Bank of Baroda to raise ₹3,000 crore via Basel III bonds
State-owned Bank of Baroda announced it will raise ₹3,000 crore by issuing Basel III compliant bonds in one or more tranches.
The capital raising committee of the bank in a meeting on November 1, 2021 approved the issuance of Basel III compliant additional tier I/II bonds.
Coal India production rises 6.4%
State-owned Coal India’s coal production increased 6.4% to 49.8 million in October, compared to last year.
The company accounts for 80% of the domestic coal output, and is eyeing one billion tonnes of output by 2023-24. This also comes at a time the country’s power plants are facing fuel shortages.
Honda Cars India’s domestic sales falls 25%
Honda Cars India Ltd’s domestic sales fell 25% at 8,108 units compared to last year, hurt by supply-side challenges.
"In terms of demand, the festive buying kept pace with last year and continues to show good momentum. Our factory despatches during October 2021 increased by 20 per cent as compared to September 2021, and we were able to wholesale our entire factory stock of the month," Honda Cars India Senior Vice-President and Director (Marketing and Sales) Rajesh Goel said.
Maruti Suzuki sales decline 24%
India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki said its sales in the October-ended quarter fell 24% year-on-year at 1,38,335 units, hurt by the chip shortage.
"While the shortage of electronic components continued to affect the production of vehicles during the month, the company took all possible measures to minimise the impact. Accordingly, the company sold more vehicles than the sales volume expected at the start of the month," the auto major stated.
Oil Min asks ONGC to give 60% stake in Mumbai High, Bassein
The petroleum ministry has told ONGC to give away 60% stake plus operating control in India's largest oil and gas producing fields of Mumbai High and Bassein to foreign companies, according to a PTI report.
This is the second time since April that Nath, who is part of the ONGC management as the longest-serving government nominee director on its board and often considered a potential candidate to replace Kumar next year, has written an official letter, painting a poor picture of the company's performance.
Sebi forms committee to provide technical expertise
Markets regulator Sebi has formed an IT advisory committee to advise markets regulator on projects aimed to utilise advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing.
The seven-member committee will be headed by Abhay Karandikar, a director at IIT Kanpur.
Sensex regains 60,000-mark
Equity index Sensex regained the 60,000-mark at market close today, led by gains in Infosys, HDFC, and TCS.
The 30-share index ended 1.4% higher at 60,138.46, while Nifty rose 1.46% to end at 17,929.65.
GST data released earlier in the day showed the second highest ever GST collection of ₹1.3 lakh crore, a growth of 24% YoY, which further boosted the sentiments, according to an analyst.
Meanwhile, the rupee rose by 1 paisa at 74.87 against the U.S. dollar. Gold prices declined marginally by ₹10 to ₹46,673 per 10 grams.
Skoda reports two-fold jump in India sales
Czech carmaker Skoda reported a two-fold jump in sales in India at 3,065 units in October, pushed by its newly launched mid-size SUV Kushaq.
The company sold 1,421 units in October last year. The numbers have been on the rise for other models such as the Superb, Octavia and Rapid too, all of which have contributed to the increasing sales volumes, the company said.
Tata Motors Q2 sales rise 30%
Tata Motors’ second-quarter wholesales increased 30% to 67,829 units in October.
The auto major said its passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market stood at 33,925 units in October, up 44% as compared to 23,617 units in the same month last year.
However, the company’s net loss widened to ₹4,441 crore hurt by the semiconductor shortage.
Rival Eicher Motors group’s VE Commercial Vehicles reported a 38.2% rise to 5,805 units in total sales in the October-ended quarter.
GST collection in Oct soars to second-highest level
Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection remained above ₹1 lakh crore for the fourth month in a row at over ₹1.30 lakh crore in October, indicating the impact of festive buying.
This is the second highest collection of GST since its implementation on July 1, 2017. The tax collections last month on goods sold and services rendered was 24% higher than in October 2020.
Ashok Leyland's commercial vehicles sales grow 11%
Hinduja Group flagship firm Ashok Leyland on Monday reported an 11% growth in total commercial vehicles sales at 11,079 units in October.
The company had sold a total of 9,989 units in the same month last year. Total domestic sales were at 10,043 units as compared to 8,885 units in the corresponding month last year, a growth of 13%.
HDFC Q2 net profit rises 32%
HDFC Ltd’s second-quarter net profit rose 32% to ₹3,780 crore, led by robust demand for home loans.
"The demand for home loans continues to remain strong. Growth in home loans was seen in both the affordable housing segment as well as in high-end properties. The increasing sales momentum and new project launches augur well for the housing sector," HDFC said in a filing.
