Business News Highlights: Market Closes On Muted Note, Sensex About 50 Points Down, Nifty Settles Nearly Flat
Business News Highlights: Please follow this space for all the breaking news and latest updates from the stock market, economy, and corporate world
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted Bank of Baroda to resume onboarding new customers through its 'Bob World' application on Wednesday, over six months after imposing restrictions due to significant supervisory concerns. The RBI had imposed restrictions on the state-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB) on October 10, 2023, preventing it from onboarding new customers on its mobile app 'Bob World'.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported a 10.2 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,396.12 crore for the March quarter. This compares to a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,986.78 crore reported in the corresponding period of the previous year. L&T disclosed in a filing to the BSE on Wednesday that the company's consolidated income increased to Rs 68,120.42 crore from Rs 59,076.06 crore in the year-ago period.
Canara Bank announced an 18 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 3,757 crore during the fourth quarter ending March 2024, attributed to enhancements in core income and a decrease in non-performing assets. The Bengaluru-based lender had recorded a net profit of Rs 3,175 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Canara Bank stated that during the quarter, its total income surged to Rs 34,025 crore from Rs 28,685 crore a year ago.
Tata Power reported an 11 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 1,046 crore in the March quarter compared to last year, primarily driven by higher revenues. According to a BSE filing on Wednesday, the consolidated profit for the quarter ending on March 31, 2023, was Rs 939 crore. The company's total income rose to Rs 16,463.94 crore in the quarter from Rs 13,325.30 crore in the corresponding period a year ago.
Red Hat CEO Matt Hicks emphasised the increasingly apparent influence of the open-source ecosystem in the AI domain, predicting a forthcoming acceleration in momentum. Speaking at the Red Hat Summit, the IBM-owned enterprise open-source solutions provider unveiled its strategy and commitment to AI advancement.
Hicks stated during his keynote address that a single vendor would not develop Artificial Intelligence (AI); instead, it would be characterised by the flexibility of choices available.
The capital markets regulator SEBI announced on Wednesday the extension of the settlement scheme period until June 10 for entities engaged in reversal trades in the stock options segment on BSE during 2014 and 2015. The settlement scheme, which began on March 11 and was initially set to end on May 10, has seen a significant surge in interest from entities in recent days.
The stock market after opening in red, attempted a recovery and settled nearly flat. The BSE Sensex closed trading at 73,466.39, slipping close to 50 points, while the NSE Nifty50 ended at 22,305, inching a little over 2 points higher.
Jupiter Wagons' standalone net profit significantly increased, surging over twofold to Rs 104.22 crore in the March quarter, attributed to increased income. According to a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it had reported a net profit of Rs 40.78 crore in the January-March period of the previous fiscal year 2022-23.
Bharat Forge Ltd announced on Wednesday that it recorded a solid increase of 77.8 per cent in its consolidated net profit, reaching Rs 227.12 crore in the fourth quarter concluded on March 31, 2024, driven by increased sales. In a regulatory filing, Bharat Forge stated that in the same pad, it recorded a profit of Rs 127.74 crore.
Truecaller, the platform renowned for contact verification and blocking unwanted communication, has introduced its latest subscription plans for the Verified Business Caller ID solution. Effective May 6th, 2024, the updated subscription packages and pricing will apply to both new and existing business customers upon their forthcoming renewals or upgrades.
Steel Secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha said on Wednesday that domestic steel demand is projected to increase by 10 per cent over the coming years, driven by the government's emphasis on infrastructure development. These comments were made during his address at the CII Conference on Future Ready and Green Manufacturing in the national capital.
Godrej Properties, a real estate company, decreased its net debt by 10 per cent in the most recent March quarter, reaching nearly Rs 6,200 crore, propelled by robust sales and customer fund collections, as confirmed by its executive chairperson, Pirojsha Godrej. In an interview with PTI, Pirojsha stated, "We have reduced our net debt by Rs 700 crore during Q4 (January-March quarter of 2023-24) because of strong operating cash flow."
Google launched a private digital wallet for Android users in India, an official announced on Wednesday. The wallet can be used by customers to store cards, tickets, keys, IDs, etc. The wallet can be downloaded from Play Store. Ram Papatla, GM & India Engineering Lead, Android, Google, said, "It is different from Google Pay app which helps manage money and finances. Google Pay is not going anywhere. It will remain our primary payments app. Google Wallet is specifically tailored for non-payment use cases."
United Breweries Ltd reported a jump of over five-fold in net profit to Rs 80.15 crore in the fourth quarter results in the 2023-24 fiscal year (FY24). The beverage maker clocked a net profit of Rs 13.05 crore in the January to March quarter in the preceding 2022-23 fiscal year (FY23). Revenue from operations for the firm climbed 17 per cent to Rs 4,788.68 crore in Q4FY24, from Rs 4,081.01 crore in the last quarter a year earlier.
India's passenger vehicle retail sales clocked a 27 per cent jump to 22,06,070 units in April, against 17,40,649 units sold in the same month a year earlier. This data included sales of passenger vehicles and two-wheelers and was released by the industry body, FADA, on Wednesday.
Air India Express cancelled about 70 flights, domestic and international, from Tuesday night to Wednesday due to staff shortage. Several senior crew members reportedly called off mass sick leaves which left multiple passengers affected by the cancellations.
Read More : Air India Express Cancels 70 Flight As Senior Crew Members Take Mass Sick Leaves
The stock market continued to trade in a downward trajectory on Wednesday. As of 9:30 AM, the BSE Sensex stood at 73,249.52, slipping over 250 points, while the NSE Nifty50 traded at 22,233.35, declining almost 70 points.
The Indian Institute of Insolvency Professionals of ICAI (IIIPI) announced on Tuesday that it slashing the annual membership fee for insolvency professionals and Insolvency Professional Entities (IPEs) by half. The new membership fee for juristic insolvency professionals stands at Rs 5,000, and the same for IPEs has been reduced to Rs 25,000.
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.
The stock markets on Tuesday reversed the trading trend after opening in green in the morning hours. As the session closed, the key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, settled in a negative sentiment.
The S&P BSE Sensex settled the trading session at 73,511.85, crashing nearly 400 points, while the NSE Nifty50 closed the day at 22,302.50, losing almost 150 points.
The markets in the week so far have displayed a mixed sentiment owing to the volatility in the light of the ongoing general elections in the country.
The National Stock Exchange informed on Tuesday that it will be holding a special trading session for the equity and equity derivatives segment on May 18, 2024. The session will see the market open in two segments, one from 9:15 AM to 10 AM at the Primary Site (PR), followed by the second from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at the Disaster Recovery (DR) site.
The exercise is being conducted to evaluate the exchange’s emergency response ability and capacity to manage major disruptions in the primary site.
Issuing an official circular, the exchange noted, “Exchange shall be conducting a special live trading session with intra-day switch over from Primary site to Disaster Recovery site on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in equity and equity derivatives segments.”
Official data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Oil Ministry stated that fuel consumption in India gained by 6.1 per cent in April 2024 to 19.858 million metric tonne, against 18.71 million metric tonne consumed in the corresponding period a year earlier.
Prashant Vashist, VP and co-head of corporate ratings, ICRA, commented on the data and said, “The rise in total fuel consumption in April can be attributed to the increased activity in the run up to elections across the country. We expect Indian fuel demand to grow by 3 per cent-4 per cent, with the GDP set to grow. The bulk of the rise will be led by petrol and diesel demand. Air travel in India also has shown good growth.”
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