Stock Market Updates

Investors' wealth tumbled over 5.91 lakh crore in morning trade on Monday tracking heavy decline in equities amid intensifying conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Continuing its decline for the fourth day on Monday, the BSE gauge plummeted 1,735.98 points or 3.19 per cent to 52,597.83, tracking weak global equities and elevated crude oil prices. In tandem with the heavy plunge in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies plunged by Rs 5,91,094.71 crore to Rs 2,40,88,326.67 crore in morning deals. Maruti Suzuki India, Indusind Bank, State Bank of India and Axis Bank emerged as the biggest drag from the 30-share BSE Sensex pack, tanking up to 6.72 per cent. "The extraordinary uncertainty triggered by the war has pushed commodity markets into turmoil. Crude at USD 128 is a big shock. This can impact global growth and aggravate inflationary pressures. Market is slipping into bearish territory," according to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Ge...

The tension between world powers over the Ukraine situation, which has developed into one of the deepest crises in East-West relations for decades, has been front-and-centre of investors' minds. Asian shares rallied on Wednesday as fears of a Russian invasion of the Ukraine this week dissipated after Moscow indicated it was returning some troops to base from exercises, delivering investors a measure of relief. The tension between world powers over the Ukraine situation, which has developed into one of the deepest crises in East-West relations for decades, has been front-and-centre of investors' minds. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan surged 0.9% in early regional trade on Wednesday, playing catch-up with a rally in U.S. and European stocks on Tuesday. "If we continue to see signs that diplomacy is working and a de-escalation of tensions, I think we'll see a kind of reversal trade," said Kyle Rodda, a market analyst at IG in Melbourne....

Buy recommendations on One 97 Communications Ltd., the operator of Paytm, climbed to four this week, up from just two at the start of the year India’s pioneering digital payments startup  Paytm  is gradually regaining the confidence of some analysts after it had one of the worst debuts by a major technology company less than three months ago. Buy recommendations on One 97 Communications Ltd., the operator of Paytm, climbed to four this week, up from just two at the start of the year, while sell ratings have remained unchanged at three, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s the first time bulls outnumbered bears since the company’s disastrous initial public offering in Mumbai during November. In the most-recent vote of confidence, Goldman Sachs analysts led by Manish Adukia raised their rating to buy from neutral, after Paytm’s December quarter revenue surprised the market. The investment bank’s target price of 1,460 rupees implies a gain of more than 50% from Monday’s ...

On December 20, Brickwork Ratings [BWR) had upgraded the long-term rating to BWR BBB with a Stable outlook and short-term rating to BWR A3+ for the bank loan facilities of RSTL Shares of Rama Steel Tubes (RSTL) hit a new high, and were frozen at the 5 per cent upper circuit at Rs 412.90 on the BSE on Thursday in an otherwise weak market on improved demand outlook. Since December 20, 2021, in 13 trading days, the stock of iron & steel products company has zoomed 89 per cent from levels of Rs 218.25. Till 09:48 am; a combined 328,160 equity shares had changed hands and there were pending buy orders for 116,485 shares on the NSE and BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 1.3 per cent at 59,433. RSTL is Ieading manufacturer in the steel tube industry. RSTL products range includes MS ERW black pipes from 15mm to 200mm diameter pipes and G.l. Pipes from 15mm to 150mm NB in light, medium and heavy sizes. RSTL has a subsidiary in UAE and a step-down subsidiary in Nigeria which...

India imported 1,050 tn gold worth ($55.7 bn) in 2021, more than double of 2020. Last year's gold import surpassed the high recorded in 2011. Find out what is behind India's renewed rush for gold? Indians will build on their love for gold this year, as pent-up demand heralds a period of robust sales. This was the main finding in the World Gold Council’s recent report – The Drivers of Indian Gold Demand. The report stated that imports remain strong and retail demand was expected to pick up, when pandemic restrictions were lifted across the country. Data from the previous year illustrates this point. India spent a record $55.7 bn on gold imports in 2021, buying more than double the previous year’s tonnage. The 2021 gold import bill also surpassed the previous high of $53.9 bn in 2011. Gold’s price drop favoured retail buyers and there was strong pent-up demand for weddings in October last year. “Rising incomes are one of the biggest single drivers of long-term gold demand. This s...

