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PremiumSensex, Nifty closed 0.09% higher on Thursday. All eyes will be on the Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal's press conference at 4 pm. Markets are anticipating the European Central Bank's policy decision as it is expected to claw back stimulus today, taking a token step towards unwinding the pandemic mandated emergency aid.
"Nifty traded in a sideways trend today. It took support around 17,300 where it saw some buying and then closed around yesterday's close at 17,357. 17,250 and 17,300 will continue acting as strong support levels for Nifty. On a closing above 17,450 , Nifty may test levels of 17,500 and 17,550. Overall the trend in Nifty remains bullish and we may see new all time high in the next few trading sessions."
The Sensex closed at 58,305.07, up 54.81 points or 0.09%, while Nifty was at 17,369.25, up 15.75 points or 0.09%. Bank, financials, realty were top drags.
Home interiors brand, HomeLane, on Tuesday said it has raised $50 million (roughly ₹371 crore) as a part of its Series E funding round today, led by IIFL AMC’s late-stage tech fund, Oman India Joint Investment Fund (OIJIF) and Stride Ventures. Existing investors, including Pidilite, Evolvence, NuVentures, Sequoia Capital and Accel, also participated as a part of this round of fundraising. (Read more)
Global technology major Accenture has announced its intent to acquire France-based BENEXT, an independent product consulting company specializing in product management, cloud-based development and data science.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The probe may pertain to forcing device manufacturers to use Google Assistant as default on Android devices, Reuters reported.
Kotak Mahindra Bank will cut home loan rates by 15 bps effective today. Rates will start at 6.50% per annum. (Read more)
Gold prices firmed on Thursday after three straight sessions of losses as the dollar rally paused and investors' focus turned to the European Central Bank's meeting which is expected to signal a tapering of its emergency economic support. Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,794.17 per ounce by 0905 GMT, bouncing off a two-week low touched on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures were up 0.2% at $1,796.70.
Ford Motor Co. will stop making cars in India and shut down both of its plants in the country, two sources told Reuters, becoming the latest automaker to exit the market. Ford made the decision as it was not profitable for them to continue, said one of the sources, adding that the process will take about a year to complete. The U.S. automaker will continue to sell some its cars in the country through imports, said the second source, adding that it will also provide support to dealers to service existing customers. Ford did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. (Reuters)
LIC Housing has approved the allotment of 4.54 crore shares to LIC at ₹514.4/share on a preferential basis
European stocks hit a three-week low on Thursday, tracking Asian shares lower on concerns of slowing global growth, while expectations were running high for the European Central Bank to announce a timeline to start paring its bond purchases. The continent-wide STOXX 600 index was down 0.4%. UK's FTSE 100 led losses among regional indexes with a 0.9% drop and Germany's DAX touched over a one-month low. British airline easyJet tumbled 9.0% after it revealed plans to raise 1.2 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) and said it had rejected a takeover offer.
Asian equities retreated Thursday on growing concerns about the impact of the Delta coronavirus variant, while tech giants drove a sharp sell-off in Hong Kong after China further tightened its grip on the gaming sector. After enjoying a broadly healthy run-up at the start of September, markets were again on the back foot as traders reassess their growth outlook for this year in light of the fast-spreading Delta variant.
Refined soya oil prices on Thursday rose by ₹2.5 to ₹1,378 per 10 kg in futures trade as speculators raised their bets. On the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange, refined soya oil for September delivery moved up by ₹2.5, or 0.18%, to ₹1,378 per 10 kg in 21,685 lots. Analysts said widening of positions by traders mainly helped refined soya oil prices to trade higher in futures market.
