Business News Highlights: Sensex Falls 286 Points, Nifty Below 19,450 As Market Closes
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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today launched the SBI NAVeCash Card – a one-of-its-kind dual-chip debit card developed by the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Indian Navy. The card can be used in online mode (as a regular debit card) as well as in offline mode while at sea with no direct connectivity with the bank. The card has been developed and tested onboard various Indian Naval ships and is now ready for launch pan-Navy.
Updater Services Ltd made its market debut with a subdued performance, ending the day at a nearly 6 per cent discount compared to the issue price of Rs 300. The stock began trading at Rs 299.90, briefly dipping to Rs 282 during the day, and closing at Rs 283.85, marking a 5.38 per cent decrease on BSE. On the NSE, the stock listed at Rs 285, dropped 5 per cent, and concluded at Rs 283. The company's market valuation stood at Rs 1,893.36 crore.
The IPO, which raised Rs 640 crore, was subscribed 2.90 times on its final subscription day. It comprised a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to Rs 400 crore and an offer-for-sale of up to 80 lakh equity shares by promoters and existing shareholders. The IPO price range was set at Rs 280-300 per share.
On the third day of its subscription, the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Plaza Wires was oversubscribed 62.55 times. According to data available from the NSE, the IPO garnered bids for a staggering 59,39,88,274 shares, surpassing the available 94,96,114 shares, reported PTI. The Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) category led the subscription bidding for 223.82 times, while non-institutional investors followed closely with a subscription rate of 132.67 times. Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) also showed substantial interest, with a subscription rate of 5.79 times.
Plaza Wires' IPO consists of a fresh issue of up to 1,32,00,158 equity shares, and the price range for the IPO is set at Rs 51-54 per share.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday announced the appointment of Muneesh Kapur as its Executive Director, effective from October 3, 2023. Kapur, previously served as Adviser-in-Charge of the Monetary Policy Department and Secretary to the Monetary Policy Committee. Muneesh Kapur holds a Master's degree in Economics and is a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB).
"Over a span of nearly three decades in the Reserve Bank, Kapur has worked in the areas of macroeconomic policy and research and monetary policy in Department of Economic Policy and Research and Monetary Policy Department in RBI. He also served as Adviser to Executive Director, International Monetary Fund during 2012-15," the RBI said.
In his new capacity as Executive Director, Kapur will oversee the Department of Economic and Policy Research.
The Indian Navy, in collaboration with the State Bank of India (SBI), is set to introduce a unique e-cash card capable of working in both online and offline modes. According to an ANI report, Indian Navy officials said that this card is slated for launch during the upcoming Swavlamban seminar and has undergone testing on multiple Indian Navy warships, including the flagship aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
The rupee fell 3 paise to close at 83.23 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday as a muted trend in domestic equities and sustained foreign fund outflows dampened investor sentiments. A strong American dollar in the global market further weighed on the investors, forex traders noted. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened at 83.22 against the greenback and traded in the range of 83.27 to 83.19, to finally settle at 83.23. The rupee closed at 83.20 against the dollar on Tuesday.
The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday extended their losing streak as indices crumbled under heavy selling pressure. The indices, however, recouped some of the losses during the latter part of the day. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 65,226, down 286 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 shut shop at 19,436, falling 93 points. The two indices hit intraday lows of 64,879 and 19,334, respectively.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, Axis Bank was the biggest laggard, down 4.4 per cent. SBI, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, UltraCemco, Tata Steel, were among the losers. On the flip side, Nestle, HDFC Bank, HUL, Infosys, TCS, HCL emerged gainers. Among specific stocks, Nestle India shares surged 4 per cent to Rs 23,333.65 on the BSE in Wednesday’s intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market after the company announced that the board will meet on October 19 to consider a stock split proposal.
The government increased the subsidy allotted under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme to Rs 300 per cylinder from the current Rs 200, Union Minister Anurag Thakur informed on Wednesday. The scheme, aimed at helping women from economically weak backgrounds gain easy access to cooking gas connections, will now allow the beneficiaries to secure 14.2 kg cylinder at Rs 603, against the market price of Rs 903. Earlier, the subsidised price for the cylinder as Rs 703 per cylinder.
