Titan, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Power Grid, NTPC and Tata Motors were among the among the major gainers. Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Nestle, JSW Steel, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and Maruti were the major laggards.
Indian equity markets had a good run in the first half of calendar year 2023 (CY23), with the S&P BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty50 hitting fresh 52-week highs. While the Sensex scaled up to a peak 64,718, the Nifty50 hit Mt 19,189. As the markets now prepare to enter the second half (H2) of CY23, all eyes are on global central banks, especially the US Federal Reserve, as to when they will pause and pivot as regards their interest-rate cycle.
India's private sector activity contracted further in August, reflecting faster contractions of both manufacturing and services output, amid decline in new orders and tough economic conditions.
More people working in India's technology industry have lost their jobs in the first six months of 2023 than in the corresponding period in 2022.
India appears poised to sustain its growth in a more durable way than before with the economy carrying the momentum from FY23 into the current fiscal year, the Annual Economic Review for 2022-23 released by the finance ministry on Thursday said. However, the report cautioned that escalation of geopolitical stress, enhanced volatility in global financial systems, sharp price correction in global stock markets, a high magnitude of El-Nino impact, and modest trade activity and FDI inflows, are factors that could constrain the pace of growth. "Should these developments deepen and dampen growth in the subsequent quarters, the external sector may challenge India's growth outlook for FY24," the finance ministry said.
The March quarter (Q4) of the ongoing financial year (FY23) may see cement companies report better financial numbers as input costs ease, pricing action resumes, and cement demand remains firm. While companies have been cautiously optimistic about their outlook, analysts and sector experts remain bullish. In its latest report on the cement sector, brokerage IDBI Capital said that it expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) per tonne for cement companies to improve by Rs 200-300 sequentially in Q4.
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will acquire around 1 per cent stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), the retail arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, by investing Rs 8,278 crore ($1 billion). A QIA's wholly-owned subsidiary will make the investment in India's largest retailer at a valuation of Rs 8.278 lakh crore ($100 billion). Updating about the development, Reliance Industries in a regulatory filing said: "QIA's investment will translate into a minority equity stake of 0.99 per cent in RRVL on a fully-diluted basis." RRVL is the holding company for all retail businesses of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
During March, the rate of inflation slowed to the weakest in four months and was below the long-run survey average
Titan Company on November 21, became the second Tata group firm to join Rs 3 trillion market capitalisation (market cap) club after its shares hit a new high of Rs 3,400, up nearly 2 per cent on the BSE in Tuesday's intra-day trade. At 12:28 PM; with a market cap of Rs 301,847 crore (Rs 3.02 trillion) Titan stood at number 16th position in overall market cap ranking on the BSE listed companies, the exchange data shows. Titan overtook paint company Asian Paints, which has a market cap of Rs 300,579 crore, data shows.
Service providers' confidence with regard to the 12-month outlook for business activity remained positive.
The services sector had slipped into contraction in July as confusion caused by the GST rollout triggered a dip in new business orders.
The watershed 2014 Indian election has thrown a decisive mandate after 30 years of coalition-based governments.
According to Japanese financial services major Nomura, India's manufacturing PMI remained in the expansion zone but suggested some consolidation after the rapid ramp up of activity in December.
The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 47.9 in July, down from 50.9 in June, its lowest mark since February 2009, and highlighted the first deterioration in business conditions in 2017 so far.
India's economy grew 6.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022-23, pushing up the annual growth rate to 7.2 per cent, official data showed on Wednesday.
An improvement in political relations, anchored in a restoration of peace and tranquillity at the border, could open up opportunities for expanded economic and commercial relations between them, suggests former foreign secretary Ambassador Shyam Saran.
Enthused by higher than expected GDP numbers in the fourth quarter of 2022-23, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday said India's economic growth may exceed the initial estimate of 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal and the country can look for another year of solid economic performance.
Brokerages believe that the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) stronger-than-expected showing in state elections reduces political risks for the domestic markets going into 2024. However, after the short-term excitement, the focus will soon shift to earnings, global liquidity conditions, and the interest rate trajectory. "BJP's win in the three state elections is much better than what exit polls suggested and reinforces the consensus expectations of a Modi win in the 2024 national elections with a greater likelihood of 300+ seats for the BJP.
Notwithstanding expectations of a pick-up in construction activity during a seasonally strong January-March quarter (fourth quarter) of 2022-23 (FY23), analysts are cautiously optimistic about the building material sector - encompassing paints, pipes, wood panels, tiles, metals, and cement - as volatile input costs, coupled with fears of a global slowdown, are making demand projections uncertain. Against this backdrop, analysts suggest investors stay selective and pick stocks of companies with stronger brand recall, expanding distribution network, diversified product profile, healthier balance sheet, and sustainable cash flow. "The government's various proposals under Budget 2023-24 (FY24) may lead to the building material segment growing between 8 per cent and 12 per cent for the next five years.
Macroeconomic data announcements, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors would guide momentum in the equity market this week, analysts said. Markets ended a five-week losing streak and gained nearly a per cent last week, helped by a sharp rebound on Friday. Last week, the BSE benchmark jumped 500.65 points or 0.77 per cent and the Nifty gained 169.5 points or 0.87 per cent.
