Business News Highlights: Stock Market Closes In Green; Sensex Jumps 2,303 Points, Nifty At 22,620
Business News Highlights: Please follow this space for all the breaking news and latest updates from the stock market, economy, and corporate world
Cisco Investments, Cisco's corporate venture investment division, has initiated a $1 billion global AI investment fund to advance secure and dependable AI solutions. Cisco has already earmarked close to $200 million from this fund for investment in Cohere, Mistral AI, and Scale AI. We are confident in our ability to serve as the premier strategic ally for our clients in the AI age as they endeavour to construct, safeguard, and propel AI technologies forward.
Software startup Testsigma announced a successful funding round on Wednesday, securing $8.2 million, with MassMutual Ventures leading the investment. The company intends to use these funds to expand its generative AI (GenAI) vertical. Previous investors Accel, STRIVE, and BoldCap, who collectively contributed $4.6 million in 2022, also joined this round. Testsigma plans to allocate the raised capital towards product engineering investments, facilitating the acceleration of ongoing projects, notably in Generative AI development.
The state-owned Coal India Ltd experienced a 2.2 per cent decrease in its contribution to the government's exchequer, amounting to Rs 9,560.28 crore during the April-May period of the current fiscal year. In contrast, in the same period of the previous year, Coal India Ltd (CIL), responsible for more than 80 per cent of domestic coal production, disbursed Rs 9,777.64 crore to the government exchequer, as per the provisional data from the coal ministry. Furthermore, the total levies paid to the government in May increased, rising to Rs 4,763.20 crore from Rs 4,716.5 crore in the corresponding month of the previous fiscal year.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday suggested raising the threshold for the basic service demat account (BSDA) to Rs 10 lakh from the current Rs 2 lakh. This initiative aims to encourage greater involvement of retail investors in the securities market. The BSDA, a simplified version of a regular demat account, is designed to facilitate easier investor access.
The government announced on Wednesday a fresh initiative aimed at aiding Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as well as startups in integrating emerging technologies to facilitate their transition into the 'Industry 4.0' paradigm. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated a call for proposals for conducting a baseline survey on Industry 4.0 among MSMEs, aligning to prepare industries for the impending introduction of 5G and 6G technologies. The primary goal of this survey is to assess the obstacles encountered by MSMEs in embracing Industry 4.0 and effectively leveraging advanced technologies.
Indian benchmark indices rebounded, recovering from the previous day's losses, and closed higher, with the Nifty reclaiming the 22,600 mark. The Sensex surged by 2,303.19 points, or 3.20 per cent, to reach 74,382.24, while the Nifty gained 735.80 points, or 3.36 per cent, closing at 22,620.30. Of the total stocks traded, 2,348 recorded gains, 1,008 saw declines, and 74 remained unchanged.
International trade expert Rakesh Mohan Joshi took the role of vice-chancellor at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) under the auspices of the commerce ministry. Joshi, who previously served as the Dean of the institute, brings a wealth of experience, having also fulfilled the role of Director at the Indian Institute of Plantation Management in Bengaluru during his tenure. The institute announced Prof. Rakesh Mohan Joshi's appointment as vice-chancellor in a statement on Wednesday.
Amidst extensive regions of India grappling with a heatwave and numerous cities experiencing temperatures exceeding usual levels, food delivery and e-commerce platforms have implemented various measures to protect their delivery partners from the intense heat. Zomato, a prominent food delivery platform, has established 450 rest stops nationwide for delivery partners, irrespective of their affiliation with the company.
Maruti Suzuki India announced on Wednesday its intention to allocate Rs 450 crore over 3 years to establish renewable energy projects, specifically focusing on solar power and biogas. In the fiscal year 2024, the company invested Rs 120.8 crore in this particular vertical.
According to a statement released by the company, it plans to augment this investment substantially, approximately quadrupling it to Rs 450 crore, spread out over three years commencing from fiscal year 2025.
