From its lows this month, the stock of Bharti Airtel is up 14 per cent. The gains for the telco have come on the back of expectations that market share consolidation, tariff hike and lower capex should boost margins and profits. While the company is a key player in the Indian market, it also has a leadership position in major markets of Africa.
Quarterly earnings of corporates, trading activity of foreign investors and inflation data are the key factors that are expected to drive the momentum in the equity markets this week, analysts said.
It will be the second Budget of the Modi 3.0 government and eighth straight Budget for Nirmala Sitharaman, rare in Indian polity.
The stormy second part of Budget Session continues. Both houses of Parliament have been facing continuous protests by opposition parties over issues like fuel price hike.
In 2009, FinMin proposed to move regulators' reserves into public account. These accounts were finally opened in 2013-14. However, no funds have been deposited in it so far.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Asian Paints, Infosys, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies and Tata Steel were the biggest laggards. Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were the gainers.
'If the borrower can't repay the loan due to lack of income or losses from speculative activities, they risk defaulting on it.' 'This could lead to the bank seizing the property.'
The retrospective amendment will help BJP and Congress escape the fallout of a 2014 Delhi high court judgment that held both guilty of violating the FCRA.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will set a record by presenting the sixth Budget in a row -- 5 annual Budgets and one interim -- a feat achieved so far only by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. With the presentation of interim Budget on February 1, Sitharaman will surpass the records of her predecessors like Manmohan Singh, Arun Jaitley, P Chidambaram, and Yashwant Sinha, who had presented five budgets in a row. Desai, as Finance Minister, had presented five annual Budgets and one interim Budget between 1959-1964. The interim Budget 2024-25 to be presented by Sitharaman on February 1, will be a vote-on-account that will give the government authority to spend certain sums of money till a new government comes to office after the April-May general elections.
The recent Indian telecom spectrum auction will hasten industry consolidation, strengthen tariffs and reduce regulatory risks.
'Price competition is fierce, with many companies selling at zero margin.' 'This pricing pressure is challenging smaller companies and will likely drive some out of the market over time.'
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget proposals lay out a comprehensive road map for transforming India into a developed nation, focusing on key priorities that aim to generate ample opportunities for all citizens in "Viksit Bharat". It sets the stage for sustained economic growth, social development, and technological advancement.
'The Budget needs to focus more on social welfare schemes.'
Ambuja Cements' announcement that it would acquire Hyderabad-based Penna Cement Industries could be the Adani Group company's first step for wider inorganic expansion, according to analysts.
Although residential sales faced a major set back in Q2, they made a comeback with help of pent up demand.
Traction for its specialty portfolio, a strong showing in the domestic market, and better regulatory compliance are positives for the country's largest pharmaceutical (pharma) company, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. Given the triggers, some brokerages have increased their earnings per share estimates and target price for 2024-25 (FY25). This should sustain the momentum for the stock, which has been one of the major pharma gainers in 2023-24 (FY24), rising 57 per cent. It is currently trading at Rs 1,547 per share.
The mutual fund industry took a hit of more than Rs 16,000 crore on its asset size during 2011, even as the newly-crowned market leader HDFC MF grew in size and consolidated its top position.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday announced income tax relief for the middle class, a Rs 2 lakh crore outlay for job creation schemes over the next five years and a spending splurge for states run by her party's new coalition partners as she unveiled the Modi 3.0 government's first budget after the general elections.
Following are comments from economists at leading financial institutions, banks and rating agencies on the interim Budget:
The proposed measures aim to bring stricter norms to curb holding of illegal cash and mismanagement of unaccounted cash seized by the probe agencies during investigations.
Most large fund houses, such as HDFC MF, ICICI Prudential AMC, Reliance MF, Reliance MF, Birla SunLife MF and SBI MF, have the backing of large banks or financial institutions, giving them reach and understanding, they say.
'There is no immediate threat to the government, and they would prefer the growth agenda.'
