Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday ruled out upside risks to the 5.3 per cent inflation forecast for the current fiscal, saying the recent cut in excise duty on diesel and petrol as well as better management of supply-side issues on the food front have contained inflationary expectations. These measures are significantly positive for inflation management, he said. After months of calls for reducing taxes on fuels, the government, last week, cut the excise duty on diesel and petrol by Rs 10 and Rs 5 per litre, respectively.
Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani on Friday resigned as director of Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure, following markets regulator Sebi order restraining him from associating with any listed company. "Anil D Ambani, non-executive director, steps down from the board of Reliance Power in compliance of SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) interim order," Reliance Power said in a BSE filing. In a separate filing to the stock exchange, Reliance Infrastructure said that Anil Ambani has stepped down from its board "in compliance of SEBI interim order".
Investor wealth worth over Rs 13.44 lakh crore was wiped off on Thursday as the domestic equity markets tumbled along with global risk assets, after Russia launched military operations against Ukraine. Amid intensifying rout in the global financial markets, the 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted 2,702.15 points or 4.72 per cent to end at 54,529.91. The carnage on Dalal Street eroded investor wealth worth Rs 13,44,488.54 crore, taking the total market capitalisation (m-cap) to Rs 2,42,24,179.79 crore on the BSE.
Petrol price on Wednesday touched a new high of Rs 84.45 per litre in the national capital after state-owned fuel retailers hiked prices after a five-day hiatus. Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 25 paise per litre each, according to a price notification from oil marketing companies. In Delhi, petrol now costs Rs 84.45 per litre and diesel is priced at Rs 74.63. In Mumbai, petrol comes for Rs 91.07 a litre and diesel for Rs 81.34. This is the highest ever price of petrol in Delhi, while diesel is at a record high in Mumbai.
Future group promoter Kishore Biyani's stake fell consistently across group companies since December 2019 after American retail major Amazon infused funds in a Future group promoter entity and the group companies started showing signs of financial distress due to closure of stores due to Covid-19 pandemic. As lenders take Future group companies to the bankruptcy courts to recover their dues under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the shareholders of Future group companies are staring at complete wipeout of their investments as secured lenders get top priority in any potential recovery, say lawyers. "The fate of all Future group shareholders is now sealed with them looking at a complete loss.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said underlying economic activity in India continues to be strong, but external factors will cause some "dent" to the economy. Speaking at the BFSI Insight Summit 2022 organised by Business Standard, Das said the RBI tracks 70 fast moving indicators and most of them are in the "green box". It is the external sector, mired by a fear of recession or clear visibility about slowing growth in a large part of the world, where the challenges lie, he said, adding that the impact of external demand will "dent" the economy.
With retail inflation witnessing significant uptick in May, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to maintain status quo in its August monetary policy review, according to a report. According to the SBI's research report- Ecowrap, inflation may remain elevated in the coming months due to several global and domestic factors. "We expect a status-quo in August. We believe RBI would still try to find a marriage of convenience of regulatory and developmental measures and monetary policy in August policy," the research report said on Wednesday.
UK's leading department store chain Debenhams has so far opened two stores in India alongwith its franchisee partner, Planet Retail.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent and decided to continue with its accommodative stance despite rising inflation. This is the 11th time in a row that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has maintained the status quo. RBI had last revised its policy repo rate or the short-term lending rate on May 22, 2020 in an off-policy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low.
ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and Kotak Bank. NSE Nifty declined 124.10 points to 14,906.05.
India's services sector activity moderated in December as business activity and sales rose at a softer pace, while price pressures and the possibility of new waves of Covid-19 affected business sentiment, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index fell from 58.1 in November to a three-month low of 55.5 in December. The rates of expansion moderated but were nevertheless "marked" by historical standards, the survey said.
The top 10 valued firms added a total Rs 1,56,317.17 crore to their market valuation last week, helped by across the board rally which catapulted the benchmark index Sensex to the record 60,000 mark for the first time. During the last week, the 30-share BSE benchmark rallied 1,032.58 points or 1.74 per cent. The BSE Sensex made history on Friday by reaching the 60,000-mark for the first time ever. The market capitalisation (mcap) of Reliance Industries zoomed Rs 58,671.55 crore to reach Rs 15,74,052.03 crore. The m-cap of RIL went past Rs 16 lakh crore mark in intra-day trade on Thursday following a rally in its share price.
Despite the wobble in the markets over the past few weeks, Indian equities remain expensive as measured by several yardsticks. India's market capitalisation-to-GDP ratio, for instance, has touched a multi-year high. The ratio is currently at 116 per cent, based on the FY22E gross domestic product (GDP) number, above its long-term average of 79 per cent.
The RBI's financial stability report has on Wednesday highlighted the disconnect between the real economy and equity market yet again. The central bank observed that Indian equities were trading at rich valuations, with several metrics such as price to earnings multiples, price to book ratio, market cap to GDP and the cyclically adjusted P/E ratio, or Shiller P/E, at above historical averages. For instance, as on December 13, the one-year forward P/E ratio for India was 35.1 per cent, above its 10-year average, and one of the highest in the world.
Members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) felt that though the Indian economy was resilient in the third wave, it, however, lost some momentum and with inflation likely to soften, there is room to continue with the accommodative stance and support revival, the minutes of the MPC meeting released on Thursday revealed. The six-member MPC voted to keep the policy rate unchanged and continued with the accommodative stance at its meeting on February 10. However, external member Jayanth Verma voted against the stance because he felt a switch to neutral was long overdue and the current stance has become counterproductive and deflects focus away from addressing recessionary trends that date back to at least 2019.
