We are very confident that H2 will be better than H1 of FY24: LTIMindtree CEO
“Our pipeline is very strong. We are closing deals every quarter. But having said that, we need to also account for the fact that many of the deals the decision cycles are very long. That is something which is worrying us and typically there is always a budget flush in Q3 because clients try to spend a little more but this particular year, we are not seeing that.” Key Points
Economic TimesFPI buying in Indian shares falls in first half of August
Foreign portfolio investors' (FPIs) purchases of Indian shares fell to a five-month low in the first half of August, amid declines in domestic and global equities due to rising interest rate concerns in the U.S. and worries over China's economy. Key Points
ReutersDouble-digit gains for 3 years! Will Sensex repeat the show in H2 CY23?
In the last five years, the Sensex has given positive returns to investors in the second half of the calendar year with double-digit returns in the last three years, making it an attractive investment destination. Additionally, all sectoral indices have given positive returns in the second half in the past three years, with 10 of the 15 sectoral indices on BSE giving double-digit returns in H2 of 2022, including the banking, commodities, and financial services sectors. On the macroeconomic front, foreign inflows are expected to continue despite risks from a weak monsoon and global risks impacting FII flows. Key Points
Economic Timeshalf Baked 2: Official title, release date and rating of the sequel to the 1998 film
The sequel to the 1998 stoner comedy half Baked gets an official title, rating, and release date. Here are the details. Key Points
Economic TimesWant to make money this year? Invest in these 3 themes, says Andrew Holland
The banking sector is going to make money over the next two to three years. Two other themes are going to play out globally and locally are defence and renewables. Electronics is going to be a big theme over the next few years, not just from a domestic viewpoint but from an export viewpoint as well. The fifth is the travel and experiences theme which is going to continue in India for some time Key Points
Economic Times
Government to offer 50-year gilts, green bonds this fiscal
The Indian government plans to borrow Rs 6.55 lakh crore in the second half of the current fiscal year, unchanged from its earlier announcement. It al Key Points
Times Of IndiaIndia Inc rating upgrades continue to outnumber downgrades
The credit ratio - that is, the ratio of upgrade to downgrade - decreased sequentially to 1.67 in the first half of FY24 from 2.72 in the second half of FY23. The credit ratio, though, is slightly higher than its 10-year average of 1.54 and is expected to remain range bound, CareEdge said. Key Points
Economic TimesIndian MSMEs’ bottomlines hit by volatile commodity prices, exports face headwinds: CRISIL
The profitability of Indian MSMEs was impacted by volatile commodity prices in the previous financial year that ended March 31, leading to credit rating downgrades, rating agency CRISIL said. Raising concerns for the export-oriented sectors, CRISIL said it expects this year's export to grow at around 2-4% compared to its estimation of 5-7% growth last year. Key Points
Economic TimesRetired police officer’s son kills youth in Karachi for eating half of his girlfriend's burger
The incident takes place in Karachi's posh Defence Housing Authority area. The son of a retired senior police officer in Pakistan's Karachi city killed a... Key Points
The Tribune IndiaOver $5 billion in 15 days! FIIs post record fortnightly buying in Indian equities
Lower U.S. bond yields on expectation of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, the Reserve Bank of India raising India's growth forecast, and state election results setting the stage for policy continuity in 2024 have spurred buying, analysts said. Key Points
Economic Times/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/NPLOF2E6XFIQ7HX757OU73LNFM.jpg)
Amazon's prototype Kuiper satellites operate successfully
Amazon.com (AMZN.O) said on Thursday its two prototype satellites for its planned Kuiper internet network have been operating successfully, with the project on track to start mass production in the first half of 2024. Key Points
ReutersETMarkets Survey: Sensex seen above 65,000 by Dec-end on sustained capital flows
Indian equities have performed well in the first half of 2023, reaching all-time highs, and money managers are optimistic about the market's prospects for the rest of the year. According to a survey, 86% of brokerages expect the benchmark Nifty 50 to be above 19,000 by December, and 79% believe the Sensex will surpass 65,000. Foreign and domestic fund flows are also expected to sustain, driven by strong corporate earnings and attractive growth potential. However, volatility may persist due to global interest rate hikes and geopolitical risks. The automobile, FMCG, and realty sectors are expected to continue gaining momentum in the second half of the year, while banking stocks are expected to rebound. Midcap and smallcap stocks are also expected to perform well, outperforming benchmark indices. Key Points
