Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty reversed their early gains to close lower on Wednesday due to selling in oil & gas, banking and IT stocks amid weak trends in European markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 372.46 points or 0.69 per cent to close at 53,514.15, extending its falling streak to a third day. The index opened higher and touched the day's high of 54,211.22 amid gains in Asian markets.
Flipkart, the e-commerce company owned by Walmart, is intensifying its efforts to achieve profitability as it is eyeing a valuation of approximately $60 billion at the time of its initial public offering (IPO), now planned in 2025-2026, instead of this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The firm might consider listing in the US or any other geography, including India. The company, which counts the likes of Amazon and Reliance's JioMart among its competitors in India's burgeoning e-commerce market, had also contemplated launching an IPO in 2022-2023.
Reliance has around 90,000 telecom towers now, half of which are operational and owned by the RIL and rest on lease.
Mixed earnings and not so encouraging macroeconomic data dented sentiment, Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking Ltd said. In twin blows to Indian economic revival, higher food prices drove retail inflation to a five-month high of 7.4 per cent, while factory output fell for the first time in 18 months. The second consecutive month of rise in consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation will add to the pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to again raise interest rates to tame high prices. In the broader market, BSE Midcap declined 0.73 per cent while smallcap dropped 0.45 per cent.
Bajaj Auto was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling around 6 per cent, followed by M&M, Reliance Industries (RIL), Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, SBI, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. NSE Nifty tumbled 162.60 points or 1.36 per cent to 11,767.75.
After a stellar run that saw the frontline indices - the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 - clock gains of around 21 per cent and 24 per cent respectively in calendar year 2021 (CY21), the year gone by in real sense belonged to the mid-and small-cap segments. Thus far in CY21, the mid-and small-cap indexes on the BSE have far outpaced the run in the frontline indices and notched up a gain of around 38 per cent and 61 per cent, respectively during this period. Though analysts expect the outperformance to continue in 2022, they caution against the multiple headwinds in the year ahead that may dent the overall market sentiment.
Amazon has filed a legal challenge at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) suspension of the US e-commerce giant's 2019 deal with Future Retail (FRL). Amazon has challenged the CCI order on at least five grounds, and the matter is likely to be listed this week, according to the sources. Parallelly, Amazon's Indian unit has approached the Supreme Court against a halt on an arbitration case against Future Retail's (FRL) asset sale to Reliance Industries (RIL).
From January 1, all these iPhone users will get the Rs 1,499 plan completely free for 1 year, which equals value worth Rs 18,000
In March this year, Worldline India launched Vabox (Voice Alert Box): merchants will now get instant audio alerts on the settlement of UPI (Unified Payments Interface) payments via QR codes in languages of their choice when customers check out. "They needn't worry whether the amount has been credited to their account," says Gulshan Pruthi, the firm's executive vice-president. The French payments giant will roll out 500,000 Vaboxes in the initial phase.
American online major Amazon seems to be almost doubling its India investment going by the company's recent announcement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US. From the time the Seattle-headquartered company started its India journey in 2013, its investment into the country is pegged at $11 billion or roughly $1.1 billion a year. By committing a fresh round of $15 billion by 2030, the Jeff Bezos-founded company's investment would go up to more than $2 billion a year over the next seven years.
LIC public offer, the country's biggest-ever IPO, on Wednesday opened for subscription for retail and institutional investors. The government aims to generate about Rs 21,000 crore by diluting its 3.5 per cent stake in the insurance behemoth. The LIC initial public offering (IPO), now open for retail and institutional investors, is set to close on May 9. LIC has fixed the price band at Rs 902-949 per equity share for the issue.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher by more than half a per cent on Wednesday following buying in IT, financial and oil stocks after the RBI slowed down the pace of interest rate hikes. Ending its two-day slide, the 30-share BSE Sensex rebounded by 377.75 points or 0.63 per cent to close at 60,663.79 with 24 of its constituents posting gains. The broader Nifty of the NSE spurted by 150.20 points or 0.85 per cent to settle at 17,871.70, riding on a rally in Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and HDFC Life.
