Economic activity has regained momentum from late-May after the dent caused by the second wave of COVID-19, and the pandemic's impact on the overall asset quality has been less than expected, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday. However, Das flagged rising data breaches and cyber-attacks as among the risks for the recovering economy, along with others like firming global commodity prices. The governor also said the second wave had a "grievous toll" on the country.
Back home, the Nifty IT index - a gauge of the performance of the IT stocks on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) that has closely mirrored the performance of NASDAQ over the past few years - has lost nearly 2 per cent in CY23.
The last time a bear attack was launched on a controversial businessman was when a cabal of brokers launched an assault in the early 1980s on what they thought was an over-priced Reliance share, recalls T N Ninan.
Emerging markets facing 5th year of slow growth: World Bank.
Strong Q3 brings Infosys comfort amid macro risks.
The Nifty IT has been one of the worst-performing indices on the bourses this calendar year. Rising concerns of a potential global recession, which investors fear can dampen demand for export-facing domestic information technology (IT) giants, have sent the index down over 30 per cent on a year-to-date basis. By comparison, the Nifty50 Index has shed 2.8 per cent during the period, reveals data by ACE Equity.
The engineering and construction (E&C) sector delivered an excellent performance in the last two financial years (FY2021-22 or FY22 and FY23's nine-months) and there's reason to believe that FY24 will also see outperformance. The sector has emerged from the pandemic with stronger balance sheets and more rational cost structures. It has a big order book and it should see new order flows accelerate in FY24.
Only six sectors are likely to report good set of numbers in Q4 FY15.
Allegations abound that traders milked the scheme to artificially keep prices down, while a significant amount of growers didn't even register owing to multiple difficulties in registration and were deprived of the payout.
With real estate -- NRIs's favourite investment vehicle in the past -- unlikely to do well in the near future, there is a strong case for NRIs to shift to equity and debt mutual funds, says Prateek Mehta.
Reliance Industries on Tuesday said it will acquire a majority stake in California-based solar energy software developer SenseHawk for $32 million (around Rs 256 crore). The acquisition of a 79.4 per cent stake in SenseHawk is part of the conglomerate's aggressive push into renewable energy to decarbonise its oil and chemical-dominated business. SenseHawk, founded in 2018, develops tools for the solar industry to help companies streamline processes and use automation. It had a turnover of $2.3 million in last financial year.
There is a lot of optimism across all markets and a large part of it is justified, says Samir Arora of Helios Capital Management.
Nifty snaps 10-day winning streak
As temperatures soar across the country, amid searing heat wave, analysts see power demand hitting fresh record highs this year. The time, therefore, may be opportune to add related stocks on dips as higher demand boosts earnings visibility, they said. On April 18, India's electricity demand touched a new high of 216 gigawatts.
Stocks of defence-related companies have been firing on all cylinders on the bourses in calendar year 2023 (CY23). Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Bharat Electronics (BEL), Bharat Dynamics (BDL), Data Patterns, MTAR Tech, Cochin Shipyard and GRSE have rallied in the range of 21-96 per cent so far this year. By comparison, the BSE Sensex is up 8 per cent. The gains have been sustained on the back of robust export opportunities, a healthy project pipeline and the government's continued push for local manufacturing and indigenisation of defence equipment.
The group companies now lead the market capitalisation league table in sectors such as ports, power generation, gas distribution and transmission, and power transmission and distribution, ahead of incumbents in both public and private sector. This has Gautam Adani family the second wealthiest in business in India.
Economist Abheek Barua's insight into the global and domestic economy at the turn of the financial year.
'In end-December 2015, Nifty would end at 8,600 and Sensex at 28,000.'
India jumps to fourth from thirteen in the list of countries having households with more than $100 mn private wealth.
Vinay Umarji
Modi govt did decent job in its first year.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday retained the GDP growth forecast at 9.5 per cent for the current fiscal but cautioned that the economic recovery is not yet strong enough to be self-sustaining and durable.
Motilal Oswal of Motilal Oswal Financial Services tells Puneet Wadhwa why he thinks the current market levels will sustain.
