victorybull

Author: victorybull

  • India’s shipment of wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistan to begin next week

    India’s 50,000 tonnes of wheat shipment to Afghanistan as part of its humanitarian aid to the trouble-torn country through Pakistani soil will start from next week, officials said.

    India has been pitching for providing unimpeded humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country. It has already announced plans to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat and medicines to Afghanistan by road transport through Pakistan.

    Pakistan last year allowed India to send 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan by using its land route after the humanitarian situation worsened in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.

    All hurdles have been removed and the Indian side has shared with Pakistan the list of Afghan truck drivers and contractors who would carry the wheat to Afghanistan via Pakistan, diplomatic sources told PTI in Islamabad.

    “The shipment of wheat will begin from next week,” according to the sources.

    As per the bilateral understanding, India should complete the shipment within 30 days of the first consignment sent through the Wagah border.

    India also on Friday signed an MoU with the World Food Programme (WFP) on the distribution of wheat to Afghanistan. India would hand over the wheat to WFP in Afghanistan that would then distribute it among the people.

    Initially, Islamabad wanted the transportation of humanitarian assistance goods to Kabul on Pakistani trucks under the banner of the United Nations.

    But India made a counter proposal and wanted the food grain to be shipped to Afghanistan either in Indian or Afghan trucks. The two sides then agreed that wheat would be carried by Afghan trucks and a list of Afghan contractors was shared with Pakistan.

    India had sent a proposal to Pakistan on October 7 seeking the transit facility to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat to the people of Afghanistan via Pakistani soil and it received a positive response from Islamabad on November 24.

    Following the Pakistani response, both sides were in touch to finalise the modalities for the transportation of the shipments.

    The food grains provided by India are expected to help Afghanistan deal with shortages. According to international aid agencies, about 23 million Afghans are in need of urgent support.

    Afghanistan has been under Taliban rule since August 15 last year, when the Afghan hardline militant group ousted the elected government of president Ashraf Ghani and forced him to flee the country and take refuge in the UAE.

    India has not recognised the new regime in Afghanistan and has been pitching for the formation of a truly inclusive government in Kabul, besides insisting that Afghan soil must not be used for any terrorist activities against any country.

  • Markets in a bear trap, investors lose Rs 10 lakh crore of wealth in 2 days

    Relentless selling pressure roiled the equity markets for the second consecutive session on February 14, leaving investors poorer by Rs 10 lakh crore.

    Fears of a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia, inflating crude oil prices, and a correction in global markets spooked investors for the second day in a row.

    Equity benchmark indices fell 2 percent on Monday, in addition to the 1.3 percent drop in the previous session. The BSE Sensex plunged 1,255 points to 56,898, and the Nifty50 fell 382 points to 16,992 at 1:48pm.

    With this drop, the benchmark indices plunged into the negative territory in 2022, losing more than 2 percent against a 22 percent rally in the previous year.

    “The element of uncertainty is very high. If the Ukraine crisis aggravates into a conflict, it can inflict damage to the market in the short run. The consequences of severe sanctions on Russia in the event of a invasion can be debilitating for the Russian economy. This may restrain (Russian President Vladimir) Putin from a misadventure in Ukraine,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

    The broader markets also corrected in line with the frontline indices as the Nifty Midcap 100 index lost 2.3 percent and Smallcap 100 index declined 2.6 percent.

    Heavy selling was seen across sectors, barring information technology (IT) and pharma that fell only 0.25 percent and 0.73 percent. The Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services and Metal indices tanked 3 percent each. Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Realty were down more than 2 percent each.

    Investors have lost Rs 9.57 lakh crore of wealth in just two straight sessions. BSE market’s capitalisation dropped to Rs 258.24 lakh crore on Monday, against Rs 267.81 lakh crore at the close on February 10.

    The advance-decline ratio was largely in favour of the bears as four shares gained for every share falling on the BSE. More than 570 shares hit the lower circuit on Monday, against 258 shares hitting the upper circuit.

