Business News Highlights: Stock Markets Settle Higher, Sensex Crosses 72,000, Nifty Falls Short Of 21,900
Business News Highlights: Please follow this space for all the breaking news and latest updates from the Stock Market, economy and corporate world
The budget allocation for women's welfare in the financial year 2024-25 has seen a substantial increase of 38.6 per cent. This boost is attributed to enhanced allocations by seven ministries and departments, according to the Women and Child Development Ministry.
"43 Ministries/Departments/UTs have reported a total of Rs. 3.09 lakh crore in the Gender Budget Statement 2024-25 (Budget Estimates), as compared to Rs. 2.23 lakh crore in 2023-24," the ministry statement states.
State-owned Bank of India (BoI) reported a 62 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 1,870 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal year in the financial results released on Friday. Comparatively, the bank logged a profit of Rs 1,151 crore in the October-December quarter in the 2022-23 fiscal year. The total income of the lender rose to Rs 16,411 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs 14,160 crore in Q3FY23.
Air India announced the appointment of Ravindra Kumar G P as the airline's Chief Human Resources Officer on Friday, effective from April 1, 2024. Kumar is currently working with Tata Motors, and will replace Suresh Dutt Tripathi, who is retiring from the airline.
Tata Motors on Friday reported a 133.32 per cent climb in net profit to Rs 7,100 crore in the quarter ended December 2023 in the current fiscal year, against Rs 3,043 crore logged in the corresponding quarter in the preceding fiscal year. The revenue for the reviewing period stood at Rs 1,10,600 crore, up by 25 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.
The Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) on Friday reported an 18 per cent rise in consolidated Profit After Tax (PAT) to Rs 451.95 crore in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24. The hospitality firm's PAT stood at Rs 382.71 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement. IHCL's revenue from operations grew 16.49 per cent to Rs 1,963.84 crore in Q3FY24 compared to Rs 1,685.80 crore in Q3FY23.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Friday proposed to revamp the nominations framework aimed towards reducing unclaimed assets in the securities market. This new framework will also make the process of claiming the assets easier for the surviving successors of the deceased investors.
The rupee appreciated 7 paise to settle at 82.91 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, helped by a strong trend in domestic equities and a weak dollar against major currencies overseas amidst an increase in appetite for riskier assets. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 82.91 against the American currency, hit an intraday high of 82.82 and a low of 82.93, before closing at 82.91 (provisional). In the previous trading session on Thursday, the Indian currency closed at 82.98 against the greenback.
IndiGo-parent InterGlobe Aviation reported on Friday that its profit after tax more than doubled to Rs 2,998.1 crore in the quarter ended December 2023 in the current fiscal year, against the profit of Rs 1,422.6 crore logged in the corresponding third quarter in the preceding 2022-23 fiscal year. The firm registered profits for the fifth consecutive quarter. The total income of the company increased to Rs 20,062.3 crore in Q3FY24, from Rs 15,410.2 crore on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.
The stock markets closed trading on a strong note, a day after the Budget 2024 was presented in the Parliament. The S&P BSE Sensex settled over 400 points higher above the 72,000 mark, at 72,085.63, while the NSE Nifty50 closed more than 150 points higher at 21,853.80.
IT training firm, NIIT, reported a marginal increase of 0.56 per cent in its consolidated net profit to Rs 14.36 crore in the quarter ended December 2023 in the current fiscal year. Comparatively, the profit remained at Rs 14.28 crore in the corresponding quarter a year earlier. The revenue from operations slipped by over 8 per cent to Rs 85.17 crore in Q3FY24, from Rs 93.18 crore in the same quarter last year. The company in its statement said that the results include the impact of the demerger of NLSL from NIIT Ltd from April 1, 2022.
Mahindra Group announced on Friday the appointment of Amarjyoti Barua as the group CFO, effective May 17, 2024. Barua will be replacing Manoj Bhatt, who has been named as the MD and CEO of Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd (MHRIL), the firm said in a statement. Currenlty, Barua is working as Executive VP for Group Strategy with the company.
Blackstone-backed, Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd, filed preliminary papers with the markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise Rs 5,000 crore via an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The IPO includes a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 1,000 crore, and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of Rs 4,000 crore by promoter BCP Topco VII Pte Ltd, an affiliate of Blackstone Group Inc, the DRHP filed on Wednesday revealed. The firm intends to utilise the funds from the issue worth Rs 750 crore to meet future capital requirements.
Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra on Friday said that the government anticipates that the average monthly GST collections will reach approximately Rs 1.85 lakh crore in the upcoming fiscal year, an increase from about Rs 1.66 lakh crore in the current fiscal year, reported PTI.
The Central government and Central Public Sector Enterprises are estimated to monetise assets worth Rs 1.50 lakh crore in the ongoing fiscal year, slightly lower than the target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore. Under the National Monetisation Pipeline, the cumulative monetisation potential of the central government's existing infrastructure assets has been estimated at around Rs 6 lakh crore over a four-year span, spanning from FY22 to FY25.
iPhone maker Apple reported a double-digit growth in revenue and hit a new peak in the December 2023 quarter, on robust iPhone sales, the firm’s CEO, Tim Cook, said during an earnings call. The company saw India business grow in revenue terms, and hit a revenue record in the reviewing quarter.
