Warburg eyes 30% stake in Indian shadow bank Vistaar for $150 million – sources

New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC is in talks to invest around $150 million in Indian small-business lender Vistaar Finance, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, marking its latest bet in a booming lending market.

Warburg’s discussions with Vistaar are for a 30% stake in the shadow lender, the two sources said. Deal talks are at an advanced stage and will value Vistaar at roughly $450 million, said one of the sources.

Businesses like Vistaar in India operate as non-banking financial services companies (NBFC), lending smaller amounts than traditional banks do and targeting mostly customers in towns and villages. (Reuters)

Japan’s Nikkei ends lower, posts over 2% weekly drop on recession fears

Japanese stocks closed lower on Friday and posted a weekly decline, as persisting worries about a global economic slowdown amid rising rates dragged Wall Street overnight.

The Nikkei share average ended 1.11% lower at 27,567.65 after plumbing its lowest level since Sept. 7 earlier in the session. The index lost 2.29% on the week.

The afternoon session saw little movement, however, with some market participants suggesting investors were holding back ahead of two national holidays in Japan and the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting next week. (Reuters)

Patanjali press conference: Baba Ramdev addresses the media

Yoga guru, Baba Ramdev will announce major initial public offering (IPO) plans for 5 of the Patanjali Group companies in the next 5 years during the press conference. Patanjali also aims to outline ‘Vision and Mission 2027’ and narrate 5 major priorities & goals for next 5 years towards group’s contribution in making India self-reliant. (Follow Live Update here)

Sitharaman asks private sector to clear MSME dues in 45 days

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked the private sector to clear dues of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) within 45 days.

Conceding that the Centre, state governments and state-owned enterprises have outstanding dues to the MSME sector, Sitharaman said the private sector also has dues to such small businesses from where it avails goods and services.

Sitharaman said, in her meeting with big businesses two days ago, she appealed to them to ensure that the dues of smaller businesses – who are the backbone of the economy – are cleared in time.

” The private sector and industry should commit to make the payments in 45 days along with the books of accounts filed with the Registrar of Companies which make mention of outstanding dues. The private sector should also be ahead in this issue,” the minister said at an event organized by Laghu Udyog Bharati, the RSS-affiliate devoted to small businesses, here. (PTI)

Capex by state governments picks up pace in July, says Care Ratings

Capital spending by 21 states picked up pace in July, although their combined expenditure in the April-July period was marginally lower year-on-year, Care Ratings said in a report.

State governments have lagged in their capital expenditures due to liquidity constraints during the pandemic years. Usually, their combined capex is higher than that of the central government, but data for 27 states shows that in FY21 and FY22, total capital expenditure by states fell below the Centre’s levels. (Full Story)

Noon Update: Indices tank 1% on Friday with Sensex trading at around 59,300 and Nifty 17,700

All broad sectoral indices are in red with IT and Auto shedding around 2% each. 

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China beats US to re-emerge as India’s top trading partner

China overtook the US to return as India’s largest trade partner with $11.49 billion worth of goods traded in July, data released by the commerce ministry showed, underscoring the country’s growing reliance on its northern neighbour.

Reflecting a sharp US demand slowdown, India’s exports also saw an 8% sequential fall in July to $6.7 bn, from $7.3 bn in June. (Full Story)

Energy index sheds more than 1%, most stocks in red

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China’s economy shows signs of recovery as stimulus ramps up

China’s economy showed signs of recovery in August as Beijing rolled out stimulus measures to counter a slowdown, although a property market slump and Covid outbreaks continue to weigh on the outlook.

Industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment all grew faster than economists expected last month. The urban jobless rate slid to 5.3%, while the youth unemployment rate fell from a record high.

The boost to retail sales was partly due to a lower base of comparison from a year earlier and a surge in car sales after Beijing gave buyers subsidies on electric vehicles. Industrial output was also supported by a big spike in electricity production during August’s heatwave, a rebound that’s unlikely to be sustained.