    Experts said sentiment may remain negative until the uncertainty over tensions between Russia and Ukraine eases.  “There is a short-term negative sentiment in the markets due to the Ukraine-Russia tensions, rising crude oil prices and expectations of aggressive rate hikes by the US Fed due to decades-high inflation,” said Mohit Nigam, Head of  PMS at Hem Securities.

    The current fall in the market is due to the Ukraine crisis and the market may stage a strong rebound after the crisis eases, he said.

    Market volatility is expected to stay high, so investors should not jump in for short-term gains, rather they should adopt a long-term horizon and add quality stocks during significant dips, he said.

    Markets across Asia were under pressure with Japan’s Nikkei falling more than 2 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s Kospi fell 1-1.6 percent each.

  • Sensex tanks 1200 pts, Nifty at about 17000, support at 16900-17000, TCS, Sun Pharma gain

    Benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 opened lower on Monday amid weak global cues. The Sensex was down 1,197.86 points or 2.06% at 56955.06, and the Nifty was down 348.00 points or 2.00% at 17026.80. M&M, SBI, ITC, L&T and ICICI Bank were among major losers on the Nifty, while gainers were ONGC and TCS. All the sectoral indices are trading in the red with auto, bank ,FMCG, metal, power, realty and capital goods indices down 2-3 per cent. In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were deep in red, down 2.7 per cent and 3.15 per cent, respectively.

  • MFs garner Rs 99,704 crore via NFOs in 2021 on sharp rally in stock market

    Mutual fund houses launched 140 new fund offerings (NFOs), which collected about Rs 1 lakh crore in 2021 on a sharp rally in the markets and an exceptional increase in the retail investors’ interest.

    However, the current volatility in the stock market might prompt asset management companies (AMCs) to limit the launch of NFOs this year, said MyWealthGrowth.com co-founder Harshad Chetanwala.

    Ankit Yadav, wealth manager (USA) and director of Market Maestro, also believes that NFOs are going to decrease in 2022 and little will come in 2023 when rates start changing.

    According to data compiled by Morningstar India, there were 140 new fund offers (including closed-end funds and ETFs) in 2021. These managed to garner a respectable Rs 99,704 crores during their inception stage.

    This was way higher than 81 NFOs floated in 2020 and cumulatively, these funds were able to garner Rs 53,703 crore.

    “Given the sharp rally in the markets along with the need to fill product gap created post-recategorisation and giving investors new themes to invest in, asset-management companies launched a plethora of new schemes across the year (2021),” Morningstar noted.

    Usually, NFOs come during a surging market when investor sentiments are high and optimistic. The stock market along with the positive investor sentiments kept surging post-March 2020. It is from this point in time the launch of NFOs started, Chetanwala said.

    The NFOs were floated to capitalise on the mood of investors and attract their investment as they were willing to invest at that time, he added.

    “The main fact as a wealth manager I see in low rate scenario is that the borrowing becomes easy with easy money fluctuating around businesses tend to bring their IPOs and AMC (assets management company) businesses are inclined NFOs,” Market Maestro’s Ankit Yadav said.

    In 2020, the central banks throughout the globes cut the rates and made rates hit all-time lows in the 100-year history. Rates remain unchanged in 2021. That’s why to utilise low rates, AMC businesses bring NFOs, he added.

    The maximum number of funds (25) were launched in the index fund segment, which amassed Rs 4,082 crore, followed by other ETFs (24), which collected Rs 7,482 crore and fixed-term plans (23), which mobilised Rs 5,057 crore.

    In addition, investors were attracted to international funds and sectoral or thematic funds. The AMCs launched 12 sectoral or thematic funds, which raised Rs 13,237 crore and floated 12 overseas funds of funds, which mopped up Rs 6,351 crore.

    Experts believe that the dominance of index funds and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) within NFOs is not surprising, owing to a couple of factors.

    Existing AMCs have no restrictions in the number of passive products they can manufacture, whereas there are limits on other types of funds, Vasanth Kamath, founder and CEO at Smallcase, said.

    “Also, as investors (across retail, HNIs, institutional) are broadening and diversifying their portfolios, they’re preferring to take an index approach to new exposures and asset types, making it both efficient and simple versus having to build their own frameworks and strategies on these universes,” he said.

