'Whether I am optimistic or pessimistic is not the issue; I am just going by the evidence available.' 'The Indian economy and financial sector are now well-placed and very resilient in dealing with any kind of spillover coming from the external world.'
'In the case of corporate credit, especially to AAA borrowers, lenders will have to take a fresh look at pricing.'
India's financial sector is dominated by large government-owned and private-sector banks.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) may extend the deadline to whitelist URLs (Uniform Resource Locators), APKs (Android Package Kit), or OTT (Over The Top) links - through which it intends to curb their misuse -is likely to be extended by 30 days as only over 3,000 registered senders (businesses) have complied, officials indicated. According to Trai officials, over 3,000 registered senders have whitelisted more than 70,000 links, but many more (thousands of others) are yet to comply with the directive as the mandatory norms are set to come into effect from October 1.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has granted approval to Paytm to onboard new UPI users, subject to the adherence to all procedural guidelines and circulars, according to the company. The move is expected to come as a relief to Paytm, which had suffered a blow following the Reserve Bank of India's restrictions earlier this year on associate company Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) in onboarding new UPI users on the Paytm app. In March, the NPCI gave approval to Paytm to participate in UPI as a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP).
'He is convinced that this will help him in the next election.' 'But as we know, the best laid plans of mice and men can go awry.'
Public-sector banks, including Canara Bank and Bank of India, are tapping the infrastructure bond market. Canara Bank on Tuesday raised Rs 10,000 crore at a coupon rate of 7.40 per cent through 10-year infrastructure bonds. This comes after SBI on July 10 raised Rs 10,000 crore also through infrastructure bonds with a 15-year tenor at a coupon rate of 7.36 per cent.
The country's current account deficit widened marginally to $9.7 billion or 1.1 per cent of GDP in April-June 2024, as against $8.9 billion or 1 per cent in the year-ago period, Reserve Bank of India said on Monday. The crucial number representing the country's external sector strength has come on the heels of a surplus of $4.6 billion or 0.5 per cent of GDP recorded in the preceding January-March quarter. The Reserve Bank attributed the year-on-year widening in current account deficit to a rise in merchandise trade gap which was recorded at $65.1 billion in Q1 FY25 as compared to $56.7 billion in the year-ago period.
A Rs 525-crore contingency provision during the July-September period led to a 19 per cent fall in IndusInd Bank's share price on Friday (October 25). Contingency provisions are generally made when a lender expects more bad loans in the coming quarters. Shares of the bank on Tuesday (October 29) declined 1.53 per cent to settle at Rs 1,038.2 apiece on the BSE.
'Retail investors, who had not seen such a massive correction in the SMID universe since COVID-19, are witnessing something like this for the first time. Panic profit booking may continue.'
The RBI is fully aware that the high-cost loans and high indebtedness of the borrowers could pose financial stability risks, if not addressed by these NBFCs. Governor Shaktikanta Das has issued a stern warning, saying the RBI is closely monitoring these areas and will not hesitate to take appropriate action, if necessary, if the culprits don't opt for self-correction. Watch out for some action, soon, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday decided to keep the policy rate unchanged for the ninth time in a row, saying food inflation remains stubborn. The rate increase cycle was paused in April last year after six consecutive rate hikes, aggregating to 250 basis points since May 2022.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) interest rate decision, West Asia conflict and trading activity of foreign investors are the key factors that will dictate investors' sentiment in the market this week, analysts said. Moreover, quarterly earnings from IT bellwether TCS, domestic macroeconomic data and movement in global oil benchmark Brent crude would also guide trends in the market. Worsening tensions in the Middle East and foreign fund outflows were the major culprits behind the equity markets sharp fall last week.
The government on Tuesday appointed three external members -- Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya and Nagesh Kumar -- to the RBI's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee for four years. The central government has reconstituted the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of RBI, the finance ministry said in a statement. Ram Singh is the director of the Delhi School of Economics, Saugata Bhattacharya is an economist, and Nagesh Kumar is the director and Chief Executive, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred four non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), including two microfinance institutions (MFIs), from sanctioning and disbursing loans for charging exorbitant interest rates to the borrowers. These four entities are Asirvad Microfinance, Arohan Financial Services (also an MFI), DMI Finance, which provides personal, consumption, and micro, small and medium enterprises loans, and Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal's Navi Finserv, which offers home and personal loans. The ban will take effect on October 21 to "facilitate closure of transactions in the pipeline", the regulator said in a statement.
Soaring vegetable prices pushed the retail inflation rate to a nine-month high of 5.49 pr cent in September, according to government data released on Monday. The consumer price index (CPI)-based retail inflation rate was 3.65 per cent in August and 5.02 per in September 2023. The previous high inflation rate was witnessed in December 2023 at 5.69 per cent.
Adani group is on track to surpass a combined Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of Rs 1 trillion in the ongoing financial year (FY25) as it prepares for a $2 billion (over Rs 16,700 crore) share sale by its flagship entity Adani Enterprises next month, according to a source close to the matter.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) State of the Economy report for October acknowledged a slowdown in some high-frequency indicators but expressed confidence in a recovery, aided by consumption demand during the festival season. "In India, aggregate demand is poised to shrug off the temporary slowdown in momentum in the second quarter of 2024-25 as festival demand picks up pace and consumer confidence improves," said the report released on Monday.
