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Indian markets closed higher for the fifth consecutive day in a volatile session on Friday.
At close, the Sensex was up 117.34 points or 0.23% at 50,731.63, while the Nifty rose 28.60 points or 0.19% at 14,924.30.
SBI, Tata Steel, Divis Labs, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Dr Reddy’s Labs were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and UPL.
Among sectors, Nifty PSU Bank index gained 3.6%, while pharma and metal index rose 1% each. Auto, infra, and IT stocks fell.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea which had sought a direction to instant messaging platform WhatsApp to roll back its new privacy policy on grounds that it is allegedly violative of laws and can impact the country's security.
A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde observed that this issue is already being heard by the Delhi High Court and the petitioner can choose the suitable remedy.
American digital payments major, PayPal Inc. on Friday said it will wind down its payment operations in the country and will shut down its domestic payment services in India, starting 1 April.
PayPal offers its payment gateway to Indian brands and online merchants, and also provides international remittance services for small and medium enterprises including exporters.
Moving forward, the company will focus at enabling cross-border payments for small and medium enterprise (SME) merchants.
Revenue at ₹3,795.6 crore, up 4.3% year-on-year. Ebitda rises Rs807 crore, up 15.6% YoY
Revenue rises 11% year-on-year Rs21,625.95 crore.
European stocks rose on Friday, tracking an upbeat sentiment from Wall Street on hopes of faster global economic recovery, while German stocks lagged after data showed a decline in industrial orders.
The STOXX 600 gained 0.2% and was set for its longest winning streak since late December. The index is also up 3.5% for the week, on track for its best weekly performance since November.
Markets around the world were higher on expectations of a large stimulus by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.
Germany's DAX index fell 0.1% after data showed orders for German-made goods fell more than expected in December, ending a seven-month streak of positive data as restrictions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic dragged down demand from other euro zone countries.
India's second largest private sector lender ICICI Bank on Friday tied up with Japan's MUFG Bank, with an eye on the business generated by companies from the eastern Asian country present in India.
Both the banks signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for collaboration towards catering to the banking requirements of Japanese corporates present in India, as per an official statement.
Brent crude futures climbed 28 cents, or 0.5%, to $59.12 a barrel, after hitting a high of $59.41, its highest since February last year. Brent is on track to rise 6% this week.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 29 cents, or 0.5%, at $56.52 a barrel, after touching a high of $56.84, its top since 22 January last year. The benchmark contract is on track for a weekly gain of 8%
To ensure more credit to small businesses, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has exempted banks from keeping cash reserve ratio requirement against loans disbursed to the new borrowers.
In its statement on development and regulatory policies, the RBI said micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) who have not availed of any credit facility as of 1 January can be considered for this exemption. This includes all exposures up to ₹25 lakh per borrower for credit extended up to the fortnight ending 1 October, 2021.
The banker to central bank has pulled out all stops to ensure that it is able to borrow ₹12 trillion from the markets FY22, without breaking a sweat.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) message today centred on soothing the bond market over liquidity, asking citizens to buy bonds directly from it and giving a benign outlook on retail inflation.
Bond investors had got a rude shock from the Union Budget where the government announced a higher than expected gross market borrowing along with a fiscal deficit estimate of 6.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) against an expectation of about 5.5%.
Bond traders drove up yields 20 basis points after the budget. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Since then the 10-year benchmark bond yield has stayed above 6%, a level that the RBI had painstakingly protected earlier.
Hero MotoCorp Ltd reported healthy December quarter results. Festival season sales helped even as the key highlight remained the strong operating performance despite rising commodity costs.
As analysts from Jefferies India Pvt. Ltd point out, Ebitda margin expanded 70 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 14.5% versus an expectation of a sequential decline led by better gross margins and lower-than-expected other expenses. Ebitda is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
Little wonder, shares of Hero MotoCorp hit a new 52-week high on Friday on the NSE.
We forecast industry monthly ARPU to grow by 5%-10% in FY22 as 2G and 3G customers gradually move to pricier 4G price plans. Another tariff increase is possible in 2021 because the struggling Vodafone Idea, whose ARPU is 30% lower than Bharti's, may raise tariffs to improve cash flows, Fitch Ratings said in a report on Friday.
ARPUs have been rising since December 2019, when all telcos raised them by around 30%.
The pandemic-led economic slowdown has had little impact on Indian telcos, as data traffic continues to increase even after the lockdowns were lifted. Migration of users to 4G will likely accelerate as Indian smartphone shipments sharply rebounded in 2H20, according to analysis firm Canalys.
It also forecast that the Indian telecom industry's mobile segment EBITDA will increase by at least 40% in the financial year to end-March 2021 (FY21), compared with 25% in FY20, following strong performances by market leader Reliance Jio, the telecom unit of Reliance Industries Ltd (BBB-/Stable), and second-placed Bharti Airtel Limited (BBB-/Negative) in 9MFY21.
EBITDA growth at Jio and Bharti will be driven by higher tariffs, user migration to 4G and high monthly data usage of 12GB-16GB per user as pandemic-led restrictions encouraged users to work from home and use remote-access technologies, it added.
