The pharmaceuticals sector is expected to post a revenue growth of around 13.5 per cent and a net profit growth of 30.3 per cent for the third quarter of 2023-24 (FY24), riding on the approval for niche drugs in the US market, fall in raw material prices and correction in shipping rates. In the healthcare segment, hospitals are expected to post revenue growth of 13 per cent during the coverage, while net profit growth would be around 37 per cent, ICICI Securities said in a note. However, the performance may not be comparable on a sequential basis due to the offset of the festive season in Q3FY24, the analysts noted.
The internals of the food inflation are worrying, given a broad-based uptick across categories that tend to be sticky, such as proteins, and a narrower-than-expected reduction in inflation for vegetables.
Jyoti Basu, the 95-year-old communist, has lost touch with many of his comrades. But this morning the former chief minister of West Bengal did not forget to call his favourite Congressman to say, "Happy Birthday!"
In spite of Governor Raghuram Rajan's repeated concerns about inflation, many think there may still be a loosening of stance.
Showing signs of recovery, industrial production grew at 4.7 per cent in May, the highest since October 2012, on account of improved performance of manufacturing, mining and power sectors and higher output of capital goods.
The Indian chemical industry has an output of around USD 80 billion and ranks 12th in the world while the size of the global chemical industry is in the region of USD 3 trillion.
The broader NSE Nifty after shuttling between 10,451.90 and 10,595.75 finally ended 100.30 points, or 0.96 per cent, higher at 10,582.50.
Output of capital goods -- a proxy for infrastructure investments in the country -- contracted 1 per cent in July
In order to boost growth amid some softening of inflation, RBI earlier this month cut the key interest rate by 0.25 per cent. It is scheduled to announce its mid-quarter policy review on June 17.
Manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, grew at 5.5 per cent in November compared to a decline in output by 4.6 per cent earlier
The mutual fund (MF) industry had an action-packed 2023 as it tackled the scrapping of tax benefits for debt fund investors and surging flows into equity funds.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined to over two-year low of 3.85 per cent in January on easing prices of manufactured items, fuel and power, even though food articles remained expensive. This is the ninth straight month of decline in the rate of wholesale price-index (WPI) based inflation. The WPI inflation was 4.73 per cent in January and 13.43 per cent in February, last year.
According to a statement available on the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation website, gross domestic product, consumer price index and index of industrial production will now be released at 5.30 in the evening.
The wholesale price-based inflation declined to a 21-month low of 5.85 per cent in November on easing prices of food, fuel and manufactured items. After remaining in double digits for 19 months, the wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation declined to 8.39 per cent in October. The inflation was 14.87 per cent in November 2021. "Decline in the rate of inflation in November 2022, is primarily contributed by fall in prices of food articles, basic metals, textiles, chemicals & chemical products and paper & paper products as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year," the commerce and industry ministry said on Wednesday.
The domestic benchmark indices - the S&P BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange Nifty50 - had lost close to 1.5 per cent in three days recently before gaining slightly. Notwithstanding weakness and volatility, the Nifty50 has managed to hold on to the 18,000 mark, while the Sensex has managed to stay above the 61,000 level. The performance of the stocks that comprise these front-line indices remains polarised.
The wholesale price-based inflation eased to a 29-month low of 1.34 per cent in March on easing prices of manufactured products and fuel items, even though food articles turned expensive.
Industrial output rose to nearly three-year high of 6.4% in August.
The deflationary trend has bolstered the case for a rate cut by RBI.
According to the commerce and industry ministry data, during April-February 2018-19, the eight sectors recorded a flat growth rate of 4.3 per cent over the same period previous fiscal.
Meaningful market share would go to those who have the distribution strength to push their products, such as banks.
The Reserve Bank of India, which mainly factors in retail inflation to decide its monetary policy, has been tasked by the government to ensure the rate of price rise remains around 4 per cent.
The wholesale price-based inflation eased for the eighth consecutive month to 4.73 per cent in January on easing prices of manufactured items, fuel and power. The wholesale price-index (WPI) based inflation rate was 4.95 per cent in December 2022 and 13.68 per cent in January 2022. Inflation in food articles, however, rose to 2.38 per cent in January, from (-) 1.25 per cent in December, 2022.
Don't be surprised if growth in the second half of the financial year drops below 4%, which is where it was in the year before the pandemic, warns T N Ninan.
