India's economy continues to be robust, but downside risks such as rising crude oil prices, adverse weather conditions, and the global banking crisis outweigh the upside potential in gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the current financial year (FY24), the finance ministry said on Tuesday in its Monthly Economic Review for March. "We reiterate that downside risks to our official forecast of 6.5 per cent for real GDP growth in FY24 dominate upside risks," the review said. "Opec's surprise production cut has seen oil prices rise in April, off their lows of low-seventies per barrel in March.
'The long maturity of these funds makes them well-suited for long-term financial goals such as saving for retirement or children's education or marriage.'
Invest in quality companies that make profits, advises stock market expert and rediffGURU Samraat Jadhav.
Mutual funds have launched a clutch of new fund offers in the silver ETF (exchange traded fund) category this year and collected Rs 1,400 crore in assets after the introduction of the newly-created investment asset class by market regulator Sebi in 2021. Further, fund houses including Kotak Asset Management Company have filed draft documents with the markets regulator to float silver ETF as well as silver ETF fund of funds for investors, information with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed. These NFOs (new fund offers) are providing an opportunity to the investors to digitally invest and own silver which is easily tradable during market hours.
While the overall loan disbursements stood strong at 15 per cent YoY in Q2, pockets such as vehicle finance, loans to NBFCs, and business banking showed some weakness. A continued fall in these numbers may make it tough for AU SFB to defend its valuations under the current circumstances.
It's time to re-examine government's role as owner of banks,
The major beneficiaries of loan recasting will be sub-Rs 500 crore corporate exposures and retail exposures, which were earlier expected to see the highest increase in NPAs in percentage terms.
Interest rates on all loans linked to MCLR stand reduced by 5 bps with effect from May 10, 2019: SBI
In anticipation of his team's upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup match against the Netherlands, New Zealand batsman Glenn Phillips expressed his belief that the Dutch side will prove to be a formidable opponent in the tournament.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced a Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) that will look to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways. She also said the asset monetisation does not involve selling of land and it is about monetising brownfield assets. Projects have been identified across sectors, with roads, railways and power being the top segments.
Public sector banks (PSBs) have written off a massive Rs 8 trillion of loans in the seven years of the Narendra Modi government in office. This is more than twice the capital infused by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government during the period. Between 2014-15 and 2020-21 (FY21), the Centre had infused Rs 3.37 trillion into PSBs. At Rs 1.06 trillion, FY19 saw the highest capital infusion.
Ricky Ponting unequivocally backed Rishabh Pant for the number four slot in India's World Cup line-up and even saw him as one capable of winning the tournament.
Banks such as IndusInd Bank, Federal Bank, DCB Bank and Axis Bank which have renewed their focus on secured loans may be, hence, walking on a tightrope.
The global turmoil in the banking sector has made analysts cautious, who advise that investors stay away from stocks of this sector till the overall sentiment improves. The recent trouble for the banking sector started with the collapse of US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank. On its part, Moody's Investors Service has also cut its outlook for the US banking system to 'negative' from 'stable', citing the run on deposits at these three banks that led to the collapse of these banking majors in less than a week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced the adoption of the New Delhi Leaders Declaration, a significant victory for India's G20 presidency that came amid increasing tensions and divergent views over the Ukraine conflict.
Among the bank groups, under the baseline scenario, public sector banks' gross NPA ratios may increase to 13.2 per cent by September 2020 from 12.7 per cent in September 2019.
'Indices will remain range bound in 2022 as earnings catch up with the current multiples.'
If the earnings in the first quarter of the current financial year are an indication, most banks, particularly those majority-owned by the government, have fared well, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'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.'
ICICI Bank Ltd, India's biggest private sector lender, posted its slowest quarterly growth in four years as asset quality worsened and funds set aside for bad loans and contingencies almost doubled from a year earlier.
In the April-June period, bond yields rose by 30 bps.
RBI will make a presentation on January 24 before the panel on the state of NPAs and stressed loans.
Exposure to debt funds and gold is essential even if current returns from these asset classes are low, suggests Sanjay Kumar Singh.
A media report in the run up to the board meet had mentioned the names of Sashidhar Jagdishan, Kaizad Bharucha and Sunil Garg as the ones who had made the cut. Jagdishan and Bharucha are internal candidates, while Garg is working with American banking major Citigroup.
Indeed, there were frauds, and the politician-banker-industrialist nexus played a role in the rise of NPAs, but governance issues in Indian banking are far more nuanced and complex, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The correlation between withdrawal of deposits and the Covid death rate is stark, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Rohit's men start overwhelming favourites but Shaheen, rain pose threat
The central bank dashed hopes of any steep interest rate reduction.
While banks are not as exposed as the corporate sector during the initial stage of the pandemic, the strain on lenders could ultimately be profound. Banks face a second-order hit compared with the corporate and household sectors.
Axis Bank Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Shikha Sharma on the new mechanism for non-performing loans, the bank's loan portfolio, industry outlook and the bank's future plans.
The current wage revision for PSBs, as well as some private lenders, is due from November 2017 for five years - up to October 2022.
ICICI Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by ITC, SBI, HCL Tech, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Tech Mahindra. NSE Nifty advanced 32 points to 15,856.05.
With their weak metrics and high bad loans, India's state-run banks have not been investor favourites
Despite unprecedented levels of uncertainty in Samvat 2077, investors have little to complain about on the returns front. The BSE Sensex delivered returns of 38 per cent in this period, while the Nifty registered a return of over 40 per cent. As is the case in bull markets, companies in the small- and mid-capitalisation basket outperformed the benchmarks, with returns almost twice those of frontliners.
Investors not comfortable investing directly may take the mutual fund route, where they get exposure to a diversified portfolio of bonds.
S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday lowered India's economic growth forecast to 5.2 per cent for 2020, saying the global economy is entering a recession amid the coronavirus pandemic. The agency had earlier projected a growth rate of 5.7 per cent during the 2020 calendar.
At a combined level, the fiscal deficit of the Centre and states together will come at 12.1 per cent, with the states contributing 4.5 per cent.
Policymakers should aspire to restore the pre-Independence environment where the rupee was trusted and used all over South Asia, in Southeast Asia, in West Asia, and in East Africa, suggests Ajay Shah.
'Indian equity valuations, although not very expensive, are not cheap either.'
'Continue with your SIPs to get the benefit of lower average prices in this challenging market environment.'
