Localised lockdowns weigh; Sensex declines 244 points amid volatility

21/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 20: A sharp sell-off in the fag-end of the session engulfed markets on Tuesday as incidents of localised lockdowns increased in the country. The economically important state of Maharashtra tightened Covid-19-related curbs, allowing shops to stay open only between 7 AM and 11 AM, while eastern state of Jharkhand announced a complete lockdown for a week, starting Wednesday. Amid this, the BSE barometer Sensex dropped over 1,000 points from day's high to hit a low of 47,438 in the i...

Govt to provide Rs 4,500 cr booster to vaccine manufacturers for ramping up capacity

21/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 20: Looking to ramp up supplies ahead of the opening of Covid-19 vaccination to all citizens over 18 years of age, the government has approved a payment of about Rs 4,500 crore as advance to vaccine makers like Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech against future supplies, sources said. SII will supply 200 million doses and Bharat Biotech is to supply another 90 million doses to the government by July at a pre-agreed rate of Rs 150 per dose. Sources said the finance...

Oil marks anniversary of crash below zero with rally above $64

21/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 20: Oil jumped above $64 a barrel, a year to the day after futures for the U.S. benchmark collapsed below zero, with the world’s most important commodity extending a powerful rally on bets for better demand. West Texas Intermediate advanced 1.3%, adding to Monday’s modest climb as the dollar weakened, while production in Libya fell below 1 million barrels a day amid a budget dispute. Oil’s forward curve also suggests growing confidence particularly as U.S. demand recovers with ...

IPO boom prompts ICICI to hire more investment bankers

21/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 20: India’s second largest private lender ICICI Bank Ltd. is making its biggest hiring push in investment banking and institutional equities in four years, as it anticipates a rise in companies going public. The Mumbai-based firm plans to add five mid-to-senior level hires in each of the two units, which currently have 130 bankers in total, according to Ajay Saraf, head of investment banking and institutional equities at ICICI Securities Ltd. The new roles will be concentrated i...

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC files papers with Sebi for IPO

21/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 20: Aditya Birla Capital on Tuesday said its arm Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC has filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with capital markets regulator Sebi to launch its initial public offering (IPO). "Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd (ABSLAMC), a material subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital, filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) dated 19th April 2021 with the Securities and Exchange Board of India for an initial public offering by way of an offer for sale (IPO) of shares o...

Covid: Bharat Biotech to boost Covaxin output to 700 mn doses per year

21/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 20: Bharat Biotech on Tuesday said it has scaled up its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin manufacturing capacity to 700 million doses per annum. According to a press release issued by the city-based vaccine maker, manufacturing scale up has been carried out in a stepwise manner across multiple facilities at Hyderabad and Bangalore. Sources said the company had 200 million doses capacity when it started producing Covaxin in the beginning. Capacity expansion in vaccines manufacturing is ...

Localised Covid-19 lockdowns already hitting economic activities: Crisil report

21/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 20: With the pandemic caseload remaining over 2.5 lakh for the second day, a report has warned of the grim economic scenario as with even limited restrictions on people's movement and some businesses, power consumption and e-way GST bill collections are already down. The report has also called for speeding up the vaccination drive that of late has been on the decline on a weekly basis. With cases spreading very fast, more and more states are clamping down more localised restric...

Pristyn Care’s valuation crosses $550 mn, raises $53 mn in funding round

21/04/2021
Bengaluru, apr 20: Pristyn Care, a healthcare startup specialising in surgeries, has got $53 million in a funding round led by US investment fund Tiger Global Management. The deal raised the company’s valuation rose to more than $550 million, up from $250 million six months ago. Sequoia Capital, Hummingbird Ventures and Epiq Capital were other investors in the Series-D funding round. “With this new capital, we plan to expand our Surgery (sic) offerings in more cities and towns and attract i...

J&J seeks DCGI nod for clinical trial of single-dose Covid vaccine in India

21/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 20: Global healthcare major Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday said it has sought an approval from the India's drug regulator to conduct a bridging clinical trial of its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine in the country. The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) had in February approved Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine that works with just one dose for emergency use. "Johnson & Johnson is partnering with health authorities and the world's best scientists to provide the safety and eff...

