up to 8 per cent, said analysts at Credit Suisse Wealth Management in a recent note. Should the rate of inflation move higher than this, the valuation of Indian equities could deteriorate further, they cautioned. The fall from the peak levels has seen Nifty's 12-month forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 17.6 dip toward its 10-year and 5-year (pre-COVID) average of 16.9, which suggests that valuation froth of Indian equities has settled, said the Credit Suisse analysts.
India's services sector activity witnessed a sharp upturn in August on the back of stronger gains in new business, ongoing improvements in demand conditions and job creation, a monthly survey said on Monday. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose from July's four-month low of 55.5 to 57.2 in August, amid a quicker upturn in business activity and the sharpest rise in employment for over 14 years. For the thirteenth straight month, the services sector witnessed an expansion in output.
Jaishankar, who arrived in Santo Domingo on his first official visit to the Dominican Republic, also said that India has seen a dramatic expansion in connectivity, contacts, and cooperation across the region.
Brokerages are expanding the universe of stocks they cover amid a boom in the market. Several stocks in the mid-cap universe are now tracked by more analysts than they were a year ago. For instance, SBI Cards and Payment Services is now tracked by 17 brokerages, compared to just four a year ago.
'Indian equity valuations, although not very expensive, are not cheap either.'
The auto component sector grew at 5-6 per cent last year against a 13 per cent growth in 2012.
Over the past three trading sessions, the stock of Cummins India has gained about nine per cent on strong January-March quarter (Q4) results and good near-term prospects. Its Q4 performance was led by a healthy 29 per cent revenue growth over the year ago quarter. This was largely on the back of a 33 per cent jump in domestic revenues while exports witnessed a growth of 17 per cent.
Moody's on Thursday slashed India's growth estimate for the current year to 9.1 per cent, from 9.5 per cent earlier, saying high fuel and fertilizer import bill could limit the government's capital expenditure. In its 'Global Macro Outlook 2022-23 (March 2022 Update): Economic Growth will suffer as fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine builds' report, the rating agency said Russia's invasion of Ukraine has significantly altered the global economic backdrop through three main channels -- spike in commodities prices, risks to global economy from financial and business disruption and dent in sentiment due to heightened geopolitical risks. It said Russia is the only G-20 economy that will contract this year and forecast that its economy will shrink 7 per cent in 2022, and 3 per cent in 2023, down from projected growth of 2 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively, before the invasion of Ukraine.
India's manufacturing sector activity witnessed a significant loss of growth momentum in May due to the intensification of the COVID-19 crisis and its detrimental impact on demand, a monthly survey said on Tuesday. The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), fell to 50.8 in May, down from 55.5 in April, as companies observed the slowest rises in new work and output in ten months amid intensification of the COVID-19 crisis. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 denotes contraction.
Six years after the rollout of the biggest indirect tax reform in India, Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue of Rs 1.5 lakh crore every month has become a new normal and tax officers are focusing on dealing with fraudsters who are adopting newer modus operandi to game the system, causing loss to the exchequer. To apprehend black sheep, who operate as syndicates and create fake entities on the basis of forged documents to claim input tax credit (ITC), tax officers have started using data analytics, artifical intelligence and machine learning aiming to curb evasion, which was over Rs 3 lakh crore since inception of GST. It was over Rs 1 lakh crore in 2022-23. Thinktank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said the most critical pending GST reform is upgradation of GST Network to prevent fake supplies and fraudulent claims of Input Tax Credit (ITC).
IT and BPO industry body Nasscom's chairman Pramod Bhasin said the industry faced a 'brutal year in many respects' in the last financial year and the companies and customers were passing through 'extraordinary pain'. As a result, BPO customers are undergoing restructuring, internal and management changes and change of decision-makers, he said at the Nasscom's BPO Strategy Summit 2009 in Bangalore.
'In FY23, PV sales are expected to end the year at a record 3.8 million units, up 26 per cent. In FY24, however, the industry is expecting 5-7 per cent volume growth'
This is another blow to Modi's ambitious economic reform agenda that has been stalled by a logjam in parliament
Net sales of the company rose to 18,974.75 crore (Rs 189.74 billion) compared to 17,241.14 crore (Rs 172.41 billion).
Domestic-focused agricultural chemical (agrochem) companies could face near-term headwinds, given the worries on the El Nio effect on monsoons, higher inventory, and pressure on margins. Some of these were reflected in the October-December quarter (third quarter, or Q3) results of companies and may impact them in the current quarter (fourth quarter, or Q4) as well. Nuvama Research pointed out that the sector witnessed mixed performance during the quarter as global agrochem and domestic fertiliser companies maintained growth momentum, while adverse agronomical conditions and excess channel inventory weighed on domestic market volume offtake.
India's services sector remained in contraction territory for the third straight month in July, as business activity, new orders and employment declined further largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and local restrictions, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index rose from 41.2 in June to 45.4 in July, but was stuck in the red due to subdued demand conditions amid the COVID-19 crisis. In Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below 50 denotes contraction.
'It will send a very strong signal that it is now our time to grow.'
'India has the potential to do a lot more to take advantage of the time today where we stand to gain, geopolitically and in terms of market attractiveness.'
No longer a discretion of the tax administrator, the audit of returns filed by taxpayers is now based on a selection by algorithms, notes Tarun Bajaj.
TCS, HCL Tech join Infy in reporting improved earnings, are bullish on outlook.
Beating street expectations, global software major International Business Machines on Wednesday posted a 12 per cent growth in income from operations at $4.4 billion for the fourth quarter in 2008.
