Despite multiple headwinds at the start of 2023, the Indian markets delivered a strong performance, posting 19-20 per cent growth for the year. Even as new records were set, investor sentiment remains strong going into 2024, given the lower inflation, expectations of steady to lower interest rates, higher economic growth, and strong inflows. However, the overriding concern for most brokerages is valuations.
Following are comments from economists at leading financial institutions, banks and rating agencies on the interim Budget:
The July-September quarter results of software companies in the engineering research and development (ER&D) segment were broadly in line with expectations, though there have been cuts in revenue growth guidance. While results were a mixed bag, and there are cautionary views on the near-term outlook, brokerages and global consulting firms highlight the strong growth trajectory for the sector. They expect this segment of the software sector to grow by 8-12 per cent going forward.
The summit is being attended by more than 30 heads of state and top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries and 14 heads of international organisations.
'If the almost literally heart-stopping Suez block has any positive outcome, it is to be hoped that it will accelerate the setting up of a fab (perhaps Taiwanese) in India,' asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
Investing the time and resources needed to acquire new skill sets and sharpen existing ones will enable you to stay relevant and make you more employable, says Ankit Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Unstop.
Its success script: Investing more in local content ecosystem; growing its partnership footprint.
Drug major Cipla on Tuesday said it has launched drone-powered deliveries of critical medicines - cardiac, respiratory and other essential chronic therapies - to hospitals and pharmacies across Himachal Pradesh in partnership with Skype Air Mobility, a Gurugram-based drone delivery company. Cipla is the first among large Indian pharmaceutical companies to adopt drone-based deliveries to facilitate expedited supply to stockists in remote areas, it claimed. The Mumbai-based firm said the use of drones will support the on-time delivery of its medicines to chemists and clinics in remote areas, and minimise risks of affecting cold chain products due to temperature excursions.
India's services sector growth accelerated in April, as strong demand conditions resulted in the fastest increase in new business and output in close to 13 years, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The pick-up in demand occurred in spite of escalating price pressures. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose from 57.8 in March to 62.0 in April, signalling the fastest expansion in output since mid 2010, amid a pick-up in new business growth and favourable market conditions.
The current sub-prime crisis, in the medium-to-long term period, will accelerate global sourcing adoption as financial institutions are exercising the option to cut costs. The institute predicts that outsourcing from the financial services sector have the potential to increase 40-45 times the current market size over the next five years, with key drivers of growth coming from cost pressures and the timely advent of more vertical-specific offerings by offshore suppliers.
China and India are still at the top among the fastest growing economies in the world.
'As we expect the economy to continue to grow above the trend line, we expect capex decisions to be taken next year when there is more certainty about the cost of funding and the economy.'
'We do not see people getting reduced, but because of automation, we will do more work.'
India, the world's third-largest energy consumer, will see its energy needs doubling by the end of this decade as it witnesses an unprecedented explosion of economic growth, the nation's richest man Mukesh Ambani said on Saturday. Speaking at the convocation of Pandit Deendayal Energy University (PDEU), Ambani, who heads the nation's most valuable company Reliance Industries Ltd, said the Indian economy will become a $40 trillion economy by 2047 from the current $3.5 trillion. "And to fuel this growth, the country will need enormous amounts of energy - clean, green energy that won't choke mother nature for the sake of human progress," he said.
With debt woes and a legal case in the US courts, educational technology (edtech) giant Byju's is expected to be laying off more employees, according to media reports. According to The Morning Context report, Byju's intends to lay off 1,000 employees. This number, however, could not be confirmed by Business Standard independently. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on the reports.
The growth momentum in India's manufacturing sector was maintained in February, with new orders and output increasing at similar rates to January, according to a monthly survey. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was at 55.3 in February, little-changed from 55.4 in January. The February PMI data pointed to an improvement in overall operating conditions for the 20th straight month. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 indicates contraction.
The government has decided to extend the Rs 25,938-crore production-linked incentive scheme for the automotive sector by one year, Union Heavy Industries Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey said on Tuesday. Post extension, the five-year scheme, originally in place from 2022-23 to 2026-27, will be active until 2027-28. At present, incentives are applicable under the scheme for determined sales of Advanced Automotive Technology (AAT) products (vehicles and components) manufactured in India from 1 April 2022 onwards for a period of five consecutive years.
Within three trading sessions in May, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pumped in Rs 9,461 crore into Indian equities. This follows net inflows worth Rs 7,936 crore in March, and Rs 11,631 crore in April. The trend, analysts said, could continue going ahead as the US Federal Reserve may soon halt its interest rate hike cycle, which will strengthen foreign fund inflows into emerging markets, including India.
Transnational companies accounted for a quarter of the world's GDP1 in 2010.
As part of its road map to achieve 100 per cent dependence on renewable energy by 2025, Amazon on Wednesday announced its first utility-scale renewable energy projects in India - three solar farms located in Rajasthan. These include a 210-megawatt (Mw) project to be developed by India-based developer ReNew Power, a 100 Mw project to be developed by local developer Amp Energy India, and a 110 Mw project to be developed by Brookfield Renewable Partners. By the end of 2021, the company had reached 85 per cent renewable energy across its business.
