Now that the economy is growing at a higher-than-expected rate, it is time to accelerate the pace of fiscal consolidation, and the Budget could be a good starting point, argues Rajesh Kumar.
'As long as businesses do not consider cyber recovery an integral part of their enterprise IT, they remain greatly vulnerable.'
Ulhas Joshi, Head -- Sales, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
The government is confident of meeting the fiscal deficit target of 5.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and the nominal GDP target of 10.5 per cent despite pressure in the initial months of FY24, Economic Affairs secretary Ajay Seth told Business Standard. Normally the initial months of any financial year see proportionally a higher fiscal deficit because the expenditure is evenly paced while revenue picks up in the later months, he said. "This year the proportional fiscal deficit so far is much closer to the target than in most other years.
'Revision of the base year for both CPI and GDP are long overdue.' 'The basic data that went into the 2011-2012 series were mainly from surveys done in 2011 or earlier.' 'We have since seen the emergence of new sectors like platform-based work and online marketing.' 'The employment surveys and the consumption surveys need to reflect these adequately.'
'If the third wave of Covid infections is as bad as the second one, the market may get very polarised with a preference for blue-chips with low volatility.'
Analysts attribute the surge to a host of factors, particularly the interest shown by the retail investors in these two market segments.
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.
'India has many attractive features for the long-term investor; it combines: A low per capita income, a young population, and a heavier presence of high margin, asset-light firms in the technology sector.'
Rapid strides in digital payments notwithstanding, the Indian economy will likely remain cash-dependent for many years to come, at least that's what the automated teller machine makers and cash logistics companies are betting on. After growing at over 20 per cent for most of 2020, currency in circulation growth fell to 8.5 per cent as of October 29 this year, shows data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The reason for the steep rise in currency last year was the uncertainties related to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, where people preferred to hoard cash to meet exigencies.
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The HSBC Emerging Markets Index, a monthly indicator derived from the PMI surveys, sank to 50.6 in June from 51.3 in May, signalling the weakest increase in output since May, 2009.
The headline for corporate profit growth has been very encouraging in the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), with the combined net profit of listed companies up by 38 per cent year-on-year. However, the earnings distribution has been very lopsided, with most of the growth coming from public-sector oil-marketing companies (OMCs), banks, non-bank lenders, automobile (auto) companies, and cement producers. By comparison, companies from information technology services, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and consumer durables were disappointed, experiencing a sharp slowdown in net sales growth and a relatively muted increase in reported net profit.
Retail inflation fell to a 15-month low of 5.66 per cent in March, mainly due to a decline in food prices, government data showed on Wednesday. The inflation figure in March is within the RBI's comfort zone as it is below 6 per cent. The retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.44 per cent in February 2023 and 6.95 per cent in the year-ago period.
Amendments to RBI Act likely soon
The HSBC Emerging Markets Index, a monthly indicator derived from the PMI surveys, remained only just above the neutral threshold of 50.0 in September, signalling muted output growth in emerging markets.
China's covid crisis could provoke a raw material crunch for India's EV industry later this year.
Analysts believe that investors should look at stocks that hit 52-week lows only if they have a dividend paying track record, are debt-free and have sound fundamentals.
Stating that COVID-19 has not yet been contained in India, the rating agency in a statement said the government stimulus package is low relative to countries with similar economic impacts from the pandemic. "The COVID-19 outbreak in India and two months of lockdown -- longer in some areas -- have led to a sudden stop in the economy. That means growth will contract sharply this fiscal year (April 2020 to March 2021)," it said. "Economic activity will face ongoing disruption over the next year as the country transitions to a post-COVID-19 world."
Ever since India became a force to reckon with in software services, doing for clients what they want done, the big void that has been constantly talked about is its absence from the space of software products - those over which you own intellectual property rights.
'If because of El Nino, the monsoon is affected adversely in the current year, naturally it will affect income projections and consequently Budget numbers.'
'We expect the Reserve Bank of India to deliver a 25 bps rate cut in April to support growth.'
'Companies with a strong business case and healthy balance-sheet should sail through and emerge more robust in the future.'
Experts warn of over-interpreting the numbers and said their sustainability needed to be watched beyond November, says Indivjal Dhasmana.
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.
In terms of stock selection, India continues to benefit from two phenomena - the big getting bigger and availability of quality stocks in relative abundance compared with its Asian peers.
Moody's on Monday slashed India's growth forecast for 2020 to 5.4 per cent from 6.6 per cent projected earlier, on slower than expected economic recovery. In its update on Global Macro Outlook, Moody's Investors Service said India's economy has decelerated rapidly over the last 2 years and economic recovery is likely to be 'shallow'.
Located in a small township in the eastern part of Bengaluru is IBM's new Security Command Centre, which is surrounded by offices of multinational tech companies. This unit is the centrepiece of IBM's multi-million dollar investment to help businesses prepare for the growing threat of cyberattacks across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. This facility is the first of its kind in the region. It helps train in cybersecurity response techniques through highly realistic and simulated cyberattacks.
Nikunj Saraf, Vice President Choice Wealth, answers your mutual fund queries.
Nikunj Saraf, Vice President Choice Wealth, answers your queries.
Nikunj Saraf, Vice President Choice Wealth, answers your queries.
The long-term growth perspective or potential for India is one of the highest in the Asia Pacific region.
'It could tempt investors to pick stocks that are not fundamentally sound.'
NSE Nifty finished higher by 46.05 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 11,707.90. Asian Paints was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 6.32 per cent, followed by Nestle India, HUL, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Maruti and PowerGrid.
A total of 49 companies raised Rs 81,615 crore in Samvat 2077, more than the preceding four years and almost double the amount raised in the previous year. Samvat 2078 appears even more promising with mega issues of Paytm and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India. However, Paytm's record could be short-lived as state-owned LIC is planning to launch a Rs 1-trillion IPO by March 2022.
Large investors track high-frequency data that is immediately available today. That data has been bullish, points out Debashis Basu.
Corporate India's hiring activity saw a decline in April, with the business process outsourcing and IT enabled services industry registering the sharpest drop of 22 per cent, a report by job portal said.
The resurgence of COVID-19 has dented but not debilitated economic activities in the first half of Q1 of the current fiscal even though caseload of infections is much higher than before, according to an RBI article. The ferocity of the second COVID-19 wave has overwhelmed India and the world, the article said, adding that war efforts have been mounted to stop the surge in its tracks. "The impact of the second wave on the real economy seems to be limited so far in comparison with the first wave. Evidently, the localised nature of lockdowns, better adaptation of people to work from home protocols, online delivery models, e-commerce and digital payments are at work," the article on the state of economy authored by RBI Deputy Governor M D Patra and other officials said.
So far, there seems to be limited debate about their activities in India, where virtually all FAANG companies have teamed up in different ways with India's most powerful businessman, observes T N Ninan.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
TCS, Bajaj Auto, Adani Ports and Cipla were the top gainers on BSE Sensex while Coal India, GAIL, Dr Reddy's and Infosys lost the most on the index.
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