Pfizer Inc has withdrawn its application for emergency licensure in India for now after a subject expert committee of the Indian regulator sought additional information from the company on Wednesday, a company spokesperson said on Friday.
“Based on the deliberations at the meeting and our understanding of additional information that the regulator may need, the company has decided to withdraw its application at this time. Pfizer will continue to engage with the authority and resubmit its approval request with additional information as it becomes available in the near future," the spokesperson said.
While the nature of the information sought by the SEC is not yet known, the company said that it remains committed to making its vaccine, which Pfizer developed with German ferm BioNTech, available for use by the Government in India.
Total active cases have dropped to 1.51 lakh (1,51,460) on Friday. India recorded 12,408 positive cases in the last 24 hours.
India’s cases per million population (7,828) are amongst the lowest in the world.
The minutes of the MPC’s February meeting will be published by 22 February.
Cheques can expect clearing to become faster across the country, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) planning to bring all branches across the country under Cheque Truncation System (CTS) from September 2021. As of now, CTS is only operational in major clearing houses.
Mumbai-based Godrej Properties Ltd reported muted earnings in the December quarter inspite of sales improving by 25% year-on-year basis. It's topline and bottom line performance was marred by limited new launches and subdued revenue recognition.
The company, which is seen among the key beneficiaries of the temporary stamp duty cuts in Maharashtra, launched three new projects/phases in Q3FY21. However, to tap into the improving consumer sentiment, the company has planned a slew of new launches. (Read here)
Shares of kitchen appliances manufacturer Stove Kraft Ltd made a stellar stock markets debut on Friday amid uptrend in equities post Union budget. The stock was listed at Rs498 apiece, a premium of 29.45% over its issue of ₹385 apiece. The issue was subscribed 18.03 times during the three-day share sale during 25-28 January.
Net proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised for repayment/pre-payment, in full or part, of certain borrowings availed by the company, and for general corporate purposes.
Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said the central bank will provide retail investors with direct access to the Gsec (government bonds etc) market, both primary and secondary markets.
This will make India one of the few countries to allow such an access to trading in government securities, he said, adding that this is a major structural reform.
Retail investors will be able to open these accounts directly with the RBI, he added.
We have hit the 15000 mark and the markets did it with utmost ease! While the Nifty was a tad shy since the last couple of days, it managed to conquer the psychological level. We should scale higher to levels closer to 15200 and this could be achieved by this month itself. 14500 is a good support for the index and intra day corrections can be positively utilised to initiate or add positions.
CPI-based nflation target cut to 5.2% vs 5.8% for Q4FY21, and 5.2-5% vs 5.2-4.6% for H1FY22.
Signs of recovery have strengthened further & list of normalising sectors is expanding, says RBI governor Das.
Capacity utilisation in manufacturing sector improved to 63.3% in Q2 Vs 47.3% in Q1. FDI & FPI investments have surged in recent months, reposing faith in Indian economy.
MPC has judged that need for the hour is to continue supporting growth, says RBI governor Shaktikanta Das.
Inflation has eased below the tolerance level of 6%. Outlook on growth has improved significantly.
RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 4%. Reverse repo rate also remains unchanged at 3.35%.
Repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends to banks, while reverse repo rate is the rate at which it borrows from banks.
Marginal Standing Facility Rate and Bank Rate remain unchanged at 4.25%.
SBI reported a 6.9% year-on-year decline in its December quarter net profit to Rs5,1996 crore, as it made higher provisions for bad loans. Profit, however, topped the ₹4,850.5 crore average estimate of 15 analysts polled by Bloomberg.
India’s largest lender showed a rare conviction among confident peers over ramping up lending to the economy even as it surprised investors by a more robust asset quality performance for the December quarter. (Read here)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the by-monthly monetary policy statement at 10AM on Friday. The three-day meet of the six-member Monetary Policy Committee, or the rate-settng panel, of the RBI, headed by Das, started on Wednesday.
Here are the four things to watch out for.
Shares of SBI, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Airtel, banks will be in focus in today's trade.
Britannia Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Punjab National Bank, Mrs Bectors Food Specialities, Cadila Healthcare, Pfizer, RCF, Shipping Corporation are among the 127 companies scheduled to release their quarterly earnings today.
Japanese shares rose on Friday, following Wall Street's rally overnight, as strong earning results of domestic firms and a large U.S. stimulus program boosted market sentiment.
Nikkei share average gained 1.06% to 28,641.72 by 0152 GMT, while the broader Topix gained 1.03% to 1,884.38.
South Korean shares also rebounded on Friday, set for the best weekly gain in a month, after record closing highs in Wall Street on upbeat corporate earnings and labour data lifted investor sentiment. Both the won and the benchmark bond yield weakened. The KOSPI rose by 20.59 points, or 0.67%, to 3,108.14.
The Australian S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.9% in early trade.
US stocks rose more than 1% on Thursday and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted record closing highs after another batch of upbeat earnings and data suggested that the labor market may be stabilising.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 332.26 points, or 1.08%, to 31,055.86, the S&P 500 gained 41.57 points, or 1.09%, to 3,871.74 and the Nasdaq Composite added 167.20 points, or 1.23%, to 13,777.74.
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