PremiumIndian shares saw a decline for the first time in four sessions after domestic equities gained in the previous three sessions, defying the weakness in global markets. Shares of Adani group had a mixed day as Adani Enteprises plunged whereas Adani Power and Adani Wilmar surged to hit a 5% upper circuit after the stock exchange NSE imposed an ASM framework for the Adani Group stocks.
Indian equities on Thursday made losses as heavyweights like Adani Group firms and Reliance lost in today's session. The drop comes after domestic equities gained in the previous three sessions, defying the weakness in global markets.
S&P Sensex gave up on the 60,000 mark and ended at 59,806 and dropped 540 points in the process. Whereas, Nifty ended below 17,600, at 17,589, a loss of 165 points.
Heavyweight stocks like Adani Enterprises, Reliance, and M&M tanked around 4%, 3% and 2%, respectively, and dragged the markets the most, while Tata Steel, L&T and Apollo Hospitals were among the top gainers in today's session.
Most sectoral indices shed in today's session with Auto declining more than 1.5% followed by Energy, Consumer Durables, and IT shedding around a per cent each. Metal was the only sector to end in the green.
Asian stock markets were mixed on Thursday after Wall Street steadied following a plunge on worries about more US interest rate hikes.
Japan's Nikkei share average hit a 6-1/2-month high on Thursday, extending gains for a fifth straight session, as a less-hawkish Federal Reserve outlook and expectations for no imminent change to Bank of Japan stimulus buoyed risk sentiment.
The Nikkei ended the day 0.63% higher. Earlier in the session, the index scaled to its highest since Aug 26, 2022. Real estate and financial shares jointly posted gains on the Nikkei as investors favoured high dividend-yield stocks before the end of Japan's fiscal year this month.
China and Hong Kong stocks fell on Thursday as a slowdown in consumer inflation pointed to a weak economic recovery, while lingering geopolitical tensions curbed risk appetite.
China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index closed down 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng benchmark was down 0.6%, and the China Enterprises Index dropped 1.2%.
European shares opened lower on Thursday, with German real estate firm LEG Immobilien hitting the bottom of the benchmark STOXX 600 index on dividend suspension, while investors also fretted about interest rates staying higher for longer.
UK shares fell on Thursday as investors braced for a likely faster and longer period of interest rate hikes with mining names dragging the blue-chip index lower as metal prices dropped in the wake of a stronger dollar.
InCred Group-backed wealth management and asset management platform, InCred Capital on Thursday announced its investments in a Payroll and HR SaaS startup, TeamNest. After the investment, InCred Capital will hold a 20% stake in the company. The latest infusion forms a part of the Series A round in TeamNest.
With the fresh capital, TeamNest will enable it to expand its reach and enhance its product offerings. (Read More)
For Indian equity market, calendar year 2023 so far has been a bumpy ride. First, the rout in Adani Group stocks dampened investor sentiment. Second, US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's latest indication that terminal rate could be higher than what was anticipated, has made global equity investors nervous. This could mean more pain for equity markets, including India.
An analysis by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd showed that India's share in global market capitalisation was at 3% in February - above its historical average of 2.5% but the lowest since April 2022. (Read More)
The third largest private sector lender in India, Axis Bank on Thursday joined hands with FMCG giant ITC to offer lending products and services to farmers who are a part of ITC's agriculture eco-system. The partnership is expected to enable Axis Bank in reaching out to the unserved and under-served farmers based across rural regions.
Axis Bank will offer a host of credit facilities for rural lending products like Farmer Funding loans & Gold Loans with easy access. (Read More)
HFCL has partnered with Microsoft to create converged private 5G solutions of IoT, Cloud, Edge Computing, AI and Analytics to transform industry verticals that include manufacturing, retail and warehouse, mining, education, defence, railways, among others, as informed by an official release.
"The best practices and the lessons learnt will act as a playbook to deploy Private 5G solutions for manufacturing and other industry verticals embarking on a similar digital transformation journey," Mahendra Nahata, Managing Director at HFCL, said. (Read More)
Mr. Kunal Vora, Head - India Equity Research has shared his views:
· Raw material costs on a declining to stable trajectory but still higher than pre-Covid levels
We observe that most of the key raw materials such as palm oil, linear alkyl benzene (LAB), and palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) peaked in 1QFY23 and they have been on a declining to stable trajectory subsequently. However, they remain elevated vs pre-Covid levels. FMCG companies have started reversing price hikes in certain categories, especially those catering to the mass market, to drive volume growth. Many categories are now starting to see the anniversarization of a part of the price hikes
· Price cuts taken in the mass beauty and personal care (BPC) categories to drive demand
In Personal Care, we continue to see price cuts in mass categories like Soaps and Hair Oil, where consumers are more price-conscious and sales volumes have been weak. However, in Oral Care and Shampoos, we note a wide divergence in pricing trends, with market leaders continuing to hike prices, while other companies, to protect their market share, had relatively stable pricing. Overall, most of the BPC categories have had double-digit price hikes y-y.
