Opening Bell | Global equities trade lower; SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda in focus
Chinese manufacturing conditions deteriorated for a sixth straight month in August, declining to six year low of 47.1
Sell-off in Asia gains momentum
Sell-off in Asian markets accelerated following weak manufacturing activity data in China. Chinese manufacturing conditions deteriorated for the sixth straight month in August, declining to a six-year low of 47.1. China’s Shanghai Composite was down 1.5%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.8% and Japan’s Nikkei Stock average fell over 2%.
Emerging market rout spreads to the West
Overnight, the Wall Street indices plunged the most since February 2014, wiping out all of this year’s gains to trade at a six-month low, as the deepening emerging markets turmoil triggered by the commodity slide and China’s devaluation rattled global bourses, reports Financial Times. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 were down over 2% each.
Policy measures if rupee weakens due to yuan slide
Policy measures may be warranted to counter any long-term plan by the Chinese to push the yuan down to gain an edge on exports, although actions thus far don’t seem to suggest such a strategy, said Raghuram Rajan, governor of Reserve Bank of India, reports Economic Times.
State-run banks to pare down stake in UTI Mutual Fund
Shares of State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda will be in focus as they may bring down their stakes in UTI Mutual Fund. State-run banks are looking at paring down their exposure to non-core assets and raise capital for the core business of lending, reports Economic Times. The three state-run banks jointly own around 55.5% stake in the asset management company.
Google and Amazon in talks to buy Tata’s data centre
Tata Communications Ltd shares will be in focus as Google Inc. and e-commerce giant Amazon are in talks with the Tata Group to buy the data centre business of Tata Communications in a deal that could fetch ₹ 4,261.4 crore to ₹ 4,589.2 crore, reports Economic Times.
SBI wants to bring back teaser loans
State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya made a pitch for re-introducing teaser home loans to help boost demand for credit, four years after withdrawing such loans amid concern that they could hurt the asset quality of banks. Teaser home loans are offered at a fixed low rate of interest in the initial years and are subsequently adjusted to a higher floating rate for the rest of their tenure.
Paytm Payment Bank for wallets business
Paytm will separate the e-commerce and payments businesses by creating a new arm, Paytm Payment Bank Ltd. The new unit will handle all of the company’s payments businesses, including the Paytm wallet, while the e-commerce business will continue to remain under One97 Communications, said co-founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, who was one of the 11 recipients of a payment bank licence, read more.
Aditya Birla Group sets up Bizlabs
Aditya Birla Group has launched a new initiative to collaborate with start-ups called Bizlabs, something which Tata Group has already started doing, reports Mint. The Bizlabs initiative will work with start-ups in the retail, financial services and mobility businesses, areas where the group has a large presence through firms.
Titan expects consumer demand to recover from Q2
Titan Co. Ltd expects consumer demand to gather momentum from the September quarter. There have been signs of a recovery in demand in other sectors as well, bolstered by low inflation and expectations of lower borrowing costs, said managing director of Titan, Bhaskar Bhat.
Lastly, onion prices spike to two year high
Onion prices at Lasalgaon in Maharashtra, India’s largest wholesale market touched a two-year high due to lower market arrivals because of adverse weather and poor crop prospects. Onion prices have increased to ₹ 60-80 per kg in Delhi because of the supply crunch, read more.
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