In the backdrop of the crisis brewing at Paytm Payments Bank, major fintech companies are ramping up their workforce and inducting new faces in their leadership teams, industry sources said on Wednesday. Users will not be able to add funds to their Paytm Payments Bank Wallet after February 29, though they will still be able to use the services and the existing balance in the wallets, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) diktat. Industry sources said that competitors to Paytm are investing heavily in offline payments while doubling their salesforce.
The ongoing second quarter earnings, movement of oil benchmark Brent crude and the uncertainty in the Middle East would dictate terms in the domestic markets this week, analysts said. Furthermore, the activities of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) will also influence trading in the markets. "A slew of earnings reports from heavyweights expected this week will significantly impact market direction.
Equity benchmarks staged a comeback during the fag-end of trade on Wednesday, with the Sensex climbing over 214 points amid continuous foreign fund inflows and a largely positive trend in global markets. Buying in IT counters and Reliance Industries added to the momentum. In a volatile session, the 30-share BSE benchmark ended 214.17 points or 0.37 per cent higher at 58,350.53.
The central government's fiscal deficit touched 67.8 per cent of the full-year target at the end of January due to higher expenses and lower revenue realisations, according to official data released on Tuesday. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue collection during April-January period stood at Rs 11.9 lakh crore, as per the data from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA). The fiscal deficit in the comparable period of 2021-22 was 58.9 per cent of that year's Revised Estimate (RE) in the Budget.
Retail inflation eased to an 11-month low of 4.83 per cent in April as prices of some kitchen items declined though overall food basket firmed up marginally, according to a government data released on Monday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation was 4.85 per cent in March. It was 4.7 per cent in April 2023.
The government has raised the penalty amount to up to Rs 500 crore for violating the provisions proposed under the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022 issued on Friday. The draft personal data protection bill in 2019 proposed a penalty of Rs 15 crore or 4 per cent of the global turnover of an entity. The draft proposes to set up a Data Protection Board of India, which will carry on functions as per the provisions of the bill.
Equity mutual funds (MFs) deployed maximum in shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) in June at Rs 2,177 crore, followed by Maruti Suzuki (Rs 2,045 crore) and Bharti Airtel (Rs 1,310 crore). Shares of both RIL and Bharti Airtel have been turbulent this month. On July 1, shares of RIL crashed over 7 per cent, following the government imposing windfall taxes on domestic crude oil production and fuel exports.
RBI's interest rate decision, macroeconomic data, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors are the crucial factors to drive equity markets in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Markets would remain closed on Monday for Gandhi Jayanti. "While global cues will continue to dictate trends in local markets, focus will shift to RBI's monetary policy announcement on Friday. "Although the market is expecting a status quo on interest rates, global concerns like rising US dollar index and bond yields coupled with surging crude oil prices continue to weigh on investors' minds.
The government on Friday extended by six months till March 2022 the deadline to link PAN with biometric ID Aadhaar. In a statement, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said to address the hardship being faced by various stakeholders on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, the timeline has been extended which will ease compliance.
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday marginally lowered its inflation projection for the current financial year to 5.1 per cent, as Governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank's monetary policy actions are yielding the desired results. In April, the Reserve Bank had estimated the consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation at 5.2 per cent during the fiscal 2023-24. CPI inflation fell sharply to 4.7 per cent in April 2023, from 6.4 per cent in February, on the back of favourable base effects, with softening observed across all the three major groups.
Market regulator Sebi does not expect a large number of foreign portfolio investors to be impacted by the new beneficial ownership disclosure norms, according to sources. The norms are set to come into effect from February 1 and against this backdrop, the equity market has witnessed significant volatility, with the benchmark Sensex crashing over 1,000 points on Tuesday after shedding early intraday gains. The sources in the know said FPIs which may be required to provide enhanced disclosures are expected to be significantly less than estimated in the consultation paper and the Sebi board note of October 2023.
Wealthy Indians are adding new residential addresses to their assets, many of them in Dubai. The quality of life in the desert city is comparable to any coveted city in the world. Its property market is regulated to protect investors' interests.
Stock exchanges are expanding the buffet of index derivatives even as the number of stocks permitted to trade in this space, generating an average daily turnover of Rs 450 trillion, is shrinking. This week, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) started issuing futures and options (F&O) contracts based on the Nifty Next 50 Index, bringing the total count of index derivatives to five.