In Foods, selective price hikes continued in the Biscuits segment, while prices have largely stabilized in the Dairy segment, after BRIT’s aggressive price action over the past six months. As RM prices stabilized at a lower level, edible-oil prices were cut further - MRCO cutting by 5-10% and Adani Wilmar by c12-25%.
In Home Care, price hikes continued in Detergents despite the price of LAB moderating since 2QFY23, while price cuts were seen in Dish Wash. In Detergents, HUVR’s price hikes were larger than those of competition. Home Insecticides have seen some price hikes, both in Coils and Liquid vaporizers.
· Consensus appears optimistic; valuations not yet in the comfort zone
We remain UNDERWEIGHT on the Indian FMCG sector due to its rich valuation and elevated consensus earnings forecasts. Our price tracker indicates anniversarization and reversal of price hikes in key categories such as Soaps, Dish wash, Hair oil and Edible oils. While we think the industry is well positioned for a healthy FY24 with moderation in RM costs and signs of a rural recovery, risks remain on the extent of margin expansion due to an increase in ad spends, and cost benefits being passed on to consumers to drive a volume recovery. Our preferred picks remain ITC, TTAN, BRIT and HMN
Shares of Suryalata Spinning Mills Ltd are one of the multibagger stocks that the Indian stock market has produced in the last one month. This one of the Manish Goel stocks has risen from around ₹300 to ₹620, delivering more than 100 per cent return to its shareholders in this time. However, the value investor Manish Goel believes that the BSE-listed small-cap stock has much steam left despite doubling shareholders' money in the last one month. (Read More)
Citi on Thursday announced the appointment of Bhanu Vohra as the head of its commercial banking business in India.
Vohra, a chartered accountant, will be responsible for the Citi Commercial Bank business in India, addressing banking and financial services needs of emerging large corporates and mid-market enterprises, Citi said in a statement. Based in Mumbai, Vohra will report to Citi India chief executive Ashu Khullar, and in the region to the head of Citi Commercial Bank Asia Pacific Rajat Madhok. (Read More)
China and Hong Kong stocks fell on Thursday as a slowdown in consumer inflation pointed to a weak economic recovery, while lingering geopolitical tensions curbed risk appetite.
** China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index closed down 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2%.
** Hong Kong's Hang Seng benchmark was down 0.6%, and the China Enterprises Index dropped 1.2%.
** China's consumer price index (CPI) in February was 1.0% higher than a year earlier, rising at the slowest pace in a year. That compared with a 2.1% annual rise seen in January.
** "The market expected the CPI inflation to decline, but it dropped much more than expected. This casts doubt on the strength of domestic demand recovery in the household sector," said Zhiwei Zhang, president at Pinpoint Asset Management.
** Nomura said the low CPI inflation reflected a significant slowdown in exports, a sharp contraction in land sales and property markets, and a slow recovery in tourism. (Reuters)
Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra on Thursday declined 2.52 per cent to trade at ₹1,257.40 apiece after domestic brokerage firm Motilal Oswal slashed its FY24E EPS estimate for M&M by 8 per cent to factor in a lower tractor/SUV volumes and the adverse impact of losses from new businesses.
The domestic research and broking firm, however, reiterated its 'BUY' rating as it still expect 20 per cent EPS CAGR and 2 percentage points RoCE improvement for M&M over FY23-25, along with cheap valuations. (Read More)
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Thursday extended the timeline till March 15, for submission of public comments on a proposal pertaining to higher responsibility for sponsors of investment vehicles -- REITs and InvITs.
The regulator had put in place a consultation paper on holding of sponsors in Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvITs) on February 23 and sought public comments on the same by March 8.
"It has been decided to extend the timeline for submission of comments to March 15, 2023," the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a public notice.
In its consultation paper, the regulator proposed changes to rules governing REITs and InvITs whereby sponsors will be required to own a certain percentage of units in these investment vehicles.