Reliance Industries will sell 20 per cent stake in its oil and chemicals business to Saudi oil giant Aramco for about $ 15 billion and nearly half of its fuel retail business to BP of UK for Rs 7,000 crore. Aramco, the world's biggest crude exporter, will also supply Reliance's twin-refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat with 7,00,000 barrels of oil a day on a long-term basis, Ambani said.
It took Flipkart a little over 24 hours to complete due diligence and come up with a final offer that was $20 million higher than what Snapdeal was ready to forfeit.
Navil Noronha stepped out of the shadows to address the media for the first time during the company's recent IPO.
Govt's move will facilitate entry of global giants such as Total SA of France, Saudi Arabia's Aramco, BP Plc of the UK, and Trafigura's downstream arm Puma Energy.
After a five-day long visit, Apple CEO Tim Cook left India with a note that he can't wait to return to the country. The visit of Cook coincided with 25 years of the iPhone maker's presence in India. Cook arrived in India on Monday. The visit started with the launch of the first official Apple store in Mumbai on April 18 followed by a second in the national capital on April 20.
RIL is also more profitable than Tata Motors.
The sharing agreement will provide more bandwidth for RJIL to provide its high-speed 4G services.
'We need to encourage the next generation of farmers to continue in farming'
The currency in circulation (CIC) declined by Rs 7,600 crore in the Diwali week, making it the first such happening in two decades, a report said on Thursday. This was made possible courtesy of a greater reliance on digital payments by people, the report by economists at SBI said, adding that the Indian economy is undergoing a structural transformation at present. They clarified that the Diwali week in 2009 had also witnessed a marginal Rs 950 crore decline in currency in circulation, but that was purely due to the economic slowdown amid the global financial crisis.
Domestic equity gauges Sensex and Nifty extended their losing run for the third session in a row on Friday as participants remained cautious tracking other Asian markets amid geopolitical uncertainties in eastern Europe. After swinging about 700 points between gains and losses during the session, the BSE Sensex finally closed 59.04 points or 0.10 per cent lower at 57,832.97. On similar lines, the NSE Nifty edged lower by 28.30 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 17,276.30.
Benchmark indices bounced back on Wednesday after a two-day decline, with the Sensex and Nifty climbing nearly 1 per cent each, tracking a positive trend in European markets. Buying in IT and bank stocks also supported the recovery in equities. The 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 547.83 points or 0.99 per cent to settle at 55,816.32.
Benchmark Sensex rallied 455 points and Nifty rose more than 133 points to close above the key 18,000-mark for the first time since April on Tuesday as foreign institutional investors continued to be bullish on the domestic market. Continuing its rally for the fourth straight session, the 30-share Sensex rose 455.95 points or 0.76 per cent to close at 60,571.08 points. The broader Nifty climbed 133.70 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 18,070.05 points. Previously, the Nifty had closed above the 18,000-mark on April 4 this year.
Global energy supermajor BP plc on Thursday said it is about to open its first 'Jio-bp' branded petrol pump in partnership with Reliance Industries near Mumbai.
Dalal Street investors became richer by more than Rs 16.36 lakh crore this year as the equity market scaled new highs despite persistent geopolitical uncertainties and inflation worries. Analysts attributed better macroeconomic fundamentals, the confidence of retail investors and foreign investors investing again in the domestic equities towards the latter half of 2022 as the key factors that led to the outperformance of the Indian market in comparison to many other stock markets worldwide. During the initial part of the year, markets were jolted by the Russia-Ukraine war.
With the markets scaling new highs, as many as 43 stocks from the Nifty50 index and 27 of the 30 scrips that are part of the S&P BSE Sensex are trading above their respective 200-day moving average (DMA). The 200-DMA is seen as one of the most relevant trend indicators by investors and traders, who believe that stocks and indices trading above this level possess strength and are likely to rally in the short to medium term, while the ones trading below this level are viewed as bearish and expected to see a sell-off. Wipro, UPL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindalco, Infosys, Cipla, and Adani Enterprises are the only stocks from the Nifty50 pack that are still below their respective 200-DMA, the exchange data suggests.
The probe is being conducted under various sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) after the central probe agency recently received a communication from the commerce ministry seeking "necessary action" against e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart pertaining to certain multi-brand retail businesses and an observation made by the Delhi High Court in relation to Amazon.