Aditya Birla Capital posts record quarterly earnings
Aditya Birla Capital on Monday reported its highest ever quarterly profit of ₹377 crore on a consolidated basis in July-September 2021 on the back of strong growth across its business verticals.
The company had posted a consolidated net profit of ₹264 crore in the same period a year ago.
Employees keen on returning to office: Nasscom survey
Both employees and employers are equally interested in making a comeback to the workplace in a hybrid setup with 50% of the workforce likely to return to offices for up to 3 days a week starting next year, according to a report by Nasscom.
Also, junior and senior management, workforce under the age of 25 and above 40 years, are eager to return to the workplace as compared to the middle management.
Bandhan Bank empanelled as agency bank of RBI
Bandhan Bank said on Monday that it has been empanelled by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to act as an agency bank to facilitate transactions related to government businesses.
The RBI's decision will help Bandhan Bank in contributing to nation-building, its MD and CEO Chandra Sekhar Ghosh said.
Barclays bank CEO steps down
The chief executive of Barclays bank Jes Staley has stepped down following what the bank’s board described as a “disappointing″ report by the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority into his past links with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
UN, EU to track promised greenhouse gas cuts
The United Nations and the European Union have launched a global watchdog to monitor governments’ pledges to cut down greenhouse gas methane emissions.
The new International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) aims to provide credible data to track government progress on meeting methane reduction pledges and to promote best practice.
Amazon India sees record consumer traction
Amazon’s India arm said it has witnessed the most number of customers shopping on its platform “than ever before”, just weeks after the retail giant concluded its month-long festive sales.
Nearly 79% consumers are coming from tier II and tier III cities like Ernakulam and Guntur. Moreover, the company noted customers from 99.7% pin codes shopped during the festive sales.
India’s manufacturing sector gains in October
India’s manufacturing sector activities gained strength in October, as companies scaled up production and stepped up input purchasing.
The IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 55.9 in October from 53.7 in September, the strongest improvement in overall operating conditions since February.
New work orders showed the sharpest and fastest upturn in seven months, while factory output increase was the strongest since March.
G-20 | Leaders make vague commitments
Leaders of the G-20 group decided to stop funding coal-fired power plants in poor countries and offered a vague commitment to seek carbon neutrality “by or around mid-century”.
The conclusion was reached at a Rome summit before the much larger United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
After the discussion, climate activists were disappointed as they were hoping for more ambitious targets.
World leaders want to strengthen global supply chains
World leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden discussed action to make supply chains more resilient to tackle any future health crisis, climate change, and planned attacks.
The talks followed supply chain problems that have emerged as the world grapples with inflation and supply chain worries.
Besides the United States, leaders and representatives from the European Union, Australia, Britain Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, Germany, Indonesia, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Spain took part in the meeting.
Asian factories face supply headaches
While Asia's manufacturing activity grew in October after COVID infections fell in emerging economies, rising input costs coupled with material shortages and slowing Chinese growth cloud outlook.
Governments are under pressure to pull their economies out of the pandemic-induced doldrums amid rising commodity prices and parts shortages.
China's factory activity expanded at its fastest pace in four months in October. However, a sub-index for output showed production shrank for the third straight month due to power shortages and rising costs.
FPIs turn net sellers in October
Foreign portfolio investors turned net sellers in October after two months of buying.
While they invested 1272 crores in the debt segment, they took out 13,550 crores-taking the net outflow to 12,278 crores.
FPIs were net buyers in both August and September.
Oil falls after China releases diesel, gasoline
Oil prices fell after China said it released reserves of gasoline and diesel in a bid to boost supply at a time when the world is facing fuel shortage.
Brent crude fell 0.2% to $83.52 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate slid 0.4% to $83.20 a barrel. Countries are keeping eyes on November 4 meeting of OPEC+, as analysts expect them to continue with their current plan to add 400,000 barrels per day of supply in December.
Asian markets update | Sensex rises
The Indian equity benchmark indices started the week on a positive note. At 9:16 IST, the Sensex was up 402 points at 59709.11 and the Nifty was up 149 points at 17821.20.
Japan's Nikkei index rose to a one-month high after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling party won majority in parliamentary election. The Nikkei share average jumped 2.25% on expectations of a stable government and higher fiscal stimulus.
Morning Note:
Indian economy's share of the informal sector fell drastically to 20% in 2020-21 from 52.4% in 2017-18 due to digitisation and rapidly expanding gig economy, according to a study by SBI research.
Though the pandemic has led to huge devastating impact on all the sectors of the economy, the impact has been felt more by the informal sector the bank noted.
The country has a large informal economy with about 93% of its total workforce earning their livelihoods as informal workers, according to 2014 National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data. – John Xavier
---- Edited by John Xavier
(With inputs from Reuters, PTI and other news agencies.)