Digital payments and financial firm Paytm on Thursday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Paytm Money, is launching a wealth and investment advisory marketplace on its platform to offer curated advisory services and products to retail investors. Paytm Money has partnered with start-up WealthDesk to offer investment portfolios called 'WealthBaskets' as the first step to build up the advisory ecosystem. (PTI)
Aluminium prices are up over 1.56% on the MCX in today’s session. Despite the mounting global uncertainties and slow growth in China’s economy, Aluminium prices continue to power through following the supply disruptions in top producer China. China’s move to limit the carbon emission hampered the operations of power intensive industries like Aluminium smelting. Low output from China comes inline with prospects of high demand for Aluminium as well as other industrial metals. Aluminium prices hover near their highest levels in about 13 years on the LME and Shanghai exchange. Disrupted supply for Aluminium which account for over half of the global Aluminium production is expected to keep prices elevated. Also, prices for Aluminium ore bauxite from Guinea (the world's second-biggest producer of Bauxite) hit their highest in almost 18 months following the political uncertainties in the West African country. Bauxite prices in Guinea, a top supplier to China, are up about 16 percent in 2021. While no mining disruption has been reported, any further threats to the already shackled supply chain might push prices further higher.
A broad-based rebound in several leading macroeconomic indicators in July and August offer bright prospects for India’s continued economic recovery, the finance ministry in a report. (Read more)
SC stays all proceedings for attachment pending before Delhi high court, saying it is trying to balance interests. The apex court has directed Sebi and CCI to refrain from passing final order on approval for four weeks.
Brexpiprazole Tablets are prescribed as adjunctive therapy to antidepressants for the treatment of schizophrenia.
India’s robust exports growth in recent months have been driven by 80 products which contribute half of the value of exports in the June quarter, according to estimates by the State Bank of India research team.
Cuemath, an online math learning platform, on Thursday said it has appointed former Swiggy executive Vivek Sunder as its Chief Executive Officer.
The appointment follows a planned succession strategy, and Cuemath founder Manan Khurma will now become the chairman, a statement said."Adding more depth to its senior team will reassure that the company, which grew 2x over the previous fiscal year, is well on its way to reaching 50 countries and becoming a global math leader," it added. Both appointments will be effective from October 1, 2021. (PTI)
German premium car manufacturer Volkswagen on Wednesday said it has launched subscription-based car ownership model in collaboration with omni-channel mobility solutions provider Orix. As part of the partnership, which is being launched across 30 outlets spanning over Delhi-NCR and six other key cities in the first phase, Orix in association with Volkswagen India will provide its customers 100% on-road financing, periodic maintenance, insurance cover and an option to upgrade or return the car at the convenience of the customer, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India. (PTI)
Clever Harvey, a career acceleration platform for young adults, has raised $1.5 million in a pre-series A round, led by TechNova Ventures along with Tom Varkey and Multiply Ventures. Existing investor Education Catalyst Fund also participated in the round. (Read more)
Lodha Group has partnered with Tata Power to provide end-to-end electric vehicle charging solutions in all its residential and commercial projects across Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune.
India’s steel mills are forecast to boost exports by more than a third this year as global prices soar and major producers of the alloy curb production. The world’s second-largest producer may increase exports to as much as 15 million tons in the year started April from 10.8 million last year, according to Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.’s Managing Director V.R. Sharma. Higher global steel prices and the opportunities provided by China and Russia’s plans to cut down on overseas shipments will boost exports. Currently, Indian mills are exporting as much as 40% of their output compared with 20% a year earlier, Sharma said. International prices are higher than local prices and are “very lucrative," while local demand in the construction sector is still slow and could pick up from October, he said.
Jio-bp, the fuels and mobility joint venture between Reliance Industries Limited and bp, announced a partnership with BluSmart, India's first and largest all-electric, ride-hailing platform to set up a network of commercial large scale EV charging stations. As part of the partnership, Jio-bp will set up these stations for passenger electric vehicles and fleets across the country. (Read more)
IT services major Tata Consultancy Services on Thursday said it has been selected by Transport for London (TfL) to design, implement and operate a new smart mobility system. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. (Read more)
India's August fuel demand rose 10.9% year-on-year, data from the Oil Ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) showed on Thursday. However, fuel consumption, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 16 million tonnes, down 4.9% from July. Consumption of diesel, which accounts for about 40% of India's refined fuel sales, rose 15.7% year-on-year to 5.61 million tonnes. Sales of gasoline, or petrol, increased by about 13% to 2.69 million tonnes. Sales of cooking gas, or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), increased 2.6% to 2.33 million tonnes, while naphtha sales fell 5.6% to 1.02 million tonnes. Sales of bitumen, used for making roads, were up 3.1%, while fuel oil use rose 7.8% in August.