Despite signs of improvement, the recovery remains fragile as Covid outbreaks spread to more parts of the country and the government tightens curbs to contain infections in the run-up to the Communist Party’s twice-in-a-decade leadership congress next month. A property market slump also shows no sign of easing, with separate data on Friday showing home prices have now declined every month in the past year, with the contraction in August bigger than in July. (Bloomberg)

Ashish Kacholia portfolio: Motilal Oswal sees over 30% upside on this logistics stock

VRL Logistics reecently announced the sale of its Bus division for ₹2.3 b to Vijayanand Travels Pvt (VTPL), an entity owned by the promoter group. The slump sale is being undertaken on the basis of an independent valuation obtained from Grant Thornton Bharat and has been executed at an arms-length basis. The transaction is subject to the receipt of requisite approvals. Ace investor Ashish Kacholia has 1.37% stake in the logistics company as of June, 2022. (Full Story)

Vedanta shares plunge 9% after clarification that Volcan Investments would undertake the business of manufacturing semi-conductors

Vedanta shares plumbed as much as 8.7% in morning trade on the National Stock Exchange after the company clarified that its “ultimate holding company” Volcan Investments would undertake the business of manufacturing semi-conductors and not Vedanta as was reported in sections of the media. Vedanta clarified that Volcan Investments would undertake the business of manufacturing semi-conductors and not listed entity Vedanta as was reported in sections of the media. (Full Story)

Auto Index turns red today after staying steady on Thursday, sheds 1.5%

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Four reasons why show rebound in Indian stocks may run out of steam

Here are four charts that spell trouble for India’s stock rally:

Monthly inflows to domestic mutual funds have been slowing recently. In August, investors put a net 61 billion rupees ($765 million) into equity funds, the lowest amount since October.

Long-term Indian government bond yields have rebounded recently as global central banks gear up for bigger rate hikes to tackle inflation. At the same time, corporate earnings per share have fallen even as stock prices continue to rise, making equity relatively unattractive versus bonds.

The MSCI India Index’s price-to-earnings ratio is at a 50% premium to that of the MSCI World index, a level last seen in the days of global financial crisis, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That shows that a lot of the positives have already been priced in at a time when aggressive monetary tightening is bringing major economies to the brink of recession.

The BSE Midcap index has gained for 13 consecutive weeks, matching a streak in August 2020 amid the recovery from the pandemic selloff. In that previous instance, the index proceeded to slide nearly 10% from its peak over the following four weeks before resuming its climb. (Bloomberg)

CSB Bank appoints former Axis Bank top executive as CEO

CSB Bank Limited announced that pursuant to the approval received from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on September 15, 2022, the Board of Directors of the Bank in its meeting held on the same day, has approved the appointment of Pralay Mondal as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank.

Pralay Mondal’s appointment is for a period of three years from September 15, 2022 up to September 14, 2025 in line with the approval of RBI. (Full Story)

Godrej Properties clocks ₹1,210 cr sale bookings in two new Mumbai projects

Godrej Properties on Friday said it has achieved sales bookings worth ₹1,210 crore in its two new housing projects in Mumbai.

Godrej Properties, a part of business conglomerate Godrej Group, is one of the leading real estate developers in the country.

In a regulatory filing, the company said it launched two new projects, Godrej Ascend located at Kolshet Road, Thane and Godrej Horizon located at Dadar, Wadala, during first quarter of this fiscal year.

The company has cumulatively sold more than 700 homes accounting for an area of over 8.08 lakh square feet for both projects. (PTI)

Angel One daily commodity recommendations: Gold, Crude, Base Metal

Prathamesh Mallya, AVP- research, non-agri commodities, and currencies, Angel One today’s outlook on:

Gold: We expect gold to trade lower towards 48870 levels, a break of which could prompt the price to move lower to 48450 levels.

Crude: We expect crude to trade higher towards 6720 levels, a break of which could prompt the price to move higher to 6580 levels.

Base Metal: We expect copper to trade lower towards 638 levels, a break of which could prompt the price to move lower to 628 levels.

This Indian pharma stock is Jefferies’ top pick, target price raised

Cipla’s upcoming launches and pipeline look strong with several high-value products likely to be launched in the next 6-9 months. A review of inhaler and peptide space indicates both of these are less chartered territories by generics where Cipla has US filings, said global brokerage Jefferies in a note.

The brokerage has maintained its Buy rating on Cipla shares with a target price of ₹1,223 apiece (from ₹1,144). (Full Story)

Ashika Stock Broking on Nifty: Only a sustained move above 17960 can change the outlook to positive.

