The Sensex and the Nifty opened the day on a positive note, continuing their momentum from last week.
Join us as we follow the top business news through the day.
The ‘long’ and ‘short’ of debt funds
At the current juncture, when interest rates are threatening to move upwards, there is a question among investors — which funds are appropriate and which funds should one exit. Before we discuss the guidance part, let us look at some relevant facts for ease of understanding.
The 16 debt fund categories are defined by SEBI in terms of contours i.e. what a fund in that category is supposed to do. Hence, when you take a decision to invest in a fund, you can take a look at the parameters of that category and get a fair idea.
Debt funds earn their returns from two avenues: accrual and mark-to-market (MTM). Accrual is the coupon or interest that accrues on the bonds and other instruments in the portfolio. Mark-to-market is the valuation done every day, for NAV computation, as per prices prevailing in the market for the instruments in the portfolio. Yield (interest rate) and bond prices move inversely; if yield levels move up, prices come down and the MTM impact is adverse. If interest rates in the market come down, the impact is positive.
Gold recovers from 9-month low on U.S. stimulus cheer
The great gold bounceback.
Reuters reports: "Gold prices rose on Monday, recovering from a near nine-month low hit in the previous session, as a passage of the long awaited $1.9 trillion U.S. coronavirus relief package boosted the metal's appeal.
Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,705.62 per ounce by 0041 GMT, after hitting its lowest since June 8 at $1,686.40 on Friday. U.S. gold futures climbed 0.3% to $1,703.
The U.S. Senate on Saturday passed President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan. Gold is viewed as a hedge against inflation, likely from extensive stimulus.
Further supporting bullion, U.S. 10-year yields held below a one-year peak hit on Friday, while the dollar eased.
U.S. central bankers on Friday signaled they do not plan to touch the dial on their super-easy policy for some time, expressing little concern over the rapid rise in U.S. Treasury yields in recent weeks.
The U.S. economy created more jobs than expected in February as falling new COVID-19 infections and additional pandemic relief money from the government boosted hiring.
Retail consumers in India continued to buy up physical gold last week as prices retreated to a near one-year low, while lower rates also injected fresh activity in other hubs, especially Singapore.
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust fell 0.8% on Friday.
Speculators cut their bullish positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to March 2, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.
Silver rose 0.8% to $25.38 an ounce. Palladium climbed 0.4% to $2,348.44. Platinum gained 0.7% to $1,137.42."
India Inc's overseas direct investment declines 31% to $1.85 billion in February
India Inc's overseas direct investment fell by 31% to $1.85 billion in February this year, the RBI data showed.
Domestic companies made investments of $2.66 billion in their overseas subsidiaries and joint-ventures in the year-ago month, February 2020.
Of the total investment made by Indian companies in foreign markets, $1.36 billion was in the form of loan; $297.37 million comprised as equity investment and the rest of $183.82 million was by way of issuance of guarantee, according to the RBI data on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) - February 2021.
However, total OFDI by domestic firms in February was higher than that of $1.19 billion in January 2021.
Among the major companies who invested in their overseas ventures during the month included Tata Steel ($1 billion in its wholly-owned subsidiary in Singapore), and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries -- $100 million in a joint venture in the U.S.
Indian shares gain on financials, energy boost; Muthoot Finance falls
A good start to the day for stocks.
Reuters reports: "Indian shares opened higher on Monday after two consecutive sessions of falls, helped by financial and energy stocks, while top gold financing company Muthoot Finance dropped after the death of its chairman.
The blue chip NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.62% to 15,031.03 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.66% to 50,740.06 by 0358 GMT.
Market sentiment was also upbeat as investors globally cheered the U.S. Senate's passage of a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5% on prospects of a faster global economic rebound after the passage of the stimulus bill.
In domestic trading, shares of Muthoot Finance Ltd fell as much as 5%, after the company said https://bit.ly/3v3Lqva its chairman M. G. George Muthoot passed away on Friday.
Local papers cited police saying the chairman fell from the fourth floor of his house in New Delhi at around 9 pm on Friday.
The Nifty Bank Index, which rose 1.22% last week, gained 1.08%.
The Nifty energy index was up 1.65%, amid a surge in Brent crude futures to their highest in more than a year.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd was among the biggest percentage gainers on the Nifty 50 with a rise of up to 6.1%."
Over 50,000 offline retailers neighbourhood stores now part of Local Shops: Amazon India
E-commerce major Amazon on March 7 said more than 50,000 offline retailers and neighbourhood kirana stores across 450 cities in the country are now part of its 'Local Shops' programme.
Launched in April, 'Local Shops' aims to enable local shopkeepers and kirana store owners to sell online. In October, Amazon India had said the programme had seen participation from over 20,000 retailers in 400 cities.
More than 50,000 offline retailers and neighbourhood stores from 450 cities — from metros to tier II and tier III cities like Sangli, Osmanabad, Jamnagar, Gorakhpur, Jabalpur, Ratlam, Bikaner, Tumkur, Jalpaiguri, Kanchipuram and Dehradun have joined the Local Shops on Amazon programme, a statement said on March 7.
They offer customers in their cities a wide range of products including fresh flowers, home and kitchen products, furniture, electronics, books and toys amongst others, it added.