Existing optimism about the capital goods sector has been enhanced by the Assembly election results, which were favourable for the BJP. The prospects of political continuity led to renewed interest in the sector. There are demand-supply gaps, especially in power, and visibility of improved pricing and strong order flows, including from private enterprises.
Morgan Stanley has upgraded China's equities amidst optimism about the country relaxing restrictions to slow down the spread of Covid-19. "Multiple positive developments alongside a clear path set towards reopening warrant an upgrade and index target increases for China," the brokerage said in a note. MSCI China's return on equity (ROE) is likely to rise from 9.4 per cent to 11.1 per cent by the end-2023.
Crude oil has fallen about 40 per cent since mid June and the price on Monday touched its lowest level since mid 2009 before US oil prices posted their biggest one-day gain in two years overnight.
'There is not one discussion with a client without a discussion around AI. They all have it on their mind.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday pitched India as the most attractive investment destination for those looking to invest in urbanisation, mobility, innovation and sustainable solutions. Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, he said India and some African nations will witness the biggest wave of urbanisation over the next two decades. The post pandemic world has to be rebuilt around people and cities will have to be made more liveable, he said adding post-Covid restart will not be possible without a reset of mindset, process and practices.
S&P Global Ratings on Monday kept its forecast for India's economic growth unchanged at 6 per cent in the fiscal year starting April 1, before rising to 6.9 per cent in the following year. In the quarterly economic update for Asia-Pacific, S&P saw inflation rate easing to 5 per cent in 2023-24 fiscal, from 6.8 per cent in the current financial year. It saw India's gross domestic product (GDP) likely growing by 7 per cent in the current financial year ending March 31 (2022-23), before slowing to 6 per cent in the next 2023-24 fiscal.
Fitch Ratings on Tuesday affirmed India's sovereign credit rating at 'BBB-' with a stable outlook, saying the rating derives strengths from the country's robust growth outlook and still-resilient external finances. It said India's robust medium-term growth outlook is a key supporting factor for the rating. A clear improvement in corporate and bank balance sheets, which were under strain prior to the pandemic, is likely to facilitate a steady acceleration in investment in the coming years.
'We need to do more to accelerate growth.'
Trading sentiment turned extremely bullish as gold and silver soared to a record levels in 31 years in global markets as inflation in China accelerated underscoring the challenge that central bankers worldwide face in combating rising prices.
A recession is unlikely in the APAC region in the coming year, although the area will face headwinds from higher interest rates and slower global trade growth, Moody's Analytics said on Thursday. In its analysis titled 'APAC Outlook: A Coming Downshift', Moody's said India is headed for slower growth next year more in line with its long-term potential. On the upside, inward investment and productivity gains in technology as well as in agriculture could accelerate growth.
The World Bank has sounded a note of caution on the global economy, which it says has reached a turning point with a slowdown that has already begun.
Though it still has only a single-digit share in total electricity production, India has been looking to tap nuclear power faster.
How do you avoid being laid off? If you have been let go, what should you do next? Ask rediff Career Gurus to find out.
India is well positioned to continue to be the fastest-growing major economy next year, which may mark the lowest global growth since the millennium began barring the pandemic and the global financial crisis, according to Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran. In his New Year message to around 9.35 lakh employees of the Tata Group, he said increasing consumption, consumer confidence and investment will support India's growth story although the global environment has several risk factors, including the energy crisis in Europe, the battle to contain inflation to avoid recession, and ongoing geopolitical conflicts. "Post-pandemic, India opened up, and we have returned to living our daily lives normally, in a year that saw the nation turn 75 years old.
Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and chairman of Infosys and the founding chairman of UIDAI, has donated Rs 315 crore to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.
The skyline is getting crowded by the day--not only in the big cities but across the country. India is expected to double the number of branded hotel rooms from 100,000 now in just three years. Leading the pack are global hotel chains, which will add over 300 hotel properties (an estimated 55,000 rooms) in the country by 2013.
At a time when consumers increasingly embrace green mobility solutions, it is not electric cars but hybrids that are taking the lead, as automotive sales data indicate. Since January, 64,097 electric cars have been sold compared to 266,465 hybrids, according to data from the ministry of road transport and highways' Vahan dashboard. Hybrid car sales have surged from 4.42 per cent of the 4.1 million cars sold in calendar year 2022 to 7.2 per cent this year.
Given wild swings, investors are wondering where the metal market is going. There was a strong uptrend in industrial metal through much of the last three years due to fears of supply chain issues - first due to Covid-19 and then due to the Ukraine War. That uptrend broke down as it became apparent that global growth would moderate as inflation rose and Western Europe (the EU plus the UK) went into a near-recession and China was in a rolling lockdown.
From the seas to the stars, this partnership will now be deepened by the defining role of technology, the statement said.
At a time when consumers increasingly embrace green mobility solutions, it is not electric cars but hybrids that are taking the lead, as automotive sales data indicate. Since January, 64,097 electric cars have been sold compared to 266,465 hybrids, according to data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' Vahan dashboard. Hybrid car sales have surged from 4.42 per cent of the 4.1 million cars sold in calendar year 2022 to 7.2 per cent this year.