Economic TimesIT hardware sales may drop as govt pares expenditure
IT hardware sales in the commercial segment in the first half of the year are expected to be flat as compared to year-earlier levels of about 2.9 million units, a figure which was already comparatively weak. Key Points
Economic TimesCredit quality of India firms improve in FY'23: Rating firms
For Crisil, In all, there were 460 upgrades and 210 downgrades across sectors in the second half of FY2023. While the upgrade rate fell 320 basis points from the first half, and stood at 13.46%; however it was still higher than the 10-year average (up to fiscal 2022) of 10%. Key Points
Economic TimesGovt to raise ₹8.88 lakh cr in first half of FY24; sovereign green bonds issuance in H2
RBI will be issuing four government-dated securities each worth ₹1.36 lakh crore in April, June, August, and September 2023. While in May, five securities worth ₹1.69 lakh crore will be issued. July month will see the highest securities issuance -- a total of five dated bonds --- worth ₹1.75 lakh crore. Key Points
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Markets are delicately poised; how will the second half of FY24 go? Amnish Aggarwal answers
The second half of the year is usually very important from the viewpoint of the overall economy because the second half is more like 40-60. The second half of the year is much bigger. That is one part of it. Secondly, the capex momentum, I would say, particularly from the government side, in the first half has been practically good. Maybe because we are approaching election year. So there might have been some preponement of capex. Key Points
Economic TimesSensex settles above 74k for 1st time, Nifty also hits record high
Benchmark Sensex and Nifty rebounded from early lows and settled at fresh record high levels in a volatile trade on Wednesday following buying in private... Key Points
The Tribune IndiaImproving travel, wedding season likely to boost performance of hotel companies
The hospitality sector is expected to maintain strong performance in the latter half of the fiscal year, with a projected 15-20% growth in average revenue per available room (RevPAR). Factors contributing to optimism include the ongoing wedding season, with an estimated 38 lakh weddings generating significant business opportunities. Key Points
Economic TimesNvidia is overvalued at this point, says NYU- Stern professor and valuation guru Aswath Damodaran
The professor noted that historically Nvidia has pivoted towards newer markets, like gaming, crypto, artificial intelligence, etc. That makes him optimistic about the company’s future. That is the reason why he has held on to half of his investments. Key Points
Business TodayCentre's H1 market borrowing to be tad lower at ₹8.9 lakh crore
The issuance of sovereign green bonds would be announced in the second half of FY24. The government has already borrowed ₹16,000 crore through such bonds this fiscal year.The borrowing in the first half is scheduled to be over in 26 weekly tranches of ₹31,000-39,000 crore, the finance ministry said on Wednesday. Key Points
Economic Times
FMCG stocks may face both time and price correction: Mayuresh Joshi
FMCG companies such as HUL and Nestle may need to increase their advertising spending to drive volume and value growth. The anticipated volume growth for HUL and Nestle has been lower than expected due to moderate rural discretionary spending. However, analysts believe there will be a strong rural recovery in the second half of the year, which will benefit FMCG players. Valuations for HUL and Nestle are not cheap, so their stocks may experience corrections. ITC has reported reasonable numbers, with the cigarette volume growth being a key factor to watch. Key Points
Economic TimesCar sales to race past two-million milestone in 2023 first half
India's passenger car market is slated to expand 10% YoY in the first half of 2023, making it the third consecutive six-month period in which sales are estimated to climb in double digits. Domestic car sales expanded 16% in the first half of Calendar Year 2022 and 30% in the second half. Key Points
Economic TimesRBI MPC meet FY25: Repo rate to be same at 6.5%, say brokerages, banks
Foreign brokerages, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, have stated that the MPC may keep the repo rate on hold in the first half of the fiscal. They have predicted the first rate cut in the July-September quarter. Key Points
Business TodayChatGPT consumes 17,000 times more electricity than an average US household daily
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a huge electricity guzzler, raising concerns about its environmental impact. OpenAI's popular generative AI - ChatGPT - alone is estimated to consume over half a million kilowatt-hours daily in order for it to respond to about 200 million user requests daily, as per a report. Key Points
India TodayETMarkets Fund Manager Talk: This asset manager shares contra view, sees $30-40 bn FPI outflows in second
