With retail inflation surprising on the upside, the six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to increase the repo rate by 35-50 basis points (bps) in the review scheduled for September 28-30. According to economists, the central bank will continue to focus on bringing inflation down even though economic growth has remained sluggish. Data released by the government on Monday showed that the consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation increased by 7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in August, thus, staying above the upper tolerance limit of the central bank for all the eight months of 2022.
A big change in the new IIP data, taking 2004-05 as the base year against 1993-94 in the old series, is its classification of items and the weights assigned to these.
Some recent forecasts suggest further weakness in the US economy.
Though the index of industrial production expanded 11.7 per cent in November, the Reserve Bank of India sees the recovery still skewed and says the uneven recovery would dominate the central bank's thinking.
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries:
'Small cap funds do have their own merits and they make sense when the investor has a longer investment horizon.'
Wholesale price-based inflation rose to a record high of 15.88 per cent in May on rising prices of food items and crude oil. The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was 15.08 per cent in April and 13.11 per cent in May last year. "The high rate of inflation in May, 2022 is primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, food articles, basic metals, non-food articles, chemicals & chemical products and food products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,599 stocks advanced against 1,246 declining ones, on the BSE.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that the economy was expected to revive in the second half of the year on the back of the latest Index of Industrial Production numbers, return of foreign institutional investors to the markets over the last two months and the normal functioning of the credit markets
India's first-ever listed new-age company, Zomato, has seen a meteoric rise in its stock price in calendar year 2023 (CY23), rising 70.75 per cent during this period as compared to 9.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. From being the second worst hit new-age stock in CY22, crashing 57 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the stock hit the Rs 100-mark for the first time since January 2022 in late August. The stellar run in the stock - only after PB Fintech and One97 Communications-owned Paytm, analysts say, may be coming to an end, at least for now.
Keeping pace with the rapidly changing income and consumption pattern, the government will soon come out with a new Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and develop indices for measuring growth of SSI sector and calculating consumer prices in urban areas.
The growth in six core infrastructure industries slowed down to 3.4 per cent in June, against 5.2 per cent in the year-ago period owing to dismal performance of all but one sector - coal.
The surprise decision of OPEC and its allies, including Russia, to cut oil output may cause an immediate rise in prices, delaying revision in fuel prices in India, industry sources said. The grouping of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, called OPEC+, on Sunday decided to further cut oil output by around 1.16 million barrels. The move led to Brent rising by almost 6 per cent to $84.58 per barrel on Monday.
Short-circuited by the lacklusture performance of electricity sector, the industry recorded a marginal slowdown in growth at 6.2 per cent in May this year compared to 6.4 per cent recorded in the comparable month of 2003.
Since January 1, the rupee value has fallen by 5.5 per cent against the US dollar and touched life-time low of 58.98 on Tuesday.
CEOs have complained that high interest rates have blocked their investment decisions. At the same time, customers are also deferring their purchases for new consumer durables, cars, and homes.
Apple Inc's iPod upended the music industry, and its iPhone knocked Nokia off its smartphone perch, but Swiss watch makers breezily dismissed warnings that the technology giant's new wristwatch gadget could do something similar to them.
The information technology (IT) services industry could see value investors taking selective punts in the near future. While growth remains visible, managements across the board have been cautious or measured in their guidance and have also complained about a combination of margin pressures and high churn. The two factors are related in that employee compensation is a large component of IT costs and high churn has forced firms to hike compensation packages and also invest more in hiring, training, and retention.
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Vedanta, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, M&M, Infosys, PowerGrid, HCL Tech, NTPC, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries, rising up to 2.72 per cent.
Brokerages expect Nifty50 companies to have cumulatively witnessed strong double-digit growth in their earnings in the first quarter of FY24 (Q1FY24). This growth in the combined earnings is expected to have been driven by banks, automakers, and oil & gas companies. Other sectors may report muted profit growth.
An impressive performance by the manufacturing sector catapulted industrial growth to 7.8 per cent during the first four months of the current financial year.
Services sector slowed down in May on weak economic factors.
Developers grappling with labour shortage and getting construction material to sites could be among a list of problems.
International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath tells Indivjal Dhasmana high-frequency indicators for the third quarter of 2021 indicate momentum in economic recovery in India.
The automobile sector is considered a good indicator of economic health. It has a very long value chain, from primary materials, like metals, glass and plastic, to value-added high-end electronic components, specialised alloys, and software.
Exports rise for 8th month, albeit at lower pace
'The market should maintain optimism on the back of range-bound oil prices, a robust fiscal balance sheet, a better-than-expected monsoon, and moderating inflation.'
A majority of the respondents said that demonetisation is a positive step towards curbing black money and corruption from the economy, the move did have an impact on their sales.
On a day like this, the market breadth was predictably strong. Out of 2,827 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1,629 advancing stocks as against 1,105 declines.
The poor performance of capital goods - a bellwether for future growth - has alarmed most analysts
This growth seen by the consumer goods was led mainly by the durables market, which rose 17.6%, the highest in 11 months
Reliance Industries (RIL) was the top-performing index stock on Friday (May 26) and closed the day with gains of 2.8 per cent, against a 1 per cent rise in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex during the day. RIL's performance on the bourses on Friday was, however, an exception, and the stock has struggled to beat the broader market for nearly two years now. The company's share price is currently at the same level as in September 2021, while the benchmark index is up 6 per cent in the period.
Though there may still be some headroom for growth, IEG's econometric model suggests there could be turning point downwards in the IIP growth cycle in the near future.
Having exposure to international funds and gold is a must for those who have foreign currency-denominated goals.
Starting with the third quarter of financial year 2020-21 (Q3FY21), we have seen "unlock" trades at various times. Whenever lockdowns have been eased, traders have taken long positions in consumer-facing businesses. Let's look at the logic. Since March 2020, sectors like retail, personal vehicles, hospitality, aviation, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), multiplexes, etc., have been under severe pressure. As a result, there's been a low base effect. Every company in these spaces has suffered top line contraction. Many suffered losses, especially in the first half of FY21.
As temperatures soar across the country, amid searing heat wave, analysts see power demand hitting fresh record highs this year. The time, therefore, may be opportune to add related stocks on dips as higher demand boosts earnings visibility, they said. On April 18, India's electricity demand touched a new high of 216 gigawatts.
A sample of 1,248 companies saw net sales rise a whopping 39 per cent in the quarter ended June 2008 over that a year ago, as compared to 28 per cent in the quarter ending March 2008 and 16 per cent for the quarter ending December 2007.
Stocks of gold jewellery retailers have been able to retain their sheen in 2023 despite volatile gold prices. Kalyan Jewellers, Titan, PC Jewellers, Thangamayil Jewellery, and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri (TBZ) have rallied 21-72 per cent so far since April as compared to a 13 per cent gain in the benchmark Sensex index. The rally gained steam on the back of gold's 6 per cen
Most of the economic activity in the country had come to a standstill after the government imposed a 21-day nationwide lockdown beginning March 25 to check the spread of coronavirus.