Tirthankar Das, technical & derivative analyst, retail, Ashika Stock Broking Ltd.: On the technical front, Nifty formed a long negative candle on the daily chart, reflecting selling pressure at the 18,100 hurdle. On the oscillator front, the 14-period RSI has witnessed a sell crossover and presently trading below the 60-level mark and turned flattish indicating of sluggish momentum for the short to medium term. Thus, one need to avoid trading aggressively amid global nervousness. Considering the present situation, a bare minimum correction of 23.6% of the entire rally from 15,183 to 18,096 comes around 17415 followed by 38.2% correction at 16990. However, on the medium term perspective price structure indicates of continuance of positive bias and our domestic Index is likely to head towards 18,300 in near term as it is the swing high of January 2022. Nifty also registered a bullish golden crossover in August (50-DEMA crossing above 200-DEMA) implying major shift of momentum from a medium-term perspective. Nifty also has given a conclusive breakout from eight month’s falling channel signalling end of corrective phase and breakout is well supported by sequential improvement in market breadth. During the day Nifty is likely to open on a negative note following global cues and only a sustained move above 17960 can change the outlook to positive.

Mint Snapview: IDBI privatisation is a political test for the government

Six years ago, at the height of the twin balance sheet crisis—over-leveraged corporates and banks weighed down by a mountain of bad loans—the government somehow bought into the idea of experimenting with selling off a bank promoted by the government. Yet, two years after announcing the government’s plan in the budget of 2016 to sell its stake in IDBI Bank, Arun Jaitley who was the finance minister then, was forced to concede that India was perhaps not quite ready for privatisation of state-owned banks. (Full Story)

IndusInd Bank gains more than 2.5% in an otherwise depressed market

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IT index continue their losing streak, sheds more than a per cent in early trading

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Cryptocurrency prices today: Bitcoin below $20,000; ether falls over 8%. Check latest rates

Cryptocurrency prices plunged after the major software upgrade of Ethereum, the most commercially important blockchain in the digital-asset sector. Bitcoin, the world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency was trading more than a per cent lower at $19,736. The global crypto market cap today was above the $1 trillion mark, even as it was down over 3% in the last 24 hours at $1 trillion, as per CoinGecko. (Full Story)

Govt raises threshold for paid up capital of small companies as part of ease of doing business

In a significant move, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has yet again revised the threshold limit for paid-up capital of “small companies”.

Earlier, the definition of “small companies” under the Companies Act, 2013 was revised by increasing their thresholds for paid-up capital from “not exceeding ₹50 lakh” to “not exceeding ₹2 crore” and turnover from “not exceeding ₹2 crore” to “not exceeding ₹20 crore”.

This definition has, now, been further revised by increasing such thresholds for paid up Capital from “not exceeding Rs. 2 crores” to “not exceeding Rs. 4 crores” and turnover from “not exceeding Rs. 20 crores” to “not exceeding Rs. 40 crores”.

This initiative is part of the government’s proactive measures in the recent past towards ease of doing business and ease of living for the corporates. (ANI)

Gold prices in India today tumble to 6-month lows

Gold prices in India remained near 6-month lows as MCX futures fell 0.16% to ₹49,231 per 10 gram. Silver futures dipped 0.4% to ₹56,194 per kg. On Thursday, gold had tumbled 1.4% while silver 1% in Indian markets, tracking a global selloff in precious markets. Gold is down about ₹1,500 so far this week, from Monday’s highs. Gold is an international commodity, and it is priced in US dollars. So, the price movement of the yellow metal in India is closely linked to the greenback and import duties. (Full Story)

UPL stock starts bright with 1% gain in early trading

UPL Ltd on Thursday said it has acquired 26% stake in Clean Max Kratos Pvt Ltd, which is into renewable energy.

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Indices sink 0.5% at open with Sensex shedding 400 points and Nifty 100 points.

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Indian airlines are increasing their cargo capacity, with the segment emerging as a critical and promising revenue stream

Indian airlines are increasing their cargo capacity, with the segment emerging as a critical and promising revenue stream in the last two years. India’s dedicated freighter fleet has seen a dramatic rise in numbers—from just five to 28 aircraft. The number is set to rise further as airlines are looking to add aircraft only for cargo operations, as it fared better than the passenger segment during the pandemic. Indian carrier’s dedicated freighter fleet has seen dramatic rise, from just five to 28 aircraft in recent times. (Full Story)

Sensex is down in the preopen session; PVR, Adani Ports, BPCL, UPL are stocks in focus for today’s session

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Reliance Securities Stock in Focus: Reliance Securities

STOCK IN FOCUS

RK Forgings (CMP Rs.207)

Considering better business traction, healthy automobile demand outlook, new order wins, strong margin territory and CV upcycle, we have a BUY rating on RMKF with a TP of Rs260, valuing the stock at a P/E multiple of 13.5x FY24E earnings.

Intraday Picks

TATAPOWER (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 245) BUY

For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs243- 241 for the target of Rs251 with a strict stop loss of Rs239.