The seized assets are in the form of shareholdings of Muthu alias MGM Maran in four Indian companies The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has seized shares worth Rs 293.91 crore of former Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank Limited Chairman Nesamanimaran Muthu in connection with a probe against him linked to alleged contravention of the FEMA law. The seized assets are in the form of shareholdings of Muthu alias MGM Maran in four Indian companies: Southern Agrifurane Industries Private Limited, Anand Transport Private Limited, MGM Entertainment Private Limited and MGM Diamond Beach Resorts Private Limited. The agency said in a statement that Muthu had incorporated two companies in Singapore during 2005-06 and 2006-07 financial years and invested SGD 5,29,86,250 (equivalent to Rs 293.91 crore). "This investment was made without taking approval from the RBI. Further, the source of such a huge investment abroad was not disclosed to the Indian regulators," the agency said. S...

Return on assets of SCBs improved from 0.2 per cent at end-March 2020 to 0.7 per cent at end-March 2021, aided by stable income and decline in expenditure, states the report The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday released a report on "Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2020-21". "This Report presents the performance of the banking sector, including co-operative banks, and non-banking financial institutions during 2020-21 and 2021-22 so far," said RBI in a statement. Highlights of the report: * During 2020-21, the consolidated balance sheet of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) expanded in size, notwithstanding the pandemic and the resultant contraction in economic activity. In 2021-22 so far, nascent signs of recovery are visible in credit growth. Deposits grew by 10.1 per cent at end-September 2021 as compared with 11.0 per cent a year ago. * Capital to risk weighted assets (CRAR) ratio of SCBs strengthened from 14.8 per cent at end-March 2020 to 16.3 per cent at ...

The Indian economy grew at 8.4 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal, as against a growth of 20.1 per cent in the April-June quarter The country's real gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to maintain a 9 pc growth rate in fiscal 2022 and 2023, amid concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19, says a report. The Indian economy grew at 8.4 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal, as against a growth of 20.1 per cent in the April-June quarter. "We are maintaining our forecast of a 9 per cent GDP expansion in FY2022, with a clear K-shaped divergence amongst the formal and informal parts of the economy, and the large gaining at the cost of the small. "Looking ahead, we expect the economy to maintain a similar 9 per cent growth in FY2023," domestic rating agency Icra Ltd Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said in the report. She expects the percentage of double-vaccinated adults to rise to 85-90 per cent by March 2022. While the announcement of bo...

Increasing per capita steel consumption and production of special steel as well as enhancing raw material security will remain the key focus areas of the government in 2022. Increasing per capita steel consumption and production of special steel as well as enhancing raw material security will remain the key focus areas of the government in 2022. Minister of State (MoS) Faggan Singh Kulaste said the focus will also be on finding new markets as the production of steel continues to grow in the country. As per the National Steel Policy 2017, the government has set a target to ramp up the country's crude steel production output to 300 million tonnes (MT) by 2030. The policy also seeks to increase the domestic per capita steel consumption to the level of 160 kg by 2030. In an interview with PTI, Kulaste said the per capita steel consumption in the country is at around 72.3 kg at present, while the capacity is at 143.9 MTPA (million tonnes per annum), and the focus will also be on increas...

Companies have to inform the ministry of textiles about their annual investment plan. The central government on Tuesday released guidelines for its production linked incentives (PLI) scheme for textiles, asking companies to register between January 1 and January 31 next year on an online portal. If there are not enough applications, the window will be re-opened. Companies have to inform the ministry of textiles about their annual investment plan, expected sales, turnover, expected employment generation and exports during the scheme’s tenure, according to the guidelines. Incentives worth Rs 10,683 crore will be given over five years for manufacturing of man-made fabric (MMF), garments--jerseys, overcoats, trousers, polyester suitings, shirtings, among others. The PLI also supports technical textiles used for personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, airbags, and bulletproof vests. The Cabinet approved the PLI in September to help India regain its dominance in global textiles trade, reac...