Vistara said it would provide more services for a smaller, flat additional fee of Rs 499 from Tuesday onward for customers who travel in economy and premium economy classes. Until now, by paying an additional fee of Rs 999, an economy class passenger in Vistara could avail services such as one free change in the ticket up to 72 hours of departure and travelling with additional 5 kg check-in baggage. On Tuesday, the additional fee was reduced from Rs 999 to Rs 499 for economy class passengers. Moreover, such flyers can now make unlimited free changes in the ticket up to 24 hours of departure.
'Pump prices of petrol and diesel have reached historical highs. An unwinding of taxes on petroleum products by both the Centre and the states could ease the cost-push pressures,' the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has said.
Tata Group-owned Air India has informed the Centre that aircraft lessors wish to set up their special purpose vehicles (SPVs) outside India since they aren't enthused about the Indian 'legal structure' and are loath to take risks. Indian airlines have a combined fleet of about 700 planes; over 85 per cent are on lease. A majority of lessors are based in Ireland due to its attractive tax policy, light-touch regulations, and swift legal system.
The second wave of COVID-19 may have a more lasting damage on the Indian economy and exports will once again be the foundation for recovery, Moody's Analytics said on Monday. In its report titled 'APAC Economic Outlook: The Delta Roadblock', Moody's Analytics said social distancing is weighing on the current quarter, but economic recovery will resume by the year-end. The Delta variant of COVID-19 is among factors now adversely affecting economies of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, but the economic hit from the current round of movement restrictions in the region will not be as severe as the recessions in the second quarter of last year.
While the collapse of a large financial intermediary can wreak havoc on the system because of the interconnectivity, a large business conglomerate too can play spoilsport if the banks have too much exposure to the entity, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
India's services sector activity expanded at the strongest pace in ten-and-a-half years in October, driven by a substantial upturn in business activity amid favourable demand conditions, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. Companies indicated that a notable pick-up in new business led to the fastest expansion in output in over a decade and as a result more jobs were created, even though business confidence remained subdued due to growing inflationary concerns. The seasonally adjusted India Services Business Activity Index rose from 55.2 in September to 58.4 in October, signalling the strongest rate of growth in ten-and-a-half years.
Uncertainty is emerging as the only certainty, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das as he emphasised on continued policy support at the December MPC meet during which members expressed concerns over spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, as per the minutes of the rate-setting panel released on Wednesday. After three days of deliberations, the six members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on December 8 unanimously voted for status quo on policy rates for the ninth consecutive time. At the meeting, the RBI Governor said risks stalking the global economy have amplified with rapid spread of the virus mutations, including the Omicron variant, leading to countries scrambling for restrictions.
The PM's visit would signal a strong intent towards making sure India becomes a beneficiary as vaccines become a massively traded commodity in the coming years.
Bajaj Finance was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 5 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel. On the other hand, HUL, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, TCS and ITC were among the laggards.
'Private banks are well-placed to deliver good performance over the next six months.'
As far as possible, investment in the agriculture sector must be from the government, and not the private sector, states Santushti Raj Thapar.
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.
The Reserve Bank will go for a "dovish pause" at Wednesday's policy review announcement amid developments such as a rise in inflation, government maintaining the inflation target band and a likely impact on growth due to local lockdowns on rising COVID-19 infections, analysts said on Monday. Economists at American brokerage Bofa Securities said price stability, growth and financial stability will become the prime focus areas for the central bank going forward. "The RBI MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) should deliver another dovish pause on Wednesday," it said. The policy announcement, the first for the fiscal, will come days after the government maintained the RBI's target to ensure inflation to be within 2-6 per cent band for five more years.
'We try to pick up stocks early and hold onto them for the long term.' 'We are not someone who buys and sells on a daily basis.'
While consumers feel that petrol pinches directly, diesel hurts indirectly, as it is an input in almost all the goods and services we use.
All that happened in India in the past week, in photos.
CEO of Serum Institute of India hints that he may start producing in Britain and speaks about threatening calls from the rich and powerful
Striking a different note from its peers, US brokerage Bank of America Securities has maintained that the Reserve Bank will leave rates unchanged next week, recognising growth-focused and capex-driven fiscal expansion, which though poses huge price pressure and interest rate risks later. The RBI's rate setting panel Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will begin its deliberations next Monday and announce the policy moves on Wednesday (February 9) in the backdrop of a massive spike in bond yields post the Budget. Almost all major central banks are in the process of hiking rates to tame inflation.
'But we are much better than what we all had expected and planned, and what all the prophets of doom had predicted.'
The sale lot of 61 pieces of art, which was spread across a variety of categories such as modern and contemporary South Asian art, prints, and photographs, realised an estimated sale price of Rs 23.8 crore. Pre-auction estimates had expected the sale to range between Rs 37 crore and Rs 52 crore. Around 11 pieces of art remained unsold on Day One, reports Pavan Lall.
Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE on Friday decided to drop Yes Bank from Futures and Options segment from May 29. The existing Futures and Options contracts across all expiries will expire on May 28.
The New York Film Festival served an amazing plate of films. Aseem Chhabra picks the best ones.
'Our focus is not going to be metro to metro routes.' 'We will begin by focusing on metro to non-metro (routes).' 'Metro to tier-2 cities or tier-3 cities is where there is a lot of space for affordable, efficient carriers.'
Minutes of the MPC meeting show Das felt economy needs more monetary stimulus as inflation outlook remains uncertain.
Describing the recent two consecutive spikes in retail inflation beyond the 6 per cent as a 'transitory hump', a Wall Street brokerage on Monday said it expects the RBI to overlook it and unanimously stick to the dovish stance at the forthcoming policy review, even though a further upward revision of its already-revised inflation target is more likely. The Reserve Bank-led monetary policy panel is scheduled to announce the third monetary policy review on August 6, amidst the continuing spike in retail inflation that has breached the 6 per cent upper tolerance level for the past two consecutive months.
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