The changes were proposed keeping in mind the interest of unit holders and the structural vulnerabilities associated with absence of a sponsor for REITs and InvITs.
The watchdog suggested that the sponsors of REITs/InvITs should hold 15 per cent of the capital for a period of three years from the date of listing as there is no mandatory unit holding requirement after three years. (PTI)
Currently, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) shares are near their 52-week high, after the aerospace and defence company sealed a deal worth ₹6,800 crore with the defence ministry. The stock has the potential to rally further, analysts suggest an estimate of a 14% upside from the current levels.
The defence sector has regained upward momentum after forming a higher base over the past three-four months. Within the space, domestic brokerage house ICICI Direct says HAL has been the resilient candidate which has logged a resolute breakout from three months consolidation (2800-2300), indicating the resumption of primary up trend. (Read More)
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is nearing a deal to acquire a stake in Indian eyewear startup Lenskart Solutions Pvt. for about $500 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund is finalizing an agreement to buy a mix of existing Lenskart shares and new equity, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is not public. The deal, which would value Lenskart at more than $4 billion, may be announced as early as this week, the people said. (Read More)
Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank has a "small exposure" to the embattled Adani Group which has been made in line with its credit philosophy, a senior official has said.
Paritosh Kashyap, president and head for wholesale banking at Kotak Mahindra Bank, said the issues surrounding Adani Group are more of a "capital market and valuations issue and not a credit issue."
"We have a small exposure to the group. We do business with every corporate in the country, and our exposures are in line with our credit philosophy and size of our balance sheet," Kashyap told PTI in an interaction. (Read More)
Auto and FMCG sectors drag the most and Metal remains in the green
The prolonged dry spell in Himachal Pradesh has caused severe damage to the rabi crops and the maximum loss of ₹2,857.78 lakh has been suffered in the Hamirpur district of the hill state, officials said on Thursday.
As per the report of field officers from across the state, out of 4,01,853 hectares, crops on 85,538.20 hectares of land have been damaged due to inadequate/ deficient rains.
In five districts of Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Mandi, Shimla and Sirmaur up to 33 per cent of Rabi crops have been damaged.
The total loss to the crop was estimated at ₹9,462 lakh rupees so far in ten out of 12 districts in the state barring the tribal areas of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti, a spokesman of the Agriculture department said.
The crop damage was below 33 per in the remaining five districts, the spokesperson added. (PTI)
Japan only narrowly avoided a recession at the end of last year, a sign of continued weakness in the economy as inflationary pressure and a global economic slowdown cloud the outlook.
Gross domestic product grew at an annualized 0.1% in the fourth quarter from the previous period, revised figures from the Cabinet Office showed Thursday. That was significantly below both initial estimates and economist forecasts, and meant the country barely avoided two consecutive quarters of contraction.
Weaker consumer spending was the main factor behind the revision, rising less than initial estimates. The data suggested people went out less than expected during Japan’s latest Covid-19 wave, and reined in spending as prices rose. Such weakness supports the central bank’s view that Japan still needs help from easy monetary policy.
“Economic activity and the pace of recovery aren’t strong enough" for change from the BOJ, said Saisuke Sakai, senior economist at Mizuho Research & Technologies. “The BOJ will maintain its monetary easing framework for the time being." (Bloomberg)
Shiseido Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. on Thursday signed a strategic distribution partnership agreement with Global SS Beauty Brands Ltd, a subsidiary of department store chain Shoppers Stop, to expand its brand footprint in India.
Through the partnership, Japan’s Shiseido Group will officially launch its make-up brand, Nars Cosmetics in India in the second half of 2023. Nars sells colored cosmetics and face products globally. (Read More)
Byju’s, the world’s most valuable edtech startup, is seeking to raise as much as $250 million through the issuance of convertible notes by its tutoring service unit, according to people familiar with the matter.
Aakash Educational Services, the firm’s tutoring business provider, will issue the notes that will convert into equity at a discount of 20% to the listing price of the unit’s planned initial public offering, they said, asking not to be named as the information is not public. Some investors in Byju’s are expected to participate in the round, they said, without disclosing details, citing the sensitivity of the matter. (Read More)
Religare Enterprises Limited (REL) has announced that its owned subsidiary Religare Finvest Limited (RFL), has completed the OneTime-Settlement (OTS) with 16 lenders on Wednesday, as per an official release.
