Business News Highlight: Market, G-Secs, Forex To Remain Operational On Friday, Says RBI
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Government securities, foreign exchange, money and rupee interest rate derivatives markets will remain open on Thursday and Friday, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement on Wednesday. The Maharashtra government has declared September 29 as a public holiday under Section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. The public holiday on September 28, 2023 declared earlier has been cancelled.
RBI said, "To ensure smooth functioning of the financial markets and non-disruptive settlement of transactions especially in view of the quarter/ half year end, it has been decided, in public interest, to keep the government securities market, foreign exchange market, money market and rupee interest rate derivatives market operational on September 29, 2023 in addition to being operational on September 28, 2023."
It further said settlement of the auction of Government of India treasury bills conducted on Wednesday (September 27) will take place on September 29. The auction of Government of India Dated Securities scheduled on September 29 will now be conducted on September 28, with settlement on September 29.
The underwriting auction for sale of government securities will also be conducted on September 28, RBI added.
Power management solutions provider Exicom Tele-Systems Ltd has filed draft papers with SEBI to raise funds through an Initial Public Offering (IPO), PTI reported on Thursday. The maiden public issue comprises a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) component of up to 74 lakh equity shares by promoter NextWave Communications, the report said citing the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), which was filed on Wednesday. At present, NextWave Communications owns a 71.45 per cent stake in the company.
As per the draft paper, the company plans to raise Rs 80 crore through a pre-IPO placement round.
Proceeds of the fresh issue will be used towards setting up production lines at the manufacturing facility in Telangana, investment in research & development as well as product development, and payment of debt, to support working capital requirements and general corporate purposes.
Exicom Tele-Systems develops industry-leading EV charging solutions for homes, workplaces, and public spaces.
The IPO of Valiant Laboratories, the pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing firm, was subscribed 71 per cent on day two of the subscription. According to a PTI report, the retail individual investor category was subscribed 1.27 times, the non-institutional investor category was subscribed 29 per cent, and the qualified institutional buyer category was subscribed 5 per cent.
The IPO is a fresh issuance of up to 1.08 crore equity shares, with no offer-for-sale component. The price range for the offer is Rs 133-140 a share.
Proceeds of the issue will be used to set up a manufacturing facility for specialty chemicals in Gujarat through its subsidiary -- Valiant Advanced Sciences Private Ltd. -- and to meet the working capital requirements of the subsidiary company, the report said.
Jewellery retailer Malabar Gold and Diamonds is planning to invest up to Rs 4,000 crore in the next fiscal on capacity expansion and opening of 95 stores in the country and overseas, Malabar Group Chairman M P Ahammed said on Thursday, reported PTI.
"Today we have 330 stores in India and 11 other countries. We are planning to add 63 stores across the country and 32 overseas, including in Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, the US, Europe, Egypt, in FY25," Malabar Group Chairman M P Ahammed told reporters.
"For this, we will ramp up our capacity in our manufacturing units. We are looking at an overall investment of up to Rs 4,000 crore in FY25 -- Rs 2,646 crore for India and Rs 1,300 crore for overseas," Ahammed said at the launch of Malabar National Hub in Mumbai.
Ahammed also said, "We are not in any need for capital right now. We are consolidating our business and becoming IPO-ready. We don't have any plans for an IPO till at least 2024-25."
Credit growth in agriculture and allied activities improved to 16.6 per cent annually in August 2023, with the loan outstanding nearing Rs 18 lakh crore, the RBI data showed on Thursday. This is up from 13.4 per cent credit growth in August 2022.
Credit to industry registered a growth of 6.1 per cent (year-on-year) in August 2023 compared to 11.4 per cent a year ago. Among major industries, credit growth accelerated in basic metal and metal products and textiles, but decelerated in chemicals and chemical products, food processing, and infrastructure, the data showed.
The expansion in credit to services sector accelerated to 20.7 per cent (year-on-year) in August 2023 from 17.4 per cent a year ago, primarily due to non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and commercial real estate. Personal loan growth decelerated to 18.3 per cent on an annual basis in August 2023 against 19.4 per cent a year ago due to moderation in credit to housing.
Air India, the Tata Sons-owned airline, on Thursday announced its partnership with fashion designer Manish Malhotra to design new uniforms for over 10,000 Air India employees, reported ANI.
"Air India today announced its partnership with celebrated fashion designer Manish Malhotra to design new uniforms for over 10,000 Air India employees on the frontline, including cabin crew, cockpit crew, ground and security staff. This is a further step in the manifestation of Air India’s new global brand identity as part of its ongoing modernisation programme. Air India expects to commence rolling out the new look for its uniformed employees by the end of 2023," Air India said, as per the news agency.
