ICICI Bank would review the interest rates on consumer loans after it hiked the home loan rates by 0.5 per cent on Thursday to protect margins.
The S&P BSE Realty Index has emerged as one of the top-performing sectors, yielding a remarkable 45 per cent return over the past six months. The three leading players, listed by market capitalisation, have substantially enriched investor wealth by 43-70 per cent during this period. If the second quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24) updates from Macrotech Developers (Lodha) and Sobha, along with industry data for the quarter, serve as any indication, the trend of strong bookings for larger players is expected to continue.
The interest of the poor can be protected by providing targeted subsidy, Planning Commission's Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, adding that increased energy cost would have to be shared by the consumers as the burden is currently being largely borne by public sector oil companies.
The case has been registered against entities such as the Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra and others for allegedly exploiting religious sentiments to boost sales by providing halal certificates to customers of a specific religion, the UP government said in a statement on Saturday.
The RBI on Wednesday banned zero per cent interest rate scheme for purchase of consumer goods, a move intended to protect customers but may dampen the festive spirit.
A collapse in global oil prices has unleashed a wave of monetary easing.
The point made by sociologist M N Srinivas, that it represented a Sanskritic act that was linked to caste, is never raised in Indian debates and the disapproval of drink is almost universal, notes Aakar Patel.
The transition to UPI-based ATMs will be gradual, and consumers will not immediately switch to using standalone UPI ATMs overnight.
Smart devices maker Samsung continued to lead the smartphone market in the country for the fourth consecutive quarter in July-September with a 17.2 per cent market share, market research firm Counterpoint said on Wednesday. Shipments of iPhone maker Apple crossed 2.5 million units in the reported quarter thereby registering an all-time high in a quarter, according to the Counterpoint's Monthly India Smartphone Tracker report. "Samsung maintained its leading position for the fourth consecutive quarter with a 17.2 per cent share driven by the success of its A and M series.
'As long as economic growth remains steady, creating jobs and generating stable incomes, the rise in home loans should not create problems.' 'If the growth trajectory changes course over the medium term and interest rates rise along with inflation, the expanding trend in home loans may not sustain.'
'A weak monsoon always spells disaster. But it's too early to have a pessimistic view.'
'If rate cuts happen, bond yields will come down and investors will make mark-to-market capital gains on them.'
The "asset-right" strategy, reiterated by ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri during the company's 112th annual general meeting (AGM) on August 11, received a thumbs up from the analysts. They, however, believe that sustained earnings growth and synergies with the demerged hotel's vertical will help the stock break out from the ongoing consolidation. "The stock is expected to consolidate between Rs 420 and Rs 450 in the near future.
Consumers may not have got any respite from high interest rates, but they also need not be apprehensive about further increase with the Reserve Bank of India giving a clear signal for stable monetary policy stance.
Even as banks and finance companies are reporting record-high earnings, their weighting in the benchmark National Stock Exchange Nifty50 Index has seen a downward trajectory. Investors expect a stronger performance from other sectors in the new year. Currently, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies collectively hold a weighting of 34.5 per cent, down from 36.7 per cent at the end of December 2022 and a record high of 40.6 per cent at the end of December 2019. This represents the sector's lowest weighting in the index since December 2021 when it stood at 33.7 per cent.
Manappuram declared consolidated assets under management (AUM) growth of 27 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) (5.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter or Q-o-Q) to Rs 38,950 crore. Net interest income (NII) saw a margin expansion of 24 basis points (bps) Q-o-Q to 15.44 per cent.
Given the extremely good liquidity situation in the economy, interest rates are likely to remain stable in the next six months, K V Kamath, managing director and CEO, ICICI Bank said.
As the Men in Blue took on Australia in an intriguing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup final in Ahmedabad on Sunday, the orders on quick delivery platforms reflected the pulsating mood of the nation.
'...over the long-term can be done only by investing in equities.' 'And during weak macros, one needs t1o allocate more than drawing it down, because they offer the best entry point.'
While existing investments pipelines are on course, newer projects, which are at conceptual stage, may be affected; companies are concerned that high inflation (the wholesale price index is above 12.6 per cent, a 16-year high) and high interest rates would dampen consumer demand growth, Confederation of Indian Industry President K V Kamath said after a meeting of industry leaders with Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
'We went from zero to about 10 million users in three months. Paytm came out with the wallet play and we came out with the UPI play.'
'Life had its own plans and now I have learnt to go with the flow.'
'The risk is in not being invested and missing out on an upmove.'
Among major Sensex shares, PowerGrid fell the most by 2.76 per cent. IndusInd Bank dropped 2.34 per cent, HUL by 2.23 per cent and NTPC by 2.04 per cent. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, ITC, Infosys, L&T, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra were among the losers. On the other hand, Tata Motors rose the most by 2.94 per cent, followed by Titan which gained 1.26 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI and TCS were also among gainers.
Retail inflation rose to three-month high of 4.81 per cent in June, mainly on account of hardening prices of food, according to the government data. Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 4.31 per per (revised upward from 4.25 per cent) in May and 7 per cent in June 2022. The inflation, however, remains within the RBI's comfort level of below 6 per cent.
Rising penetration of trade generic medicines is eating into the value growth of the domestic pharmaceutical market, showed a recent analysis. According to a Kotak Institutional Equities analysis, 70-110 basis points (bps) annual dent is expected from trade generics and Jan Aushadhi on Indian Pharma Market (IPM) growth at least until FY27-28 (see chart). Trade generic medicines are those that are not pushed into the market through doctor promotions.
Even as the slowdown in the information technology (IT) services sector deepens, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), as well as oil and gas companies, emerge as the primary drivers of corporate earnings in the country. The IT services sector's share in corporate earnings declined to a five-year low of 17.4 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), whereas banks and finance companies accounted for 46.5 per cent, and oil and gas firms contributed 16.8 per cent. At their peak, IT services firms like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro represented just over a third of the combined net profit of all listed companies in the Business Standard sample.
US economic growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter.
Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta's Sterlite Copper on Monday came out with an advertisement inviting expression of interest (EoI) for carrying out plant "restart activities" at its Thoothukudi unit in Tamil Nadu, that got closed more than five years ago following an order issued by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). The EoI for restart comes when the company is still awaiting the final judgement on the issue, and the court has only allowed it to do maintenance work. "We have initiated the upkeep and maintenance activities at the plant as allowed by the Supreme Court vide its order dated May 4, 2023, in coordination with the district authorities.
There will be a lot to repair and rejuvenate -- if that opportunity even presents itself, warns Rathin Roy.
'When Pinnacle Trust bought the stake of Supreme Energy, it included a liability of Rs 640 million. The purchase was at a fair market value (prevailing price) of Rs 8.80 per share,' Deepak Kochhar said in a telephonic conversation with Business Standard.
'Investors should look to incrementally allocate towards equity from a medium-to-long term horizon.'