Qapita raises $5 mn in Pre Series A round led by MassMutual Ventures

21/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 20: Qapita, provider equity management SaaS solutions serving customers in India and Southeast Asia, today announced that it raised a $5 million Pre-Series A round led by MassMutual Ventures. Hyderabad-based venture capital firm Endiya Partners and India-based angel investors including Anjali Bansal (Founder of Avaana Capital), Sujeet Kumar (CoFounder of Udaan) and CEO of an India-based decacorn also invested in this round. Qapita helps private companies and startups record and m...

Hold urgent GST meet to cut tax on key medicines, equipment: States

20/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 19: As the country grapples with a stronger second Covid wave, states want the Centre to urgently convene a meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, which has not met for the last six months. This comes after the chorus for rate cuts on key medicines and equipment grows louder. Besides, states also want to discuss extension of the compensation period, under the GST regime, beyond July 2022 in the council meeting as uncertain times cast a shadow over state finances. ...

Govt working to save lives, livelihood: FM Sitharaman tells India Inc amid COVID surge

20/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 19: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said she has taken inputs from various industry chambers on concerns of India Inc with regard to the management of COVID pandemic and the centre would continue to work with state governments to save lives and livelihood. She sought feedback from businesses to deal with the impact of the second COVID-19 wave on the country’s economy. It is to be noted that the economy contracted by a whopping 23.9 per cent in the first quarter (A...

Glenmark Pharma hits 23-month high on Glenmark Life Sciences IPO plan

20/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 19: Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals hit a 23-month high of Rs 587.50, up 3 per cent, on the BSE in intra-day trade on Monday after the company announced that its API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) division, Glenmark Life Sciences, is planning to raise fund via an initial public offer (IPO). The stock of the drugmaker is trading at its highest level since May 2019. It recovered 9 per cent from its intra-day low of Rs 539 touched on the BSE. At 02:15 pm, the stock was quoting ...

Drying FII inflows on rising Covid cases to weaken rupee

20/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 19: Drying FII inflows on the back of rising Covid cases is expected to weaken the Indian rupee further during the upcoming trade week. Lately, rising Covid cases have heavily dented equity indices and dampened investors’ hopes of an early economic recovery. This was reflected in rupee’s trajectory. The currency had made a year high of 72.25 to a greenback on March 25 and an eight month low of 75.30 on last Monday. “This was despite no big changes in global factors or domestic ma...

NBFCs seek extension of MSME restructuring scheme till March 2022

20/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 19: Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) have requested the Reserve Bank to extend the one-time restructuring scheme of MSME advances till March 31, 2022, as these players are unable to revive their businesses. In February last year, the Reserve Bank had permitted one-time restructuring of existing MSME advances, classified as 'standard' without downgrade in the asset classification subject to certain additional provisioning and other compliances. The time limit for imp...

Airtel Payments Bank increases day-end balance limit to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1 lakh

20/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 19: In-line with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI's) guidelines, Airtel Payments Bank has announced that it has become the first payments bank in the country to enable Rs 2 lakh day-end balance account limit. Customers having an account with Airtel Payments Bank will be able to save more with this increased limit. The Bank deposits are insured under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the RBI. Airtel Payments Ba...

Infosys COO asks all staff to work from home, get vaccinated if eligible

20/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 19: Stay at home, follow health advisories, take the Covid-19 vaccine if eligible, and stay safe from the second wave of the pandemic, Infosys chief operating officer UB Pravin Rao told employees in an email on Monday. In an email titled "Stay Safe from the Covid-19 Second Wave," Rao cited the enormous number of fresh cases being reported daily, and said, "I write today to request you all put your health and that of your family members above everything else. Do not leave your h...

Investors lose Rs 3.6 trillion as Sensex falls 883 pts on Covid-19 woes

20/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 19: The economic fallout of the second, stronger, and more lethal wave of Covid-19 butchered bulls on Dalal Street on Monday as investors sold shares worth Rs 3.6 trillion in the markets today. While the defensive counters witnessed restricted profit-booking, cyclical sectors cracked hard at the bourses. On the National Stock Exchange, the Nifty Pharma index was the only index that ended in thee green, up 0.17 per cent, while the Nifty IT and FMCG indices ended 0.33 per cent and...