“RFL OTS is one of its kind revivals wherein the management has been able to conclude the legacy issues faced by Religare Group on account of fraudulent activities of erstwhile promoters and has still paid a significant amount to lenders while preserving the long-term value of the Religare Group," Dr Rashmi Saluja, Executive Chairperson, Religare Enterprises Limited, added. (Read More)
Radisys Corp, a unit of Reliance Industries Ltd owned Jio Platforms, will buy Mimosa Networks from U.S.-based IT services company Airspan Networks Holdings Inc for $60 million on a debt-free, cash-free basis, the companies said on Thursday. (Reuters)
Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services: Nifty is likely to remain in a range of 17450 -17850 before breaking up or down. If tomorrow’s payroll data from the US show better-than-expected job numbers and a strong economy, the Fed will have to raise rates by 50 bp in the March 22 meeting. This can pull the Nifty down from the range. On the other hand, if the jobs data is weak indicating a weakening economy, the Fed will raise rates only by 25 bp, which will facilitate a rally in US markets and break out of the Nifty above the upper band. So, watch out for this crucial job data. Even though strong jobs data is negative for equity markets, it can be good for IT stocks since the U.S. IT spends will continue to be strong and the Q4 results of IT companies will be good. So, weakness in IT stocks may be used to accumulate high-quality stocks in the segment.
On account of the US dollar rate climbing to three months high, gold rates today nosedived below ₹55,000 per 10 gm on MCX and retraced to the tune of ₹4,000 from its lifetime high of ₹58,847 per 10 gm levels. Silver rates today opened lower and hit an intraday low of ₹61,580 per kg in early morning deals, nosediving around ₹16,500 below its lifetime high of ₹77,949 per kg.
According to stock market experts, gold and silver prices are under pressure today due to the strength in the US dollar. Dollar Index reclaimed 105 levels on Wednesday and today it is sustaining above 105 levels, which has put other assets including gold under profit-booking pressure. They said that gold price today is standing at an immediate support of $1,810 per ounce in the international spot market whereas, on MCX, it is standing at an immediate support of ₹54,500 levels. Experts went on to add that on breaching current support gold prices may go down towards $1,790 and $1,760 levels in the international market whereas on MCX we can see gold price hitting ₹54,000 and ₹53,800 per 10 gm levels if it breaches its current support of ₹54,500 per 10 gm. (Read More)
After Future Retail, another Kishore Biyani company Future Enterprise has been admitted to insolvency resolution, requiring the firm to be auctioned to recover unpaid dues.
In a regulatory filing, Future Retail said the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal on March 7 "ordered the commencement of corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP)".
The NCLT appointed a resolution professional to manage the affairs of the company till it is sold to a successful bidder.
With the commencement of CIRP, the management of the company now vest with the resolution professional and the powers of the board of directors stand suspended, the filing said.
The insolvency order was passed on a petition of Foresight Innovations Pvt Ltd - a New Delhi-based supplier, which claimed that ₹1.58 crore of payment was defaulted by Future Enterprises.
Another operational creditor, Retail Detailz India had also filed a similar petition claiming a default of ₹4.02 crore. (PTI)
Bitcoin fell to a three-week low, sapped by the collapse of crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital Corp. and the prospect of higher-than-expected central bank interest rates.
The largest token fell as much as 1.9% on Thursday, dropping for a fourth session, and was trading at about $21,780 as of 10:28 a.m. in Singapore. Smaller coins ranging from Ether and Solana to Avalanche were subdued.
Silvergate bank, which closed a key crypto payments network last week, said Wednesday it plans to liquidate. The US lender is another victim of the digital-asset rout and the blowup of the FTX exchange. Few banks are willing to work with the volatile crypto sector and Silvergate’s demise adds to that challenge.
“It’s hard to make a fundamental argument for crypto here, just given all the uncertainty — you don’t know what regulation is coming down the pike," said Kara Murphy, chief investment officer at Kestra Investment Management. (Bloomberg)
STOCK IN FOCUS
RK Forgings (CMP 280) - Considering the better business traction, healthy automobile demand outlook, new order wins, strong margin territory and CV upcycle, healthy margins we have BUY on RMKF with a TP of Rs325, valuing the stock at a P/E multiple of 13.5x FY25E earnings.
Intraday Picks
TATACHEM (PREVIOUS CLOSE: RS1011) BUY
For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs1010-
1015 for the target of Rs1035 with a strict stop loss of Rs1002.