MCDOWELL-N (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 854) BUY

For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs846- 840 for the target of Rs870 with a strict stop loss of Rs829.

BALKRISIND (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 2,031) BUY

For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs2,010- 2,000 for the target of Rs2,090 with a strict stop loss of Rs1,964.

Mauritius-based FII bought 50,000 shares of the small-cap company Sampre Nutritions paying ₹101 apiece

Mauritius-based foreign investment agency Eriska Investment Fund has bought stake in a small-cap Indian company Sampre Nutritions Ltd. The FII has bought 50,000 shares of this BSE-listed company in a bulk deal executed on 15th September 2022. The foreign institutional investor bought these 50,000 company shares paying ₹101 apiece. This means, the Mauritius-based FII invested ₹50.50 lakh in the small-cap company whose current market capital is around ₹52 crore. (Full Story)

Harsha Engineers IPO: Latest GMP on last day of subscription

The initial public offer (IPO) of Harsha Engineers International got subscribed 10.35 times on the second day of subscription on Thursday. The public offer received bids for 17,45,50,545 shares against 1,68,63,795 shares on offer.

As per market observers, Harsha Engineers shares are available at a premium (GMP) of ₹232 in the grey market today. The company’s shares are expected to list on leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE on Monday, September 26, 2022.

The ₹755-crore IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating to ₹455 crore, and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to ₹300 crore by existing shareholders. (Full Story)

Reliance Retail seeks shareholders’ nod for doubling borrowing limit to ₹1 lakh crore

Reliance Retail Ltd has sought shareholders’ approval for doubling its borrowing limit to ₹1 lakh crore.

The proposal will be put up before the shareholders during the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held on September 30. In September last year, the shareholders had approved borrowing a sum not exceeding ₹50,000 crore.

During its meeting on May 5, 2022, the company’s board proposed to increase the borrowing limit “by a sum not exceeding ₹1,00,000 crore”.

With the increased limit, the company can borrow money from time to time, at its discretion, for the purpose of its business, according to the AGM notice.

As on March 31, 2022 Reliance Retail’s gross debt was at ₹40,756.44 crore. (PTI)

Stocks to Watch: Adani Ports, UPL, Tata Power, BPCL, Reliance, IndusInd Bank, PVR, SBI Cards, J&K Bank, and Fairchem Organics, 

RBL Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd to remain under the F&O ban list on Friday. These stocks will be under the ban for the F&O segment as they have crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit (MWPL), as per the NSE. (Full Story)

BPCL privatisation not on cards for now, says Puri

Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday indicated that the much-delayed privatisation of oil major BPCL may not happen in the near future, saying there is “no proposal whatsoever” on his table for now.

As part of its asset monetisation plan, the government had in November 2019 put Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) on the block and said it would completely sell its 52.98 per cent stake in the country’s second largest state-run oil refiner and marketer. Though it had received three tentative bids, it got only one financial bid from Vedanta group, forcing it in May 2022 to shelve the plan pending a “comprehensive review”. (PTI)

INDIA BONDS-Bond yields may rise on debt supplies, index inclusion uncertainty

Indian government bond yields are seen higher in early trades on Friday, as traders brace for fresh supply, while the absence of cues for inclusion of bonds in global indices causes unease.

The benchmark Indian 10-year government bond yield is seen in a 7.22%-7.27% band, a trader with a private bank said. The yield rose eight basis points on Thursday to end at 7.2386%, its biggest single session rise since Aug. 5.

“Since we have not heard any major development on the index inclusion front, market is getting nervous and that led to panic selling yesterday,” the trader said. “With more supply and outlook towards interest rate changing, yields may be in for another upward journey.” (Reuters)

Buy or sell: Vaishali Parekh recommends these 2 stocks to buy today — 16 Sept

On account of global recession fears, Indian stock market finished in negative territory on second successive session on Thursday. Nifty 50 index finished 126 points south at at 17,877 while BSE Sensex ended 412 points lower at 59,934 levels. Nifty Bank index went off 196 points and ended at 41,209 levels.

Vaishali Parekh of Prabhudas Lilladher has recommended PFC and MGL stocks to buy today. (Full Story)

Three straight months of growth boosts pharma makers’ confidence

The third consecutive month of healthy growth registered by the Indian pharma market is set to accrue positives for Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers. The subdued growth during the earlier months on a high base of the previous year had a bearing on the financial performance of pharmaceutical manufacturers during the June quarter. Thus, rebounding growth now may accrue positives for drug makers.