Luxury carmaker Audi on Wednesday reported a massive jump in retail sales. The automaker posted an increase of 88 per cent in it’s retail sales at 5,530 units in the January-September period in the year, up from 2,947 units sold in the same period last year. The company credited the launch of the new Q8 e-tron, Q8 Sportback e-tron, Q3, and Q3 Sportback along with continued demand for other models like the A4, A6, and Q5 behind the growth.
Audi India Head, Balbir Singh Dhillon, commented on the performance and said, “Our SUVs have witnessed a growth of 187 per cent. With the upcoming festive season, we are expecting this growth to continue on the back of sustained demand. Robust sales performance owing to strong demand, expansion in the luxury car segment, evolving demographics, and favourable economic conditions are leading to growth.”
UK’s Superdry announced on Wednesday that it will sell it’s intellectual property assets in South Asia to Reliance Retail for Rs 402 crore (£40 million) through a joint venture. The UK-based fashion retailer stated that it would own 24 per cent of the joint venture, while Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail would control the remaining 76 per cent.
As part of the agreement, Superdry’s brand IP assets in South Asia would be permanently transferred to the new entity, the company informed via an exchange filing to the London Stock Exchange. The firm further stated in the filing that Superdry plc signed an IP joint venture agreement with Reliance Brands Holding UK (RBUK) Ltd to sell it’s intellectual property assets, including the SUPERDRY brand and other related trademarks in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh to the JV entity, reported PTI. The retailer added that Reliance would continue to oversee brand operations in the three countries.
The Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) names Karan Rathore as it's new chairman. The council in it's statement informed that Rathore is the director of a group of Umaid Hotels and Resorts in Jaipur and currently serves as a member on the board of Mayo College, Ajmer. Commenting on his new role, Rathore said, "My task is cut out to steer SEPC's role in India's aim to reach USD one trillion services exports by 2030," as reported by PTI.
The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund has entered into a collaboration with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to launch a $600 million India-Japan Fund. The fund will have JBIC and central government as anchor investors. It will focus on investing in environmental sustainability and low carbon emission strategies and aims to play the role of being a 'partner of choice' to further enhance Japanese investments into India, a finance ministry statement said on Wednesday.
The announcement marks NIIF's first bilateral fund, with the Centre contributing 49 per cent of the target corpus and the remaining 51 per cent contributed by JBIC. The fund will be managed by NIIF Limited (NIIFL), and JBIC IG (a subsidiary of JBIC) will support NIIFL in promoting Japanese investments in India, it said.
Steel pipes maker JTL Industries reported an increase in it’s sales by 54.66 per cent at 1.59 lakh tonne (LT) for the April-September period of the current fiscal year. The company, via an exchange filing, noted that it’s sales volume also increased by 56.78 per cent to 81,686 tonne in the July-September period in the fiscal year. The firm credited the strong demand for structural steel tubes and pipes in both domestic and international markets for the growth in sales volume, reported PTI.
An MoU worth Rs 15,000 crores was signed between the Uttarakhand Government and JSW Neo Energy Limited worth Rs 15,000 crore during the Global Investor Summit 2023 roadshow in Delhi, reported ANI. The agreement signed in the presence of Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, focuses on the development of two pumped storage projects, each with a capacity of 1500 MW, in Almora.
Equity benchmark indices continued to bleed in Wednesday's intraday trade following weak global sentiments. At 13:00 AM, the BSE Sensex dropped over 568 points, reaching 65,090, while the NSE Nifty50 saw a decline of 173 points to 19,356.
With the exception of Nestle, HUL, HDFC Bank, and Asian Paints which recorded gains of 1 per cent, all other stocks in the Sensex 30 pack experienced losses. Leading the decliners were Axis Bank, NTPC, UltraTech, SBI, and L&T, all of which lost around 3 per cent.
Every sector registered losses, with Nifty Auto, Bank, Metal, and Realty sectors dragging the most.
Updater Services Ltd debuted in the stock market on Wednesday at a 5 per cent discount over it’s issue price. The integrated facilities management company listed on the NSE at Rs 285 per share and on the BSE at Rs 299.90 per share, over the issue price of Rs 300. The company’s IPO closed last week and received subscriptions of 2.90 times.
HDFC Bank on Wednesday reported a growth of 57.5 per cent in it’s advances in the second quarter of the current fiscal year. The bank’s advances till September 2023 stood at Rs 23.54 lakh crore, up from Rs 14.93 lakh crore in the corresponding period a year earlier. The lender via a regulatory filing informed that post the merger with HDFC Limited, the bank logged the highest home loan disbursement at Rs 48,000 crore, reported Moneycontrol.