Rupee drops by 52 paise to 74.87 against US dollar

20/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 19: The rupee plunged by 52 paise to close at 74.87 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday amid a lacklustre trend in the domestic equities as investors fretted over the prospects of lockdown in some parts of the country amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 74.80 against the greenback and traded in the range of 74.79 to 75.05 during the day. The rupee finally ended at 74.87 against the American currency, registering a fall o...

Brokerages downgrade India’s GDP growth projections for FY'22 amid resurgence of Covid cases

19/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 18: With the resurgence of COVID-19 cases posing risks to economic recovery, leading brokerages have downgraded India's GDP growth projections for the current fiscal year to as low as 10 per cent on local lockdowns threatening fragile recovery. While Nomura has downgraded projections of economic growth for the fiscal year ending March 2022 to 12.6 per cent from 13.5 per cent earlier, JP Morgan now projects GDP growth at 11 per cent from 13 per cent earlier. UBS sees 10 per cent ...

Second COVID wave could spark greater uncertainty; govt will respond with fiscal steps if required: Niti Aayog vice chairman

19/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 18: The country needs to prepare for "greater uncertainty" in terms of consumer as well as investor sentiments due to the second wave of coronavirus infections, and the government will respond with fiscal measures as and when required, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Sunday. While acknowledging that the present situation has become far more difficult than it was in the past due to rising coronavirus infections, Kumar remained hopeful that the country's economy will ...

Bitcoin record biggest plunge since February, Ether also plummets

19/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 18: Bitcoin plunged the most in more than seven weeks, just days after reaching a record. The biggest crypto coin fell 8.5% to $55,810.32 as of 2:52 p.m. in Singapore on Sunday, after declining as much as 15.1% to $51,707.51. Ether, the second-largest token, fell almost 18% before paring losses. Several online reports attributed the plunge to speculation the US Treasury may crack down on money laundering that’s carried out through digital assets. Bitcoin hit a record high of $6...

India’s power consumption grows nearly 45 pc in first half of April

19/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 18: Power consumption in the country grew nearly 45 per cent in the first half of April to 60.62 billion units (BU) over the corresponding period a year ago, showing robust recovery in industrial and commercial demand of electricity, according to power ministry data. Power consumption in the first half of April last year (from April 1 to 15, 2020) was recorded at 41.91 BU. On the other hand, the peak power demand met, which is the highest supply in a day, during the first half ...

Absence of clarity on resumption of mining to put Goa in huge debt, say mine owners

19/04/2021
Panaji, apr 18: A mine owners body in Goa has warned that the absence of clarity on resumption of mining activity will result in huge debt for the state as tourism, which is one of the major contributors to the state GDP, is feeling the pinch due to resurging coronavirus cases in the country. In an interview with PTI, Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association (GMOEA) President Ambar Timblo said that the position of the state looks "very precarious" as the COVID situation in the country, including ...

Lithium-ion battery maker Lohum to invest up to Rs 250 cr in three years on capacity expansion

19/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 18: Lithium-ion battery pack manufacturer and recycling company Lohum plans to invest up to Rs 250 crore in the next three years to enhance its capacity with plans to foray into electric four-wheeler battery segment, according to a top company official. The company, which currently has battery manufacturing capacity of 300 megawatt-hours per annum, plans to set up a new unit at Greater Noida to take its total battery manufacturing capacity to a "gigawatt-hour scale" to respond t...

Future Retail board approves resolution plan to restructure financial debt

19/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 18: The board of Future Retail has approved a plan to restructure financial debt, said the company in a stock filing. The restructuring would be according to the Reserve Bank of India’s circular for companies under stress due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Future Retail’s board meeting on April 17 decided the resolution plan will be submitted to the KV Kamath committee set up by the central bank to recommend parameters for one-time restructuring of corporate loans. The company’s l...

