Tag: Financial Market

  • State Bank of India invests $20 million in Pine Labs

    Bengaluru: India’s largest lender, the State Bank of India NSE 0.90 %, has invested $20 million in Pine Labs, the fintech startup said Tuesday without sharing any further details of the deal.

    The IPO-bound online payments and merchant solutions platform raised around $700 million in multiple tranches last year and was last valued at $3.5 billion. ET reported in December that it was in advanced stages of talks to raise at least $100 million from Falcon Edge and that the total funding round could increase to $200 million.

    Pine Labs, best known for its offline merchant payments tool, is also looking to list in the United States in the first half of 2022, ET reported last month.

    “In the past year, several marquee investors have placed their trust in our business model and growth momentum, and that is a gratifying feeling,” Pine Labs CEO Amrish Rau said Tuesday. “This association with SBI is a personally satisfying experience as I had started my career selling financial services technology to SBI.” In a statement, Pine Labs said it would invest in scaling its new product Plural, a payments gateway.

  • Top sectors to invest in 2022

    After ending the calendar year 2021 with a gain of 22 per cent on the Sensex and 24 per cent on the Nifty, red flags are now up on the Street with analysts suggesting investors tread carefully as the markets face multiple headwinds – both from domestic and global factors – which can keep them choppy in the year ahead. What could cap the market upside at least in the short-term is the fast-spreading Covid variant – Omicron – that has already seen several states adopt a precautionary approach. That said, analysts at Morgan Stanley, for instance, expect the emerging markets, including India, to muddle through most part of 2022 amid rich valuations.

    Despite downgrading India, the global research and brokerage house remains ‘structurally bullish’ on Indian equities and is looking for stock-level opportunities to hold exposure. Jonathan F Garner, chief Asia and emerging market strategist at Morgan Stanley says, EM equities will continue to struggle next year, with only 3 per cent upside to their December 2022 target. According to Credit Suisse, earnings will be the key driver for equity returns. Sectors that lagged the global recovery from the pandemic shock to emerge as bright spots alongside industries that benefit from secular growth trends. Other analysts, too, echo the same view and suggest stock selection will be key for investors to beat index returns. So which sectors are likely to do well in 2022?A similar sentiment is echoed by those at ICICI Securities, who expect the IT sector to lead the rally, supported by cyclicals like capital goods and BFSI. Herald van der Linde, head of equity strategy for Asia Pacific at HSBC, however, suggests staying away from real estate, auto components and sectors that have regulatory uncertainty like PSU banks and utilities. Over the medium-term, however, the market direction will be guided by a slew of domestic factors such as the upcoming result season for the quarter ended December 2021, expectations from the Union Budget that is likely to be presented on February 1.

  • Top sectors to invest in 2022

    After ending the calendar year 2021 with a gain of 22 per cent on the Sensex and 24 per cent on the Nifty, red flags are now up on the Street with analysts suggesting investors tread carefully as the markets face multiple headwinds – both from domestic and global factors – which can keep them choppy in the year ahead. What could cap the market upside at least in the short-term is the fast-spreading Covid variant – Omicron – that has already seen several states adopt a precautionary approach. That said, analysts at Morgan Stanley, for instance, expect the emerging markets, including India, to muddle through most part of 2022 amid rich valuations.

    Despite downgrading India, the global research and brokerage house remains ‘structurally bullish’ on Indian equities and is looking for stock-level opportunities to hold exposure.Jonathan F Garner, chief Asia and emerging market strategist at Morgan Stanley says, EM equities will continue to struggle next year, with only 3 per cent upside to their December 2022 target.According to Credit Suisse, earnings will be the key driver for equity returns. Sectors that lagged the global recovery from the pandemic shock to emerge as bright spots alongside industries that benefit from secular growth trends.Other analysts, too, echo the same view and suggest stock selection will be key for investors to beat index returns.So which sectors are likely to do well in 2022?A similar sentiment is echoed by those at ICICI Securities, who expect the IT sector to lead the rally, supported by cyclicals like capital goods and BFSI.Herald van der Linde, head of equity strategy for Asia Pacific at HSBC, however, suggests staying away from real estate, auto components and sectors that have regulatory uncertainty like PSU banks and utilities.Over the medium-term, however, the market direction will be guided by a slew of domestic factors such as the upcoming result season for the quarter ended December 2021, expectations from the Union Budget that is likely to be presented on February 1.

