The Indian economy remains on track to regain its position as the world's fastest-growing major economy after official estimates on Friday put the expansion at a tempered 9.2 per cent this fiscal amid concerns over the impact of a resurgent virus on the fragile recovery. The growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) of 9.2 per cent in April 2021 to March 2022 fiscal (FY 2021-22) given by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in its first advance estimate compares with 9.5 per cent expansion forecast by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last month. The economy had contracted by 7.3 per cent in the previous financial year.
Nifty PSU Bank index gained 1% led by Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Syndicate Bank and IDBI Bank
Standard and Poor's action has left many speechless.
Traditionally, most PSUs have been cash-rich, which added to their value. However, the government has been tapping regularly into their cash resources to boost revenue for the exchequer
The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative. On the BSE, 1,581 shares declined and 1,246 shares fell. A total of 165 shares were unchanged.
Experts prefer domestic consumption-driven plays and defensives such as information technology and pharmaceuticals
Maruti Suzuki fell 0.7% even after its March quarter profit grew by 15.8% to Rs 1,709 crore in Q4
Among major Sensex movers, Ultratech Cement rose over 4 per cent, Bajaj Finance by 2.63 per cent and Maruti by 2 per cent. BSE Sensex closed up by 133.14 points at a record high of 47,746.22. NSE Nifty rose by 49.35 points at its lifetime high of 13,981.95.
Analysts attribute this outperformance to the government's proactive economic reform measures
The broader NSE index has fallen about 0.9% as investors wait for corporate results
The BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices pared all intraday gains to end 0.3% and 0.5% lower
'Earning expectations remain strong.'
It is not clear as to whether we are in a bubble in technology stocks. What is clear, however, is that there is no reason why this potential bubble will pop anytime soon, notes Akash Prakash.
India's economy will do well once vaccination reaches a critical mass as pent up demand, global recovery and easy financial conditions will boost activities, RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Ashima Goyal said on Tuesday.
The apex court had observed that the allocation was arbitrary, illegal, and resulted in unfair distribution of national wealth.
The market breadth was extremely weak with 1,806 losers against 1,009 gainers on the BSE.
Pharma was the top losing index amid worries about their earnings outlook with Lupin down over 4%
The economic impact of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on emerging economies will depend on a mix of government restrictions, public comfort with social interactions, and capacity of governments and central banks to provide additional policy support to the private sector, Moody's Investors Service said on Wednesday. The emergence of the new variant poses new risks to the global economic growth and inflation outlook, as concerns mount about the variant's health risks and several countries have imposed new travel restrictions in recent days. These restrictions will likely increase over the coming weeks until scientists learn more about the variant, it said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday cut its economic growth forecast for India to 9.5 per cent for the fiscal year to March 31, 2022 as the onset of a severe second COVID-19 wave cut into recovery momentum. This forecast for 2021-22 is lower than the 12.5 per cent growth in GDP that IMF had projected in April before the second wave took a grip. For 2022-23, IMF expects economic growth of 8.5 per cent, larger than the 6.9 per cent it had projected in April.
Reliance Industries Ltd, the nation's most valuable company, on Thursday said it has raised $4 billion (around Rs 30,000 crore) in debt through the largest ever foreign currency bond issuance by an Indian entity. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate plans to use the proceeds of the three tranche issues to retire existing borrowings. The issue was "nearly 3 times oversubscribed with a peak order book aggregating around $11.5 billion," the company said in a statement. This is the largest ever foreign currency bond transaction in India, eclipsing ONGC Videsh Ltd's $2.2 billion US dollar bonds issue of 2014.
Having exposure to international funds and gold is a must for those who have foreign currency-denominated goals.
Banking stocks dipped with Nifty PSU Bank index falling 1.7% after the government notified the ordinance that seeks to tackle non-performing loans in the sector.
"It's a welcome development, but we also feel it was long overdue... It's a recognition of the actions that the government has undertaken like GST, bankruptcy. We also need to keep all these things in perspective," Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said.
But Trump is about to announce his candidacy for president in 2024. And it is not clear if Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the present hero of disenchanted Republicans, or Biden, who says he might seek re-election (but will decide in 2023), can checkmate Trump, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Nikunj Saraf, Vice President Choice Wealth, answers your Mutual Fund queries.
Amid rupee sliding below 64 to a dollar, global agency Standard & Poor's on Tuesday said it will maintain negative outlook for the country as currency depreciation is adversely impacting investor confidence.
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
The breadth, indicating strength of the market was strong
There were more than three losers against every gainer on BSE
The Nasdaq Composite hit a high of 5,143.316.
Nifty PSU bank index dropped nearly 2%
Foreign brokerage firm CLSA initiated coverage on the stock with a Sell rating and target price of Rs 1,095, citing hefty premium valuation.
Adani Ports, HUL and L&T gained the most, while ICICI Bank, ONGC, GAIL and Tata Steel lost the most
Seven years after it announced Nexa, there's no mistaking the seriousness with which Maruti wants the segment to grow, says Pavan Lall.
S&P, which holds 51.4 per cent in Crisil, named Roopa Kudva as the region head for South Asia. Kudva would be part of S&P's Asia-Pacific executive committee, the agency said in a statement. She would continue as the managing director and CEO of Crisil.
'While we note the very strong cyclical recovery in the economy, we believe there is still uncertainty over medium-term prospects.'
Despite the 3 per cent gain in September 2019, the FPI sell-off during the quarter has seen the benchmark indices - the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 register negative returns in Q3CY19.
Fitch Ratings has cut India's economic growth forecast to 8.7 per cent for the current fiscal but raised GDP growth projection for FY23 to 10 per cent, saying the second COVID-19 wave delayed rather than derail the economic recovery. In its APAC Sovereign Credit Overview, Fitch Ratings said India's 'BBB-/Negative' sovereign rating "balances a still-strong medium-term growth outlook and external resilience from solid foreign- reserve buffers, against high public debt, a weak financial sector and some lagging structural factors". The 'Negative' outlook, it said, reflects uncertainty over the debt trajectory following the sharp deterioration in India's public finances due to the pandemic shock.
Long-term investors should not reduce or stop their equity mutual funds through SIPs.
