Tata AIG, ICICI Lombard and Nippon Life have evinced interest for the profit-making insurance arm of Reliance Capital (RCap), joining several prominent financial companies from India and abroad in the race for RCap's assets. The final day to submit an expression of interest (EoI) was March 25 and the bidders will now get access to the latest information about RCap before they make financial bids.
Shares of brokerages and market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) witnessed heavy selling pressure following the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) pivot to a uniform fee structure, which analysts fear could dent revenues. Discount brokerages, which currently benefit from a spread between client charges and exchange fees, are expected to be most affected. Shares of Angel One, the third-largest brokerage by active clients, fell 8.7 per cent. Groww and Zerodha, the largest brokerages, are not publicly listed.
The stock of India's largest listed pure-play retail company, Avenue Supermarts (DMart), has slipped over 10 per cent from its monthly highs. A weak operational performance in the fourth quarter (January-March) of financial year 2024-25 (Q4FY25) and muted near-term outlook due to intense competitive pressures and higher costs could lead to downward momentum on the stock. While the stock dipped by 3.44 per cent in early trade on Monday, it recovered a bit to close 1.07 per cent lower at 4,017.
Movement in the equity market this week will largely be dictated by quarterly earnings of blue-chip firms HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilever, along with the announcement of WPI inflation data and global trends, analysts said. Trading activity of foreign investors, global oil benchmark Brent crude and rupee-dollar trend would also guide the movement.
Investor wealth on Thursday soared by Rs 1 lakh crore, triggered by heavy buying in the stock market, with the BSE benchmark Sensex surging about 382 points to close at near six-week high levels.
Trading in the domestic stock market would be influenced by trends in the global equities, macroeconomic data and foreign fund movement in a holiday-shortened week, analysts said. Markets may face volatile trends on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Fed's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole on Friday.
Investors added more than Rs 10.56 lakh crore to their wealth as markets continued their rally for the sixth straight session on Thursday. The BSE Sensex went past 61,000-mark for the first time ever on Thursday. It jumped 568.90 points or 0.94 per cent to its new closing peak of 61,305.95.
Investors' wealth eroded by Rs 7.59 lakh crore on Monday as the equity market took a heavy drubbing amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 825.74 points or 1.26 per cent to settle at 64,571.88 points. During the day, the index plummeted 894.94 points or 1.36 per cent to 64,502.68 points.
Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) declined after the information technology (IT) major reported a 1.3 per cent sequential drop in net profit for the March quarter, prompting several brokerages to cut their target prices. The TCS stock fell as much as 1.26 per cent during the day to Rs 3,205 per share.
Investor wealth slumped by a whopping Rs 5.3 lakh crore on Friday as the benchmark BSE Sensex crashed more than 1,900 points to post its biggest single-day fall in nearly ten months. At the close of trade, the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies eroded by Rs 5,37,375.94 crore to Rs 2,00,81,095.73 crore. The total market capitalisation of these companies stood at Rs 2,06,18,471.67 crore on February 25.
Investors' wealth has eroded by over Rs 680,441 crore in three days of market fall amid weak global trends and muted domestic sentiments. Extending its losses for the third straight day, BSE benchmark Sensex on Thursday finished below the 60,000-level, weighed by hectic selling in IT, energy and finance stocks amid a sell-off in European equities. The index has lost 1,844.29 points in three sessions.
The domestic equity market, which is on a record-breaking spree, will focus on macroeconomic data announcements, movement in global stocks and the US Fed minutes to get further direction, analysts said. Trading activity of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) will also innfluence investors.From the domestic macroeconomic front, Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data for the manufacturing sector will be released on Monday, and that o,f the services sector on Wednesday. Investors, this week, will keenly watch major global market events, icluding the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes, scheduled to be out on Wednesday.
Mutual funds are loading up on information technology (IT) stocks on improved valuations and low downside risk after a double-digit correction in top companies like Infosys and Wipro. IT stocks were MFs' top sectoral buys in April when they invested a net of Rs 2,100 crore. In the first four months of 2023, the net investments in IT amounted to Rs 9,500 crore, shows an analysis by ICICI Securities.