Sensex up just 6.5% while the best returns were during Manmohan Singh, with the Sensex soaring nearly 167.5%.
'We will continue to refine our operating model to drive more simplicity and nimbleness.'
The central government is on track to meet its fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of the GDP for 2022-23 on the back of strong growth in revenue collections, the World Bank said in its India Development Update on Tuesday. High nominal GDP growth in the first quarter supported strong growth in revenue collection, especially Goods and Services Tax (GST), despite tax cuts on fuel. Notwithstanding an increase in spending due to expanded fertilizer subsidies and food subsidies for vulnerable households in response to the commodity price shock, the government is on track to meet its FY22/23 fiscal deficit target of 6.4 per cent of GDP and the general government deficit is projected to decline to 9.6 per cent from 10.3 per cent in FY21/22 and 13.3 per cent in FY20/21.
Samvat 2070 was a great year for top Indian conglomerates in the stock markets.
With their balance sheets under stress, private companies have lost interest in them.
History would indicate that a recession is not that far off.
India's exports recorded a flat growth of 0.59 per cent to $31.99 billion in November, even as trade deficit widened to $23.89 billion during the month, according to the data released by the government on Thursday. Exports stood at $31.8 billion in November last year. Imports rose by 5.37 per cent to $55.88 billion in November as compared to $53.03 billion in the corresponding month a year ago, the data showed. During April-November 2022, exports rose by 11 per cent to $295.26 billion as against $265.77 billion in the same month last year.
It was a roller-coaster week for the markets, amid talk of a fiscal stimulus by the government. Saurabh Mukherjea, chief executive officer, and Prashant Mittal, strategist, at Ambit Capital tell Puneet Wadhwa the recent flows into equity mutual funds are largely speculative in nature and pose a risk of reversal.
Growth has slowed in some of the large emerging economies, its interim economic assessment report added. "One factor has been a rise in global bond yields -- triggered in part by an expected scaling back of the US Federal Reserve's quantitative easing -- which has fuelled market instability and capital outflows in a number of major emerging economies, such as India and Indonesia.
7 key areas that the Budget must address to re-energise the infrastructure sector, suggests Vinayak Chatterjee.
A yellow glow is likely to stand out amid grey geopolitical clouds in 2023, with gold price projected to touch Rs 60,000 per 10 grams in the Indian market as more investors veer towards safe-haven assets. In a year where volatility was more a norm than an exception, gold prices in the international market oscillated from a peak of $2,070 per ounce in March to a low of $1,616 per ounce in November and is steadily recovering since then, according to market experts. At the beginning of 2022, gold prices were around $1,800 an ounce.
'The Indian economy and the Indian financial sector today remain resilient and much better placed.'
Ola founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggarwal will step back from day-to-day operations to focus more on engineering functions, team building, and products, apart from focusing on long-term strategic projects, such as two-wheelers, cars, and innovations in quick commerce and international expansion. "I'll be spending more time with all engineering functions, team building, and on products," said Aggarwal in an internal note, adding, "I'll also be increasing my focus on our longer-term strategic projects, including new two-wheeler products, our car project, innovations in quick commerce, electrifying ride-hailing, our cell research and development (R&D), international expansion, building our Pune technology (tech) centre, and Futurefoundry UK." To drive scale, speed, and quality, Aggarwal said he is expanding Ola Group's chief financial officer (CFO) G R Arun Kumar's role to help him steer 'day-to-day operations' across the group.
Markets are poised for excellent growth, provided reforms continue to roll
Percy Mistry says things at market regulator Sebi are also in bad shape.
Indians' belief in the country's economic future has diminished in the recent years, with the COVID-19 pandemic taking a further toll on sentiment while pushing many middle-class citizens into poverty, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has said. Virtually addressing an event organised by the NALSAR University of Law, Rajan further said the domestic stock market is booming but that does not reflect the reality that many Indians are in deep distress.
The ministry also decided to dispense with the requirement of the Integrity Pact Bank Guarantee to reduce the financial burden on the Indian defence industry, a move aimed at promoting domestic manufacturing.