'Large-caps are better placed to withstand the impact of higher input cost inflation, rising rates and withdrawal of excess global liquidity.'
India's rupee is likely to remain under pressure due to high prices of crude oil and other commodities, and may stabilise at around 79-80 against the US dollar in the near term, say experts amid limited headroom available with the Reserve Bank to check the weakening of the domestic currency. The currency has slumped over 5 per cent this year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent international crude oil prices soaring to a decade high. On Monday, rupee ended at a fresh all-time low of 78.34 (provisional) against the US dollar.
The southwest monsoon in 2012 might have left Indian shores a couple of months back after having a rather uneven run during the four-month season, but its after-effect in pushing up prices of onion , edible oils , pulses , potatoes and banana is likely to be felt all year long.
The government has ordered monoclonal antibody from Indian Council of Medical Research to treat the child. It is the only available anti-viral treatment for Nipah virus infection, though it has not been clinically proven yet.
'We suggest investors with suitable risk appetite to consider allocating 40-50 per cent in large-caps, 25-30 per cent of funds in quality mid and small-caps and the rest in debt and high yield products.'
Nirma's tryst with the pharmaceutical space started in 2006 when it acquired the ailing Core Healthcare in a deal reported to be worth Rs 300 crore. The Ahmedabad-based manufacturer of intravenous fluids was subsequently renamed Nirlife. Pharma industry insiders say Nirma, which broke open the detergent market in the 1990s with low prices and massive advertising, tried an encore of the low-price strategy in pharma, but with mixed results.
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.
The Union Government on Thursday said that 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves have been found for the first time in the country in Jammu and Kashmir. Lithium is a non-ferrous metal and is one of the key components in EV batteries. "Geological Survey of India for the first time established Lithium inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir," the ministry of mines said on Thursday.
Retail inflation declined to an 18-month low of 4.7 per cent in April mainly due to falling prices of vegetables, oils and fats, and came closer to Reserve Bank's target of 4 per cent, showed government data released Friday. It was for the second month in a row that Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation remained within the RBI's comfort zone of below 6 per cent. The government has tasked the central bank to ensure retail inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.
Riding on an improved show across parameters, TVS Motor (TVS) outperformed larger two-wheeler peers Hero MotoCorp (Hero) and Bajaj Auto (Bajaj) during the September (Q2 of FY23) quarter. The Chennai-based firm, which has the most-diversified portfolio among two-wheeler majors, posted a 28 per cent jump in revenues. This compares to 18 per cent growth for Bajaj Auto and single-digit uptick for Hero MotoCorp.
The Sensex finished above the psychologically key 60,000-mark while the Nifty surged past the 18,000-level on Monday on across-the-board buying amid a mixed trend overseas. A depreciating rupee and concerns over the US Federal Reserve hiking rates later this week failed to quell investors' appetite for stocks, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 786.74 points or 1.31 per cent to settle at 60,746.59.
A strong performance by sectors including banking raised the profits of Indian companies by 28 per cent in the three months ended March 2022. The rate of growth is, however, lower than the 30 per cent seen in December. Growth in net sales was also lower than what was seen in the December quarter for the sample under consideration.
Companies are not able to pass on the pressure from rising input costs to buyers, and this is likely to result in a compression in corporate profit margins for the March quarter, a report said on Monday. Operating profit margins for companies are set to fall by as much as 3 percentage points compared to the year-ago period, and up to 0.60 per cent as compared to the preceding December quarter, the research wing of rating agency Crisil said in a report. The report comes ahead of the earnings season when major companies start reporting their profits.
Given the prevailing uncertainties, investors must maintain a 10-15 per cent allocation to gold in 2023.
The poor performance of the corporate sector in the current financial year is reflected in the fact that the number of sectors posting net losses has more than doubled quarter-on-quarter -- from seven in the first quarter to 15 in second to 37 in the third quarter.
Crude oil shipments from the US to India rose to the highest levels in November since the conflict began in Ukraine in late February, sparking hopes of a resurgence in oil flows from the US to the subcontinent, reveals shipping data. Shipments from the US have surged as Western nations prepare to impose additional sanctions on Russian crude flows. The US shipped around 450,000 barrels per day of crude last month to India, twice that of shipments in October, according to data from London-based commodity intelligence provider Vortexa.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rose by nearly 1 per cent on Friday, extending gains for a second day on the back of buying in banking, financials and energy stocks in line with firm global trends. The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced further by 462.26 points or 0.88 per cent to settle at 52,727.98. During the day, it rallied 644.15 points or 1.23 per cent to 52,909.87. The Nifty gained 142.60 points or 0.92 per cent to settle at 15,699.25.
