victorybull

Author: victorybull

  • Hacker steals $625 mn in crypto from Blockchain platform Ronin

    In one of the largest decentralized finance (Defi) breaches yet, a hacker has stolen cryptocurrencies worth $625 million from Ronin, a Blockchain platform behind the popular non-fungible token (NFT) game Axie Infinity.

    The Blockchain platform and Axie Infinity operator Sky Mavis admitted the security breach, saying that 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5M USDC (a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar) were drained from the Ronin bridge in two transactions.

    “The attacker used hacked private keys in order to forge fake withdrawals. We discovered the attack after a report from a user being unable to withdraw 5k ETH from the bridge,” Ronin Network said in a statement late on Tuesday.

    The company has temporarily paused the Ronin Bridge to ensure no further attack vectors remain open.

    The company was working with law enforcement officials, forensic cryptographers, and investors to make sure all funds are recovered or reimbursed.

    “As we’ve witnessed, Ronin is not immune to exploitation and this attack has reinforced the importance of prioritising security, remaining vigilant, and mitigating all threats,” said the Blockchain platform.

    “As of now, users are unable to withdraw or deposit funds to Ronin Network,” it added.

    In January this year, hackers stole crypto tokens worth $120 million from the Blockchain-based decentralized finance (Defi) platform BadgerDAO. Several crypto wallets were drained before the platform could stop the cyber attack.

    In December last year, cyber criminals stole cryptocurrency worth $80 million from Qubit Finance, a decentralised finance (DeFi) platform.

  • Rupee advances 23 paise to 75.93 against US dollar in early trade

    The rupee appreciated 23 paise to 75.93 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Tuesday, following a positive trend in domestic equities amid softening global crude oil prices.

    A weak American currency in the overseas market also helped the domestic unit, forex traders said.

    At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened strong at 75.97 against the US dollar and gained further ground to quote at 75.93, a rise of 23 paise over the previous close.

    In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 76.16 against the greenback.

    Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 1.53 per cent to USD 110.76 per barrel.

    Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.06 per cent to 98.99.

    On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 233 points or 0.40 per cent higher at 57,826.49, while the broader NSE Nifty surged 75.85 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 17,297.85.

    Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they sold shares worth Rs 801.41 crore, according to stock exchange data.

    According to the latest public debt management report, the government’s total liabilities rose to Rs 128.41 lakh crore in the December quarter from Rs 125.71 lakh crore in the three months ended September 2021.

    The increase reflects a quarter-on-quarter increase of 2.15 per cent in October-December 2021-22.

    The report released by the finance ministry on Monday said public debt accounted for 91.60 per cent of the total outstanding liabilities in the December quarter compared to 91.15 per cent at the end of September.

  • Sensex jumps over 300 points in early trade; Nifty above 17,300

    Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 300 points in early trade on Tuesday, following gains in index majors HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, and ICICI Bank amid a largely positive trend in global equity markets.

    Besides, a fall in international crude prices supported the market sentiment, traders said.

    The 30-share BSE barometer was trading 317.22 points higher at 57,910.71. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty gained 93.45 points to 17,315.45.

    From the 30-share pack, UltraTech Cement, HDFC, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki and ICICI Bank were the lead gainers.

    On the other hand, ITC, Tata Steel and NTPC were among the laggards.

    In the previous trade, the BSE barometer climbed 231.29 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at 57,593.49. The NSE Nifty recovered 69 points or 0.40 per cent to 17,222.

    Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong trading in the green, while Shanghai quoted marginally lower during mid-session deals.

    Stock exchanges in the US ended with gains on Monday.

    Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.30 per cent to USD 111.02 per barrel.

    Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 801.41 crore on Monday, according to stock exchange data.

  • Fishin announces Rs.1000 crore investment in Telangana

     Fishin, a world-renowned company in import of Tilapia fish, is investing Rs.1, 000 crore in Telangana for setting up the largest freshwater aquaculture project in the world.

    The company will be setting up the project near Mid Manair reservoir, Rajanna Sircilla district.

    This announcement was made by the company Chairman and CEO Manish Kumar after his meeting with Industries Minister KT Rama Rao at San Jose on Thursday.

    The Company, the largest importer of Tilapia variety of fish in the world and the largest importer of frozen food into the US, announced this investment of Rs 1,000 crores in a fully integrated freshwater fish culture ecosystem including hatcheries, feed manufacturing, cage culture, processing, and exports.

    The project will produce 85,000 MTs of Tilapia fish per year using cage culture methodology. It will also generate direct employment for 3,000 people and another 2,000 people will benefit by way of indirect employment.

    Minister KT Rama Rao thanked the team of Fishin’ for choosing Telangana as their investment destination. He assured that the State government would extend all cooperation to the company.

    He said that the Telangana Government’s investment in Agriculture and Irrigation sectors was bearing fruit. The State was witnessing a second Green Revolution and a Blue Revolution, he informed.