    In addition, the staggering growth of new demat accounts requires fund houses to offer a larger, diverse line-up of ETFs that were missing in the exchange-traded form factor, he added.

    Another factor for higher NFOs in the index category could be strong performance as the index delivered over 20 per cent last year.

    Further, the penetration of Indian investors towards index or ETF is low. So, AMCs try to capture their market share, Market Maestro’s Yadav said.

  • Long-awaited 5G spectrum auction expected in April-May 2022: Official

    The long-awaited 5G spectrum auction is expected to be held in May this year if the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) submits by March its recommendations on the rules regarding the sale process, according to a senior official of the telecom department.

    Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier this month said the Trai has informed that it will submit its recommendations for the 5G auction by March and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is simultaneously firming up other processes to hold the auction at the earliest.

    “Trai has indicated that they will send it (recommendations) by March. Thereafter, it will take us a month to make a decision around it,” Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman told PTI.

    Earlier, the government has taken time of 60-120 days to start the bidding rounds in the auction after receiving recommendations from Trai on spectrum auction.

    Rajaraman said it will take the DoT two months to start the auction from the day it gets recommendations from the Trai.

    According to the DoT, 5G is expected to deliver download speed 10 times faster than 4G services.

    As per the process, DoT seeks reference from the Trai on spectrum price, method for allocating it, block size of spectrum, payments terms and conditions, among others.

    The Trai holds consultation with the industry and other stakeholders and then submits recommendations to the DoT.

    As per the current practice, the apex decision making body at the DoT, the Digital Communications Commission (formerly the Telecom Commission) takes the decision on Trai recommendations and then approaches the Cabinet for the final approval.

    Rajaraman said that the DoT has already selected MSTC as the auctioneer for the upcoming auction.

    Trai has given participants in 5G spectrum consultation to submit their additional comments by February 15 after which it will review and come up with recommendations.

    Telecom operators have demanded up to 95 per cent cut in the spectrum frequency band price. Both telecom and satellite players are at loggerheads with each other on rules for the 5G spectrum auction.

  • India, Australia vow to work together for inclusive growth in Indo-Pacific: EAM S Jaishankar

    India and Australia have pledged to work together for building more trusted and resilient supply chains and ensuring broad and inclusive growth in the strategic Indo-Pacific region, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Melbourne on February 12. Speaking at a joint press conference with his Australian counterpart Marise Payne after their bilateral meeting and attending a crucial meeting of Quad foreign ministers on February 11, Jaishankar said he spoke at length with Payne about regional, multilateral and global issues, besides discussing developments in South Asia, Southeast Asia and in the strategically vital Indo-Pacific region.

    “We shared our experiences responding to the COVID challenge itself, but also in assisting other friendly countries in particular with vaccines, and we have committed ourselves today to building more trusted and resilient supply chains and ensuring broad, inclusive growth in the Indo-Pacific, he said.

    Jaishankar said that as liberal democracies, India and Australia would continue to work towards a rule-based international order, freedom of navigation in international waters, promoting connectivity, growth and security for all while respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states, in an apparent reference to China, which has been behaving aggressively in the region.

    The ministers also talked about the progression in defence and security cooperation, reflecting the two countries’ growing strategic convergence.

    “Minister Payne and I also have shared concerns about terrorism and extremism. We have serious concerns about continuing cross-border terrorism, and it’s our shared endeavour to deepen counterterrorism cooperation, including in the multilateral forum, he said.

    “I think we’ve had very productive, very useful and very wide-ranging discussions and discussions, in fact, reflect the real profound transformation in our ties, which has happened in this very difficult period, he said.Jaishankar thanked the Australian government for enhancing engagement in the North East Indian Ocean region and on the Maitri scholarship, fellowship and cultural partnership programmes.

  • Over 6.2 crore ITRs, 21 lakh audit reports filed on new e-filing portal

    Over 6.2 crore income tax returns and about 21 lakh tax audit reports have been filed on the new e-filing portal since June last year. The new income tax portal was launched on June 7, 2021.

    “More than 6.2 crore Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and about 21 lakh major Tax Audit Reports (TARs) have been filed on the new e-Filing portal of the Income Tax Department as on 10th February 2022,” the tax department said in a statement.