Global private equity (PE) firms are successfully offloading large equity stakes in domestic companies in the open market, taking advantage of buoyant conditions. Strong domestic liquidity support and an upward trending market have underpinned over a dozen PE exits worth $2.5 billion, data compiled by Business Standard shows. The figures exclude PE exits during maiden share sales and shares sold by strategic investors, such as SoftBank and Ant Group in new-age companies.
Boom, bust or a bit of both: as the jury bides time before ruling on the US 'recession', the economy's vital signs at a perplexing time of high-interest rates, still-punishing inflation, and surprisingly strong economic gains are a study of a growing debate over whether the world's largest economy is barrelling into a new downturn. With the US Federal Reserve's (Fed's) inflation fighters attempting the risky pursuit of 'pillow-soft landings' and its economy sending out mixed signals, if there is indeed a recession, it could spell trouble for domestic equities and corporate earnings growth.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'Lack of self-control over spending leads to a credit card debt trap.' 'People think they have money and spend using a credit card, but when it's time to pay, they realise they don't have the money.'
The US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, global market trends and trading activity of foreign investors are the major factors that would dictate terms in the equity markets in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Equity markets will remain closed on Tuesday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. From the global front, interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and Bank of Japan would also influence market trends.
The Indian equity market clocked record average daily turnover (ADTV) in both the cash and derivatives segments in February amid a spike in volatility. The ADTV for the cash segment for both the exchanges combined came at Rs 1.27 trillion, while the same for the derivatives or the futures and options (F&O) segment stood at Rs 483 trillion in the previous month. The volumes for both cash and derivatives have almost doubled from a year ago on the back of rising retail participation in the world's fourth largest equity market.
Younger people, who usually have a longer investment horizon which allows them to handle the interim volatility, may go for them.
Foreign banks and private credit funds are queuing up to fund acquisitions by Indian companies who are buying out their local rivals. The Adani Group, Torrent Group, and the Hindujas have approached several foreign banks and private equity (PE) firms to fund their acquisitions. Global investors have about $2 trillion of funds to invest, and about $100 to $150 billion is set aside for India, according to an estimate by JP Morgan.
Long working hours, earnings that fall short of meeting household expenses, arbitrary deactivation and blocking of identity (ID) by platforms, and high physical and mental stress are among the major issues plaguing workers of the booming gig economy in India, a report based on a survey has found. Nearly 83 per cent cab drivers reported working for more than 10 hours in a day, while 78 per cent delivery personnel worked for the same duration, showed the report released on Monday, titled "Prisoners on Wheels" and based on a survey by the University of Pennsylvania and the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT).
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The annual decline works out to be 16.3 per cent in 2022-23 compared to inflows in 2021-22. The gross FDI inflows in 2021-22 were $81.97 billion, up 10 per cent over fiscal 2019-20. The previous year-on-year contraction in FDI was in 2012-13 when the inflows declined by 26 per cent to $34.298 billion.
Reserve Bank of India on Friday said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 93 lakh on Axis Bank for various violations, including those related to KYC guidelines. The central bank has also slapped a fine of Rs 90 lakh on IDBI Bank. A monetary penalty of Rs 93 lakh has been imposed on Axis Bank for non-compliance of certain directions issued by RBI, the regulator said in a release.
Following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) action against Paytm Payments Bank, participants in the fintech ecosystem have turned their attention to giving priority to compliance with regulatory norms. Fintech industry players say the episode will ensure adherence to such measures. Executives Business Standard spoke to said companies should have clarity on their requirements.
India's outward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) nosedived to $11.12 billion in January-June (H1 2023) from $23.57 billion in the same period last year, indicative of the slowdown in the global economy, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. The outward FDI expressed as the total financial commitment, has three components, namely equity, loan and guarantees. The sharp contraction in the commitments (outward FDI) was prominent in the April-June 2023 period.
'Currently, our individual first premium would be in the Rs 3,000-Rs 3,200 crore range. We want to take that to about Rs 6,000 crore in three years.'