Nissan ramping up production at Chennai plant to meet robust demand for ‘Magnite’

19/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 18: Japanese auto major Nissan is ramping up production at its Chennai plant to touch about 3,500 units a month by July to meet robust demand in India for its newly launched compact SUV Magnite that has crossed bookings of 50,000 units, according to a top company official. Nissan Motor India, which ended the 2020-21 with a total sales growth of growth of 6 per cent at 18,886 units from 17,831 units in 2019-20, is looking at "three-digit growth" this fiscal, although the second w...

Mcap of 7 of top-10 valued firms tumble over Rs 1.41 lakh cr

19/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 18: Seven of the 10 most valued firms witnessed a combined erosion of Rs 1,41,628.37 crore in market valuation last week, with IT companies taking the biggest hit. The market valuation of Tata Consultancy Services tumbled Rs 47,680.78 crore to reach Rs 11,81,218.07 crore. The market capitalisation of Infosys declined Rs 37,579.03 crore to Rs 5,76,275.68 crore. The valuation of Reliance Industries eroded by Rs 30,841.38 crore to Rs 12,26,048.07 crore and that of State Bank of I...

US lawmakers welcome India’s move to increase FDI in insurance sector to 74%

18/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 17: Two influential US lawmakers have applauded the Indian government's move to increase foreign direct investment in the insurance sector from the existing 49 per cent to 74 per cent, saying it will further deepen bilateral trade and investment. India's Parliament last month passed the Insurance Amendment Bill 2021 to increase the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector. “We are very encouraged by the inclusion of a proposal to raise the limit on foreign ...

Office sector to see delayed revival on second wave woes

18/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 17: The onset of the second covid wave may lead to a delayed recovery for India’s commercial office sector, which continues to see a dip in leasing volumes. In the March quarter, gross absorption in the top six cities was 4.3 million sq. ft, down 49.8% year-on-year, according to a Colliers-Ficci report, The Future Workplace: Resolving Uncertainty-Charting the Future of Offices in India. Lease transaction volumes are expected to remain subdued in the first half of FY22 and impr...

DPIIT notifies PLI scheme for ACs, LED lights; mere assembly of finished goods not to be incentivised

18/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 17: The department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) has notified the PLI scheme for ACs and LED lights and said that selection of companies to avail the incentives would be done to support manufacturing of components that are not made in India presently. It said that mere assembly of finished goods would not be incentivised and companies investing in basic/core components would get a higher priority. Earlier this month, the government approved a producti...

Citi in talks to sell cards and wealth management business

18/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 17: Citigroup has launched discussions to sell its credit card and wealth management divisions, two people aware of the talks said, a day after the group announced plans to exit its retail banking business in India as part of a global restructuring exercise. According to the people cited above, who sought anonymity as the talks are private, the Citi proposal has generated early interest from at least two large foreign banks with similar India footprint to Citibank’s, as well as ...

Crisil downgrades its PVR’s long-term rating to AA-minus negative

18/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 17: Crisil has downgraded its rating on long-term bank facilities and non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of PVR Ltd to AA-minus negative from AA negative. The rating on short-term bank facility has been reaffirmed at A1-plus and the rating on Rs 75 crore NCDs has been withdrawn as the instruments have been fully repaid. The rating actions reflect Crisil's expectation of weakening of PVR's business risk profile over the medium term. It was earlier expected that with resumption of...

HDFC Bank Q4 net profit rises 18% YoY to Rs 8,186 crore

18/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 17: India's largest private lender HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a 18 per cent year-on-year growth in standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 2021 (Q4FY21) at Rs 8,186 crore. It was Rs 6,927.6 crore in the year-ago period (Q4FY20). However, sequentially, the standalone net profit declined 6.5 per cent compared with Rs 8,758 crore in the December quarter (Q3FY21). The lender's board of directors decided against declaring any dividend for FY21 in light of the second co...

Fitch revises positive outlook on Future Retail Ltd, affirms rating at ‘C’

18/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 17: Fitch Ratings has affirmed Future Retail Ltd's (FRL's) issuer default rating at 'C' and the rating on its $ 500 million 5.6 per cent senior secured notes due 2025 at 'C' while revising the recovery rating to 'RR5' from 'RR4'. Fitch has also removed the rating watch positive, which had been placed on both ratings on September 2 last year after FRL's announcement it was selling its business to Reliance Retail and Fashion Lifestyle Ltd (RRFLL), an indirect subsidiary of Relianc...

