In a dazzling resurgence, foreign investors have graced the Indian equity markets with an influx of nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore in 2023, fuelled by optimism over the country's resilient economic fundamentals amid shadows of a gloomy global scenario. Experts believe that the positive trend may continue in 2024. This follows Indian equities witnessing the worst-ever net outflow of Rs 1.21 lakh crore by FPIs in 2022 on aggressive rate hikes by the central banks globally after net inflows for three consecutive years.
UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules are "a contradiction" and only serve to protect big clubs with a long history of success, according to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Y V Reddy has said the country needs to put in place 'special defences' to face the prospect of volatile capital flows.
'Our target will come from rural areas as there are more outlets there.'
In January, Visa's chief executive officer, Al Kelly, said during an earnings call that "there's been a burst of the balloon in valuations in the fintech world". Noting that the trend of lower valuations "is a helpful characteristic of the current environment", he added: "We will look for capabilities and management teams that will bring more value to Visa than we can bring ourselves." Data from KPMG's Pulse of Fintech H2'22 shows that global fintech investment - via mergers and acquisitions (M&As), private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms - at $164.1 billion in 2022, was down 31 per cent over the year before. Indian fintechs held up better during this timeframe, attracting $6 billion, or a fall of 24 per cent.
The FM's proposal on new banks and a Financial Stability and Development Council could spark tension with RBI.
The report said resilience of the banks has increased with a sharp improvement in the provision coverage ratio to 60.6 per cent in March 2019 from 52.4 per cent in September 2018 and 48.3 per cent in March 2018.
These are the highlights of the seventh bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2019-20 by the RBI amid COVID-19 pandemic:
Foreign portfolio investors' (FPIs') net investments in the domestic debt market surged in December, marking a 77-month high, that is, since July 2017. According to market participants, this significant uptick in FPI inflows can be attributed to the post-domestic policy outcome and the US Federal Reserve's dovish stance at the December policy. FPI inflows into debt stood at Rs 18,393 crore in December against Rs 14,106 crore in November, according to data on the National Securities Depository Limited.
'Valuations of midcaps and smallcaps have reached very high levels, and hence to that extent leave little margin of safety.'
In any downturn, the turnaround comes only when investors feel asset prices have bottomed out; when consumer demand has fallen so much that it has nowhere to go but up; and when bankers feel that businesses (or those that remain) are on even keel.
Lehman Brothers was allowed to go bankrupt. One has not seen any convincing explanation for the different treatment.
Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael Patra on Wednesday said the central bank's views about cryptocurrencies might have delayed the government's proposed legislation on crypto assets. Emphasising that the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) will be introduced in FY23 as announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget speech, Patra said India will proceed very gradually on the subject as there are concerns on privacy, its impact on monetary policy formulation and energy intensity. The government had plans to introduce a bill on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin during the Winter Session of Parliament in November-December 2021 but did not introduce it.
"We will raise Rs 300 crore via bonds of two-, three- and five-year tenures. This will be our maiden bond issuance and is part of our effort to widen funding sources," says Vimal Bhandari, executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Arka Fincap. The firm, a subsidiary of Kirloskar Oil, is only five years old and small (assets of around Rs 5,000 crore with an "AA" rating), but the response to this float will be closely watched: It would be the first by a non-banking finance company (NBFC) after Mint Road upped the risk weights on bank exposures to them by 25 percentage points. The move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has caught NBFCs off guard even though the issue had been flagged by Governor Shaktikanta Das with their corner-room occupants (and that of banks) in July and August 2023 - on consumer credit and the dependency on bank borrowings.
In a remarkable comeback, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pumped Rs 1.7 lakh crore into the Indian equity markets in 2023, propelled by confidence in the country's robust economic fundamentals amid a challenging global landscape. The year 2023 has witnessed massive investment by FPIs, thanks to the sharp uptick in inflows of Rs 66,134 crore in December. Going forward, FPI flows are expected to be robust.
Indian GDP will grow at 8.5 per cent in 2021-22, and the rate will accelerate further to 9.8 per cent in 2022-23, a foreign brokerage said on Tuesday. The GDP had contracted by 7.3 per cent in the pandemic-hit FY21, and is widely expected to grow at a faster pace due to the base effect in 2021-22. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects a 9.5 per cent growth in 2021-22, and the same to slow down to 7.8 per cent as things normalise.
London has been named the world's leading center of commerce in a survey by Mastercard. The survey found that London outpaced New York in four of the six dimensions used by the Worldwide Center of Commerce Index: economic stability, ease of doing business, financial flow and business center. While the other three are self-explanatory, business center "depends on the clustering effect of business formation, supported by efficiency in logistics and transportation linkages."
The rising market poses a dilemma for investors on whether to continue buying, reduce equity holding, or exit equities altogether.
