GST 2.0 may cushion consumers against US tariffs, but like the 2019 corporate tax cut, it risks being another tactical fix rather than a structural growth strategy, expects Debashis Basu.
Among Sensex firms, Eternal, Infosys, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were the major gainers. However, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards.
The country's largest listed gold jewellery maker, Titan Company, maintained its growth pace in the April-June quarter of 2025-26 (FY26).
Among Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Eternal, Axis Bank, Maruti, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank and Asian Paints were the gainers. However, Adani Ports, Trent, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever and NTPC were among the laggards.
The more things change, the more they remain the same for corporate India. In the April-June 2025 period (Q1FY26) - for the ninth consecutive quarter - listed companies witnessed only single-digit revenue growth, while their core earnings, excluding other income and one-time gains, contracted for the second time in four quarters. This comes as firms brace for the impact of 50 per cent US tariff on Indian goods.
The proposed reforms in goods and services tax (GST) announced by the government last week, coupled with the eighth pay commission dole-out, is likely to push consumption-driven stocks - such as air conditioners (ACs), select automobiles, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and counters of quick-service restaurants (QSRs) - into higher orbit over the next few months, believe analysts.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has retained its position as the highest-ranked Indian company on the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list, according to the latest rankings released by the publication. The oil-to-telecom-and-retail conglomerate has been ranked at No.88 on the latest list, down from 86th position in 2024.
A ban on US-based high-frequency trader (HFT) Jane Street did little to dent activity in the derivatives segment, with July volumes rising 10 per cent month-on-month to an eight-month high. Analysts and experts said the jump may have come from proprietary and retail traders, spurred by a spike in market volatility.
Bad loans in the agriculture sector remain elevated, with several public-sector banks (PSBs) reporting higher slippages in the April-June quarter of FY26. For many banks, non-performing assets (NPAs) in farm lending were 5 per cent or more, with some nearing double digits.'
The US' move to raise the tariff on most Indian goods to 50 per cent could drag India's GDP growth for FY26 by 35 to 60 basis points, according to various economists. One basis point (bp) is equal to 0.01 per cent.
Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) is looking to be among 10 top global banks in market capitalisation terms in the next five years, chairman CS Setty said on Wednesday. "The scope for value creation for the stakeholders is potentially very high. So the larger ambition is if the market supports whether we can be part of the top 10 global banks in terms of the market capitalisation (five years)," he said after listing of shares issued under Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) at NSE.
Titan, HCL Tech and State Bank of India were also among the laggards. However, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, HDFC Bank and ITC were the gainers.
Mixed views were expressed by top economists on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to hold the repo rate at 5.5% and maintain a neutral stance. While some say the decision was as expected and one more rate reduction is expected this fiscal, there is also a view that rate cut by MPC was warranted given the evolving global situation.
The merger of housing finance major HDFC with the country's largest private lender HDFC Bank will be effective from July 1, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said on Tuesday. The boards of HDFC and the private bank will meet on June 30 post to clear and approve the merger, Parekh told reporters in Mumbai. The merger of the corporation with HDFC Bank will be effective July 1, Parekh said.
As many as 140 million customers of HDFC Bank and Axis Bank are expected to face interruption in banking services in the weekend due to the former's system upgrade and the transition of Citi India business to the latter. Both the banks have notified their customers about the interruption in services. HDFC Bank - the country's largest private sector lender with 93.2 million customers - had announced that it will undertake a system upgrade on July 13, wherein it will migrate its core banking system (CBS) to a new engineered platform to enhance customer experience.
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Growing concerns over slower-than-expected margin recovery, amid weak deposit growth have caught HDFC Bank's investors off guard. HDFC Bank's stock on Wednesday plunged nearly 9 per cent to hit an intraday low of Rs 1,527 on the BSE after reporting weaker-than-expected earnings in the third quarter (October - December) of the current financial year (Q3FY24). The shares of India's biggest private lender closed at Rs 1,536.9, down 8.46 per cent.
Home purchase affordability has improved in the first half of calendar year (CY) 2025, after the RBI reduced the repo rate by 100 basis points (bps), according to real estate consultancy Knight Frank India.
In a mixed bag for HDFC Bank ahead of the parent HDFC's merger with itself, the Reserve Bank of India has declined to make exceptions on certain aspects, and has offered some leeway on others. The country's largest private sector lender, which is aiming to conclude the merger with the home finance major by July, had written to the central bank seeking certain forbearances after announcing the $40-billion merger in April last year. In an exchange filing this evening, HDFC Bank said it received a response from RBI on Thursday and also said that there are a few pending issues.