Wholesale price-based inflation rate fell to a 3-year low of (-) 3.48 per cent in May on easing prices of food, fuel and manufactured items, strengthening the case for continuing with the pause in rate hike in the coming months of the current fiscal. This is the second straight month when WPI has been in the negative zone mainly on account of a higher base and falling prices of fuel and manufactured goods. Food prices also eased during May. In May, 2022 WPI inflation was at 16.63 per cent. Last month, it was (-) 0.92 per cent.
Stocks of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) have more headroom left despite the sharp run in the last few weeks, suggests a recent report from Morgan Stanley. Stocks of these oil refining and marketing companies (OMCs), it believes, are seeing multiples re-rate as investors reassess long-term growth prospects. "IOCL trades at one year forward P/BV of 1.2x, 19 per cent below +1 standard deviation (SD); BPCL trades at one year forward P/BV of 1.5x, near historical averages; HPCL trades at one year forward P/BV of 1.5x, near +1SD," Morgan Stanley said.
The index of industrial production data released by the government revealed on Friday that the growth in the Rs 32,000 crore (Rs 320 billion) consumer durables was in the negative -- down 3 per cent as against 9 per cent in October 2007. On the other hand, the durables sector had contributed to the industrial output rebound in the months of July (12.3 per cent ) and September (13.1 per cent).
Adani Enterprises became the fourth listed company of Gautam Adani Group to cross Rs 4 trillion market capitalisation (market cap), as the stock hit a new high on the BSE in Tuesday's intra-day trade. At 01:24 pm; with Rs 4.04 trillion market cap, Adani Enterprises stood at number 15th position in overall market cap ranking on the BSE, data shows. Adani Transmission is at top of the group companies list, with market cap of Rs 4.48 trillion, followed by Adani Total Gas (Rs 3.96 trillion), and Adani Green Energy (Rs 3.72 trillion).
Bolstered by bullish investor sentiments, India witnessed companies mopping up a whopping $9.7 billion through initial share sales in the first nine months of 2021, the highest amount for the nine-month period in two decades, says a report. As many as 72 initial public offerings (IPOs) hit the stock market during the January-September period this year in India and strong sentiments were visible in the global markets as well, according to leading consultancy EY. EY, in its latest report, said the global IPO market continued to boom through Q3 2021 resulting in the most active third quarter by deal numbers and proceeds in the last 20 years.
Given wild swings, investors are wondering where the metal market is going. There was a strong uptrend in industrial metal through much of the last three years due to fears of supply chain issues - first due to Covid-19 and then due to the Ukraine War. That uptrend broke down as it became apparent that global growth would moderate as inflation rose and Western Europe (the EU plus the UK) went into a near-recession and China was in a rolling lockdown.
With natural gas and cement showing decline in production, the growth of eight core infrastructure industries slowed down to 5.3 per cent in May against 7.4 per cent a year ago.
The Index of Industrial Production for the same month last year stood at 12 per cent. For the first half of the current fiscal (April-September 2007) too, IIP slipped to 9.2 per cent against 11.1 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago, an official release said on Monday. During September, the manufacturing sector growth decelerated to 6.6 per cent as compared to 12.7 per cent in the same month last year.
...and getting GDP to measure India's data economy, recommends Ajit Balakrishnan.
Capital goods, a barometer of investments, showed a sharp increase in output by 14.6 per cent in January, 2018 as against a decline of 0.6 per cent year ago.
The third-quarter financials didn't excite market watchers. But equity investors can still make money if they invest in the right stocks.
The statistics ministry has proposed the new base year for GDP and IIP as 2017-18 while for CPI it will be 2018.
The core industries that also include coal, electricity, cement, petroleum refinery products and finished steel, and carry 37.9 per cent weight in the Index of Industrial Production, had grown by 5.8 per cent in May last year.
During April-February, industrial output grew at 2.6 per cent compared with a growth of 2.8 per cent in the year-ago period.
As a model of transport, the A380 strikes a parallel -- a shared fragility -- with giant container ships, observes Shyam G Menon.
India's manufacturing sector continued with its robust performance in November, mainly on the back of substantial easing in price pressures and strengthening demand from clients, a monthly survey said on Friday. The strong performance of the manufacturing sector is expected to continue in 2024 as well. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 56 last month from the eight-month low level of 55.5 recorded in October.