Japan's Nikkei index retreated from a near six-month high to close lower on Thursday, in line with global markets as worries flared about slowing economic growth due to the fast-spreading Delta coronavirus variant. The Nikkei share average closed down 0.57% at 30,008.19, snapping an eight-day winning streak — the longest since early-November. The broader Topix fell 0.71% to 2,064.93, down from a three-decade closing high of 2,079.61 on Wednesday.
SBM Bank India on Thursday said it has partnered Lendingkart, a fintech start-up in the working capital space, and launched a customised overdraft facility for over 1 lakh customers of the fintech. Sidharth Rath, managing director and chief executive of SBM Bank India, said, in the current ecosystem for this customer segment across the nation, overdraft facilities offered by most lenders require borrowers to furnish collaterals such as property, fixed deposit and business inventories, which most small businesses are not unable to provide. (Read more)
Tech giant Google, today, introduced a new Startups Lab program, which is part of the company’s Google News Initiative (GNI). Startups Lab is a four month program in which the company will work with independent local or single-subject journalism organizations to “find a pathway to financial and operational sustainability" through coaching, skills training and “other support". The GNI Startups Lab program has been created in partnership with DIGIPUB News India Foundation, which was founded by companies like fact-checker Alt News, Article 14, Cobrapost, Newslaundry and more. Global innovation lab Echos is also a partner on the new program.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Wednesday announced that it has taken UCO Bank out of its prompt corrective action (PCA) list after finding that the state-run lender was not in breach of its rules on regulatory capital, bad loans and leverage ratio. The central bank had imposed the lending curbs on the state-owned bank in May 2017. (Read more)
Gold and silver prices today fell today in Indian markets amid weak global cues. But a weaker rupee capped losses. On MCX, gold futures were down near three-week low of ₹46,925 per 10 gram while silver fell 0.5% to ₹63,877 per kg. The Indian rupee today fell sharply against the US dollar to 73.85, weighed down by a broadly stronger US dollar. Gold prices in India include 10.75% import duty and 3% GST. (Read more)
On Wednesday, most Industrial metals on the LME ended higher except Copper which ended lower by 1.1 percent. Mounting supply uncertainties amid robust demand supported Aluminium and other industrial metal prices. However, a stronger US Dollar and prospects of tapering od the asset purchase program by the US FED capped the gains for the industrial metals. Moreover, signs of evident slowdown in China’s economy continued to weigh on market sentiments. China’s private survey stated that their Service sector slipped into contraction in August’21 as renewed restrictions following the widespread of Covid-19 Delta variant hampered economic activities. The private sector survey focuses on the smaller and medium sized firms in China. While China has successfully contained the virus outbreak, an evident slowdown in their economy might continue to remain a considerable headwind for the industrial metal prices.
There is always an element of risk involved in all online activities. But the way individuals use online services, such as storing credit card details on a retailer’s website or sharing sensitive personal data via an unprotected wireless network, or use of non-encrypted websites, they expose themselves to risks. Thus, keeping such perspective, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has issued guidance document on product structure for cyber insurance. Cyber insurance is an insurance policy designed to protect the policy holders from cybercrime. (Read more)
The Supreme Court has directed DMRC to pay damages to Reliance Infra of ₹2,800 plus interest. As of January 2019, the total amount stood at ₹4,500 crore. The case is relatd to Reliance Infra's termination of the Airport Express on a build operate transfer basis. (Read more)
India is likely to be included in one of the world’s top global bond indices early next year, which could attract $40 billion of inflows to the country’s debt market in the next two years, according to Morgan Stanley. JPMorgan’s influential GBI-EM (government bond index - emerging markets) and Global Aggregate indices are likely to include India before February 2022, as per the note. (Read more)
India recorded 43,263 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,31,39,981, while the active cases increased to 3,93,614, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 4,41,749 with 338 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The active cases comprise 1.19 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.48 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 2,358 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. Less than 50,000 daily cases have been reported for 74 consecutive days. As many as 18,17,639 tests were conducted on Wednesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 53,68,17,243.