In 2022, gold emerged as the top performer among all conventional asset classes with over 14 per cent returns mainly owing to the depreciation of the rupee.
Investors' wealth has eroded by over Rs 6.15 lakh crore in three days of market decline amid weak global cues and persistent selling by foreign funds. The BSE benchmark Sensex tumbled for the third straight session on Friday to close at 59,306.93, down 677.77 points or 1.13 per cent. In three days, the 30-share index has lost 2,043.33 points or 3.33 per cent.
Indian companies are generating more cash than ever. The net cash flow from listed firms' operations hit a new high of Rs 11.1 trillion in financial year 2023-24 (FY24), crossing the Rs 10-trillion mark for the first time, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data going back to 1990-91. The FY24 figure represents a 19.3 per cent jump over the previous year, even as quite a few companies are yet to release their numbers.
Inflation data and global trends would be the major driving factors for the equity markets this week which after a record-breaking run took a breather in recent trades, analysts said. The overall market sentiment remains positive, supported by improving economic data and earnings but higher valuations can trigger bouts of profit booking, they said further. During the last week, which the 30-share BSE benchmark rose by 175.12 points or 0.30 per cent.
Titan Company on November 21, became the second Tata group firm to join Rs 3 trillion market capitalisation (market cap) club after its shares hit a new high of Rs 3,400, up nearly 2 per cent on the BSE in Tuesday's intra-day trade. At 12:28 PM; with a market cap of Rs 301,847 crore (Rs 3.02 trillion) Titan stood at number 16th position in overall market cap ranking on the BSE listed companies, the exchange data shows. Titan overtook paint company Asian Paints, which has a market cap of Rs 300,579 crore, data shows.
A seasonally-strong quarter, with no immediate impact of the second wave and continued acceleration of digital transformation will allow the IT services sector to report a robust Q1 this financial year. However, key metrics to look out for will be attrition rate and margin lever as they will be impacted by salary hikes. Analysts expect growth for the quarter to be broad-based, with sectors like banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail, manufacturing, hi-tech and life sciences driving revenue growth. Analysts across brokerage houses are pegging revenue growth in the range of 1.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent.
Mutual funds (MFs) lapped up shares of new-age businesses in April at a time when most of these stocks have recovered sharply from their 52-week lows. Nykaa and Zomato featured in the list of top 10 most bought shares by MFs last month, with fund houses' holdings in these two stocks rising by over Rs 1,100 crore, shows a report by Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research. Shares of Zomato had staged some recovery in April after remaining subdued for an extended period.
'Those satisfied with returns and not expecting further rally could be booking profits and also stopping SIPs.'
From the pandemic shocks to state polls to global trends, a raft of sentiment drivers are expected to steer the Indian stock market in 2022 after a historic year of massive investor returns and milestones. The Union Budget, which will be closely watched for further reform moves, and quarterly earnings of corporates will be among the developments on investors' radar amid global central banks moving towards tighter interest regime in the wake of inflationary pressures. The year 2021 was rewarding in a big way for equity investors.
Among the 30 Sensex companies, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ITC were the biggest gainers. Larsen & Toubro, Power Grid, NTPC and State Bank of India were among the laggards.
Investors' wealth tumbled over Rs 2.58 lakh crore on Monday as equity markets suffered a heavy sell-off, with the Sensex plunging 2 per cent. The BSE benchmark tanked 1,172.19 points or 2.01 per cent to settle at 57,166.74 after a weak opening. During the day, it plummeted 1,496.54 points or 2.56 per cent to 56,842.39. Tracking the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms tumbled by Rs 2,58,855.59 crore to stand at Rs 2,69,44,207.98 crore.
Lump sum investments in equity and hybrid schemes of mutual funds (MFs) declined to Rs 17,900 crore in October - the lowest since January 2021. The fall in lump sum investments comes even as flows through systematic investment plans (SIPs) rose to a new all-time high of Rs 13,000 crore in October. The latest lump sum tally is just a third of the peak inflow of Rs 49,700 crore in July 2021.