Overseas investors have pulled out a net Rs 1,14,855.97 crore from the Indian markets in the current year so far, amid heightened geopolitical tensions and inflation concerns. Foreign portfolio investors have sold domestic equities worth Rs 48,261.65 crore so far this month, taking the year-to-date tally this year to a massive Rs 114,855.97 crore, according to depositories data. The exodus of foreign investors was largely owing to inflationary pressures and deepening global macroeconomic conditions following the Russia-Ukraine war, experts said.
Manufacturing companies have been outperformers on the bourses in the current year, leading to a rise in their weighting in the benchmark index. Companies in sectors such as FMCG, automobile, pharmaceuticals, metals, cement, and agrochemicals now account for 25.43 per cent of the Nifty 50 index, up 88 basis points from 24.55 per cent at the end of December last year and a record low of 23.1 per cent at the end of CY20. The manufacturing sector is now dominated by FMCG majors such as Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Asian Paints, Nestle, and Britannia, accounting for 45 per cent of the combined market cap of all manufacturing companies in the index.
BofA Securities has revised its year-end Nifty target from its earlier projection of 16,000 to 14,500 now - down over 6 per cent from the current levels. Fast tightening monetary conditions, slowing growth/fears of US recession and the likely Nifty EPS (earnings per share) cuts, BofA Securities said, are the key headwinds for the markets in the near-term. However, clarity on macro and monetary policy outlook in the US/India, it said, is the silver lining that could see markets bottom out by August/September 2022.
After withdrawing record funds in 2021-22, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued their sell-off in the last fiscal too and pulled out Rs 37,631 crore from Indian equities amid aggressive rate hikes by central banks globally. The outflow trend is likely to reverse in the current financial year since India has the best growth potential in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said. Market analysts believe that FPI flows in the current financial year would be decided by a host of factors, such as the US Federal Reserve's policy stance, oil prices movement and development in the geopolitical situation.
Equity investors became richer by over Rs 5.77 lakh crore on Tuesday, helped by a rally in the broader market where the BSE benchmark jumped nearly 2 per cent. The BSE Sensex zoomed 934.23 points or 1.81 per cent to settle at 52,532.07. Driven by the rally in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms jumped by Rs 5,77,006.83 crore to stand at Rs 2,40,63,930.50 crore. "Absence of fresh selling triggers in the domestic and global economy along with falling commodity prices relieved the heavily discounted equity market to showcase recovery.
'Gold could benefit from the resulting risk aversion, as happened last year.'
Equity investors have become poorer by more than Rs 18.74 lakh crore as the market continued to remain bearish for the fifth session on the trot on Thursday. The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,158.08 points or 2.14 per cent to end below the 53,000-level at 52,930.31 points on Thursday. Markets have been falling for five straight sessions and the BSE benchmark has tumbled 2,771.92 points or 4.97 per cent during this period.
The rupee on Thursday closed at its all-time low of 78.32 (provisional) against the US dollar as strong American currency and persistent foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiments. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 78.26 and finally settled at its all-time low 78.32, unchanged from its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee declined by 19 paise to settle at an all-time low level of 78.32 against the US dollar.
What has hit sentiment further is a draft proposal by the government to increase vehicle insurance premiums for financial year 2022-23 (FY23). Third-party motor insurance premiums have not been increased over the last two years and if this is approved, insurance costs for specific segments could rise by a fifth. The worst impacted is the 350cc and above two-wheeler segment, where premiums are up 21 per cent. Royal Enfield (Eicher Motor) is the market leader in the segment. The premiums in the 150-350cc two-wheeler category are also being inc
Key stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined over 1 per cent at close on Monday due to heavy selling in banking, auto and FMCG shares amid weak global market trends and continued foreign fund outflows. Reversing its previous session's gains, benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled 638.11 points or 1.11 per cent to settle at 56,788.81. During the day, it tanked 743.52 points or 1.29 per cent to 56,683.40. The broader NSE Nifty fell by 207 points or 1.21 per cent to end at 16,887.35 as 42 of its constituents declined.
A sharp rally in domestic stocks from June lows has once again rendered Indian markets expensive to their emerging-market (EM) peers. The 12-month forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple for the Nifty50 Index is around 20.6x - 82 per cent higher than 11.3 per cent for the MSCI EM Index. India's valuation premium has hit a five-month high. This is on the back of sharp outperformance to EM and global peers from June lows and also due to earnings downgrades, following the April-June quarter of 2022-23 earnings.
