Business News Highlights: Stock Markets Close Lower Amidst Volatility
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Recyclekaro, one of the leading e-waste and lithium-ion battery recycling firms in India, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India's foremost nuclear research institution. The collaboration aims to utilise/leverage BARC's advanced technology for the extraction of high-purity copper oxide nanoparticles from depopulated printed circuit boards (PCBs). The produced copper oxide nanoparticles hold immense potential as a catalyst for various industrial processes, antibacterial coatings for medical and electronic devices and sensors, as well as conductive inks and water purification. Beyond the evident environmental advantages, this strategic move is poised to create a positive socio-economic impact by generating employment opportunities throughout the PCB recycling process, from collection and transportation to processing and manufacturing of recycled materials.
The stock markets exhibited volatility on Monday in anticipation of the RBI monetary policy meeting, set to begin on Tuesday. After opening in green, the equity benchmark indices traded marginally higher, before slipping in afternoon trade and settling the session in red. The BSE Sensex closed over 350 points lower and stood at 71,731.42 as markets shut down for the day, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled lower by almost 100 points at 21,771.70.
India's coal production increased 10.3 per cent to touch 99.73 million tonne (MT) in January, against the output of 90.42 MT recorded in the same month in the last fiscal year, the coal ministry revealed. The coal output for the April-January period in the 2023-24 fiscal year stood at 784.11 MT, as compared to 698.99 MT on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, reported PTI.
Titagarh Rail Systems Ltd reported on Monday a 91.3 per cent jump in its profit after tax for the December quarter in the current fiscal year to Rs 75.03 crore, against Rs 39.22 crore logged in the third quarter of the preceding fiscal year. The net revenues of the firm stood at Rs 954.68 crore in Q3FY24, up from Rs 766.4 crore in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Alpex Solar Ltd announced the price band of Rs 109-115 per share for its initial public offering (IPO) worth Rs 75 crore. The solar energy solutions provider informed that the issue will be open for subscription from February 8-12, 2024. The maiden offering includes a fresh issue of 64.8 lakh equity shares, reported PTI.
The Uttar Pradesh government set a growth rate target of 5.1 per cent in the agriculture sector in the Budget presented in the assembly today. State Finance Minister, Suresh Khanna, stated that a provision of Rs 460 crore has been set aside for three new schemes related to the sector. These schemes include the State Agricultural Development Scheme, with a provision of Rs 200 crore, the World Bank-assisted UP Agris Scheme with funds of Rs 200 crore, and the third scheme to install automatic weather station rain gauge in blocks and panchayats, with an allocation of Rs 60 crore.
The state Budget also allotted Rs 50 crore towards Chief Minister Khet Suraksha Yojna, and proposed an outlay of Rs 2,400 crore for distributing electricity at subsidised rates to private tube wells of farmers, reported PTI.
The Indian government urged the Lok Sabha to approve a net additional spending of Rs 78,673 crore in the current fiscal year. The second batch of supplementary demands for grants for the 2023-24 fiscal year was presented in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, reported PTI.
Regarding the Destitute Women Pension Scheme, the Uttar Pradesh FM, Khanna, said, that the amount paid to the beneficiaries under the scheme has been increased from Rs 500 per month to Rs 1,000 per month. The minister said that over 31 lakh destitute women have received the benefits of the scheme till the December quarter in the current financial year, reported PTI.
On achievements in the agriculture sector, the UP Finance Minister, Suresh Khanna, said, “The ban on giving new private tube well connections in the dark zone has been lifted, which directly benefited about one lakh farmers...In the year 2023-2024, about 37 lakh Kisan Credit Cards were distributed till October 2023. Under the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme, a compensation of Rs 831 crore was paid to about 10 lakh insured farmers for 2022-2023 till October 2023. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, an amount of about Rs 63,000 crore was transferred to the accounts of 2 crore 62 lakh farmers through DBT by December 2023...A record sugarcane price payment of more than Rs 2.33 lakh crores was made to about 48 lakh sugarcane farmers by the present government from the year 2017 to January 29, 2024. This sugarcane price payment is Rs 20,274 crore more than the combined sugarcane price payment of Rs 2.1 lakh crores in the previous 22 years,” as reported by ANI.
The HSBC final Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for India climbed to 61.8 in January, from 59 in December, the survey revealed. The data, compiled by S&P Global, showed that the services sector in India grew at the fastest pace in six months in January owing to strong demand.
Suresh Khanna, State Finance Minister, Uttar Pradesh, will present the state Budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year in the Assembly session today. The Budget Session will continue till February 12, 2024. The minister said that his budget will help the UP become a $1 trillion economy. Addressing the media before the Budget, Khanna said, "The Budget will be 'Sarv Samaveshi' (all-inclusive) and 'Sarv Sparshi' (taking care of all) to ensure all-round development."
The stock market on Monday morning opened the session with flat gains amidst volatility. As of 9:52 AM, the BSE Sensex rallied ahead and stood over 200 points higher at 72,309.82. At the same time, the NSE Nifty50 managed to climb almost 100 points and was trading at 21,944.55.
The stock markets gave positive signals in the pre-open session as both the key equity benchmarks traded in gains. As of 9:12 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex stood almost 200 points higher at 72,269.12, while the NSE Nifty50 jumped over 50 points to touch 21,921.05.
Paytm parent, One97 Communications, issued a clarification on Sunday stating that the firm or its related entities are not facing any probe from the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The statement came after media reports said that the government agency could potentially launch an investigation against Paytm Payments Bank, the banking business of Paytm, if they find any charges related to money laundering.
Issuing the clarification in a regulatory filing, the firm said that it, “categorically denies any investigation by the Enforcement Directorate on OCL (One97 Communications Ltd), our associates and/or its Founder and CEO for anti-money laundering activities,” reported Moneycontrol.
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 stock markets in the last week responded positively to the Budget 2024 announcements after exhibiting volatility on the session day itself. For the week, investors will be keenly awaiting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s monetary policy meeting to start on Tuesday.
The regulator will be holding its bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting for three days and announce its interest rate decision on Thursday.
The meeting will be chaired by the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The committee is made up of a panel of six members, including three external members and three officials from the regulator.
The banking regulator has maintained a pause on the repo rate at 6.5 per cent since February 2023. This meeting will mark the last one for the committee for the current financial year. It is largely expected that the central bank will continue a hold on the rates after the US Federal Reserve kept its key interest rates unchanged for the fourth consecutive meeting, held on January 30-31, 2024.
Further, among global macroeconomic data, the S&P Global Services PMI and Composite PMI numbers for the US for January will be released today. The HSBC Services and Composite PMI data for India for January is also scheduled to be announced today.
Among the major earnings expected on Monday include, Bharti Airtel, Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Consumer Care, Ideaforge Technology, Tata Chemicals, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, Taj GVK Hotels & Resorts, and TVS Supply Chain Solutions.
Other earnings expected throughout the week include Birla Corporation, Britannia Industries, Max Financial Services, Lemon Tree Hotels, Procter & Gamble Health, PowerGrid, Nestle India, TATA Consumer Products, 3M India, Grasim Industries, LIC India, and Zomato, among others.
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