India's biggest non-bank finance company, Bajaj Finance (BAF), is set to raise capital after a gap of four years. On October 5, the board of directors will meet to approve the fund raise by way of preferential issue and/or qualified institutional placement (QIP) subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. The move, analysts said, comes ahead of expectations, and could be in the wake of simmering competition in the consumer lending space, especially with the launch of Jio Financial Services (Jio Fin). "While we still do not have finer details on the game-plan of Jio Financial, it has plans to initially foray into consumer and merchant lending.
India's financial sector is dominated by large government-owned and private-sector banks.
Information technology (IT) companies have been on the road to revival in the past one year. From being the worst-hit sector in 2022 with a loss of 26 per cent, the Nifty IT index closed 2023 with gains of 24 per cent. So far in 2024, the index is up around 7 per cent against the nearly flat Nifty 50 benchmark index. The IT index has been on a continuous decline in the last three sessions.
Trading in the equity market this week will be highly influenced by a host of important triggers, with quarterly earnings from IT majors TCS, Wipro, and domestic inflation and IIP data taking the centre stage in dictating the movement in equities, analysts said. Besides, global factors and trading activity of foreign investors will also drive markets. "We are approaching the first quarter earnings season, with HCL Tech, TCS and Wipro set to report their earnings this week.
Food delivery platform Zomato has laid the foundation for its third vertical of growth by agreeing to acquire Paytm's entertainment and ticketing business, said analysts on Thursday (August 22). Zomato, which also runs a quick commerce business called Blinkit, will strengthen its 'going out' offering but the acquisition may take time to yield results, they said. "Paytm's entertainment and ticketing arm will be part of Zomato's District app, which is due to be launched in the coming weeks.
Equity investors became poorer by over Rs 8 lakh crore in five days of market plunge. The BSE benchmark has lost 2,062.99 points or 4 per cent in five trading sessions. On Thursday, the 30-share BSE benchmark tanked 585.10 points or 1.17 per cent to close at 49,216.52. Following the bearish trend, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies declined by Rs 804,216.71 crore to Rs 2,01,22,436.75 crore in five days.
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TCS tops the list of 100 wealth creators for the fourth time in a row
Operating margins have been the primary driver of corporate earnings in India in recent quarters, despite revenue growth suffering from weak consumer demand. Companies across sectors have reported a sharp improvement in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) margins over the past two years, benefiting from lower commodity and energy prices. Higher margins more than compensated for slower revenue growth, resulting in double-digit growth in net profit for five consecutive quarters.
Investors became poorer by over Rs 4.47 lakh crore on Friday as markets faced severe drubbing, mirroring weak trends in global equities. The 30-share BSE benchmark dived 866.65 points or 1.56 per cent to settle at 54,835.58. During the day, it tumbled 1,115.48 points or 2 per cent to 54,586.75.
Domestic equities will be mainly driven by global market trends, foreign institutional investors' movement and developments around new Covid variant Omicron this week, according to analysts. Markets traded under pressure last week following weak global cues and overall investor sentiment remained downbeat throughout the week, they observed. "Global markets, Omicron variant, dollar index and FIIs' behaviour will be key factors to drive the market this week," said Santosh Meena, head of research, Swastika Investmart Ltd. One major event last week was US Federal Reserve's announcement that it will end bond-buying from March, and it also signalled starting rate hike cycle thereafter.
The domestic stock market may face volatility amid the monthly derivatives expiry scheduled this week, while investors would mainly await the outcome of RBI's interest rate decision on Friday, said analysts. Global market movement would also continue to drive sentiment amid a bearish trend recently following rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may take cues from its global counterparts to raise interest rate for the fourth time in a row to control inflation.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has emerged as the biggest wealth creator over the past five years.
The rupee declined by 10 paise to close at 79.23 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 79.20 and finally ended at 79.23, down 10 paise over its previous close of 79.13. "Gains for the currency were short-lived even after RBI announced forex related measures. "Pound held on to its gains after Boris Johnson said he was quitting as prime minister following a rush of ministerial resignations and calls for him to go," said Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
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