Air India Chief, Campbell Wilson, informed on Wednesday that the carrier will be retrofitting over 100 planes, including 40 wide body planes. As part of the airline's revamp, it has also ordered nearly 25,000 aircraft seats, Wilson said. Notably, AIX Connect is currently in the merging process with Air India Express, while Vistara is being merged with Air India.
Hindalco Industries on Wednesday said that its US wing, Novelis Inc, has delayed its initial public offering (IPO) owing to market conditions. The group in an exchange filing revealed that the entity will further consider the timing for the maiden offer in the future.
India's service sector experienced a slowdown in May, reaching a five-month low due to intense competition, rising price pressures, and a severe heatwave. However, amidst these challenges, new orders from international markets surged at the fastest rate in a decade, as per a monthly survey released on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services Business Activity Index declined to 60.2 in May from 60.8 the previous month, marking its lowest since last December.
The civil aviation ministry plans to develop more airstrips and calibrate regulations for big and small airports to enhance air connectivity, Civil Aviation Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam said on Wednesday.
The rupee appreciated 7 paise to touch 83.44 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, as domestic equity markets recovered and crude oil prices overseas declined. In the last trading session on Tuesday, the domestic currency closed at 83.51 against the American unit.
The stock markets opened with positive sentiment on Wednesday. As of 9:30 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex traded at 72,617.81, climbing 539 points, while the NSE Nifty50 stood above the 22K mark at 22,037.50, logging a gain of 153 points.
Public sector enterprises and state-owned banks suffered a major blow in the stock market on Tuesday. These companies saw their stocks plunge up to 24 per cent as the NDA alliance secured a disappointing win in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. The Nifty PSE indices clocked a fall of 1,856.70 points or 16.38 per cent in the day, with REC and PFC taking the worst blow as their shares dipped 24.07 per cent and 21.62 per cent respectively.
Amongst the public lenders, Union Bank led the losses with a slump of 17.65 per cent, followed by Bank of Baroda settling 15.74 per cent down. The Nifty PSU Bank index tanked 1,211.90 points or 15.14 per cent in the session.
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 stock markets experienced a bloodbath on Tuesday. The less than expected win margin for PM Modi’s BJP-led NDA alliance completely contradicted the predictions of the exit polls. As a result, investors lost confidence in the market and started panic selling. This led to the indices shedding most of their gains made in 2024 so far, with the NSE Nifty50 seeing a record decline in a single-day in more than four years.
When markets settled on Tuesday, the indices breached the psychological levels and nosedived. The S&P BSE Sensex ended trading at 72,079.05, plunging about 4,400 points and 5.74 per cent, while the Nifty ended the day under the 22,000 mark at 21,995.85, taking a fall of 1,379 points or 5.93 per cent.
The GIFT Nifty was trading in negative at 22,056, as of 8:26 AM on Wednesday, indicating a heavy day ahead for the investors.
The rupee also suffered the impact of the disappointing margins for the NDA alliance in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. On Tuesday, the domestic currency depreciated 37 paise to settle at 83.51 against the American dollar.
The NDA alliance managed to cross the halfway mark by winning over 270 seats, as per the EC, however, the win remained a far cry from the pollsters’ projections and the alliance’s promise of bringing the ruling government back to power with over 400 seats.
The INDIA alliance, on the other hand, beat all expectations and managed to retain its ground in the elections.
Investors suffered a loss of Rs 31 lakh crore in the day as the indices bled out.
Siddarth Bhamre, Head of Research, Asit C Mehta Investment Intermediates Ltd, noted, “Stock markets have been expecting a complete majority for the BJP and a thumping victory for the NDA. Exit polls too cemented the expectations. Markets had factored in the best possible outcome and valuations are rich. However, the market is aware of the challenges associated with coalition government. Now with election results not being one-sided, we are witnessing profit-booking. We believe this profit-booking may continue for some more time.”
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