    Out of the 6.2 crore ITRs filed for AY 2021-22, 48 per cent are ITR-1 (2.97 crore), 9 per cent ITR-2 (56 lakh), 13 per cent ITR-3 (83 lakh), and 27 per cent ITR-4 (1.66 crore), ITR-5 (11.3 lakh), ITR-6 (5.2 lakh) and ITR-7 (1.41 lakh).

    The government had in January extended till March 15 the deadline for corporates to file income tax returns for the fiscal ended March 2021, while the same for filing tax audit report and transfer pricing audit report for 2020-21 fiscal is February 15.

    ITR Form 1 (Sahaj) and ITR Form 4 (Sugam) are simpler forms that cater to a large number of small and medium taxpayers.

    Sahaj can be filed by an individual having income of up to Rs 50 lakh and who receives income from salary, one house property/other sources (interest etc). ITR-4 can be filed by individuals, HUFs and firms with total income of up to Rs 50 lakh and having income from business and profession. ITR-3 is filed by people having income as profits from business and trusts, respectively.

  • Zomato to invest $400 million more in quick commerce; will set up a lending biz for restaurants

    Online food delivery firm Zomato Ltd on Thursday said its revenue from operations for the December quarter rose from both a year earlier and sequentially, even as its loss shrank.

    Revenue from operations for the fiscal third quarter rose to Rs 1,112 crore from Rs 1,024.2 crore in the July-September period and Rs 609.4 crore a year earlier. Loss narrowed dramatically to Rs 67.2 crore, compared with Rs 434.9 crore a quarter earlier and Rs 351.3 crore in the previous-year period.

     

    Online food delivery firm Zomato Ltd on Thursday said its revenue from operations for the December quarter rose from both a year earlier and sequentially, even as its loss shrank.

    Revenue from operations for the fiscal third quarter rose to Rs 1,112 crore from Rs 1,024.2 crore in the July-September period and Rs 609.4 crore a year earlier. Loss narrowed dramatically to Rs 67.2 crore, compared with Rs 434.9 crore a quarter earlier and Rs 351.3 crore in the previous-year period.

     

    Zomato said it saw 9% growth in revenue from operations on a quarterly basis, while its customer delivery charges shrank 22%.

    “This was driven by a Rs 7.50 per order reduction in customer delivery charges in Q3 FY22 as compared to Q2 FY22,” Zomato said, explaining that it re-distributed its growth investments more in favour of discounts on customer delivery charges compared with food coupons.

    “We are seeing higher return on investment with discounted delivery charges as compared to coupons. As a result, discounts per order reduced by Rs 5 per order in the last quarter as compared to Q2 FY22,” it said.

    Zomato reiterated its focus on the quick-commerce segment and added that it will invest an additional $400 million in the space in the next two years.

    The Gurgaon-based company also expanded to 180 new cities, taking its presence in India to more than 700 cities.
    Zomato’s adjusted revenue — a combination of revenue from operations and customer delivery charges — increased 78% on year to Rs 1,420 crore. As reported by ET earlier, the company saw a massive increase in food order volumes on New Year’s Eve, resulting in gross order value (GOV) of $18 million, 78% higher than the same day last year.
    Zomato’s GOV grew by 84.5% Y-o-Y and 1.7% Q-o-Q to Rs 5,500 crore in the December quarter.

    Zomato said over the years, unit economics in its food delivery business has improved with scale. Contribution margin (as a percentage of GOV) has improved steadily from a negative 15% in 2019 to 1% today, it said. “A 5% contribution margin in our food delivery business (at the current scale) should get us to Ebitda break-even as a company (covering all common corporate costs as well).”

  • Oil prices steady as investors eye US-Iran nuclear talks

    Oil prices were mixed on Thursday, after rallying on an unexpected drop in U.S. crude inventories in the previous session, as investors await the outcome of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks that could add crude supplies quickly to global markets.

    Brent crude futures slid 10 cents, or 0.1%, to $91.45 a barrel at 0130 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $89.74 a barrel, up 8 cents.Robust demand recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has kept global oil supplies snug, with inventories at key fuel hubs globally hovering at multi-year lows.