HDFC Bank's January-March quarter result, which came in-line with expectations, failed to enthuse investors. The reason? The management's decision to abstain from providing any specific growth guidance, and analysts' expectations of an arduous road to recovery. Analysts believe the path to normalisation of several growth metrics is unlikely to be a straightforward one, and the road to balance sheet realignment may be long.
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given HDFC Bank six months to migrate HDFC's home loan customers to external benchmark linked lending rate (EBLR), top sources in the bank told Business Standard. Almost half of HDFC's 5.4 million customers are home loan customers. It is mandatory for banks to link retail loans and loans to micro, medium and small enterprises to an external benchmark. Non-banking financial companies do not have such a mandate.
Singapore's state investor Temasek Holdings, which recently picked up 10 per cent stake in Haldiram, has been consistently expanding its footprint in India while slowly withdrawing from China over the last three years amid growing geopolitical risks and economic headwinds. India has become Temasek's third-largest market, after Singapore (27 per cent) and China (18 per cent), with its exposure to the country higher than the rest of Asia Pacific excluding the three (11 per cent), according to Temasek's annual review.
Sebi aims to stay proactive as HFT and quant firms like Citadel Securities, Optiver, Millennium, and IMC Trading are expanding rapidly in India, which is home to the world's largest derivatives market by contracts traded.
With rising credit demand, cleaner balance sheets, and renewed investor confidence, banks are positioned at the forefront of the market rally. From major players like ICICI and HDFC to broader policy shifts, there's much driving this momentum.
With rising credit demand, cleaner balance sheets, and renewed investor confidence, banks are positioned at the forefront of the market rally. From major players like ICICI and HDFC to broader policy shifts, there's much driving this momentum.
With rising credit demand, cleaner balance sheets, and renewed investor confidence, banks are positioned at the forefront of the market rally. From major players like ICICI and HDFC to broader policy shifts, there's much driving this momentum.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
From the Sensex pack, HCL Tech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and Eternal were the lead gainers. Power Grid, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.
These plans are suited for individuals and families with regular OPD needs -- those managing chronic illnesses and families with young children or elderly members.
HDFC Bank's market capitalisation (market cap) touched Rs 13 trillion in Thursday's (December 28, 2023) intra-day trades as the largest private sector lender is set to report its sharpest monthly rally in the past two years. At 10:33 AM; HDFC Bank's market cap stood at Rs 13.03 trillion, the BSE data shows. The stock was up 1 per cent at Rs 1,717.90 in intra-day trades on December 29, inching towards its record high of Rs 1,757.80 touched on July 3, 2023.
The combined market valuation of the top-ten most valued firms jumped by a whopping Rs 3,84,004.73 crore in the holiday-shortened last week, in-tandem with a smart rally in equities, with HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel emerging as the biggest gainers. Last week, the BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 3,395.94 points or 4.51 per cent, and the NSE Nifty surged 1,023.1 points or 4.48 per cent.
While a giant, it's a nimble-footed one, and is growing at a speed that even some of its private sector peers find enviable.
Between FY18 and FY24, it doubled its balance sheet. Despite being a late entrant in some segments, it has been able to grab market share, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
HDFC Bank has been conscious in not accepting high-cost deposits, which have resulted in slower growth in October-December, said Sashidhar Jagdishan, managing director and chief executive officer, during an interaction with Goldman Sachs recently. He said during times of tight liquidity, short terms hardened, as was the case in October-December. "Not only did we participate, but we also gave up which came up for maturity," he said.
ICICI Bank has cut its savings account deposit interest rate by 0.25 per cent, according to the lender's website. The second largest private sector bank's move comes days after larger rival HDFC Bank announced similar move amid a spate of cuts in deposit offerings following RBI's two back-to-back rate decreases.
From the Sensex pack, Tata Motors, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid Corp, Titan, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki India and Tata Steel were among the biggest gainers. Sun Pharmaceuticals, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.
HDFC Life Insurance Company on Thursday said it has received GST demand orders of over Rs 27 crore for alleged short payment of taxes. In two separate regulatory filings, the insurer said it has received tax demand orders of over Rs 16.5 crore and Rs 10.5 crore from authorities for alleged short payment of GST and input tax credit claim mismatch.
HDFC Bank on Tuesday said RBI has given approval to the group to acquire up to 9.5 per cent stake each in six lenders, including ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.
Between March 2022 and September 2023, HDFC Bank added 56,310 employees.
There have been some cases where the entire family has perished or both spouses died in the crash, which are making the claims process particularly complex.
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