The average pharma market growth in the past three months was 14.1%, against the 7.1% degrowth in March-May 2022. (Full Story)

Two-wheelers to ride festive wave, but lag other segments

Two-wheeler sales are likely to rise ahead of the festive season, but the segment is unlikely to match the growth in other vehicle categories, according to automotive industry executives.

While festive season sales may grow about 10% over last year, two-wheeler dealers said a full recovery to pre-covid levels is still some time away in the absence of any triggers for demand, especially in the entry-level segment. (Full Story)

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank closes QIP issue; raises ₹475 crore

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank on Thursday closed the qualified institutional placement through which it raised ₹475 crore by issuing over 22.6 crore shares.

The Small Finance Bank (SFB) issued a total of 22,61,90,476 equity shares at an issue price of ₹21 per piece.

The Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP) issue had opened on September 12.

The meeting of the Merger and Placement Committee of the board of directors approved the closure of the issue period for the issue on September 15, it said in a regulatory filing.

Shares of Ujjivan SFB settled 0.59 per cent down at ₹25.25 apiece on the BSE. (PTI)

Tata 1mg FY22 revenue up 66 pc to ₹222 crore; net loss narrows to ₹146 crore

Tata group-owned online pharmacy 1mg’s revenue from operations rose 65.7 per cent to ₹222.10 crore in FY22, while its net loss narrowed to ₹146.30 crore, according to data sourced by business intelligence platform Tofler.

Tata 1mg’s revenue from operations in FY21 stood at ₹134.04 crore and its net loss was ₹281.41 crore. Its other income for the financial year ended March 31, 2021, was ₹24.14 crore.

Tata 1mg’s total income during FY22 was at ₹246.25 crore, up 44.19 per cent from ₹170.78 crore in the previous year.

In FY22, facilitation fees accounted for ₹23.15 crore of revenue and ₹139.64 crore came from lab test receipts. (PTI)

Pre-owned car market: Union road ministry made amendments to Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, to boost transparency and build a comprehensive regulatory ecosystem

Used car dealers must secure an authorization certificate from the respective state transport authority and transfer vehicle ownership to their names to conduct their business under draft rules notified by the Union road ministry on Thursday.

The ministry said the amendments to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, aim to boost transparency and build a comprehensive regulatory ecosystem for the pre-owned car market.

Under the new rules, the vehicle sale will be executed through a dealer, and there will be no link between the original owner and the new buyer. The dealer will be responsible for updating the new owner’s details in the state transport office. (Full Story)

NCLAT to hear Jindal Stainless plea on Mittal Corp on Sep 21, interim order to continue

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) will on September 21 hear the plea of Jindal Stainless which has challenged an NCLT order in the matter of insolvency resolution process of Mittal Corp.

Adjourning the matter to September 21, a three-member NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan said the interim order passed by it on September 1, 2022, would continue till the next hearing.

Jindal Stainless has challenged a NCLT order passed on August 11 that allowed Shyam Sel and Power Ltd to submit a revised resolution plan for debt-ridden Mittal Corp. Voting of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) of Mittal Corp had commenced on August 5, 2022.

Jindal Stainless has contended that the NCLT order is contrary to the regulations of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC). (PTI)

Reforms of 1991 were incomplete, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that India could have become the fifth biggest economy in the world earlier itself, but for the philosophy of socialism which relied on centralised planning.

The minister said the BJP government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee focused on building infrastructure and mobile telephony, which helped the country. (Full Story)

Rupee drops 19 paise to 79.71 against US dollar on Thursday

The rupee declined by 19 paise to close at 79.71 against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by a firm American currency and a negative trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened at 79.53 per dollar. It hovered in a range of 79.44 to 79.73 during the session. The domestic unit finally settled at 79.71, down 19 paise over its previous close of 79.52.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.09 per cent lower at 109.56.

“The Indian rupee weakened against the dollar on Thursday weighed by strong dollar demand from oil companies,” said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities. (PTI)

Wall Street stocks fall, indexes slip deeper into the red for the week

Stocks gave up more ground Thursday, leaving major indexes on Wall Street deeper in the red for the week.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1% after another wobbly day of trading. The benchmark index is now down 4.1% for the week following the biggest pullback for the market in more than two years on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite slid 1.4%. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies closed 0.7% lower.

New retail sales data gave a mixed view of how consumers are coping with the hottest inflation in four decades. The government report showed that retail sales rose an unexpected 0.3% in August after falling 0.4% in July. Inflation hurt several areas of spending, though, with business at restaurants still growing, but at a slower pace, while furniture and online sales fell. (AP)