    U.S. crude inventories fell 4.8 million barrels in the week to Feb. 4, dropping to 410.4 million barrels – their lowest for commercial inventories since October 2018, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a 369,000-barrel rise.

    U.S. product supplied – the best proxy for demand – peaked at 21.9 million barrels per day (bpd) over the past four weeks due to strong economic activity nationwide, EIA data showed.

    The surprise crude draw reinforces how tight the oil market remains, OANDA analyst Edward Moya said in a note.

    “Crude prices have too many catalysts that support a move to $100 oil in the near future,” he said, pointing to geopolitical tensions across Europe and the Middle East, and improving demand globally as normal travel resumes in large parts of the world.

    However, investors are closely watching the outcome of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks which resumed this week. A deal could lift U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil and ease global supply tightness.

    The White House publicly pressured Iran on Wednesday to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement quickly, saying that it will be impossible to return to the accord if a deal is not struck within weeks.

    “The core uncertainty remains whether Iran is willing to sign on the dotted line,” Eurasia analyst Henry Rome said, adding that the consultancy was holding onto a 40% call on a return to the agreement.

    Separately, U.S. President Joe Biden and King Salman of Saudi Arabia discussed energy supplies and developments in the Middle East, including in Iran and Yemen, during a phone call on Wednesday.

    Salman also spoke about maintaining balance and stability in the oil markets and emphasised the need to maintain the OPEC+ supply agreement, state news agency SPA said.In Europe, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will be meeting its allies and partners in Munich next week seeking to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine.

  • Shares of this realty firm zoomed 165% in 6 weeks, trade at 7-year high

    Shares of D B Realty hit an over seven-year high of Rs 116.70, and was locked at the 5 per cent upper circuit on the BSE on Wednesday, after its board approved raising funds via issuing 50 million convertible warrants to Rekha Jhunjhunwala and others.

    The stock of Mumbai-based real estate company has been locked at the 5 per cent upper circuit for the eight straight trading day. It quoted at its highest level since June 2014. The counter has seen huge trading volumes, with a combined 2.1 million equity shares changing hands. There were pending buy orders for 1.6 million shares on the NSE and BSE.

    In the past six weeks, the stock price of D B Realty has zoomed 165 per cent from Rs 44 on December 29, 2021. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 1 per cent during the same period.

    D B Realty in an exchange filing today said, its board approved raising of funds through issue of 50 million warrants convertible into equivalent number of equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 each to non-promoter investors on a preferential basis. This in addition to 77 million warrants that had already approved in board meeting held on February 3, 2022, the company said.

    DB Realty will allot 10 million warrants each to ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala and M/s RARE Investments, a partnership firm represented through its partner Rekha Jhunjhunwala.

    Rekha Rakesh Jhunjhunwala held 5 million or 2.06 per cent stake in D B Realty as on December 31, 2021, the shareholding pattern data shows.

    Besides these two, the company will allot 5 million warrants each to Lotus Family Trust represented by its Trustee namely Barclays Wealth Trustees (India) Private Limited and M/s KIFS Dealers, a partnership firm represented through its Partner Khandwala Finstock Private Limited. The company will also allot 10 million warrants each to Abhay Chandak and Aditya Chandak.

    An amount equivalent to at least 25 per cent of the warrant issue price shall be payable at the time of subscription and allotment of each warrant and the balance shall be payable by the warrant holder(s) on the exercise of the warrant(s) at any time within a period of 18 months from the date of allotment, the company said.

    On Friday, February 4, 2022, the Mumbai-based real estate major Godrej Properties said it had decided not to go ahead with the proposed investment in DB Realty. The company said the decision was taken after receiving shareholders’ feedback.

    The day before, Godrej Properties had announced a plan to invest Rs 400 crore for around 10 per cent stake in DB Realty and another Rs 300 crore to set up a joint platform for undertaking slum redevelopment projects. The total size of the joint platform of Godrej Properties and DB Realty would have been Rs 600 crore, with each party contributing Rs 300 crore.