The tech company logged a quarterly revenue of $119.6 billion in the period, rising 2 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. The installed base of active devices crossed 2.2 billion, the firm said. Further, revenue across other emerging markets like Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, etc, also touched record highs.
India’s richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), presented a Rs 59,954.75 crore Budget for the financial year 2024-25 on Friday. The Budget estimates for FY25 stand 10.5 per cent higher than the FY24, which was set at Rs 54,256.07 crore.
TVS Motor recorded monthly sales of 339,513 units in January 2024, increasing 23 per cent, compared to 275,115 units in the same period in the preceding year. Total two-wheelers sales registered a growth of 25 per cent, with an increase from 264,710 units in January 2023 to 329,937 units in January 2024.
The sales of domestic two-wheelers climbed 24 per cent, with a hike in sales from 216,471 units in January 2023 to 268,233 units in January 2024.
The stock markets rallied ahead on Friday during the afternoon session, with the benchmark equity indices hitting massive highs. The NSE Nifty50 index touched an all-time high level of 22,126.80, and then slipped below the 22K mark to trade at 21,893.70, as of 1:10 PM. The BSE Sensex soared over 1400 points to touch 73,089.40, and later fell back to 72,178.53.
The government expects to conclude the strategic sale of IDBI Bank in the upcoming fiscal year, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, told PTI in an interview. He added that the process of privatisation of IDBI Bank is going on and financial bids will be invited after receiving the regulatory clearance.
Paytm will continue to work as usual after February 29, CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma clarified on Friday. The founder and CEO of Paytm operator, One97 Communications Ltd, said that the firm remained committed to serving the country in full compliance. "To every Paytmer, Your favourite app is working, will keep working beyond 29 February as usual," he said via a post on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). Notably, the RBI barred Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) from accepting deposits or top-ups in any customer account, prepaid instruments, wallets, and FASTags, among others after February 29, 2024.
One of Indian edtech start-up Byju’s US unit has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the US Court of Delaware. The unit has listed liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, reported Reuters.
The Alpha unit of the edtech firm listed its assets in the range of $500 million to $1 billion, a court filing revealed, which also estimated that creditors remained in the range of 100 to 199. Some Byju’s investors have recently said that the firm’s valuation declined from $22 billion in 2022 to somewhere between $1 billion and $3 billion.
The Indian rupee appreciated 16 paise to 82.82 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, helped by positive domestic equities, after the Interim Bugdet focused on increased capex and swifter fiscal consolidation. Forex traders noted that the interim Budget led to a positive impact on the domestic unit after the fiscal deficit for FY25 was lowered to 5.1 per cent of the GDP. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 82.91 against the American dollar, and hit a high of 82,82, marking a gain of 16 paise over the previous closing. On Thursday, the domestic currency settled at 82.98 against the greenback, appreciating 6 paise.
The stock markets rallied on Friday following the Budget announcement a day earlier. As of 10:25 AM, the Sensex stood over 700 points higher ahead of the 72,400 mark at 72,421.99, while the NSE Nifty50 jumped more than 200 points to trade at 21,932.60, inching closer to 22,000.
Background
Business News Highlights: Hello and welcome to ABP Live's Business LIVE blog. Please follow this space for all the breaking news and latest updates from the Stock Market, economy, and the corporate world.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Interim Budget 2024 on Thursday. The stock markets exhibited volatility and closer slightly lower in the day. However, on Friday, the markets seem to have welcomed the government’s policy revisions introduced in the Budget.
As of 10:02 AM, the two key equity benchmarks were trading higher and seemed to be on a strong rally. The BSE Sensex climbed over 750 points and was trading at 72,403.68, while the NSE Nifty50 stood higher by more than 200 points at 21,934.75.
Comparatively, in the previous trading day, on Thursday, Sensex and Nifty closed their lacklustre trade in the red following the Interim Budget announcement. The S&P BSE Sensex, which hit a high of 72,151, eventually ended the day at 71,645, down 107 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 topped 21,800 in intra-day deals, but closed at 21,697, down 28 points.
While the FM proposed no changes to the tax slabs in the Budget, there were few policy revisions announced. Among the major announcements included a capital outlay of over Rs 2.5 lakh crore for the Indian railways. The govt also hiked the gross budgetary allocation for railway infrastructure projects in the northeast for the FY25 to Rs 10,369 crore, which remained 388 per cent higher than the average budget allocation of Rs 2,122 crore during the 2009-14 period, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday.
For the EV sector, while the FM did say that the govt will enhance widespread adoption of E-buses for public transport, the govt also slashed the FAME allocation for FY25 by over 44 per cent to Rs 2,671.33 crore, against the revised Budget Estimates for FY24.
Sitharaman also announced that the government will disburse Rs 75,000 crore as interest-free loan for 50 years to support reforms by states for realising the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.
Regarding the agriculture sector, the government said that it will be building on its Atmanirbhar Oilseeds Abhiyaan launched in 2022 and setting up a comprehensive program to help the dairy farmers.
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