RBI said banks managing capital and infrastructure funds would be prone to risks, which are a part of these business models. Issuing a caution to the banks, it quoted the recent G30 report on financial stability, which had recommended that large and systemically important banking institutions should be restricted in undertaking proprietary activities that present particularly high risks and serious conflicts of interest.
Rajan also said it's a problem of collective action and not a problem of industrial nations or emerging markets
Besides financials, shares of telecom, IT, auto and pharma were in demand.
PS banks need to pull up their socks to improve cash flows.
While both institutions provide financial assistance, there are significant differences between them in terms of offerings, eligibility criteria, interest rates, and other crucial factors.
The Satyam Computer board plans to invite bids for a strategic investor in the next few days and expects to garner a healthy amount as investment, company chairman Kiran Karnik said on Monday.
The finance ministry expects a broad-based moderation in inflationary pressures on the back of an anticipated reduction in food prices as a result of the uptick in summer sowing. The retail inflation rate remained stubbornly clung to the 5 per cent mark in seven of the past eight months. "Core inflation is trending downwards, indicating a broad-based moderation in price pressures... Driven by strong domestic growth and benign global commodity prices, core inflation is declining continuously.
Stock markets will be largely driven by global trends in the absence of any major domestic triggers this week, say analysts. The trading activity of foreign investors, global crude oil prices and rupee-dollar movement will also influence market movement, they said. "Anticipating a period of consolidation in the absence of clear global cues, the market's trajectory will likely hinge on the movement of the US bond yields, the dollar index, and crude oil prices, as well as institutional flows.
The recent run on the US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the subsequent seizure of its assets by the regulators may have sparked a global wave of risk aversion, particularly for start-ups. However, the Indian banking sector is unlikely to be a victim of any contagion effects, said analysts. he bank, which played a big role in financing start-ups and technology players, faced stress after incurring huge losses on its holdings of US bonds, following the most-aggressive monetary tightening cycle by the Federal Reserve in around four decades.
Several mutual funds (MFs) have recently approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as they renew efforts to increase their overseas investment limit. In June 2022, the capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) permitted MFs to invest in foreign stocks within the aggregate mandated limit of $7 billion after a correction in stocks. One of the proposals shared with the RBI is to link MFs' foreign investment limit to the country's foreign exchange reserves.
The Summit could look at the possibility of starting credit facility in local currency by the BRICS Bank.
Among major Sensex movers, ITC rose the most by 1.70 per cent, Wipro by 1.43 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 1.36 per cent and Nestle India by 1.27 per cent. Other gainers included HCL Tech, Asian Paints and Reliance. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, NTPC, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel traded with a loss of up to 0.82 per cent.
Among the Sensex firms, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports sustained their gaining momentum and traded higher by 4.40 per cent and 4.37 per cent, respectively. BPCL, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and SBI were the other major gainers. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Infosys and Bajaj Auto traded in the negative zone with a loss of up to 1.54 per cent.
Adani Total Gas Ltd, the joint venture of billionaire Gautam Adani's group and French energy giant TotalEnergies, will invest Rs 18,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore in the next 8 to 10 years to expand infrastructure for retailing CNG to automobiles and piping gas to households and industries, its CFO said. The company retails CNG to automobiles and pipes gas to household kitchens for cooking purposes in 52 licences that cover 124 districts of the country. It has 460 CNG stations in the country and about 7 lakh consumers of its piped cooking gas.
Government on Tuesday made it clear that full float of rupee would be allowed only after putting in place a regulatory mechanism to ensure financial stability and creating congenial atmosphere like containing revenue and fiscal deficits.
Smaller players manufacturing electric two-wheelers (E2Ws) are unlikely to raise prices of their models initially in 2024 in order to ensure volumes do not drop. The prices of E2Ws range from Rs 90,000 to Rs 1 lakh, the players being Lohia Auto, Godawari Electric, Emobi, etc. As India's E2W sector gears up to go past one million in 2024, manufacturers are likely to maintain price stability, underpinned by strategic independence from subsidies under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) Vehicles II (FAME II), localisation efforts, sustainability initiatives, and a focus on affordability.
Economy improving but long way to full recovery, says FSDC.
'Some buyers believe prices may correct in the future.' 'This is unlikely. Many developers are increasing prices amid strong sales and inflationary trends.'
The chemicals sector's recovery could be delayed until FY25 if the current trends of weak demand and flat pricing continue. Following a subdued September quarter, the revenue and profit performance of listed chemicals companies are anticipated to fall short of initial expectations of an improvement. Despite some price stability, the demand trajectory remains uncertain.
'It is less dependent on imported capital.'
Retail investors have put at least Rs 2,296 crore in listed companies facing proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). A median such-company had 16,163 retail investors as shareholders many of whom apparently have bought a stake on the hope of making money if the firm revives. They own a fifth of the total stake in the companies under consideration. The analysis looked at 75 listed firms for whom shareholding data was available for March 2022.