According to the RBI, banks have written off over Rs 2 lakh crore of bad loans in the fiscal ended March 2021. Find out more about the types of loans and when they are categorized as bad People borrow money for various reasons. It could be to expand their business, to fund higher education, to buy a home or car, to get a ring for their girlfriend or wife. Loans generally fall into two categories, secured and unsecured. Let us first understand what a secure loan is. Secured loans are those for which a borrower keeps some asset as surety or collateral to borrow money. Collateral can be your car, your home, or anything that is valuable. It simply means that in the event of default, the lender can use the asset to repay the funds it has advanced the borrower. Common types of secured loans are mortgages and auto loans, in which the item being financed becomes the collateral for the financing. With a car loan, if the borrower defaults on the payment, the loan issuer can seize the vehicle. Wh...

India emerged as the fastest-growing crypto market in the world this year. A Bill to regulate it remained a work in progress. So, what's puzzling the government? And how was the year 2021 for cryptos? Another year has gone by without India getting a firm hold over how to regulate cryptocurrencies. The divide between the government and the Reserve Bank of India persists. The RBI is concerned that cryptocurrencies pose financial risks to the country’s macroeconomic stability. The government, however, is reportedly looking at a more accommodative approach, rather than a ban on all private cryptocurrencies. We don’t know yet what’s inside the proposed Bill to regulate cryptocurrencies. But Indian crypto exchanges have revealed the questions they’re being asked by the government. Broadly, the conversation over how to regulate crypto is around these queries. Which is the best authority to regulate crypto? SEBI, RBI or even the International Financial Services Authority (IFSC) in Gujarat’...

The deadline for filing IT return is drawing close. Many wait till the last moment to finish the exercise, but that is not advisable. Find out the different categories of ITR forms that taxpayers fill Economy & Policy : For individuals who are not subject to audit, the income-tax return filing deadline for the financial year 2020-21 was extended by three months from September 30 to December 31. It was first extended from the usual deadline of July 31 because of glitches in the new income tax portal developed by Infosys. Taxpayers also have the option to choose between the old and new income tax regimes while filing the return. Those who choose the new regime will not be able to claim certain deductions such as the standard deduction, house rent allowance and those under Section 80C and 80D. It is also important to select the right ITR form based on your sources of income and residential status. For instance, ITR-1 can only be used by a resident individual having an income of up to ...

The Indian government is concerned about how Taliban rule could impact security in the region, especially in India's restive northern state of Jammu and Kashmir India seeks to work with Central Asian nations to help provide aid to Afghanistan and ensure a more representative government is in place there, India Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Sunday. “Our concerns and objectives in that country are similar,” Jaishankar told his counterparts from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan at the India-Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi. “We must find ways of helping the people of Afghanistan.” The Indian minister listed the needs for an inclusive government in Afghanistan, fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, providing unhindered humanitarian assistance and preserving the rights of women, children and minorities as priorities for the Asian neighbours. New Delhi has so far held only one formal meeting with the Taliban group since its take...

The rupee closed at 76.09 a dollar, up from its previous close of 76.23 a dollar The Indian rupee was acquired on Thursday later the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) kept its approach rates unaltered while fixing the speed of standardization. Security yields likewise stayed consistent as the US Fed strategy fuelled hazard craving in the developing business sector's (Em's) resources. The US Fed said it would purchase $30 billion less insecurities from the market consistently, while 12 individuals from the 18 directed expected three rate climbs in 2022. Be that as it may, it kept its objective reach for government supports rate at 0-0.25 percent, prompting a convention in EM monetary standards. The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against major global currencies, fell 0.49 percent to 96.04. Most currencies in Asia rose against the dollar, with the Philippines peso leading the gain. The rupee shut down at 76.09 a dollar, up from its past close of 76.23 a dollar. Ca...