Weekly Market Recap: Vodafone Idea fundraising plan, Crypto crash, EV fire incident and More!

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty ended in the green after a volatile session on Monday. There was a rebound in financial shares and IT shares even though investors remained cautious amid concerns about steep hikes in interest rates and their impact on economic growth. Broader markets, i.e., mid-cap and small-cap indices ended lower, on the flipside.

Benchmark indices rose on Friday backed by gains across all sectors. Commodity prices slipped and this offered some respite to investors globally from broadening inflationary pressures, amid concerns about aggressive hikes in COVID-era interest rates and their impact on economic growth.

Market Movers

Some of the top gainers this week were Nazara Technologies, MMTC, Solara Active Pharma Sciences, Asahi India Glass, and Indo Count Industries. On the other hand, some of the top losers were Star Health and Allied Insurance Company, Brightcom Group, Infibeam Avenues, Persistent Systems, and MindTree.

Currencies

Commodities

Recap

In this week’s recap, we shall take a look at Vodafone Idea’s fundraising plan, SBI’s competition with HDFC Bank, growth in the Hospitality industry and more.

Vodafone Idea’s board approved a ₹ 436 crore fundraising plan

Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea’s board of directors met on June 22, 2022, to approve a proposal for raising of funds up to ₹436.21 crores, by way of issuance of equity shares or convertible warrants on a preferential basis.

The company plans to invest further in its network and prepare for the upcoming 5G spectrum auctions.

Further, it will exercise an option to defer payment of AGR-related dues worth ₹ 8836 crores for a period of four years.

SBI gears up to fight merged HDFC Bank

HDFC Bank and HDFC had announced a deal in April to make the merged entity more competitive and SBI is taking steps to take on the strength of the combined entity.

SBI is accelerating its digital agenda, including expanding the scope and reach of the Yono app using advanced analytics. 

HDFC Bank plans to double its network in the next 3-5 years. Its MD and CEO, Sashidhar Jagdishan highlighted that the branch will be digital from a customer onboarding and transaction/servicing perspective. 

Domestic Tourism will be a key growth driver for the hospitality industry

The Indian hospitality sector is well poised to put the pandemic’s destruction behind it with the demand outlook improving and amid the large-scale infrastructure push by the government, as per a report.

International travel suffered in 2022, but there was a sharp recovery as compared to the previous year. The demand for travel is expected to recover gradually through FY23 till the end of FY24.

Cryptos failed to protect investors against inflation

Cryptos were once seen as an attractive hedge against inflation due to their limited supply. However, the ongoing turmoil in cryptocurrencies is likely to make investors sceptical about it. 

The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index has declined by around 65%, so far, this calendar year. In contrast, gold is down only 0.21% in the international spot market.

Analysts caution that Bitcoin crashes may have been followed by a rally in the past, however, the situation related to the global economy and inflation is different and much more challenging this time.

Electric two-wheeler demand is intact in spite of fire accidents

Many electric two-wheelers have been catching fire, these days. This has led to anxiety among consumers about owning these vehicles. However, this has not had a huge impact on the demand.

According to Vahan Registrations, the share of electric two-wheeler (2W) in the 2W segment dipped to 3.2% in May from 4.1% in April, but this has rebounded to 3.5% in June so far,

A factor that could have slowed down this penetration could be supply chain disruptions.

Written By – Simran Bafna