ONGC (PREVIOUS CLOSE: RS158) SELL
For today’s trade, short position can be initiated in the range of Rs159-
161 for the target of Rs155 with a strict stop loss of Rs163.
LICHSGFIN (PREVIOUS CLOSE: RS359) BUY
For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs355-
357 for the target of Rs368 with a strict stop loss of Rs352.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday imposed restrictions on the placement of bids, price and volume for the companies undertaking share buyback through the stock exchange route.
Under the restrictions, a company will not be able to purchase more than 25 per cent of the average daily trading volume (in value) of its shares in the 10 trading days preceding the day in which such purchases are made, Sebi said in a circular.
Among others, the company will not place bids in the pre-open market, first 30 minutes and the last 30 minutes of the regular trading session and the firm's purchase order price should be within the range of 1 per cent on either side from the last traded price.
Sebi asked companies as well as appointed brokers to ensure compliance with the provisions. The stock exchange will monitor their compliance and in case of any instance of such non-compliance will impose appropriate fines or other enforcement actions as deem fit.
Currently, for share buyback, companies have both the options of stock exchange and tender offer. (PTI)
Stoxbox Market View for Thursday: BSE Sensex closed 123 points up at 60,348, and Nifty closed 42 points higher at 17,754 on Wednesday. On Wednesday, After the gap-down opening, Nifty traded below 17,640 after making a day high of 17,670 in the morning trade & reverse from the 17,602 level. The nifty took support near 38.2% fib level on the daily chart. Intraday traders can look for long opportunities only above the resistance level of 17,800 & if the price sustains above 17,800 for 15 minutes to confirm long. Traders can look for fresh shorts only if nifty breaks the 17,600 level & remains below for 15 min to ensure short.
The initial public offering (IPO) of MCON Rasayan India Limited opened for public subscription early this week on Monday, March 6, 2023 and the initial share sale will conclude on Friday, March 10, 2023. The price of the SME issue has been fixed at ₹40 per share for the total Issue size of 17,10,000 equity shares.
As of Wednesday, March 8, MCON Rasayan IPO has been oversubscribed 74.45 times, with 115.87 times bid in the retail category, 33.03 times in the NII category, as per the exchange data. As per market observers, MCON Rasayan shares have been commanding a premium (GMP) of ₹26 in the grey market today. (Read More)
Indian shares recovered from lows on Wednesday to close near the day's high. The probability of a 50 basis point hike at the Fed's policy meeting later this month has now risen above 70% and thus global investors fear that this might push the economy into recession. (Read More)
Allotment of shares can be announced any time soon as the tentative Divgi TorqTransfer Systems IPO allotment date is 9th March 2023 i.e. today. Those who have applied for the public issue are suggested to check their allotment status online either at the BSE website or at the official registrar's website. The official registrar of the Divgi TorqTransfer Systems IPO is Link In time Private Limited.
Divgi TorqTransfer Systems IPO allotment links
As mentioned above, applicants can check their application status online at BSE or at the Link In Time website. The official website of BSE is bseindia.com whereas Link Intime website is — linkintime.co.in. For convenience to the bidders, they can login at direct BSE link — bseindia.com/investors/appli_check.aspx or at the direct Link Intime web link — linkintime.co.in/MIPO/Ipoallotment.html. (Read More)
Kirloskar Oil Engines' promoter entities on Wednesday divested 17.71 per cent stake in the company for ₹825 crore through open market transactions.
The promoter and promoter group which offloaded the shares include Jyotsna Gautam Kulkarni, Ambar Gautam Kulkarni and Nihal Gautam Kulkarni.
Nomura Trust and Banking Co. Ltd, Societe Generale, Sageone Investment Managers LLP, the Regents of the University of California, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Max Life Insurance Company and DSP Mutual Fund, among others, were the buyers of the shares.
According to the block deal data available with the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the promoter and promoter group sold a total of 2,56,22,987 shares, amounting to 17.71 per cent stake in the company.
The shares were sold at an average price of ₹322 each scrip, taking the total transaction value to ₹825.06 crore. (PTI)
Vacancies at US employers retreated at the start of the year but remained historically elevated, highlighting persistent labor tightness that supports a higher level of interest rates from the Federal Reserve.
The number of available positions decreased to 10.8 million in January from an upwardly revised 11.2 million a month earlier, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS, showed Wednesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 10.5 million openings. (Read More)
According to an NSE circular, Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and Adani Wilmar have been included under the short-term additional surveillance mechanism framework from Thursday. This information was released following the National Stock Exchange's (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange's (BSE) Monday announcement that Adani Enterprises will exit the framework for short-term additional surveillance measures (ASM).
