Indian shares were trading lower on Monday, weighed down by a fall in the country’s top lender State Bank of India by nearly 3% after weak quarterly earnings.
The benchmark gauges, NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex edged higher on Friday, amid choppy trade, tracking mixed moves across global equities. Gains were observed in banking and metal stocks, whereas there were losses in IT stocks. Broader markets saw mild gains.
The BSE Sensex closed at 59,462.78 points, up 0.22% or 130.18 points, while the NSE Nifty 50 gained 39.15 points or 0.22% to settle at 17698.15 points as the markets closed for a long weekend. The Indian markets will be closed as usual for the weekend, followed by a holiday on Monday as India is all prepared to celebrate its 76th Independence Day on August 15, 2022.
Market Movers
Some of the top gainers this week were Indraprastha Gas Limited (up 22.42%), Tata Chemicals Limited (up 17.68%), JSW Energy Limited (up1 16.93%), Metro Brands Limited (up 15.96%) and Tata Elxsi Limited (up 14.31%).
On the other hand, some of the top losers were Sequent Scientific Limited (down 17.67%), Brightcom Group Limited (down 13.75%), Natco Pharma Limited (down 13.74%), Venky’s (India) Limited (down 11.76%), KEC International Limited (down 11.43%).
The Recap
In this week’s recap, we shall take a look at SpiceJet’s loans, Airtel’s announcement on 5G, diversion of natural gas to companies, markets’ four-month highs and the reason for a fall in India’s palm oil imports.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala passes away at 62
Veteran stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, often referred to as India’s Warren Buffett and whose net worth was USD 5.8 billion, died here on Sunday morning. He was 62.
Jhunjhunwala died early in the morning due to a cardiac arrest, a source in his newly set up airline said.
A chartered accountant by education, he chose Dalal Street instead of auditing accounts. In 1985, Jhunjhunwala invested Rs 5,000 as capital. By September 2018, that capital had inflated to Rs 11,000 crore.
His portfolio includes companies like Star Health, Titan, Rallis India, Escorts, Canara Bank, Indian Hotels Company, Agro Tech Foods, Nazara Technologies, Tata Motors.
Overall, he had a stake in 47 companies at the end of the June quarter. Titan, Star Health, Tata Motors and Metro Brands were some of his largest holdings.
IDFC, Yes Bank, and Indian Bank put SpiceJet loans on high-risk
IFDC First Bank, Yes Bank and state-owned Indian Bank have put their loans to SpiceJet Ltd in the high-risk category.
The lenders are concerned about SpiceJet’s cash flows and have held discussions seeking assurances from the low-budget carrier as it is behind on payments to some aircraft lessors, as per reports.
SpiceJet said that no bank has put its account on high alert, however, its shares tanked by 4.8% on the news.
Bharti Airtel to launch 5G Services by this month
Gopal Vittal, the managing director and CEO of Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said that the telecom operator will start rolling out 5G services in August.
He added that the company will cover all towns and key rural areas of India by March 2024.
Further, he added that the price of mobile services in India is very low and needs to go up.
The Government diverts gas from industries to IGL, MGL
The Central government will be diverting some of the natural gas from industries to city gas operators like Indraprastha Gas Ltd in Delhi and Mahanagar Gas Ltd of Mumbai to balance the spiralling CNG and piped cooking gas prices.
The allocation has increased from 7.5 million standard cubic metres per day to 20.78 mmscmd.
According to the Oil Ministry, the increased allocation will meet 94% of the demand for CNG supplies to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the country.
Markets touched a four-month high on Thursday
Indian markets touched a four-month high on Thursday as foreign investors scooped up stocks amid hopes that the cooler-than-expected US inflation will lead to slower interest rate hikes.
The BSE Sensex, as a result, soared past the 59,000 mark, and it ended trading 0.88% higher at 59,332.60.
FPI buying intensified in August with purchases of ₹18,733.3 crores till 10 August as commodity prices softened and crude oil prices cooled.
India’s palm oil imports fall, as soy oil imports jump to a record high
India is the world’s biggest edible oil importer. Its palm oil imports in July fell 10% from a month ago as refiners increased the purchases of soy oil.
This happened in order to take advantage of New Delhi’s move to allow duty-free imports of vegetable oil to calm all-time high prices, according to a trade body.
India’s palm oil imports in July fell to 530,420 tonnes from 590,921 tonnes a month earlier, while its soy oil imports in July jumped 125% from a month ago to a record 519,566 tonnes.
Written By Simran Bafna
