Mumbai

Bad loans of banks have increased to Rs 10.3 lakh crore or 11.2 per cent of advances, as on March 31, 2018. They are expecting it to rise further to 11.5 per cent this year but would reduce after that.

As part of its efforts to bring more transparency in MF investment cost, market regulator Sebi has asked fund houses to disclose on a daily basis total expenses charged to investors on all schemes on their websites. Mutual funds will have to simultaneously reveal the same details on industry body Amfi’s website as well.

India’s 10-year benchmark bond yield rose to its highest in two weeks to 7.88 per cent – previous close of 7.85 per cent – after a news report quoted a senior finance ministry official that the central bank might have to raise interest rates to keep inflation in check.

Even as frontline indices Sensex and Nifty are holding ground, there is a huge selloff in the mid and small cap segments as foreign funds continue to pull out money from the domestic market. While the Sensex rose 0.4 per cent in May, the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices have lost close to 7 per cent as over 800 stocks have hit their 52-week low during the period. According to analysts, these stocks are clearly in a bear market and investors should not rush to average out their holding in stocks hitting fresh 52-week low.

Reserve Bank of India governor Urjit Patel has warned of “dollar double whammy” to emerging markets, including India.

Cement companies were the surprise package this earnings season. They posted a strong set of sales, EBITDA and profit after tax as better prices led to higher realisations in central India and eastern India. Operational efficiencies and better operating leverage, despite increase in diesel and petcoke prices, also helped them perform well.

HDFC Bank shares rallied 4.36 per cent on Thursday to reach Rs 2,136.15 on BSE as domestic investors rushed to buy ahead of the introduction of a new system monitoring foreign ownership limits in real time from June 1.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to maintain status quo on rates when it meets on June 4-6 to announce the second bi-monthly monetary policy. While some are not ruling out the probability of the MPC pre-emptively hiking rates by 25 basis points in the June policy meeting on rising oil prices and rupee weakness, economists appear unanimous of a rate hike in August policy.

Multiple years of losses have substantially eroded the net worth of engineering major L&T's shipbuilding arm and led its independent auditors to cast “significant doubt” over whether the company can continue as a "going concern".

L&T, the parent, however said its investment in L&T Shipbuilding is “strategic” and affirmed its financial support.

In accounting parlance, the 'going concern assumption' typically means that the company will remain in business for the foreseeable future without being forced to halt operations and liquidate its assets.

Mutual fund houses are trying hard to meet the June 30 deadline for adhering to Sebi guidelines on categorisation and rationalisation of schemes, but execution is a big challenge as portfolios are being reset.

Post-categorisation and rationalisation of mutual fund schemes, investors will have more clarity and they can pick and choose what they want. At present, it’s all about getting used to new fund categories and names, both for distributors and investors.