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Tag: Financial Market

  • SBI Cards dips 5% as over 3% of equity changes hands via block deals on NSE

    Shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services dipped 5 per cent to Rs 836 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Tuesday’s intra-day trade after over 3 per cent equity of the company changed hands at the counter via block deals.

    Till 09:21 am; around 31.9 million equity shares representing 3.37 per cent equity of SBI Cards changed hands on the NSE, the exchange data shows. The names of the buyers and sellers were not ascertained immediately.

    As per reports, private equity firm Carlyle Group was to sell its entire stake in the company for as much as Rs 2,558 crore via block trade. CA Rover Holdings, a Carlyle entity, as of December 2021 quarter, held 29.20 million shares or 3.09 percent stake in SBI Cards. The shares were to be offered at Rs 851.50-876.75 a piece, representing around 3 percent discount to Monday’s closing price.

    Earlier on September 21, 2021, CA Rover Holdings sold 32 million equity shares or 3.4 per cent stake of SBI Cards at an average price of Rs 1,021 per share on the NSE, data shows.

    Meanwhile, SBI Cards has underperformed the market by falling 23 per cent in the past six months, as compared to a 1.5 per cent rise othe Nifty50 index. However, in the last one month, the stock has outperformed by gaining 14 per cent as against a 12 per cent surge in the benchmark index. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 712.25 on March 7, 2022.

    At 09:35 am; SBI Cards traded 3 per cent lower at Rs 847.85, as compared to a 0.2 per cent decline on the Nifty50 index.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Forex reserves jump by $2.76 bn to $632.95 bn: RBI data

    The country’s foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 2.762 billion to USD 632.952 billion for the week ended February 18 on a healthy rise in the value of gold reserves and core currency assets, the RBI said on Friday.

    In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had declined by USD 1.763 billion to USD 630.19 billion.

    During the reporting week, the rise in overall reserves was on account of an increase in the foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly data released on Friday showed.

    FCA increased by USD 1.496 billion to USD 567.06 billion in the week ended February 18, it said. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

    Gold reserves increased by USD 1.274 billion to USD 41.509 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.

    The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decreased by USD 11 million to USD 19.162 billion, RBI said.

    The country’s reserve position with the IMF increased by USD 4 million to USD 5.221 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.

  • RBI imposes monetary penalty of Rs 1 crore on State Bank of India

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by an order dated November 16 has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 crore on the State Bank of India for contravention of section 19 (2) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the Act), informed RBI.

    As per the press note, the irregularities were identified after a Statutory Inspections for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE) of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial positions as on March 31, 2018, and March 31, 2019, and the examination of the Risk Assessment Reports, Inspection Report and all related correspondence pertaining to the same, revealed, inter-alia, contravention of section 19 of the Act.

    Section 19 (2) of the Act says that “no banking company shall hold shares in any company, whether as pledgee, mortgagee or absolute owner, of an amount exceeding thirty per cent of the paid-up share capital of that company or thirty per cent of its own paid-up share capital and reserves, whichever is less.