  • Stocks to Watch: HP Adhesives, RBL Bank, Adani Trans, HUL, Lupin, CBI

    The key benchmark indices are likely to start trade on a quiet note owing to lack of any major directional cues from the overseas market. As of 08:00 AM, the SGX Nifty futures were quoted at 17040, up 14 points. Meanwhile, here the top stocks to focus in trade today.

    HP Adhesives: The stock will make its debut on the bourses today. The IPO was subscribed 20.96. The GMP (Grey Market Premium) indicates a likely listing gain of 20-25 per cent as against the issue price of Rs 274 per share.

    RBL Bank: According to CNBC TV reports, ace investors Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and D-Mart’s founder RK Damani have approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to buy a 10 per cent stake in RBL Bank.

    Financials: Corporate houses, which are not allowed to own a bank, can now pick up 15 per cent stake in commercial banks through their non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). This is because the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed non-promoters to hold up to 15 per cent in private sector banks, following the recommendation of an internal working group (IWG) that was set up to review the existing guidelines on ownership and corporate structure for these entities.

    M&M, Tata Motors: Riding on the success of their recent model launches, homegrown auto majors Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors are looking to further strengthen their product portfolios in 2022. Both companies are also looking at ways to handle the semiconductor shortage in a better way next year so that the impact on the production is minimal.

    Lupin: Homegrown pharmaceuticals major said it has received tentative approval from the US health regulator for its generic Azilsartan Medoxomil tablets used to treat high blood pressure.

    Central Bank of India (CBI): The last remaining public sector lender under the Reserve Bank of India’s prompt corrective action (PCA) framework, may see such restrictions being lifted in 2-3 months. Central Bank of India meets all the parameters for exiting the PCA framework and the RBI will remove it from PCA as soon as the end of this fiscal year, said an official.

    Canara Bank: The state-run bank has raised Rs 2,500 crore by issuing Basel-III compliant bonds to a total of 10 allottees.

    Kabra ExtrusionTechnik: The company has approved capex plan of Rs 100 crore for its battery division.

    Orchid Pharma: The company informed BSE, that CARE had revised its ratings on long-term and short-term bank facilities from CARE BBB -; Stable CARE A3 to CARE BBB- (CWD) and CARE A3 (CWD, respectively. The ratings agency has placed it on Credit Watch with developing implications.

    Stocks in F&O ban: Escorts, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Vodafone Idea are the only stocks in the F&O ban period today.

  • Turkey: Stock trading halted again due to rapid losses

    Turkish stocks extended their losses following Friday’s rout, prompting a fresh automatic trading halt after the lira slid to a record low.

    The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index tumbled 5%, after climbing as much as 3.1% earlier. Trading was set to restart at 4:23 p.m. Istanbul time, according to the bourse’s statement.

    This is the second session in a row that Turkish equities’ trading is halted due to rapid losses. The benchmark plunged as much as 9.1% on Friday, triggering automatic circuit breakers during the second-steepest selloff of the year. The slump was made worse by high levels of margin trading among local investors who have borrowed funds to join a recent rally in stocks.

    Calls on margins “led to snowballing losses” on Friday, turning a price correction into “panic selling,” said Tuna Cetinkaya, assistant general manager at the Info Yatirim brokerage.

    The lira’s 58% decline this year in the wake of 500 basis points of central bank rate cuts has sent local investors flocking to stocks to shield their savings, making Istanbul among the best-performing markets of 2021 in local currency terms, but the worst when measured in U.S. dollars.

    The lira tumbled to another record low on Monday after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to continue cutting interest rates, referring to Islamic proscriptions on usury as a basis for his policy.

    Discount grocer BIM Birlesik Magazalar AS underperformed, while telecom operator Turk Telekom was among the only four stocks that gained.