According to the circular published by the exchanges, the adjustment will take effect on March 8. Three Adani Group firms, including the flagship Adani Enterprises, were placed under the framework of short-term additional surveillance measures by the NSE and BSE last month. The other two businesses listed by the exchanges, in addition to Adani Enterprises, were Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) and Ambuja Cements. Nevertheless, on February 13 APSEZ and Ambuja Cements were excluded from the ASM framework. (Read More)
The rupee depreciated 3 paise to close at 81.95 against the US currency on Wednesday as a strong dollar in the overseas market weighed on investor sentiments.
Forex traders said the Dollar index gained strength after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reignited worries of a 50-bps rate hike in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting to be held on March 21-22, 2023.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 82.25 against the greenback and closed at 81.95, registering a fall of 3 paise over its previous close of 81.92 on Monday.
Stock and money markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Holi.
During the session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 81.95 and a low of 82.29 against the American dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.13 per cent higher at 105.75. (PTI)
The nation's largest lender State Bank of India on Wednesday raised ₹3,717 crore through additional tier 1 bond sale.
The bank said this is the third Basel III compliant additional tier 1 (AT1) bond sale and the latest issue was closed at a coupon rate of 8.25 per cent.
The proceeds will be used to augment its additional tier 1 capital and overall capital base of the bank and also for strengthening capital adequacy in accordance with RBI guidelines.
These perpetual bonds have a call option after 10 years and every anniversary thereafter.
On the investor interest, the bank said the issue attracted an overwhelming response from investors with bids of ₹4,537 crore from 53 bids from provident and pension funds and insurance companies and was oversubscribed by about 2.27 times against the base issue of ₹2,000 crore.
Given the high response, the bank has decided to accept ₹3,717 crore at a coupon rate of 8.25 per cent payable annually. This represents spread of 66 bps over the corresponding G-Sec par curve on March 8. (PTI)
The US equity market whipsawed on Wednesday, even after the Fed chief’s reassurance that no decision has been made on the size of a rate increase in March and the central bank is not seeking to cause a recession. The US dollar was steady on the day but down from three-month highs reached earlier on Wednesday whereas SGX Nifty today opened sideways, signalling a tepid opening on Dalal Street on Thursday.
Here we list out important global market triggers that may dictate the Indian stock market today: (Read More)
India has imposed money laundering provisions on the cryptocurrency sector, the latest step by the government to tighten oversight of digital assets.
The Finance Ministry said in a notice on Tuesday that anti-money laundering legislation has been applied to crypto trading, safekeeping and related financial services. (Read More)
The tiny island of Mauritius spent years trying to clean up its image as a base for murky money launderers and shell firms. The short-seller allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani are once again reviving questions about the country’s role as a tax haven for India’s tycoons.
In a report late January that sent Adani stocks on a $153 billion downward spiral, Hindenburg Research said that entities controlled by the tycoon’s brother, Vinod, or his associates used Mauritius as a conduit for money laundering and share-price manipulation. Though the report mentioned a “vast labyrinth" of shell companies from the Caribbean to the United Arab Emirates, it pinpointed offshore firms in Mauritius as having played a pivotal part. (Read More)
Stocks steadied on Wall Street Wednesday and closed with a mixed finish, a day after worries about interest rates sent them to one of their worst tumbles of the year.
The S&P 500 rose 5.64 points, or 0.1%, to 3,992.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 58.06, or 0.2%, to 32,798.40, while the Nasdaq composite added 45.67, or 0.4%, to 11,576.00.
They were coming off a sharp drop the prior day after the head of the Federal Reserve warned it could speed up its hikes to interest rates if pressure on inflation stays high. Such hikes can ease inflation by slowing the economy, but they also hit prices for stocks and other investments and raise the risk of a recession in the future.
The Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, said again Wednesday that pressure on inflation appears to be running higher than earlier expected. But he also stressed much more strenuously than he did on Tuesday that the Fed hasn't made a decision yet on the size of its future hikes.
He said policy makers want to see what reports say in the run-up to their next meeting later this month. That gave some solace to the market, which shuddered a day earlier on fears the Fed was set to increase the size of its rate hikes.
“We’re not on a preset path, and we will be guided by the incoming data," Powell said. (AP)
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