– Govt, RBI keeping a close watch on Fed’s rate moves: FM
– Taliban declares ‘complete amnesty’ across Afghanistan
– RBI lifts ban on HDFC Bank issuing credit cards
– Vodafone Idea’s annualised cash flow shortfall estimated at $3.1 billion
Now lemme give you a quick glance on the state of the markets.
Dalal Street is likely to open higher this morning. Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded some 45 points higher at 8:30 hours (IST). Most Asian markets shrugged off weak data on US retail sales that hurt US stocks overnight. Shares edged lower in Japan and South Korea, while Australia’s market was hampered by a slide in BHP Group.
Elsewhere, the yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.26%. The dollar hit a nine-month high against the euro on Wednesday and held near recent peaks on other majors as investors cut exposure to riskier currencies, mostly on COVID-19 concerns. Bitcoin traded around $45,000. Oil prices dipped on Wednesday with investors wary about prospects for stronger fuel demand. Brent crude was down 5 cents or 0.1 per cent at $68.98 a barrel.
That said, here’s what is making news.
The government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) were keeping a close watch on the consequence of an increase in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve while domestic inflation was not a huge concern at the moment as supply-side issues were being addressed, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. India was ideally suited for investors and companies who might be seeking alternatives to China in the wake of the ongoing regulatory actions in the country against local technology giants such as Alibaba, the finance minister said.
RBI has lifted an eight-month ban on HDFC Bank from issuing new credit cards in virtual endorsement of new chief executive Shashidhar Jagdishan’s efforts to transition to a robust technology platform, which simultaneously ensures compliance and establishes the future-ready credentials of the country’s most valued lender. Easing of the ban on new credit cards opens up a high-yielding revenue stream for the bank that has harnessed increasing loan appetite from individuals to build a low-risk and durable retail franchise over two decades.
17 years after it sold its stock for the first time in a relatively late public debut, Tata Consultancy Services crossed the Rs 13-lakh-crore mark in market value Tuesday, becoming only the second in the country to do so after Reliance Industries. The latest climb by India’s software bellwether after a relatively tepid run endorses emerging bullish views that the company stands to enhance its dominance in an environment where global clients are increasingly embarking on multi-year transformational projects with implications across revenue streams.
LASTLY, Vodafone Idea needs to quickly raise prices in the lucrative prepaid smartphone users segment, which garners 50-80% of telco revenues, to drive genuine growth in average revenue per user, boost cash generation and rein in market share erosion, say analysts.
NOW Before I go, here is a look at some of the stocks buzzing this morning…
Engineering giant Larsen & Toubro has initiated the process to sell its entire 51% in L&T Infrastructure Development Projects (L&T IDPL) as the other key shareholder, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, is unlikely to consolidate its investment in the company.
Tata Steel is likely to prepay up to Rs 4,700-crore loans taken for acquisitions of Bhushan Steel and Usha Martin as the metal maker aims at making these two companies’ debt free in the next two quarters.
Canara Bank opened its QIP on Tuesday to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore and set the floor price of the issue at Rs 155.58 per equity share.
Edible oil firm Ruchi Soya, which is owned by Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurveda, has received capital markets regulator Sebi’s go-ahead to raise Rs 4,300 crore through a follow-on public offer (FPO). The FPO is being launched to meet the Sebi norm of minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent in a listed entity.
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 with us for all the market news through the day. Happy investing!