The Indian rupee plunged 25 paise to 73.85 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, weighed down by the uptrend in the dollar index and importer hedging. Forex traders said a muted trend in domestic equities also dragged the local unit down. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 73.77 against the dollar, then fell to 73.85, registering a decline of 25 paise from the last close. In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 73.60 against the US dollar.
Aluminum extended its stunning yearlong rally to the highest since 2008 as supply concerns in China and Guinea tightened the market. A coup in the African country, which supplies almost a quarter of the world’s bauxite, has fueled concerns about potential supply disruptions to the material key to aluminum production. That’s even as Guinea’s new leaders urged mining companies to keep operating and reassured them that their existing agreements with the state will be honored. (Bloomberg)
Taliban authorities have agreed to let 200 American civilians and third country nationals who remained in Afghanistan after the end of the U.S. evacuation operation to depart on charter flights from Kabul airport, a U.S. official said. The Taliban were pressed to allow the departures by U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, said the official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Adani Enterprises Ltd's Australian coal unit said on Thursday it has begun recruiting to fill 280 permanent operational positions for its controversial thermal coal mine in Queensland state. The Carmichael coal mine was a swing factor in Australia's 2019 election that helped deliver a surprise victory to the conservative Liberal-National coalition government, attracting votes from locals who sought more jobs in the area.
The construction and infrastructure sector is gradually recovering from the aftermath of Covid. According to a report by Dolat Capital Markets Pvt Ltd, new investments announced up for consecutively second month by 9.1% year-on-year to Rs84200 crore in August primarily led by increase in Roads/ Manufacturing/ Power which was partially offset by fall in Irrigation. New investments announced in year-to-date basis so far in fiscal year 2022, increased 104.4% year-on-year to Rs5,80,200 crore. However, on a month-on-month basis, new investments in this sector is still down by around 43%. The report said that roads segment saw a major portion of new investments with 26.1% share followed by manufacturing/ real estate at 24.9%/ 13.2% in August. among states, higher concentration of new investments announced was seen in
Gujarat with 11.9% share followed by Jharkhand with 11.2% share.
India's retail inflation held steady in August, staying within the central bank's comfort zone for a second month as a moderation in food price rises was offset by continued supply-chain disruptions, a Reuters poll predicted. The Sept. 6-8 poll of 41 economists put consumer price inflation at 5.60% in August from a year earlier, little changed from a three-month low of 5.59% in July. If confirmed, inflation would be within the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) 2-6% comfort range for a second month. But it has been above the medium-term target of 4% for nearly two years.
Bullion Outlook
· Gold prices started Wednesday’s trade on a positive note opening slightly higher and prices corrected gradually during the first half of the session till a low of | 46750. However, prices did not sustain at lower levels and recovered strongly in the remaining session till a high of | 47120
· Prices held below the key psychological level of $1,800 as a buoyant dollar made bullion more expensive for holders of other currency while investors await clues from major central banks on their stimulus tapering measures
· Hence, we expect gold prices to consolidate in the range of | 46800-47200 levels for the day
Energy Outlook
· Crude oil prices opened slightly higher on Wednesday and rose gradually during most of the session till a high of | 5137
· Prices remained supported in the last session as producers in the Gulf of Mexico are still struggling to restart operations nine days after Hurricane Ida swept through the region with powerful winds and drenching rain
· Therefore, we expect crude prices to remain positive towards | 5160 level for the day