SBI Card trades higher for third straight day; stock up 8% on heavy volumes

17/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 16: Shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services were trading higher for the third straight day, advancing 8 per cent to Rs 976 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Friday, on the back of heavy volumes. In the past three days, the stock has gained 10 per cent after correcting 22 per cent from its record high level of Rs 1,149 touched on February 24, 2021. At 01:05 pm, SBI Cards was trading 7 per cent higher at Rs 970 on the BSE as against a 0.31 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. ...

Sensex, Nifty end marginally higher

17/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 16: Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher after a volatile session on Friday amid positive cues from global markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 28.35 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 48,832.03. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 36.40 points or 0.25 per cent to 14,617.85. Asian Paints was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by UltraTech Cement, ONGC, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech and Nestle India. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, B...

Good news For LIC employees! 16% salary hike, 5-day-work week and more

17/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 16: Employees of Life Insurance Company (LIC) must be rejoicing after knowing that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) has reportedly just raised their wages by 16%. Over one lakh employees of LIC will benefit from the wage revision that has come along with several other perks. The salary hike has come after a really long time. Prior to this, LIC employees got a wage hike nine years ago in August 2012. This was in contrast to LIC’s culture, according to which the compa...

Real estate gets pvt equity investments of $3.2 bn in Q1: Report

17/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 16: The Indian real estate attracted private equity (debt and equity) investments of 3.24 billion dollars across 19 deals during January to March (Q1 2021), up 16 times compared to 199 million dollars in Q1 2020, according to Knight Frank India. The investments in Q1 2021 in value terms were 80 per cent of that witnessed in full year 2020 and 48 per cent of full year 2019, it said in its latest research report. The strong momentum was predominantly driven by two major factors: ...

DCM Shriram rallies 20% on heavy volumes, stock hit all-time high

17/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 16: Shares of DCM Shriram moved higher by 20 per cent to hit an all-time high of Rs 663.89 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), in the intra-day trade on Friday, on the back of heavy volumes. The stock has surpassed its previous high of Rs 637, touched on May 23, 2019. At 12:39 pm, it was trading 17 per cent higher at Rs 651 compared to a 0.46 per cent rise in the Nifty50 index. Trading volumes on the counter jumped nearly four-fold with a combined 2.8 million equity shares chan...

Gold slides marginally, but prices still Rs 9200 lower

17/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 16: Gold, Silver Rate Update, 16 April 2021: Prices of gold and silver are seemingly increasing at a fast pace. On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX), gold has breached the Rs 47000 mark while silver is trading at above Rs 68000. Gold and silver have recently also become dearer in the bullion market in the ongoing week. But today they are trading in the red zone. MCX Gold: The yellow metal’s prices increased as much as Rs 560 per 10 gram to 47175 yesterday. To...

Cleartrip to retain brand identity even after Flipkart fully acquires it

16/04/2021
Bengaluru, apr 15: E-commerce firm Flipkart has announced its proposed acquisition of Cleartrip, a leading online travel technology company. Walmart-owned Flipkart will acquire 100 per cent of Cleartrip’s shareholding, as the company further enhances its investments to strengthen its digital commerce offerings for customers. Under the terms of the agreement, Cleartrip operations will be acquired by Flipkart. Cleartrip will continue to operate as a separate brand. It would retain all employ...

India’s WPI inflation rises to over 8-year high of 7.39% in March

16/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 15: The wholesale inflation across the country rose over an 8-year high of 7.39 per cent in March, data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry showed. The wholesale price index (WPI) grew 4.17 per cent during the month of February, while the WPI for January was revised to 2.51 per cent from 2.03 per cent, the data showed. The WPI in March 2020 was at 0.42 per cent. “The prices of crude oil, petroleum products and basic metal substantially increased in March 2021 as com...