    The Industries Minister appealed to the Fishin’ firm to give preference to the local fishermen community and Mid Manair Project displaced households while hiring.

    Industries Department Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, Director – Food Processing Akhil also participated in the meeting.

  • Stalin in UAE: Lulu Group to invest Rs 3,500 crore in Tamil Nadu

    The multibillion-dollar Lulu group of Keralite NRI businessman M.A. Yusuf Ali will be investing Rs 3,500 crore in Tamil Nadu. This was announced by the group chairman and Managing Director M.A. Yusuf Ali while attending the investors’ meet of Tamil Nadu in Dubai.

    The meet was organised by the Tamil Nadu state government on Saturday. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin, who is on a four-day tour of the Middle East to scout investments, was present at the meet.

    The Lulu group will build two shopping malls and an export-oriented food processing unit.

    The group, according to a statement from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s office will ink the Memorandum of Understanding on Monday in Abu Dhabi. The Lulu group Chairman M.A. Yusuf Ali in a statement said that the group would commence construction of the malls soon and will provide employment to 5,000 people in the two malls.

    Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in his speech said that ever since he assumed office as the Chief Minister, the state has signed 124 MoU’s attracting an investment of 8 billion dollars creating employment opportunities for 20,000 people.

    He said that the target of a trillion economy by 2030 is achievable and that the state has chalked out several programmes and activities, including developing infrastructure, upskilling the workforce to improve productivity, and taking up measures to attract investments in new sectors like electric vehicles, technical textiles, and other sectors.

    The Chief Minister also invited industrialists from the UAE to invest in food processing, hospitality, food parks, and real estate sectors in Tamil Nadu.

    He also appealed to the investors from Dubai to invest in a massive furniture park that was coming up at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu.

  • Game-streaming platform Loco raises Rs 330 cr in Hashed-led funding round

    India’s leading game-streaming platform Loco said it had secured Rs 330 crore ($42 million) in an investment round led by Hashed. Besides Makers Fund, Catamaran Ventures, and Korea Investment Partners, all investors from the company’s seed round, including Krafton, Lumikai, and Hiro Capital, also participated in this round. The new investment will cement Loco’s current leadership position in game streaming and further accelerate its streaming technology and content initiatives. With this new fundraising, Loco will “continue investing in the development of the Indian gaming ecosystem and nurturing the Indian gaming community”.

    “We started Loco with a mission to democratise gaming and this investment will help us make significant progress towards our end goal,” said Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, founders of Loco. “Today, we are the platform where gamers go from being newbies to becoming gaming superstars. Loco is actively transforming the entertainment experience for Indian users and we are excited about the new investors joining us in building the future of entertainment.”

    Loco has been a pioneer in the live game streaming and esports sector in India, paving the way for gaming to go from a niche hobby to the mainstream national interest. The platform is home to India’s most popular streamers such as Sc0ut, Mavi, Godlike’s Jonathan, Villager Esports, and 8Bit-Thug. Loco has built highly engaged communities across various games including BGMI, Call of Duty Mobile, Clash of Clans, Grand Theft Auto (GTA), and Valiant. The platform houses India’s top esports teams like Godlike, XO, Revenant Esports, and Hyderabad Hydras. It has hosted the country’s largest tournaments in partnership with global publishers like Krafton, Activision, Ubisoft, and Riot Games.

    Loco has grown rapidly over the last year, with daily active viewers scaling by 15x, monthly active viewers scaling by 8x, monthly active streamers scaling by 5x, and live watch hours scaling by 78x since Jan 2021. Today, highly active users spend over 1 hour daily on Loco, making it the gaming community’s platform of choice for a seamless streaming and highly engaging fan experience.

    The company believes that gaming will define the customer entertainment experience over the next decade. Powered by 5G, gaming will make entertainment more immersive, providing users with immensely enjoyable social experiences in virtual worlds. In addition, Web3 will transform the nature of ownership of virtual goods, allowing fans to participate in the entertainment process in a more meaningful manner than has ever been possible before. With these tailwinds driving consumer behaviour, Loco wants to build the social experience platform for the virtual world, serving the over 700 million Indians who will experience these virtual worlds in the coming years.

  • Bank credit grows by 7.9% to Rs 116.27 trn; deposits by 8.6%: RBI data

    Bank credit grew by 7.9 percent to Rs 116.27 lakh crore and deposits rose by 8.6 percent to Rs 162.17 lakh crore in the fortnight ended February 25, RBI data showed.

    In the fortnight ended February 26, 2021, bank advances stood at Rs 107.75 lakh crore and deposits at Rs 149.33 lakh crore, according to the RBI’s Scheduled Banks’ Statement of Position in India as on February 25, released on Thursday.

    In the previous week ended February 11, 2022, bank credit grew by 7.86 per cent and deposits by 9.11 per cent.