Data collated for 47 BSE50 companies (as of H1FY25) shows employees and workers filed 8,468 such complaints in FY24.
Buch, under a cloud over allegations of conflict of interest levelled by United States-based short-seller Hindenburg, was asked to appear before the PAC, which is reviewing the performance of the market regulator.
'Investors can consider staying invested in long duration products as there is a possibility of rate cuts in the near term.' Positive macros - lower inflation, high forex reserves and favourable demand-supply dynamics for government bonds - make a strong case for rate cuts from December, says Devang Shah, head of fixed income, Axis Mutual Fund. In an interview with Abhishek Kumar in Mumbai, Shah says this view may not hold true if commodity prices go up sharply.
"I mentioned to sir (Ratan Tata) that the son of a fellow army officer was handicapped below the waist and needed a job," he told PTI from Pune where he now lives. "Vijay Bisht, son of my then colleague in M&G area HQ Lt Col B S Bisht, had sustained severe leg injuries after falling from a horse and I came to know he was looking for a job," he added. Tata said the needful would be done. And it was.
Paytm will focus on its core business of payments and cross-selling financial services as it works to achieve "profitability soon", said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive officer of the fintech, on Thursday. "The past six months have taught us many lessons, giving us the opportunity to thoroughly examine our business processes, compliance, and the way we operate from the inside out.
India's forex reserves dropped by $4.8 billion to $670.12 billion for the week ended August 9, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the kitty jumped by $7.53 billion to an all-time high of $674.92 billion.
Troubled edtech firm Byju's founder Byju Raveendran on Thursday said that he is willing to pay back the entire money to lenders if they are willing to work with him. During a two-and-a-half-hour call with the media, Raveendran said that lenders will not get any money if the process of insolvency against the company continues. "If they are willing to work with me, I am willing to give them money back before I take a single rupee out.
S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday retained India's growth forecast at 6.8 per cent for the current fiscal and said it expects the RBI to start cutting interest rates in its October monetary policy review. In the economic outlook of Asia Pacific, S&P Global Ratings also retained its GDP growth forecast for the 2025-26 fiscal at 6.9 per cent and said solid growth in India will allow the Reserve Bank to focus on bringing inflation in line with its target.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Asian Paints, Infosys, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies and Tata Steel were the biggest laggards. Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were the gainers.
Investors' wealth plummeted by Rs 4.12 lakh crore during the morning trade on Friday as markets faced a massive correction tracking a weak trend in global peers and fresh foreign fund outflows. Falling for the third day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 896.7 points or 1.09 per cent to 81,304.46 during the morning trade.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) withdrew Rs 14,790 crore ($1.8 billion) from financial stocks in the first half of August, driven by global risk aversion sparked by US recession fears. Additional factors contributing to the decline in banking stocks included subdued earnings growth in the June quarter, concerns about slowing deposit growth, and stricter liquidity norms imposed by the Reserve Bank of India.
'It is the responsibility of industry to take the very bright talent whose knowledge of software engineering basics is very high, and then give them additional skills.'
'When interest rates rise, the NAVs of these funds will fall.' However, they won't fall as much as longer-duration funds.
The rupee remains overvalued against the currencies of India's trading partners, even as it hit record lows against the dollar in August and September. According to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) real effective exchange rate (REER) index, the rupee stood at 5.5 per cent above its fair value in August, down from 7.7 per cent in July. This slight easing followed fears of a US recession and the unwinding of yen carry trades, which exerted pressure on the Indian currency.
It is to be seen if SBI under Setty, who will have a three-year term, can ride the economic cycle to take SBI to new heights, navigating some of these challenges.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sought granular data from select non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) on their loan book growth. The details sought are on the outstanding product-wise portfolio and the annualised interest charged on them. The annualised interest slabs mentioned are as follows: less than 10 per cent, 10-20 per cent, 20-30 per cent, 30-40 per cent, 40-50 per cent, and above 50 per cent.
The finance ministry is in favour of extending the August deadline for public sector banks (PSBs) as well as insurance companies to increase their minimum public shareholding (MPS) to the mandated 25 per cent, said a senior government official. "The election results will determine the course of action. "Most likely, those who did not receive an extension to meet the minimum shareholding norm will be granted one," the senior government official said.
'Even now, investors are not bothered about the war but are more concerned whether it will remain localised or not.' 'In case things are contained, markets can stage a bounce back in the next few days.'
Justice Sanjiv Khanna 'belongs to that school of legal luminaries who give the highest primacy to facts.'
The rupee has remained largely stable against the US greenback in the current calendar year (CY 2024), depreciating by just 0.59 per cent so far. However, it has considerably weakened against the euro and pound. The local currency has depreciated by 1.6 per cent against the euro and 5.6 per cent against the pound, as both currencies strengthened against the dollar during this period.
'Young investors should focus more on equity, while retired senior citizens should prioritise fixed income.' 'Mid-career investors should aim for a balanced allocation.'
The US Fed rate cut of 50 basis points is unlikely to have any significant impact on foreign inflows into India, Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said on Thursday. He said the US Federal Reserve has done what it assesses is good for the largest economy in the world, but the RBI will take a decision on interest rate cut keeping the Indian economy in mind. "It is a positive for the global economy, including the Indian economy. "It is a 50 basis points cut from a high level.