Further, HDFC’s bank deposits also grew by 29.9 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. In terms of loans, the lender reported a growth of 111.5 per cent in it’s retail loans, 29.5 per cent in it’s commercial and rural banking loans, while it’s corporate and other wholesale loans grew by about 8 per cent, all on a YoY basis.
The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday extended their losing streak in early trade as surging US yields continued to dent global market sentiment. At 9.35 am, the BSE Sensex dropped 505 points to 65,007. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty was trading at 19,380, down 149 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC, M&M, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, UltraCemco emerged losers. On the flip side, Nestle, HUL, and Asian Paints were the only three gainers. Among specific stocks, Nestle surged 4 per cent as the company plans to consider a stock-split on October 19. Sectorally, all the indices are trading in the red with auto, power, metal, and realty went down 1 per cent each.
The rupee fell 4 paise to 83.24 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday. The domestic unit depreciated 15 paise to close at 83.21 (provisional) against the American dollar on Tuesday, as a strong US dollar and weak domestic equities dented investor sentiments.
The S&P 500 index ended Tuesday trading at it’s lowest level since June 1 this year, as economic data underlined the belief that the US Fed might have to maintain elevated interest rates. The Dow recorded negative numbers for the first time since June, while the Nasdaq also stood at it’s lowest since May 31 as market closed for the day, reported Reuters. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 430.97 points or 1.29 per cent to 33,002.38, the S&P 500 reduced 58.94 points or 1.37 per cent and closed at 4,229.45. The Nasdaq Composite fell 248.31 points or 1.87 per cent to stand at 13,059.47. The data indicated that US job openings increased to unexpected levels in August, adding to the concerns over a tight labour market before the US releases it’s monthly jobs report on Friday.
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.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday will kick off its bi-monthly policy review. In its three-day meeting from October 4-6, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to opt for another rate pause, experts have suggested. This would be the fourth consecutive policy where the RBI maintains the status quo in key interest rates.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the MPC's decision on October 6.
“The RBI will have little reason to change the current policy settings, and we expect the MPC to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent, flagging waning core inflation, steady economic activity, and some risks of more supply-related price shocks, providing a little cue for a change in policy thinking,” Rahul Bajoria, MD and Head of EM Asia (ex-China) Economics, Barclays told Moneycontrol.
However, there is reported speculation in the market about a potential 25 basis points rate hike, which could take the key policy rate to 6.75 per cent, due to rising global crude oil prices.
In the previous policy review, RBI raised its FY24 inflation projections to 5.4 per cent from 5.1 per cent due to surging vegetable prices, which pushed headline inflation beyond RBI's upper tolerance band of 6 per cent in June. Even though retail inflation eased to 6.83 per cent in August, RBI remains cautious due to the increase in global crude oil prices, exceeding RBI's estimated average price of $85 per barrel for FY24.
While vegetable prices have moderated, concerns about uneven monsoons impacting crop yields and food prices persist. The CPI inflation is expected to ease to 5.6 per cent in Q3 FY2024 and further to 5.1 per cent in Q4 FY2024, but uncertainties regarding food prices remain.
The MPC is also concerned about the incomplete transmission of previous rate hikes totaling 250 basis points and the need to persist with current monetary policy settings. Additionally, recurring food price shocks pose a risk to anchoring inflation expectations, as highlighted by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday, closed in the negative zone amid a gloomy global sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 316 points to settle at 65,512. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 19,529, down 110 points. The domestic indices were off their respective intraday lows of 65,345 and 19,480.
IPO Updates
Plaza Wires IPO, with a price range of Rs 51 to Rs 54 per share, is closing on October 4. The IPO was subscribed over 27 times, with the retail portion oversubscribed 118.96 times. Viva Tradecom IPO is closing on October 4, and the subscription window opened on September 27. Akanksha Power & Infrastructure SME IPO also closes on October 4, beginning its subscription on September 29. Digikore Studios' SME IPO is set to be listed on NSE SME on October 4. Electronics Mart India Ltd. IPO, with a price range of Rs56-59 per share, opens for public subscription on October 4 and ends on October 7.
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