With factory production, activities across the private sector saw the biggest drop in over three years
Lenders in India, comprising banks and finance companies, anticipate robust growth in retail credit during the upcoming festival season, stretching from September to December 2023. This expectation is based on resilient demand, government initiatives, and elections in key states.
Capital goods companies in their Q2FY24 results are expected to report another steady quarter of earnings growth as order inflows and execution remain healthy, according to analysts. An upward revision in order inflow targets and a margin improvement due to lower raw material costs are also anticipated. "We expect the execution of all capital goods companies and most EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) companies to remain healthy Y-o-Y (year-on-year), led by strong order book accretion in the past 5-6 quarters," wrote analysts at Kotak Securities in a note, estimating revenue growth of 32 per cent for India's largest company in the capital goods space -- Larsen & Toubro.
GDP growth of 7.7 per cent in the first half of this fiscal has "left sceptics gasping and woefully behind the curve", an RBI article said on Wednesday. It also stressed the buildup in the growth momentum is likely to be sustained. The article on the state of the economy published in the Reserve Bank's December Bulletin on Wednesday also said CPI-based retail inflation is expected to ease to 4.6 per cent in the first three quarters of 2024-25 from 5.6 per cent in November.
Pharma stocks have performed well after Budget
The global turmoil in the banking sector has made analysts cautious, who advise that investors stay away from stocks of this sector till the overall sentiment improves. The recent trouble for the banking sector started with the collapse of US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank. On its part, Moody's Investors Service has also cut its outlook for the US banking system to 'negative' from 'stable', citing the run on deposits at these three banks that led to the collapse of these banking majors in less than a week.
No major relief for airlines from the Budget.
The recent equity market weakness has sobered up investor mood, but the coming festive season is keeping analysts upbeat on stocks related to the consumption basket. Among the lot, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and consumer electronics segments are expected to do well over the next few months, and investors should thus selectively take bets in these pockets, analysts suggest. "We expect good volume growth for the FMCG sector during the festive season with some improvement in rural demand.
This year the sector expected to witness a 14-16 per cent growth in recruitment.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty buckled under selling pressure after a nine-session rally on Monday, as massive sell-off in IT, tech and telecom counters unnerved investors.
Housing sales across top eight cities rose 51 per cent last year, even as the office market continued to slump due to the Covid pandemic with gross leasing witnessing a 3 per cent fall, according to Knight Frank India. Housing sales increased to 232,903 units during last year, from 154,534 units in 2020, but demand was down 5 per cent from the 2019 pre-pandemic levels and 37 per cent lower than the 2011 peak numbers. In the office segment, the gross leasing of office space fell to 38.1 million square feet in 2021, from 39.4 million square feet in the previous year, due to the adverse impact of the second wave of the Covid pandemic.
Stocks of small- and mid-cap companies continued to gain ground in July, notwithstanding analysts sounding caution on these two market segments given the sharp run thus far in calendar year 2023 (CY23). Sanjeev Prasad, co-head of Kotak Institutional Equities, in a note co-authored with Anindya Bhowmik and Sunita Baldawa in June-end, had cautioned against the sharp run in small- and mid-caps. "We do not see any particular reason for the excitement in small- and mid-cap stocks.
Indian airline industry is expecting to prune its net losses to Rs 3,000-5,000 crore in this fiscal from an estimated Rs 17,000-17,500 crore in FY2023 on the back of improved yields and stable cost environment, credit ratings agency ICRA said on Tuesday. At the same time, ICRA also estimated that domestic air passenger traffic will expand by 8-13 per cent each in FY2024 and FY2025. The rating agency has also maintained its stable outlook on the industry in view of healthy passenger traffic growth, improved yields and a stable cost environment.
Catamaran, the family office of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, is targeting 15 per cent returns on its portfolio investments per annum as it shifts focus from early-stage investments to growth and late-stage bets. This would double the firm's assets under management (AUM) from the current $1 billion to $2 billion over the next five years. "For direct investments, we are focusing on growth-stage investments and very selectively on early stage," Deepak Padaki, president, Catamaran, told Business Standard. "(This is) primarily because the early-stage space in India, in the last three-four years, has completely changed. "There has been a huge influx of capital in the last two years. It has become a very crowded space for early-stage investment," he said.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) pumped in Rs 43,838 crore in Indian equities in May, the highest level in nine months, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, and reasonable valuations. FPIs continued the buying stance in June too, and invested Rs 6,490 crore in just two trading sessions of the month, data with the repositories showed. VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said that inflow by FPIs will continue in the current month since the latest GDP data and high-frequency indicators reflect a robust economy gaining further strength.
'It will send a very strong signal that it is now our time to grow.'
286 dealers closed down in 18 months, 32,000 jobs impacted. Maharashtra leads with 84 closures, followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi. The worst-hit is the passenger car segment.
Lauding the strong industrial performance, the Economic Survey on Thursday asked the government to ensure a balance and sustained growth as certain sectors have failed to see a revival in 2009-10.
Lauding the strong industrial performance, the Economic Survey on Thursday asked the government to ensure a balance and sustained growth as certain sectors have failed to see a revival in 2009-10.
Have the markets already played out their dynamics before the economy has even properly taken off? Are we now destined for a period of mediocre returns despite a strong economy? asks Akash Prakash.