With DHFL buy, Piramal Capital to bring retail loan share to 75% from 11%

16/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 15: Piramal Capital plans to rapidly scale up the share of its retail loan book and bring down wholesale lending, part of the reason why it is acquiring Dewan Housing Finance. Piramal’s total lending book as of now is around Rs 45,000 crore, in which retail is about Rs 5,000 crore, or just about 11 per cent. According to Jairam Sridharan, Chief Executive Officer, Piramal Retail Finance, the plan is to bring up the retail portion to the mid-40 per cent level by the end of this finan...

Good news for investors! Senior citizens FD schemes extended till June 30

16/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 15: In pleasant news for senior citizens of the country, the last date for registering for the special bank fixed deposit schemes for people above 60 has been extended to June 30, 2021, from March 31, 2021. A few banks had introduced special FD schemes for senior citizens in May 2020 offering an investment period of five years or more. All the investments were entitled to an additional interest rate of 0.80% or more under this scheme, instead of the usual 5.5% interest that b...

Oil holds near one-month highs as demand forecasts raised

16/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 15: Oil prices were lower on Thursday though holding near one-month highs after futures jumped in the previous as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and others upgraded forecasts for oil demand as major economies recover from the pandemic. Brent crude was down by 21 cents, or 0.3%, at $66.37 a barrel by 0129 GMT, after gaining 4.6% on Wednesday and closing at the highest since March 17. US West Texas Intermediate futures dropped 25 cents, or 0.4%, to $62.9 a barrel, having ri...

Facebook signs 1st deal to buy renewable energy from wind power project in India

16/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 15: Facebook has signed a deal to buy renewable energy in India from a local firm's wind power project, the social media giant's first such deal in the South Asian nation, the companies said on Thursday. The 32 megawatt wind power project, located in southern Karnataka state, is part of a larger portfolio of wind and solar projects that Facebook and Mumbai-based CleanMax are working together on for supplying renewable power into India's electrical grid, they said in a joint stat...

Fag-end buying lifts Sensex 260 pts, Nifty tops 14,550; Infosys dips 2.5%

16/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 15: A smart recovery in the fag-end of the session, aided by gains in private banks, metals, and pharma stocks, helped the benchmark indices reverse losses and end near day's high on Thursday. Among the headline indices, the BSE barometer Sensex ended 259.6 points, or 0.5 per cent, higher at 48,803.7 levels while the NSE's Nifty50 settled at 14,581 levels, up 76.6 points or 0.5 per cent supported by gains in heavyweights like TCS, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS, HDFC, Reliance Industr...

Hiring to grow by 7% in Apr-June: Report

16/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 15: The intent to hire in the current quarter is likely to rise by 7 per cent over the previous three months if further lockdowns and workplace operating rules are not enforced, mainly driven by demand in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, educational services, ecommerce and technology start-ups and IT, according to a report. In fact, out of the 21 sectors reviewed, more than 8 sectors will witness a 9-11 per cent rise in their intent to hire in the current quarter, TeamLease Employment...

‘Dramatic’ round of regulation seen coming for cryptocurrencies

16/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 15: The guardians of the financial sector are poised to greatly intensify their efforts to regulate the booming cryptocurrency sector. That’s the view of the World Economic Forum’s blockchain expert, who said challenges include keeping up with the borderless nature of Bitcoin and other digital tokens, as well as ensuring that innovation isn’t stifled. “We’re going to see another round of pretty dramatic attempts at regulating this space,” Sheila Warren, head of data, blockchain...

Big news for SBI customers! Convert purchases into EMIs starting at Rs 52

16/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 15: There’s some really good news for you if you’re a Stata Bank of India (SBI) customer. The bank is offering its customers an option to convert their large purchases into simple monthly instalments at reduced interest rates. Customers can also avail a 100% fee processing waiver on converting their purchases into easy monthly instalments (EMIs). The State Bank of India is offering this service as Flexipay, and the offer is valid till May 9, 2021. In a Twitter post, SBI said, ”...

