Thursday, November 28
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has announced that Tesla will double its imports of components from India and is in discussions with the government to manufacture and sell in the country. Goyal expressed his delight at the growing presence of Indian professionals at Tesla and the increasing importance of auto component suppliers from India in the company's supply chain. The government has been engaged with Tesla for some time, but the company's interest in India seems to have increased recently. Goyal also met with investors in the US, promoting India as an investment destination.
Inflation in the UK dropped sharply in October to its lowest level in two years largely because last year's steep rise in domestic energy bills dropped out of the annual comparison, official figures showed Wednesday. The decline means Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's pledge to halve inflation this year has been met. Sunak made the pledge soon after becoming prime minister when inflation was more than 10%. Earlier this month, the bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at the 15-year high of 5.25% and indicated that borrowing costs will likely remain at these sort of elevated levels for a while.
Mortgage player Indiabulls Housing Finance on Tuesday reported a marginal 3 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 298 crore in the second quarter ended September 2023. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 289 crore in the July-September quarter of last fiscal. Its total income during the quarter under review rose to Rs 2,242 crore from Rs 2,231 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, Indiabulls Housing Finance said in a regulatory filing.
Adnai Electricity has announced a tender offer to buy part of its outstanding senior secured notes worth $120 million, which are due in 2030. "The distribution arm of Adani Energy Solutions Ltd, Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited, today announced a tender offer to buyback up to $120 million of its outstanding 3.949% $1,000 million senior secured notes due 2030," a company statement said on Monday. The company will, from time to time, carry out similar market actions all the way to the maturity of the bonds subject to market conditions, using the available liquidity of the company.
Dabur India's CEO, Mohit Malhotra, expects the rural market to recover and match the growth rate of the urban market in the next three to four quarters. Despite disruptions caused by a lack of rainfall in some areas, factors such as an increase in minimum support prices (MSP), good winter crop sowing, and the upcoming election season are supporting the recovery. The company is also expanding its rural presence with low-priced packs. However, Malhotra noted that the urban market, driven by modern trade and e-commerce, will continue to contribute more to growth in the short term.
Opposition parties on Tuesday attacked the Modi government for "appointing" Janardhan Chaudhary as a member of the centre's Expert Appraisal Committees (EAC) under the environment ministry, alleging he is an employee of the Adani group. Chaudhary was appointed in September to the all-important panel, which has to clear several power projects, including some of the Adani Group, according to media reports. The EAC discusses and decides on projects that require prior government approval.
The retail inflation eased to a four-month low of 4.87 per cent in October, mainly due to cooling prices of food items, government data showed on Monday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation fell to a three-month low of 5.02 per cent in September.
Indian manufacturing has accelerated through the second quarter of 2023-24 and is likely to continue for the subsequent quarters of the financial year 2023-24, notwithstanding the slowdown in developed nations, industry body FICCI's latest quarterly survey revealed. The existing average capacity utilization in the Indian manufacturing sector is around 74 per cent, slightly higher than the 73 per cent recorded during the previous quarters. It sought responses from over 380 manufacturing units from both the large and SME segments with a combined annual turnover of over Rs 4.88 lakh crores.
Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher by more than half a per cent in the special Mahurat trading session on Sunday driven by across-the-board buying by investors. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 354.77 points or 0.55 per cent to close at 65,259.45 with 28 of its components settling in the green on the first trading session of Samvat 2080. Broader markets also advanced with the BSE MidCap gaining 0.67 per cent and BSE SmallCap by 1.14 per cent.
Fitch Ratings warns that disruptions in the Middle East's oil supply could cause higher oil prices, impacting global economic growth and leading to inflation. If oil prices spike to $120 per barrel in 2024 and $100 per barrel in 2025, there could be a 0.4 percentage point reduction in global GDP growth in 2024 and a 0.1 percentage point lower growth in 2025. The impact would be felt across countries, with emerging markets and oil-producing countries experiencing varied effects. Higher oil prices would also lead to elevated inflation rates in certain countries.