Amit Goel says: In the first half of 2024, we believe that domestic inflows are going to be very strong and FII inflows are going to be marginal. Not very positive, not very negative. But in the second half, we expect that the FII outflows could be substantial. So there could be FII outflows to the tune of maybe about $30-40 billion in the second half. Key Points
Economic Times
5 extremely rare animals that left the world stunned
These five astonishingly unusual animal finds might leave you stunned. Take a look at them here. | Trending Key Points
Hindustan TimesAdani saw massive $60.2 billion wealth erosion amid Hindenburg row as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg led $852 billion surge
Gautam Adani saw the highest wealth erosion in the first half of 2023 due to a bombshell report accusing his conglomerate of fraud. The report lopped off close to $150 billion in market value and Adani posted the biggest one-day loss of any billionaire. Key Points
mintFPI buying in Indian shares hits 6-month high in first half of May: NSDL
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) extended their buying streak in Indian equities in the new financial year, having bought shares worth 249.39 billion rupees on a net basis in the first half of May, National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) data showed on May 22. Key Points
The HinduDaily brief: Kharge likely to announce Karnataka CM pick tomorrow
Here are today’s top news, analysis, and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. | Latest News India Key Points
Hindustan TimesRs 8,800 crore-inflows! FPIs flock to D-Street in new financial year
FPIs purchased shares worth 87.67 billion Indian rupees ($1.07 billion) on a net basis in the first half of April. They had been net buyers in the previous month too, but that was largely due to U.S. boutique investment firm GQG Partners' $1.87 billion investment in four Adani Group companies in early March. Key Points
Economic Times
India plans ₹9 trillion of bond sales in fiscal first half
The government plans to sell about ₹9 trillion ($109 billion) of bonds in the six months to Sept, or 58% of the record ₹15.43 trillion full-year target, the ministry of finance said in a statement. The administration typically aims for 55%-60% of its full year sales in the first half Key Points
mintDoctors permanently disconnected half of a 6-year-old girl's brain in a 10-hour surgery to stop her daily seizures
Brianna Bodley will spend the rest of her life with only half her brain "turned on." But a doctor said she'll be able to live a perfectly normal life. Key Points
InsiderOurs is going to be a second half story; I would be a buyer on any kind of dips: Andrew Holland
Andrew Holland expects earnings to improve in the second half of the year for the Indian market, boosted by decreased input prices for raw materials, metals, and oil, along with increased government and private spending for the capital expenditure. He is optimistic about the banking sector and believes the banking index will take the lead in pushing the financial sector higher in India. While he does not recommend buying NBFCs, he sees potential in the premiumisation of beverage consumption and is keen on investing in the electronics industry. Key Points
Economic Times7.7% H1 growth leaves 'sceptics gasping and woefully behind curve': RBI article
Mumbai, Dec 20 (PTI) GDP growth of 7.7 per cent in the first half of this fiscal has “left sceptics gasping and woefully behind the curve”, an RBI article said on Wednesday. It also stressed the buildup in the growth momentum is likely to be sustained. The article on the state of the economy published […] Key Points
ThePrintCentre sticks to target, to borrow Rs 6.55 lakh crore in H2
The Indian government plans to borrow ₹6.55 lakh crore in the second half of the financial year, remaining on track with its budget estimate. The borrowing will include a new 50-year security for the first time, and ₹20,000 crore will be raised through sovereign green bonds. Analysts believe this adherence to borrowing plans demonstrates fiscal prudence and should calm market nerves. Key Points
Economic Times
Zee cuts staff by about half at Bengaluru's Technology & Innovation Centre to reduce costs
Zee Entertainment has halved its workforce at its Bengaluru Technology and Innovation Centre as part of cost-cutting measures recommended by a company-formed review panel. The decision, approved by MD and CEO Punit Goenka, follows suggestions from the committee, including reducing losses and cutting costs, particularly at the technology center. Key Points
Economic TimesSensex, Nifty scale new lifetime highs on gains in banking, IT shares
The benchmark indices traded lower in the first half of the session but gains in private banks and pharma shares and firm European markets helped erase... Key Points
The Tribune IndiaNew enrollment in EPF and ESIC hit over three-month high; NPS declines
The average new additions in the third quarter of the fiscal were still lower than in the first half of the year, given the easing of economic activity. Experts estimate that growth likely eased below 7% in Q3FY24, compared with 7.7% average for the first half of the year. Key Points
