Given the many policy areas where the Centre and the states have not been seeing eye to eye in the last few years, it is time the Modi government convenes a meeting of the Inter-State Council, recommends A K Bhattacharya.
ONGC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 4 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, SBI, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, Sun Pharma and ITC. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, Reliance, Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints were among the gainers.
More than a year of Covid-19 has pushed most businesses into gloom but Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) managed to reduce its gross debt 25 per cent, enabling it to turn towards its next phase of capital expenditure that has come in the form of a Rs 75,000-crore plan for green energy and power storage. The company managed to stay afloat during the pandemic because of its large presence in the consumer-centric businesses of retail and telecommunication (see chart: "A new Reliance"). These two businesses constituted 45 per cent of its EBITDA during FY21 from 36 per cent in FY20.
Bharti Airtel is the largest mobile phone operator in the country.
Analysts expect that Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications (RCom) and Idea Cellular will post over 50 per cent annual growth in revenues (year-on-year) and more than 10 per cent sequential growth (over the previous quarter). Bharti continues to lead in the subscriber addition race (2.1 million in August).
Eyeing a record high spectrum sale of Rs 1 lakh crore, the government on Wednesday fixed the base price for 3G auction at Rs 3,705 crore per mega hertz - which itself can fetch over Rs 17,000 crore (Rs 170 billion) from this band.
The global COVID-19 situation, rollout of vaccines, geopolitical trends, Union Budget and economic recovery would be the major factors driving investor sentiments in 2021 after a tumultuous year which saw both 'the worst of times and the best of times' for the stock market, said analysts. What a year 2020 turned out to be! From witnessing gigantic losses to record-shattering gains, investors went on a roller-coaster ride amid the coronavirus pandemic and massive stimulus measures. Markets closed 2020 with remarkable gains of around 16 per cent, but will the winning ways continue in 2021 as well?
PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4 per cent, followed by NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries and IndusInd Bank.
These sectors have underperformed the wider market over the past year and are seen having far more upside potential if the economy picks up thanks to Modi's reformist agenda.
Initial share sales are set to dazzle the Dalal Street in 2022 too as companies are expected to garner up to Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the New Year, continuing with the bullish momentum after 2021 turned out to be the best IPO year in two decades for the Indian market. Excessive liquidity and increased retail investor participation ensured a persistent euphoria in the Initial Public Offer (IPO) space wherein companies mopped up more than Rs 1.2 lakh crore this year even as pandemic gloom shadowed the broader economy. In 2022, the higher amount of funds through the primary market will be largely driven by the mega IPO of state-owned Life Insurance Corp (LIC).
India is world's third-largest smartphone market with over 100 million smartphones sold last year.
India's 100 top billionaires have seen their fortunes increase by Rs 12,97,822 crore since March last year when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and this amount is enough to give 13.8 crore poorest Indians a cheque for Rs 94,045 each.
Vodafone m-pesa was one of the 11 firms that was given payments bank licence by the Reserve Bank of India in 2015.
'Start-ups that generate a majority of their income in India are likely to opt for an Indian listing.'
'We have already sanctioned loans worth over Rs 3,000 crore to around 120,000 customers.'
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Q1 results indicate more pain ahead, as slowdown has spread to more sectors, pricing power has come down and rising interest cost is eating into profits.
Among the lot, Rallis India, Escorts, Jubilant Life Sciences, and Crisil added half of the total gains made in the ace stock-picker's portfolio.
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The benchmark has gained 2 per cent this week on continued hopes the incoming Narendra Modi government would unveil substantial economic reforms.
Fresh buying by domestic institutional investors and better-than-expected June quarter results from some blue-chip companies boosted investor sentiment
Reliance joins a number of large companies, including the Essar and Adani groups, which are raising loans abroad as interest rates in India remain high.
Bharti Airtel had planned to charge separately for internet-based voice calls provided by Skype.
HUL, ITC, Nestle, Colgate, Dabur, Britannia, Asian Paints, P&G are trading at nearly 48 times. The previous record high was 53 times at the end of March 1994.
Analysts cautious on outlook, expect earnings to remain under pressure over medium term.
Top losers in the Sensex pack on Friday included Bajaj Finance, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, L&T, Axis Bank, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, falling up to 2.08 per cent.
Mobile operator Hutchison Telecom, taken over by global giant Vodafone, has doubled its customer base while earnings and revenues swelled over between 50-55 per cent last year.
'Once we are past this electoral season, during which all promises are presented as free lunches, could we bring such non-populist issues into focus?' 'Like fixing the problems of the public sector?' points out T N Ninan.
Mid- and small-cap companies seem to have done better than top-tier companies
Sensex rally was driven by Bajaj FinServ, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Axis Bank. NSE Nifty climbed 326.50 points to end at 15,245.60.
In the near term, two key factors are the outcome of the monsoon season in respect to cropping yields; and the correction in the crude oil price.
Nifty snaps 10-day winning streak
Mobile entertainment is set to become a $5-billion industry in India in the next two years, telecom experts said in New Delhi on Friday.
Without periodic booster shots to display of strength, how is this government what it aims to be? There was also the landscape of prosperity pictured; the in-season affair with 'amrit' stretched to a longer residence in 'Amrit Kaal', notes Shyam G Menon.
The long-term growth perspective or potential for India is one of the highest in the Asia Pacific region.
Investors engaged in profit booking in the recent gainers at attractive and higher valuations.
Long before he launched Paytm, Vijay Shankar Sharma, a 32 year old from Aligarh, embarked on his ambitious entrepreneurial journey.
India ranked second among nations that were most targeted for cyber crime through the social media in 2014, after America
Salary hike is fine but govt must reduce support staff to get its math right.
'That it is happening in the second half of the year, during the festive season, will only encourage many to step up advertising.'
The figure is based on the base price of spectrum for the upcoming auction fixed by the TRAI and on the assumption that there will be no bidding war.
Coal India was the biggest gainer on both Sensex and Nifty
