RBI interest rate decision, macroeconomic data and global trends would guide markets' movement this week, analysts said. Besides, trading activity of foreign investors and the last batch of Q1 earnings announcements would also guide trends in equities. HSBC PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) for the services sector is scheduled to be announced on Monday.
The bank is expected to report a pre-tax profit of $21 bn.
According to the global financial services major, since the last RBI policy meet, data suggest accelerating growth and surprisingly mild inflation, both at the core and headline level.
The government is likely to conduct a through inquiry into allegations that multinational organisation HSBC Bank was involved in money laundering operations that may have helped terror groups operating in India.The probe is likely to be conducted by sleuths of various intelligence wings of home and finance ministries as the allegations, if proved true, would have serious security implications, highly-placed sources said.
The Core Group of Secretaries on Divestment is believed to have favoured the appointment of HSBC as the global advisor for managing the privatisation of oil PSU Hindustan Petroleum Corporation.\n\n
In February, Zomato had said that it had become profitable in six regions, including India, after achieving operational break-even of its businesses.
The government, Jaitley said, is committed to detecting and preventing generation of black money
The two Indian banks will make available their combined network of 3,600 branches and a customer base of 40 million.
Growth, said HSBC, would be helped by higher public investment, bankruptcy code and direct transfer of subsidies
Local banks no match for foreign peers in global reach and better services.
Many of the jobs will now be offshored to lower income countries such as India, China and Poland
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According to the global financial services major, the primary concern for the RBI at the moment has to be anchoring elevated inflation expectations and stabilising the currency, which could face renewed pressures if the Fed begins QE tapering this week, as widely expected.
The HSBC India Composite Output Index, which maps both services and manufacturing, increased from 48.9 in March to 49.5 in April, but remained below the crucial 50 mark which indicates contraction for the second successive month.
Management commentary on demand environment, and forward guidance will be in focus when Indian IT services players declare their September quarter results for financial year 2024-25 (Q2FY25). The industry is exepected to have continued on the path of recovery in Q2, similar to the preceding quarter, rather than sprint towards growth. The top four firms likely grew between 0 per cent and 4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), according to consensus estimates.
With over 3,000 species of plants, 26 interconnected lakes and the 250-year-old Great Banyan Tree -- the largest in the world -- the Indian Botanic Garden is a veritable treasure, discovers Payal Singh Mohanka.
On Tuesday, UK-based Standard Chartered's outsourcing of key banking jobs to India came under the lens of US authorities.
According to HSBC, the 'storm has abated' for the Indian markets as the US Fed has deferred tapering of its quantitative easing stimulus, and as the new Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has taken steps to contain the rupee fall.
The I-T department has been probing 240 HSBC cases where it is suspected that Indians have stashed their illicit funds abroad.
As part of the service, UAE-based Indian immigrants can transfer money to their families based in India and the service would complement existing remittance channels and make transferring money internationally more affordable, Tata Communications said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. In the first phase, this service would be extended to over 27 lakh subscriber base of mobile services operator Idea Cellular in Kerala.
The Reserve Bank is unlikely to cut the benchmark interest rate in its forthcoming bi-monthly monetary policy review later in the week as retail inflation is still a cause of concern, and there is a possibility of the Middle East crisis deteriorating further, impacting crude oil and commodity prices, say experts.
Prices of perishable items could spike in the near term.
The headline HSBC India Purchasing Managers' Index -- a composite gauge designed to give a single-figure snapshot of manufacturing business conditions -- stood at 54.5 in December, up from 53.3 in the prior month.
HSBC's services purchasing managers index, that maps the activity of around 400 firms, despite a 40 basis points dip, has kept above the 50 mark that signifies growth since November.
'We suggest an equity strategy of 5% to 10% exposure to cash, 5% to Gold ETF, close to 50% to Sensex/Nifty/large mid-cap stocks.'
Following are comments from economists at leading financial institutions, banks and rating agencies on the interim Budget:
N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Information Technology giant Infosys, has lamented that economic activities in India were 'stalled' and decisions were not taken by the Manmohan Singh government in time in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance-era.
The recovery in manufacturing is still likely to prove "protracted" given the lingering structural constraints.
According to the global financial services major, inflation may remain sticky, with a possible El Nino effect on the monsoon likely to push up food prices and geopolitical uncertainties seen pumping up global commodity rates.
Replying to a query, whether the government has made any assessment of black money stashed by Indians in foreign countries, Jaitley said there is no official estimation of that.
Rejecting allegations of stashing away unaccounted money in Swiss accounts, Jet Airways on Friday said there is no account in the name of its Chairman Naresh Goyal in HSBC Bank, Geneva, though he is entitled to have bank accounts outside India as he is a Non-Resident Indian.
The investigative arm of the country's anti-monopoly watchdog has recommended action against two multinational banks for making false promises to their credit card customers and violating the Reserve Bank of India guidelines.