Economic TimesAIIMS Delhi decides to remain open on Jan 22 after announcing half day closing
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi has reversed its decision of remaining closed till 2.30 pm on January 22 for Ram Mandir 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. Key Points
Economic TimesNomura targets additional $100m cost reductions in wholesale banking division
Nomura Holdings Inc. is aiming for an additional $100 million in cost reductions in its wholesale banking division, as Japan’s largest brokerage seeks to lift its performance. Key Points
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Arvind wants to maintain a 20% plus margin across 3 years and grow aggressively: Punit Lalbhai
“We expect the second half of the year to be better than the first half which we have been maintaining. The bottoming out of the demand situation has happened and there is a slight recovery in some of the markets that we are operating in. It remains a very challenging demand environment.” Key Points
Economic TimesPVR INOX post merger Ebitda synergy benefits at ₹124-143 crore during H1FY24
Q2 Results- PVR INOX post Q2 results said that it is on course to deliver significant portion of merger synergies in FY24. The EBITDA Synergy benefits of ₹124-143 Crore accrued to PVR INOX during H1FY24. These Ebitda benefits were on account of Box office, F&B synergy and Overhead Cost Synergy Key Points
mintConsumption story drives India Inc's credit quality even before the festive season
India Inc's credit quality has improved in the first half of FY24 due to strong domestic consumption and investment-focused sectors, according to a report by ICRA. Both investment grade and non-investment grade categories saw an improvement in their credit profiles, with sectors such as hospitality, auto components, power, realty, roads, and financials accounting for nearly half of the total upgrades. Key Points
Economic TimesIn H2, Bajaj Auto domestic biz showing signs of incremental growth; big opportunity seen in ASEAN: Rakesh
“Rather than V-shaped recovery, it is better for everyone, for the entire ecosystem, for the dealers, for the vendors, for the company, to see a robust if flatter recovery. We are seeing that happen. A 3-5% single digit positive is a nice recovery to see. The top half of the segment is growing in the higher single digits – 8-9%.” Key Points
Economic TimesMeta's Threads bolsters retention after losing over half of users: Report
Meta Platforms executives are focusing on improving user retention for Threads, their Twitter rival, following a significant drop in users after its launch. Plans include adding more features and integrating with Instagram. Key Points
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Invincible Season 2 Episode 5: Official release update, tentative release date
The first half of 'Invincible' Season 2 was released more than two years later, in November 2023. Season 2 has four episodes left, and the show's creator has assured the fans of shorter breaks between seasons. When will Season 2 Episode 5 be released? Key Points
Economic TimesJailer Twitter review: Rajinikanth film gets good response, Hukum wins hearts
Many praised Rajinikanth for his performance in Jailer. The song Hukum was also loved by many and started trending on Twitter. Key Points
Hindustan TimesCentre to borrow ₹7.5 lakh crore in H1FY25, eyes ₹12,000 crore via green bonds
The sum is lower than the usual borrowing of about 57-60% of the total for a fiscal year in its first half. This is in part due to the upcoming elections in April-May, when official spending is expected to decelerate a bit, experts said. A lower borrowing target for the first half would have a benign impact on bond yields. Key Points
Economic TimesSidhu Moosewala’s baby brother Shubhdeep arrives home; father Balkaur Singh urges people to wait for a few days to meet the newborn
Slain singer-actor Sidhu Moosewala's parents Balkaur Singh and Charan Kaur bring home their newborn son Shubhdeep from the hospital, sparking celebrations in Moosa village. While admirers eagerly await to meet the baby, tradition dictates waiting one and a half months. Balkaur Singh urges patience, promising a warm welcome to visitors soon. Key Points
Times Of India7.6 per cent Q2 GDP growth bodes well, CEA Nageswaran sees FY24 rise at 6.5 per cent
Addressing the media after the release of GDP data, Nageswaran also highlighted that tax revenue has grown at almost double the pace of nominal GDP expansion in the first half of FY24, which is unusual. This, he said, is prompting him to wonder if the nominal growth rate has been understated. It's certainly not overstated, as is the perception in certain quarters, he asserted. Key Points
Economic Times
Bengaluru fresher hiring sentiment down by 10%, hit by slump in IT sector
The city is suffering a decline in terms of year-on-year comparison as well, with hiring intent up to 68% last year. However, Bengaluru companies still have the highest hiring intent for freshers in the country, followed by Mumbai at 61% and Chennai at 47%. Key Points
Economic Times