Payouts to key management personnel in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are under the banking regulator's scrutiny. Top industry officials said this is a follow-through on the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) circular of April 29, 2022, which asked NBFCs in the "middle" and "upper" layer of its four-tiered scale-based regulatory (SBR) framework to put in place a board-approved compensation policy.
Chief executive officers (CEOs) across sectors have expressed intentions to expand capacities, expecting the government's target to invest a record Rs 11.11 trillion on infrastructure development will act as a catalyst for a jump in consumer demand. "With the government planning a capex of Rs 11.11 trillion, private sector investment will come in a big way. Companies will be preparing for it right from today," H M Bangur, chairman of Shree Cement, told Business Standard. For the past few years, the investment scene in India has been dominated by government capital expenditures; private investments in the manufacturing sector have remained muted.
Aadhaar holders who were issued the unique ID more than 10 years back but have not updated their details since then are being urged to update identification and residence proof documents, UIDAI said. In a statement, UIDAI -- the government agency that issues Aadhaar numbers -- said the updation can be done online as well as at Aadhaar centres. It said those who were issued the unique identification number more than 10 years back and have not done any updation since the issue are being "requested" to update their documents.
The principal commissioner has been made responsible for developing and approving any intelligence, conducting search, and completing investigations and relevant subsequent actions, including at the lower field formations, points out T N C Rajagopalan.
India and the US have settled the last trade dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over poultry products, according to a joint statement released on Friday. With this, the two countries have mutually resolved all the seven pending trade disputes at the WTO. "The leaders lauded the settlement of the seventh and last outstanding WTO dispute between India and the United States.
Global trends, trading activity of foreign investors, outcome of state elections and RBI's interest rate decision are the major factors that will drive the movement in the domestic equity markets this week, analysts said. "Global markets are currently in a fabulous mood. The US 10-year bond yield and the dollar index are also cooling off, which gives strength to the market. These factors will be closely monitored, as they have the potential to influence market sentiment," said Pravesh Gour, senior technical analyst, Swastika Investmart Ltd. On the political front, the results of assembly elections in five states are eagerly anticipated, Gour said.
The liquidity in the banking system moved into surplus almost after three months as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) absorbed over Rs 40,000 crore from the market on Monday, predominantly on the back of increased government spending. However, this situation may be short-lived given the higher demand for funds to pay taxes and year-end targets, treasury executives said. Meanwhile, two variable reverse repo rate (VRRR) auctions held on Tuesday received weak response.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday allowed credit cards to be linked with the unified payments interface (UPI), which will enable more people to make payments using the popular platform. At present, UPI facilitates transactions by linking savings or current accounts through users' debit cards. "...it is proposed to allow linking of credit cards to UPI," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said while announcing the regulatory moves, along with the bi-monthly policy review.
India SME Forum, an organisation for small and medium businesses, has called for creating a dedicated fund of Rs 5000 crore for the export capacity development, promotion, and marketing of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in its Budget recommendation. The forum for MSMEs with over 98,000 members said that to enhance India's global competitiveness and increase its market share in global exports, it was "crucial to increase the number of active exporters and enable at least 3-4 lakh first-time micro, small, and medium exporters while supporting them in promoting Indian products globally."
The Competition Commission of India has introduced draft regulations for combinations or mergers, under the new competition Act, to bring global deals in the digital space, including those involving Big Tech companies, under its scanner. The draft regulations would provide guidance on the valuation of merger transactions and the criteria for assessing sustainable operations in India for companies. The proposed rules mention that if the number of users and subscribers, or the turnover or gross merchandise value in India is over 10 per cent of the global figure, the company would be considered to have substantial business operation in India and would need CCI approval for the merger.
The government has allowed the Enforcement Directorate to share information about economic offenders with 15 more agencies, including SFIO, CCI and NIA, a move that will expedite nailing of law-breakers. The finance ministry notified changes to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on November 22. Through the notification, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which deals primarily with cases of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws, would be able to share data with a total of 25 agencies, including the 10 specified earlier.
The government has approved the 'Terms of Reference' for the 16 Finance Commission, which makes recommendations on sharing of tax revenues between the Centre and states. The recommendations would cover a five-year period commencing April 1, 2026, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday, giving details about the decisions taken at the Cabinet meeting last evening. The commission would submit its report by October 31, 2025, Thakur said.
