victorybull

Author: victorybull

  • Sensex down 200pts, Nifty tests 18,000; RIL, HDFC twins weigh

    After a tepid start, the key benchmark indices were seen holding marginal losses in late morning trade-off the low of the day as gains in select IT and FMCG shares helped offset losses in financials.
    The BSE Sensex from an opening high of 60,786, had slipped to an intra-day low of 60,227. The index, however, was down around 200 points at 60,400-odd levels. The NSENifty was seen testing the 18,000-mark, down 50-odd points.
    Among the Sensex 30 shares, the HDFC and Bajaj twins along with Reliance Industries were the major losers, down 1-2 percent each. On the positive front, Titan, NTPC, Dr.Reddy’s, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, TCS, Maruti, and Nestle India were the prominent gainers, up 1-2 percent each.
    The broader markets, however, outperformed the benchmark indices by a large margin. The BSE Midcap index was up 0.8 percent, while the Smallcap index rallied 1.3 percent. The overall breadth too was fairly positive with nearly 2,300 stocks advancing, versus 913 declining stocks on the BSE so far.
    Sectorally, the BSE Consumer Durables, Power, Telecom and Auto indices were the strong gainers; whereas Bankex was the notable loser.

    Among other individual stocks, SBI Cards shed 4 percent on the BSE. As per reports, private equity firm Carlyle Group will sell its entire stake in the company for as much as Rs 2,558 crore.

    Moreover, Zomato, too, dropped 5 percent after the Competition Commission on Monday ordered a detailed probe against Zomato and Swiggy, for alleged unfair business practices with respect to their dealings with restaurant partners.

  • Lankan papers run out of newsprint due to forex crisis; suspend publication

    Sri Lanka’s two major newspapers on Saturday suspended their publication over newsprint shortage and price escalation caused by the country’s all-time worst foreign exchange crisis.

    The Island, an English daily along with its sister Sinhala paper Divayina, ceased to print as the newsprint scarcities and price escalations hit the media organisation.

    We regret to inform our readers that we have been compelled to suspend the publication of The Island print edition on Saturday until further notice in view of the newsprint shortage, Upali Newspapers Limited said in a statement.

    Sri Lanka is facing its all-time worst foreign exchange crisis after the pandemic hit the nation’s earnings from tourism and remittances.

    The import costs of newsprint also rose remarkably since e government’s decision early this month to float the Sri Lankan rupee against the US dollar.

    The Island newspaper, which has been in print since October 1981, will now function as an e-paper.

    Sri Lanka is facing an acute economic and energy crisis triggered due to a shortage of foreign exchange. A sudden rise in prices of key commodities and fuel shortage forced tens of thousands of people to queue for hours outside petrol filling stations. People are also facing long hours of power cuts daily.

    All essentials are in short supply due o import restrictions forced by the forex crisis.

    As part of its measures to tackle the crisis, the Sri Lankan government has sought India’s assistance. After months of resistance, the government is preparing to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an economic bailout.

    In a related development, the Indian Oil Corporation’s local entity LIOC effected another price hike of petrol with effect from midnight Friday. This was the LIOC’s fourth price hike since February.

    India recently announced to extend a USD 1 billion line of credit to Sri Lanka as part of its financial assistance to help the country deal with the economic crisis. New Delhi had extended a USD 500 million line of credit to Colombo in February to help it purchase petroleum products.

  • Sri Lanka’s forex crisis leads to a tourism crisis

    With Sri Lanka going through an ongoing foreign exchange criss, governments of the United Kingdom, and Canada have warned their travellers about the economic situation. The UK government has warned its travellers that Sri Lanka is reeling under a crisis with shortages of medicines, food, and fuel, as there is now a shortage of hard currency for imports.
    The country declared that it’s in crisis back in August, 2021. With the 2019 Easter Bombings, and then the covid pandemic, tourism has already been hit in a bad way in the country. Now the foreign exchange crisis might further affect travel.

    The United Kingdom, along with Russia and India are the three biggest sources of inbound tourism for Sri Lanka. Tourism accounts for 5 per cent of the country’s GDP. There has been a decline in international tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka in March 2020, by about 70.8 percent when comared to the same time frame a year ago.

    The government in Canada has also asked its citizens to have food, water, and fuel supplies in hand in case of a disruption. The government has also asked its travellers to have enough supply of medicines at hand.

    The Sri Lankan public has in fact faced a shortage of essentials due to the forex crisis, as its import restrictions have led to a shortage in cooking gas, and fuel supplies. This has also led to power cuts in the country.

  • Rupee advances 23 paise to 75.67 against the US dollar in early trade

    The rupee advanced 23 paise to 75.67 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Thursday, supported by positive domestic equities and a fall in crude oil prices.

    At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 75.67 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 23 paise from the previous close.

    On Wednesday, the rupee dropped by 17 paise to close at 75.90 against the US dollar.

    The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.14 per cent to 97.92.

    Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 4.54 per cent to USD 108.30 per barrel after reports surfaced that US President Joe Biden is preparing to order the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve to control energy prices.

    Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said that India has received a record number of foreign direct investments during the last few years despite the COVID-19 crisis, and has quite a few safeguards in place to mitigate the risks from capital flows.

    On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 152.24 points or 0.26 per cent higher at 58,836.23, while the broader NSE Nifty surged 44.40 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 17,542.65.

    Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,357.47 crore, according to stock exchange data.

  • Gold up as dollar, yields weaken; progress in Russia-Ukraine talks weighs

    Gold prices rose on Wednesday, supported by a dip in the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields, though signs of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks dented the metal’s appeal as a safe haven and kept gains in check.

    Spot gold was up 0.3% to $1,923.95 per ounce by 0210 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.5% at $1,927.70.

    The metal fell as much as 1.8% on Tuesday to its lowest since Feb. 28 at $1,889.45.

    “(Weaker) dollar has provided a level of support for gold…bond prices bounced from a key level of support yesterday which helped push yields lower despite the supposed risk-on rally seen across equities. And that’s provided another pillar of support for gold,” City Index senior market analyst Matt Simpson said.

    Underpinning gold, investors remain wary over Russia’s true intentions over their pledge to scale down ‘military operations’, he added.

    Ukraine reacted with scepticism to Russia’s promise in negotiations to scale down military operations around Kyiv and another city as some Western countries expected Moscow to intensify its offensive in other parts of the country.

    The dollar index slid to a more than one-week low in the previous session, making gold less expensive for other currency holders. [USD/]

    U.S. benchmark 10-year yields also slipped from near three-year highs, and lower yields decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. [US/]

    Holdings of the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, slipped 0.2% to 1,091.44 tonnes on Tuesday. [GOL/ETF]

    Spot silver was up 0.1% at $24.78 per ounce and platinum rose 0.9% to $991.49.

    Palladium gained 1.5% to $2,182.15, after dipping to a more than two-month low of $2,032.97 in the last session.

    The auto-catalyst metal has tumbled nearly 40% since scaling an all-time peak on March 7 as supply concerns from Russia eased.

  • 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.