Balanced Advantage Funds go light on pricey equity
Price trends signalling good times ahead for cement stocks
MFIs facing major rating downgrade
Damani, DMart on a real estate buying spree
Now lemme give you a quick glance on the state of the markets.
Dalal Street looked headed for a weak start today as Nifty futures on Singapore Exchange traded with about 40-point cut. Stocks in other Asian markets fell as robust economic data in the US stoked concerns about a pullback in central bank stimulus. US stocks wavered in overnight trade.
Among other key trends, the dollar extended a gain. US Treasury yields held an advance. Crude oil headed for a second weekly gain. And, gold traded about 2% lower at around $1,871 an ounce
That said, here’s what is making news?
Balanced Advantage Funds, an asset allocating product that invests in a mix of stocks and bonds, have cut their equity exposure to at least a half after the record-breaking rally in stocks. That is a signal to you to turn cautious on equities. ICICI Prudential Mutual has brought down its equity exposure to 35.1% in May. Kotak Mutual’s scheme has brought down equity exposure to 36%. DSP Dynamic Asset Allocation Fund has cut it to 30%. “Valuations are no longer cheap and hence, equity allocation has been lowered,” said S Naren, chief investment officer at ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund.
D’Mart and its media-shy owner Radhakishan Damani have gone on a major realty buying spree in recent months. They bought 4-5 properties, including retail space and land parcels, worth over Rs 1,000 crore in Mumbai alone. These include an 8-acre land parcel in Thane from Mondelez India. They have also acquired two properties in Hyderabad, and one each in Bangalore and Pune, data from real estate analytics firm Propstack showed. Damani also bought a bungalow in Mumbai’s Malabar Hill for Rs 1,001 crore recently, setting a new benchmark and what was billed as the largest residential transaction in the country.
Price trends are signalling good times for cement. The prices have remained resilient despite demand disruption amid local lockdowns in various parts of the country. This is because cement makers continue to prioritise pricing over volume gain. All India average cement price improved by 1.1% sequentially in May to Rs 356 per 50 kg bag. Compared with the year-ago level, it was a tad lower by 1.3%. Analysts are bullish on cement stocks following firm prices and a gradual relaxation in lockdowns across states.
Tata Motors on Thursday raised about $425 million in an overseas bond sale that saw bids for nearly five times the debt on offer, reflecting investor confidence on revenue visibility at the automaker that owns the iconic Jaguar-Land Rover brands. Templeton, Blackrock and HSBC were reportedly among the bidders that sought to own those papers that offered 4.35%.
NSE on Thursday added four new stocks for trading in the futures and options segment, a circular by the exchange showed. Derivative contracts of Coromandel International, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Metropolis Healthcare and The Indian Hotels will be available to traders for trading from June 25, the exchange said.
LASTLY,
Microfinance companies may be facing rating downgrades on the rising share of bad loans as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has derailed loan repayments again. Rating companies are now assessing the scenarios as select few lastmile lenders with significant exposure in Assam, Maharashtra and West Bengal are witnessing higher stress in asset quality with non-performing assets likely rising as much as 25%, people familiar with the matter said.
NOW Before I go, here is a look at some of the stocks buzzing this morning…
Jet Airways when revived, will not be allotted flight slots that it used to hold when it was operating, the government clarified to the bankruptcy court on Thursday.
IDBI Bank has secured a $239 million judgment in the commercial division of the High Court of London against a Cypriot subsidiary of India-based Essar Shipping Group.
Reliance may launch its affordable smartphone before Diwali, people familiar with the matter said, as the Covid-19 situation improves and demand likely peaks by then.
The lenders of debt-ridden Uttam Galva Steels on Wednesday almost unanimously approved the resolution plan of Europe’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal Group
Do also check out over two dozen stock recommendations for today’s trade from top analysts on ETMarkets.com.
That’s it for now. Stay put with us for all the market news through the day. Happy investing
