Companies & Markets
The week gone by was dramatic and saw huge swings intra-day and intra-week. On Monday the market fell on expectations of election results. On Tuesday it was down as election results trickled in. Mid-way through Tuesday, the recovery began, as the market discounted the election results and closed with gains for the day. What is significant is the lows made on Tuesday, which were at 34,426.29 points on the Sensex and 10,333.85 points on the Nifty.
The hospitality industry is expected to grow annually by 9-10 per cent over the next four years, mainly due to robust domestic demand and a muted supply pipeline, says a report.
Going forward, rating agency Icra expects revenue improvement and margin expansion for the hotel industry and growth is expected to be 9-10 per cent over the next four years, with a strong 10-12 per cent during 2018-19.
The domestic demand in FY19 will continue to be driven by increased air connectivity, and higher appetite for domestic leisure travel, the report adds.
The Union government plans to raise about Rs 10,000 crore through a follow on offer of Bharat-22 ETF in February, an official said.
"Plans are on for launching the third tranche of Bharat-22 ETF around February. The offer is likely to have a base issue size of Rs 5,000 crore, with a green-shoe option to retain an over-subscription of equal amount, taking the total issue size to Rs 10,000 crore," the official said.
Encouraged by the NGT order allowing reopening of its Tuticorin plant, Sterilte Copper CEO P Ramnath Sunday said the company will now approach the Tamil Nadu government for consent to resume operations at the unit.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Saturday set aside the Tamil Nadu government order for closure of the copper unit at Tuticorin, which was at the centre of massive protests over alleged pollution, saying it was "non sustainable" and "unjustified".
Most of the major risk events – G20 summit, Opec meet, RBI rate decision, state election results – are now behind us. But the factor that has probably had the biggest impact on the rupee was the surprise resignation of RBI governor Urjit Patel. That’s probably because the outcome of the other events had already been factored in. The surprise resignation highlights the friction between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government and the optics of it all would have definitely spooked FPIs.
In 2018, the Indian rupee has seen more than 15 per cent weakness against the dollar. From mid-63 in January and February, the rupee traded above below 74 in October. This weakness was consistent during the year. There are multiple domestic factors for the weakness in the Indian rupee against the dollar. We can look at them individually.
The US-China trade relations, the US Fed's interest rate stance, crude oil prices and movement of the rupee will set the tone for the equity markets this week, say experts.e will set the tone for the equity markets this week, say experts.
With state elections out of the way, and the quick appointment of the new RBI governor, the markets may also see a relief rally on expectations of more measures to ease the liquidity situation, some analysts said.
Auto companies have proposed a one-time incentive in the form of rebate in taxes for replacing pre-2000 registered vehicles to facilitate taking them off the roads, industry sources said.
In a pre-budget meeting with the heavy industries ministry, the industry has also asked the government to do away with multiple tax rates for passenger cars while mooting a special rate for electrification of vehicles.
The suggestions were made in a recent meeting between representatives of the auto industry and officials of the department of heavy industry.
The year 2018 will be remembered as a challenging year for the Indian rupee that depreciated by nearly 15 per cent against the dollar compared with a goldilocked 2017 that had seen the rupee appreciate 5.5 per cent.
For most part of this year, volatile crude oil prices and trade war between the US and China weighed on the rupee. In addition, higher interest rates in the US and a stronger dollar hit emerging market economies, including India.
Private non-life insurer Bharti AXA General Insurance said the company has turned profitable in the first half of the current financial year on the back of an impressive growth in premium income and improved operating efficiencies.
The company posted a maiden net profit of Rs 3.3 crore in the first six months of this fiscal against a loss of Rs 59.3 crore in the same period in the previous fiscal.