    In 2020-21, bank credit had risen by 5.56 per cent and deposits by 11.4 per cent.

  • Russia-Ukraine war: Rs 1.2 trn SME debt at risk, lower-rated unit worse off

    Rs 1.2 trn SME debt at risk,

    The direct impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on Indian business would be largely restricted to small entities with low ratings and would be manageable. The effect on credit will be more pronounced in a few sectors such as pharma and subsidy-linked industries like fertilisers, according to India Ratings.

    As for the indirect impact of war on credit, rating agency said the analysis of top 1,400 corporate entities (excluding oil and financial entities) as per total debt, is expected to be limited-to-moderate.

    The median EBITDA margins could be impacted by 100-200 bps for commodity-consuming sectors in a scenario of commodity prices sustain at the current levels, rupee depreciates by 10 per cent and an increase in the borrowing costs by one per cent.

    The debt at risk (with net leverage exceeding 5x) would exceed by Rs 1.2 trillion compared to what was anticipated prior to the war, or under steady state condition. The agency is reviewing its portfolio of entities and will communicate rating actions wherever appropriate.

    Pharma has meaningful exports to the countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States which coupled with the ongoing pressure on generic pricing in the US could impact the profitability of some companies.

    Wtih respect to credit, given these entities have low leverage on their balance sheets, risk is expected to be minimal. Increasing business risks in the event of a prolonged disruption could impact credits.

    Higher food, fertilizers, and oil prices are likely to put pressure on the subsidy allocation by the Indian government for fertilizers and LPG. If the government were to refrain from increasing the fertilizer subsidy, the deficit would need to be funded by the balance sheet of fertilizer companies, thus deteriorating their credit metrics. The credit impact on fertilizer companies is assessed to be manageable, given their low leverage, it said.

    India Ratings said that the increase in commodity prices could result in a stretched working capital cycle for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), weakening debt servicing ability. Additionally, any material rise in interest rates could increase the EMI burden on borrowers.

  • Rupee advances 22 paise to 76.78 against US dollar in early trade

    Rupee advances 22 paise to 76.78

    The rupee advanced 22 paise to 76.78 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Wednesday, supported by the weakness in the American dollar and recovery in domestic equity markets.

    Forex traders said the rupee could remain range-bound and can witness high volatility amid the deepening Russia-Ukraine conflict.

    At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.90 against the US dollar, then gained momentum and touched 76.78, registering a gain of 22 paise from the previous close.

    On Tuesday, the rupee fell for the fifth consecutive day and depreciated by 7 paise to close at a lifetime low of 77 against the US dollar, weighed by surging crude oil prices.

    The Indian rupee could remain range-bound this Wednesday and will continue to witness high volatility, said Sriram Iyer, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

    The dollar fell, while a recovery in the domestic equity markets could cap weakness. However, oil continued to move higher after the US ban on Russian energy products and could cap the appreciation bias, Iyer noted.

    Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.05 per cent to 99.01.

    Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 2.59 per cent to USD 131.29 per barrel.

    On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 550.95 points or 1.03 per cent higher at 53,975.04, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 117.70 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 16,131.15.

    Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 8,142.60 crore, as per stock exchange data.

  • Rupee plummets 76 paise to 76.93/USD as oil soars amid Ukraine crisis

    Sliding for the fourth straight session, the rupee tanked 76 paise to close at 76.93 on Monday, after touching its lifetime low of 77 against the US dollar, as crude oil prices climbed to multi-year highs amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

    Global oil prices soared past USD 120 per barrel amid the US and European nations mulling a ban on Russian energy imports.

    Sustained foreign fund outflows and a lacklustre trend in domestic equities also weighed on investor sentiment, forex traders said.

    At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 76.85 against the American currency and slumped to an all-time low of 77, before closing at 76.93, down 76 paise from the previous close.

    “The Indian rupee has plummeted to a lifetime low against the US dollar as the deepening Russia-Ukraine conflict has sapped risk appetite in the market while prompting safe-haven flows into the US dollar,” said Sugandha Sachdeva, Vice President – Commodity and Currency Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

    Besides, the parabolic rise in crude oil prices towards multi-year highs and spiralling commodity prices are fuelling inflationary risks, which is a key headwind for the rupee-dollar exchange rate, Sachdeva added.

    According to Sachdeva, the overall trend for the Indian rupee is skewed towards the downside and a convincing close below 77 “would pave the way for further downside towards 77.50 mark in near term, while we envisage the local currency to test the 79 mark from a medium-term perspective.”

    Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.46 per cent higher at 99.09.

    Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 6.55 per cent to USD 125.85 per barrel.

    On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex ended 1,491.06 points or 2.74 per cent lower at 52,842.75, while the broader NSE Nifty plunged 382.20 points or 2.35 per cent to 15,863.15.