India’s warehousing boom is creating winners in unexpected corners

15/04/2021
BENGALURU/NEW DELHI, apr 14: Every day, Shiv Kumar sets out to work on his new Hero Splendor from Patherheri village in Haryana’s Gurugram district toward Tauru Road a long stretch just off the National Highway 48. Over the last few years, the road surrounded by fields of wheat, jowar, bajra and mustard has slowly metamorphosed into a warehousing hub, thanks to the e-tailing boom. Kumar saved up over the last three years to buy the bike. Savings entered his vocabulary after he started workin...

Housing sales increase by 20% in January-March: 99acres.com report

15/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 14: The Indian realty landscape with conducive government policies and multiple incentives registered 20 per cent hike year-on-year sales in January to March, according to 99acres.com report released on Wednesday. The quarter witnessed the launch of about 600 new residential projects in top eight metro cities. Despite increasing COVID cases, Mumbai led all cities for the third quarter in a row with a 38 per cent share in new and re-launched projects. Hyderabad surpassed Pune an...

K Madhavan elevated as President of Walt Disney Company India, Star India

15/04/2021
Mumbai, apr 14: The Walt Disney Company India and Star India on Wednesday elevated K Madhavan naming him the president of both the firms, effective immediately. Since 2019, Madhavan has been the country manager for Star and Disney in India, overseeing their television and studios business. In this new role, Madhavan will drive strategy and growth of the group in the country, with responsibility for the vast Disney, Star and Hotstar businesses and operations spanning across entertainment, spor...

Flipkart set to acquire Cleartrip for USD 40 million in distress sale: Reports

15/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 14: Walmart owned Flipkart is all set to aquire online travel solutions provider Cleartrip, in what has been termed by several media outlets as a distress sale. As per several financial daily reports, Flipkart-Cleartrip deal may be sealed in the next 10 days. The deal, to be a mix of cash and stock, is likely to value Cleartrip at around $40 million, reports further added. The deal comes at a time when the travel and hospitality industry is going through a massive lull in the w...

Amazon moves SC against HC stay order restraining Future-Reliance deal

15/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 14: Future Retail on Wednesday said Amazon has approached Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court order which stayed a single judge's order restraining Future Retail Ltd from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail to sell its business. "The company's advocates are in receipt of communication dated April 13, 2021, from advocates of Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC informing that Amazon has filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court of In...

Mandatory gold hallmarking to be implemented from June 1: Govt

15/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 14: The government said it is fully prepared to implement mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts from June 1, 2021. Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the precious metal and is voluntary in nature at present. The Centre, in November 2019, had announced that hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts would be made mandatory across the country from January 15, 2021. The government had given jewellers more than a year to shift to hallmarking and register ...

JSW Steel completes acquisition of 31% stake in Italy’s GSI Lucchini SpA

15/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 14: JSW Steel's Italian subsidiary has completed the acquisition of remaining 30.73 per cent stake in GSI Lucchini SpA of Italy for one million euros. "Pursuant to fulfilment of conditions precedent mentioned in the share purchase agreement, our subsidiary JSW Steel Italy Srl has on April 13 completed the acquisition of 30.73 per cent equity share capital of GSI," the steelmaker informed stock exchange in regulatory filings. The agreement to acquire GSI's remaining stake was si...

Infosys Q4 PAT rises 17% YoY to Rs 5,076 cr; announces Rs 9,200 cr buyback

15/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 14: Information technology (IT) services bellwether Infosys on Wednesday posted a 17.47 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in net profit at Rs 5,076 crore for the March quarter of financial year 2020-21 (Q4FY21) as against Rs 4,321 crore posted in the same period last fiscal. Sequentially, however, the figure dipped by 2.32 per cent from Rs 5,197 crore posted in the December quarter of FY21. The revuenue for the quarter under review, meanwhile, stood at Rs 26,311 crore, up 13.08...

Petrol, diesel prices static even as crude prices firm

15/04/2021
NEW DELHI, apr 14: Fuel prices in the country remained unchanged on Wednesday with oil marketing companies continuing on the pause mode and keeping petrol and diesel prices static for over a fortnight now. Accordingly, pump price of petrol and diesel remained at previous days level of Rs 90.56 and Rs 80.87 a litre respectively in the capital. With crude remaining below $ 65 a barrel, any softening on global oil in the wake of a fresh wave of the pandemic and rising stocks in the US could actua...