Bulk of the medicine sales in the $22-24 billion domestic pharma market happens through offline retail chemists. With the entry of online pharmacies, this space has started to witness a shake-up. Sample this: Dawaa Dost, a Rajasthan based digital health start-up, generates medicine orders from 'kirana' stores and women self-help groups (SHGs) that operate in villages, and then service these orders through its affiliated network of pharmacies. Biddano, another health-tech start-up, has a platform that acts as an aggregator for neighbourhood chemist shops.
From the Sensex pack, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, Infosys and IndusInd Bank were the major laggards. NTPC, Power Grid, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, HDFC and HDFC Bank were the major winners.
With the objective of making India a manufacturing hub for domestic and foreign companies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the 'Make in India' initiative.
Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty halted their five-day rally on Tuesday and settled deep in the red, mirroring weak global markets, with decline in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC Bank. Despite opening with gains of over 200 points, the 30-share Sensex turned highly volatile and tumbled 709.17 points or 1.26 per cent to close at 55,776.85. During the day, the benchmark index plunged 1,067.07 points or 1.88 per cent to 55,418.95. The broader NSE Nifty also declined 208.30 points or 1.23 per cent to close at 16,663.
The Tata Tech IPO will be the first from the Tata group since TCS listed its shares in 2004.
Although Walmart-Flipkart wholesale game-plan is to target about a $150 billion market out of a total pie of $700 billion in the country, the consolidation marks the end of the multi-brand dream of the American retail giant.
American retail major Walgreens Boots Alliance on Tuesday said it would retain its pharma retail business - Boots UK - thus abandoning the entire sale process. The company did not make any comment specifically on the offer made by Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries (RIL), which had made a bid for the company last month. "As a result of market instability severely impacting financing availability, no third party has been able to make an offer that adequately reflects the high potential value of Boots and No7 Beauty Company.
Three business houses are likely to be in the final race to strike a deal with Germany's Metro AG for investing in its India unit -- Metro Cash & Carry. Industry sources in the know named Reliance, Adani Group, and Thailand's conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (CP) as potential frontrunners to acquire a partial or full stake in the Gurugram-headquartered Metro Cash & Carry, which has 31 stores and 5,000 direct employees. Around 20 companies, including strategic and private equity investors, were approached by the German chain, inviting them to bid for the Indian wholesale business, according to a source aware of the M&A developments.
The telecom regulator on Friday released a list of 40 "defaulter" principal entities, including large banks like HDFC Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank, that are not fulfilling the regulatory norms on bulk commercial messages despite repeated reminders. Hardening its stance on the issue, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) warned that defaulting entities should comply with the stipulated requirements by March 31, 2021 "to avoid any disruption in the communication with customers" from April 1, 2021. "As sufficient opportunity has been given to principal entities/ telemarketers to comply with the regulatory requirements and that the consumers cannot be deprived of the benefits of the regulatory provisions any further, therefore it has been decided that from April 1, 2021, any message failing in the scrubbing process due to non-compliance of regulatory requirements will be rejected" by the system, TRAI said in a statement.
Among the Sensex firms, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Steel, ITC, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra and State Bank of India were the biggest winners. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Wipro and Tata Motors were the biggest laggards.
Equity benchmarks snapped their six-session rally to close marginally lower on Thursday amid profit booking in banking and energy counters. Investors also stayed on the sidelines ahead of the RBI's policy meet outcome on Friday. In choppy trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 51.73 points or 0.09 per cent lower at 58,298.80. During the day, it hit a low of 57,577.05 and a high of 58,712.66.
Jio-BP, the fuels and mobility joint venture between Reliance Industries and UK's BP, on Thursday announced a partnership with BluSmart - India's first and largest all-electric ride-hailing platform - to set up a network of commercial large-scale EV charging stations. As part of the partnership, Jio-BP will set up these stations for passenger electric vehicles and fleets across the country, the company said in a statement. "Through this partnership, both companies will collaborate in planning, development and operation of EV charging infrastructure, at suitable locations across cities where BluSmart operates," it said.