The ongoing fourth quarter earnings season, global factors and macroeconomic data would guide the trends in the equity markets this week, analysts said. Markets would also take cues from trading activity of foreign investors, rupee-dollar trend and movement of global oil benchmark Brent crude. "Domestically, the next batch of Q4 earnings reports will drive stock-specific movements, Hero MotoCorp, Larsen & Toubro, BPCL, State Bank of India, Eicher Motors and Tata Motors are some of the big names in the list and the next phase of voting," said Pravesh Gour, senior technical analyst, Swastika Investmart Ltd.
Equity mutual fund (MF) schemes have raked in Rs 46,200 crore in net lump-sum inflows in the past six months (ended February 2024), almost thrice the inflow in the previous six-month period.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday sought the Union government's reply to a petition seeking deletion of the name 'Prime Minister' from the PM CARES Fund trust and also deletion of the PM's photo as well as images of the national flag and the emblem of India from the trust's official website.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
The recovering valuations, will lead to enhanced optimism among investors about funding startups.
New Delhi-based pharmaceutical major Mankind Pharma is poised to take pole position in women's health portfolio in the India Pharma Market (IPM) after completing the Rs 13,630 crore deal to acquire Bharat Serums and Vaccines (BSV), senior company officials said. The deal potentially opens doors for Mankind Pharma to the overseas markets, which currently draws 92 per cent of its revenues from India. The combined entity will draw around 13 per cent revenues from the international market, with the remaining coming from the domestic market.
Singapore Airlines on Tuesday said Vistara will be merged with Tata group-owned Air India. Tata group owns a 51 per cent stake in Vistara, and the remaining 49 per cent shareholding is with Singapore Airlines (SIA). As part of the transaction, SIA will also invest Rs 2,058.5 crore in Air India.
Adani Enterprises Ltd, the flagship incubator of billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate, on Thursday reported a 37 per cent drop in March quarter net profit, bogged down by one-time past airport dues and commercial mining losses. Its consolidated net profit of Rs 450.58 crore in January-March - the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023-24 - compares to Rs 722.48 crore net profit in the same period last year and Rs 1,888.45 crore earning in the preceding quarter, according to a stock exchange filing by the company.
Mukesh Ambani, the patriarch of Reliance Industries (RIL), and Gautam Adani, the chairman of Adani Group of companies, have secured the top positions on the Fortune India Rich List, created in partnership with Waterfield Advisors, with respective wealth of $99.7 billion and $63.71 billion. With a wealth of $34.6 billion, the Mistry family of Shapoorji Pallonji Group holds the third position on the list, while the Poonawalla family, owners of vaccine maker Serum Institute, with a wealth of $32.9 billion, stands fourth. Stockbroker and founder of D-Mart-branded grocery stores, Radhakishan Damani, claims the fifth spot on the India Rich List with a wealth of $23.4 billion
Now that the economy is growing at a higher-than-expected rate, it is time to accelerate the pace of fiscal consolidation, and the Budget could be a good starting point, argues Rajesh Kumar.
'Like every Budget, this time, too, there is chatter around tinkering with the long-term capital gains tax.' 'Investors may not want to jump into the markets until there is clarity on this front.'
L&T had also sought shareholders' approval to raise $600 million through a qualified institutional placement.
Since March 2020, when the Nifty50 plummeted to 7,511 following the announcement of a nationwide lockdown, the stock market has been on an upward trajectory. Over the next four years, the major market index has delivered a remarkable compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 31.5 per cent. In the past year alone, the Nifty50 has gained by 27 per cent, hitting a succession of record highs.
'Higher valuation remains the only spoiler for equities.'
On a cloudy Monday this month, Mohammed Irshad flew from Kochi to Gurugram to attend an exclusive investor networking event. Among a handful of founders selected for the event, Irshad was to pitch his peer-to-peer learning start-up Notespaedia for funding in front of top venture capital investors such as AngelBay, Elevation Capital, and Inflection Point Ventures. He failed to woo them, but the feisty entrepreneur was determined to continue his hunt.
In an affidavit submitted before a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik, PMO Under Secretary Pradeep Srivastava said the PM's photograph, name and national emblem were also used in the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