Vedanta Limited (Vedanta) helping its parent and group holding company Vedanta Resources to deleverage its balance sheet has started to strain its balance sheet. Vedanta's gross debt (consolidated) was up 24.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in FY23 and reached a six-year high of Rs 66,628 crore by the end of March. Similarly, its net debt went up 20.3 per cent YoY to Rs 45,706 crore at the end of FY23, up from Rs 38,228 crore a year ago; it was the highest since FY20.
Size matters on the road. Small is not dominating India's car market any more. The share of cars priced up to Rs 5 lakh in the passenger vehicle market has fallen to 10.5 per cent in the first 11 months of 2021-22, compared with 26 per cent in 2018-19 (FY19), the lowest in four years, according to data from industry sources. Even the share of those in the price range between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 7.5 lakh has dropped to 32.4 per cent in the same period, from 34.9 per cent.
Benchmark indices advanced for the second straight session on Tuesday, with the Sensex and Nifty jumping nearly 2 per cent each, mirroring a rally in global equity markets. Buying in index majors Reliance Industries and IT stocks buoyed the benchmarks. The BSE Sensex zoomed 934.23 points or 1.81 per cent to settle at 52,532.07. During the day, it rallied 1,201.56 points or 2.32 per cent to 52,799.40. The NSE Nifty climbed 288.65 points or 1.88 per cent to finish at 15,638.80.
Foreign investors pumped in Rs 11,119 crore in the Indian equities in December, making it the second consecutive monthly inflow, despite increasing concerns over the re-emergence of Covid-19 cases in some parts of the world. However, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned cautious in recent days. The inflow in December was much lower compared to Rs 36,239 crore invested by FPIs in the month of November, data with the depositories showed.
On a day when several mandis across the country are closed in protest against the recent Centre's decision to impose stringent stock-holding limit on pulses, the government clarified that limits have been defined as retail prices are still higher than last year though there is some moderation in the last few weeks. It said the same logic also holds true for edible oils, the import duties on which was slashed few days back and curbs lifted on import of refined oils. The decision on edible oil and pulses have caused massive resentment among the trading community as it came just ahead of the kharif sowing season, when prices were off their peaks due to multiple steps announced previously. Sources said trading activity in some of the major mandis dealing in pulses such as Sholapur, Amravati and Latur in Maharashtra, Indore and Dewas in Madhya Pradesh along with Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh was impacted as traders went on a flash strike in protest against the decision to impose stock limits.
The BSE Sensex maintained its winning run for the fourth session on the trot on Wednesday to reclaim the 60,000-level after a gap of over four months as investors remained upbeat amid softening crude oil prices and persistent foreign fund inflows. A strengthening rupee and positive Asian markets further bolstered sentiment, traders said. The 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 417.92 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 60,260.13 -- closing above the psychologically key 60,000-mark for the first time since April 5 this year.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rallied for a third day in a row on Wednesday on buying in Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC twins and ICICI Bank following gains in global equities amid hopes of a breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. The 30-share BSE barometer index surged 740.34 points or 1.28 per cent to settle at 58,683.99. During the day, it jumped 784.13 points or 1.35 per cent to 58,727.78. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 172.95 points or 1 per cent to settle at 17,498.25. Among the 30-share pack, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Maruti, Reliance Industries Limited were among the lead gainers. On the other hand, ITC, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and Titan were among the laggards.
The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee brainstormed the impact of any future shocks on the inflation trajectory and stressed monitoring the cumulative effect of monetary policy actions over the past one year, which is still unfolding, revealed minutes of the rate-setting panel released on Thursday. The minutes of the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das, also indicated it would be premature to declare an end to the monetary tightening cycle, which started in May 2022 to check high inflation following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. The central bank, which effected six back-to-back hikes in the key short-term lending rate (repo) since May 2022 to check high inflation, decided to take a pause early this month.
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.
The rupee depreciated 40 paise to an all-time low of 81.93 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday as the strengthening of the American currency and risk-averse sentiment among investors weighed on the local unit. Moreover, a negative trend in domestic equities and significant foreign fund outflows sapped investor appetite, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 81.90 against the greenback, then fell to 81.93, registering a fall of 40 paise over its previous closing.
Prices moved up sharply in recent months.
India's economy grew 6.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022-23, pushing up the annual growth rate to 7.2 per cent, official data showed on Wednesday.