Japanese brokerage Nomura has upgraded Indian equities to "overweight" from "neutral", citing India's strong structural story and its position as a major beneficiary of the "China+1" theme. The brokerage also noted India's large and liquid equity market.
"The structural story of India is now well known as a major beneficiary of the 'China+1' theme, possessing a large, liquid equity market," the report by its analysts said.
Nomura said the stock market is benefitting from the "k-shaped growth", which has led to concerns about equitable growth, where there are fears of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
"Stock market benefiting from a K-shaped economy; high earnings growth market; earnings revisions and domestic flows still holding up well despite higher rates," Nomura said in a commentary on India.
Toyota is considering setting up a third manufacturing plant in India to meet growing demand, PTI reported on Thursday citing sources. The automaker's two existing plants are running at almost full capacity and some products have long waiting periods, the report said.
In May 2023, the company initiated a third shift at its Bidadi-based plant near Bengaluru, increasing production capacity by 30 per cent. The company also invested over Rs 90 crore to upgrade the existing infrastructure at the facility and added about 1,500 workers.
Toyota's Plant 1 in Bidadi has an installed production capacity of 1.32 lakh units per annum and currently rolls out the Innova Hycross, Innova Crysta, Fortuner, and Legender. Toyota's Plant 2 in Bidadi has an installed production capacity of 2.10 lakh units per annum and rolls out products like the Camry Hybrid, Urban Cruiser Hyryder, and Hilux.
In the January-August period, its sales grew by 34 per cent to 1,47,192 units from 1,09,669 units in the same period of last year.
Gold and silver prices in India plummeted on Thursday, tracking a decline in the overseas markets. Gold prices in New Delhi fell by Rs 650 to Rs 58,950 per 10 grams on Thursday, while silver prices nosedived by Rs 1,000 to Rs 73,100 per kg, according to HDFC Securities, reported PTI. Analysts say that the fall in gold and silver prices is a temporary one and that the precious metals are likely to rebound in the coming days.
Saumil Gandhi, senior analyst of commodities at HDFC Securities told PTI that Comex gold hit a six-month low as an uptick in the US dollar and treasury yields weighed on the precious metal. In the international markets, gold and silver were trading lower at $1,877 per ounce and USD 22.55 per ounce, respectively.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed an initial agreement with NTPC Green Energy Ltd to "explore the feasibility and setting up of renewable energy projects in various domains," the PSU said in a statement.
"The MoU envisages collaboration of the two mega entities in renewable power projects in India and overseas through offshore wind projects and exploring opportunities in the storage, e-mobility, carbon credits and green credits, nuclear, green hydrogen business and its derivatives (green ammonia and green methanol)," it said.
"Exploring and setting up renewable power assets in India and overseas, ONGC inked a trailblazing MoU with NTPC Green Energy Limited on September 27, 2023. Over a period of three years, the MoU will primarily explore the feasibility and setting up of offshore wind projects, green hydrogen and pumped/energy storage projects," ONGC said in a separate post on X
The rupee ended at 83.19 against the US dollar on Thursday, marginally stronger than its previous close of 83.22.
The stock market closed in red on Thursday. The Sensex closed at 65,508.32, down 610.37 points, while the Nifty closed at 19,523.50, down 193 points.
India's mineral output rose 10.7 per cent in July as compared to the same month a year ago, the mines ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for July 2023 was at 111.9, higher 10.7 per cent as compared to the year-ago period, as per the provisional figures of the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), reported PTI.
India's mineral production saw a cumulative growth of 7.3 per cent in the April-July period of fiscal year 2023-24. The production level of important minerals in July includes coal (693 lakh tonne), lignite (32 lakh tonne), petroleum (crude) 25 lakh tonne, bauxite (14,77,000 tonne), and chromite (2,80,000 tonne). Minerals that registered growth during July 2023 as against July 2022 include chromite, manganese ore, coal, limestone, iron ore, gold, and copper conc. Minerals that saw contraction include lignite, bauxite, phosphorite, and diamond.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said the government is finalising a policy for the use of municipal waste in road construction. Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Gadkari said the government is considering offering incentives to construction equipment manufacturers for not using fossil fuels, reported PTI.
We are finalising the policy for using municipal waste in road construction, he said.
Gadkari said his ministry has taken several initiatives to decarbonise the transport sector and that the government is working on developing electric highways between Delhi and Jaipur. Electric highways cater to electric traction for vehicles in the same manner as is done for railways. This is based on a prevalent technology in countries like Sweden and Norway.
India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to $ 9.2 billion (1.1 per cent of GDP) in the first quarter of the financial year 2023-24 ( Q1 FY24) compared to $1.3 billion (0.2 per cent of GDP) in the Q4 FY23 quarter, the Reserve Bank of India said on Thursday.
However, CAD narrowed compared to $17.9 billion (2.1 per cent of GDP) in Q1 FY23.
Shares of Yatra Online fell over 10 per cent on the listing date on Thursday. The stock debuted at Rs 130 on the BSE, down 8.45 per cent against the issue price of Rs 142. In early trade, it further fell to Rs 127.40, marking a decline of 10.28 per cent.
On the NSE, the Yatra Online scrip began trading at Rs 127.50, recording a fall of 10.21 per cent. The company's market valuation was at Rs 2,127 crore in early deals.
Yatra Online's IPO was subscribed 1.61 times last week. The Rs 775 crore public offering had a fresh issue of up to Rs 602 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 1.21 crore equity shares. The price range for the offer was Rs 135-142 a share.
ICICI Lombard General Insurance has received a Rs 1,728 crore demand notice for non-payment of tax by the GST investigation agency DGGI. The tax demand pertains to non-payment of tax in certain supplies between July 2017 and March 2022.
“The alleged demand and the impugned Show Cause Cum Demand Notice pertains to non-payment of GST on the Co-insurance premium accepted as follower in case of co-insurance transactions and non-payment of GST on re-insurance commission accepted on the reinsurance premium ceded to various Indian and Foreign reinsurance companies during the period July 2017 to March 2022,” ICICI Lombard said, in a regulatory filing.
The Centre had approved as many as six infrastructure projects of roads and railways worth Rs 52,000 crore under the PM Gati Shakti initiative, an official statement said on Thursday. The inter-ministerial Network Planning Group (NPG) in its 56th meeting on September 27 assessed these projects. With this approval, a total of 112 projects has been assessed by NPG with a total value of about Rs 11.53 lakh crore, since the launch of PM Gati Shakti.
The "Group meeting under PM Gati Shakti six project proposals, including four projects of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and two projects of Ministry of Railways with the total project cost of about Rs 52,000 crore were assessed," the commerce and industry ministry said.
The inter-ministerial NPG meets every fortnight and appraises infra projects.
Sensex and Nifty were trdaing flat on Thursday amid mixed Asian cues. At 9.42 am, the BSE Sensex was down 32 poinst to 66,086. On the other hand, the Nifty50 quoted at 19,714, down 2 points. In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices opened 0.27 per cent and 0.52 per cent higher, respectively.
Background
Business News Live: 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.
The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday recouped losses and rebounded sharply in the second half of the session. The BSE Sensex closed 173 points higher at 66,119. On the other hand, the Nifty50 reclaimed 19,700-mark to shut shop at 19,716, up 52 points. Both indices hit intraday lows of 65,550 and 19,554, respectively. On the 30-share Sensex platform, L&T, ITC, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank lifted the benchmarks, rising up to 1.7 per cent. On the downside, Titan, SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Nestle were among the losers.
Wall Street's main indexes dropped on Tuesday as investors continued to grapple with the prospects of a prolonged restrictive monetary policy by the Federal Reserve and its subsequent impact on the economy.
Asian markets including Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended trading in green. European markets closed in red on concerns over interest rate decisions from central banks in the UK and Switzerland among others. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.98 per cent to $94.88 per barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 693.47 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
The rupee made a recovery on Wednesday and closed 6 paise higher at 83.22 against the US dollar over it’s previous close, amid positive signals from the domestic equity markets. The domestic unit opened trading at 83.23 and traded in a range of 83.18 to 83.24 to settle at 83.22 (provisional) against the greenback. It closed at 83.28 against the American dollar on Tuesday. Forex traders noted that selling pressure from foreign equity investors and increased crude prices coupled with the strength of the American currency impacted the domestic unit.
Here are some important factors that can impact the market on September 28.
Globally, markets will keenly observe the final economic growth data from the US for the second quarter of the calendar year set to be released on September 28, followed by a speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on September 29. The US is scheduled to reveal real consumer spending and PCE prices for the second quarter of the calendar year 2023 on September 28. Further, initial jobless claims for the week ended September 23 and pending home sales for August will be announced by the US on Thursday. The European Central Bank will hold it’s general council meeting on September 28. The EU will announce it’s consumer confidence final and economic, industrial, and services sentiment for September on September 28. China will be releasing it’s current account numbers for the second quarter of the calendar year 2023 on Thursday. Japan is expected to come out with it’s retail sales, housing starts, and construction orders for August on September 29. The UK will release it’s GDP numbers for the June quarter of 2023 and it’s current account data on September 29. Domestically, India is set to announce it’s current account and external debt numbers for the second quarter towards the end of the week. Additionally, infrastructure output data for August is scheduled to be announced on September 29.
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