Month: November 2023

Strengthening India’s Public Health System through Immunization

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By Nikhil George

As India aims to carry forward its economic growth agenda and transform into a US$5 billion economy, it is necessary that we focus on creating resilient health systems that are built upon improvements in preventive and curative care measures to help improve productivity.

With India, now the most populous nation in the world, the lower to middle-income country faces multiple infrastructural challenges pertaining to healthcare and the public health system is vulnerable to severe capacity shortages as it must tend to a high disease burden of communicable, non-communicable, and reproductive health-related diseases. It is therefore imperative that due focus be given to enhancing prevention, the first level of healthcare, through vaccination, raising awareness of its importance, and developing innovative financing mechanisms.

Public Health vaccination programs have primarily been aimed at protecting children, the most vulnerable and affected by many Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPDs). However, empirical evidence suggests that VPDs from direct infection or from opportunistic infection due to comorbidities severely impact mortality, disability, and Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) of adults. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a sustained strategy for immunization for an individual’s life course.

India’s Vaccine Preventable Disease Burden

Developing this life-course immunization strategy becomes difficult. Constraints include the scarcity of data on the incidence rate of VPDs in the country and the vaccination uptake in India. This suggests that adult vaccination coverage, even among the at-risk population, such as healthcare workers, the aging population, and the immunocompromised segment is negligible. This can largely be attributed to the lack of awareness of vaccines and their role in preventing certain VPDs amongst the general population and healthcare providers. This highlights the need to improve awareness of adult vaccinations at an individual level, at the level of healthcare professionals, and the community at large, via the involvement of different stakeholders across the government and private health sectors.

Leveraging India’s Vaccine Infrastructure

The success India has seen in its childhood immunization programs needs to be leveraged to ensure we, as a nation, achieve success in our life course immunization approach. The direct benefits of the childhood vaccination program can be seen through the reduction of infant and childhood mortality rates in India, which has drastically decreased in the last four decades, and needs to be replicated. This can be aided through our improved vaccine supply chain infrastructure that has been developing due to COVID and delivering over 2.2 billion vaccinations. India has enhanced its production capacities, trained frontline workers, deployed over 70,000 vaccination centres, and created an end-to-end digital platform, CoWIN, that can be repurposed for all vaccines. India now should broaden its Universal Immunization Program (UIP) to include other risk groups among its adult population.

The Way Forward

As India needs to allocate its resources in the most efficient manner, it is imperative that immunization, first and foremost, be recognized as an integral part of healthcare policy planning. This will help to raise awareness and establish clinical guidelines on the usage of vaccination as a preventive and disease management strategy.

Not all vaccines can be administered to the adult population, therefore the non-pediatric population needs to be divided into various risk cohorts, to ensure that the most vulnerable sections of the population are covered. This identification and segmentation of high-risk groups can be undertaken on the basis of socio-economic and demographic profiles and epidemiological disease burden, i.e., ageing population or patients suffering from co-morbidities.

It will be necessary to develop novel financing mechanisms to cover the costs of vaccines. One suggested method could be through its inclusion in government-funded insurance programs such as Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) that can help prevent in-patient incidents and reduce the overall health burden. This can also be extended to private health insurance policies and group insurance covers to support healthy aging and a healthy workforce.

Finally, India can scale up its healthcare delivery infrastructures for adult vaccines throughout the country through the conversion of established anti-rabies clinics and yellow fever immunization clinics to cover overall immunization.

Reducing India’s healthcare burden through inoculation can aid in our health and economic agendas. As with other policy decisions, this will have its own challenges that can only be solved over time. However, with the introduction of a Life course Immunization approach, India can work towards bringing about a reduction in its overall healthcare burden.

The author is Manager, Healthcare at the US – India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited.

Infosys, Tata Motors among 5 technical stocks to buy; watch these key support, resistance levels for Nifty

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By Shrikant Chouhan

Nifty AUTO, METALS and INFRA indices helped the market to close higher. From the basket of defensive sectors, we saw solid gains for the IT index. FMCG and PSU Banks marginally closed in the negative territory. Yesterday, the market did well mainly due to exceptional strength in the global markets and weakness in the dollar index. Commodities have again started recovering from lows and have boosted the sentiment of the market. The Nifty closed above the level of 15100 and the Sensex ended at 51348 levels.

Technical Picks are:-

Infosys: BUY, CMP 1303.55, TARGET 1370, SL 1275

Post profit taking from all-time highs of 1392 stock was into consolidation and it has given a breakout from triangle formation with a strong bullish candle on the daily chart with incremental volume activity.

Jindal Steel and Power: BUY, CMP 307.15, TARGET 320, SL 300

Fresh breakout with higher high and higher low formation and closing above 50 day SMA on the daily chart indicates upward momentum to persist in the short term.

Tata Motors: BUY, CMP 335.95, TARGET 353, SL 328

The stock had been a consistent outperformer in its space from the last few weeks and after the breather of the last three trading sessions it strongly reversed its up move by forming a bullish continuation chart pattern on the daily chart.

Asian Paints: BUY, CMP 2416.85, TARGET 2540, SL 2365

Post correction stock is in a range bound movement and it has formed a good base around the 2370 zone. Hence reversal from its double bottom chart formation is visible along with decent volume activity on the daily chart.

Titan Company: BUY, CMP 1541.7, TARGET 1620, SL 1510

A breakout from inverse head and shoulder chart formation near 50 day SMA with incremental volume activity is evident on the daily chart.

(Shrikant Chouhan is the Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities. Views expressed are the author’s own.)

Grey market premium highly unreliable, irrelevant; check these 2 things while applying for IPO | INTERVIEW

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With a flurry of IPOs in March, it has been a busy month for Dalal Street. But while some initial public offerings brought in listing gains bonanza for investors, others disappointed the allottees, rudely revealing the disconnect with the prevailing grey market premiums. For instance, recently listed Easy Trip Planners got subscribed 159 times and was quoting a strong grey market premium. But on debut day, it listed at a weaker-than-expected level. So, how should an investor study a company before applying for its IPO? Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told Surbhi Jain of Financial Express Online that while applying for an IPO, one must keep in mind that grey market premium quotes are highly unreliable and quite irrelevant for long-term investments. For the new financial year, Devarsh Vakil feels metal stocks have more upside left. One should also look at the PSU sector, as progress on disinvestment and privatisation may keep this sector in limelight in the new fiscal year.

1. With so many IPOs in March, do you think grey market premium should be considered while applying?

2. Where do you see Sensex, Nifty and Bank Nifty in the new fiscal year, keeping in mind the rising COVID cases, bond yields and ongoing vaccination drive?

After suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic induced slowdown, economic activity is slowly picking up and it is expected to recover sharply in the financial year 2021-22. The Reserve Bank of India has kept loose monetary policy and managed well to keep borrowing cost relatively lower for corporate India. The government has decided to support GDP growth by provisioning for higher capital expenditure in the union budget. We believe this new economic growth cycle will last for next few years.

As a larger part of the population gets inoculated against the Covid-19, the economic recovery will pick up pace. Investors anticipate future earnings growth and discount them in advance by valuing it at an appropriate interest rate. Global markets recently underwent a correction due to a spike in US bond yields (spiked over 50 bps since January-end). High flying growth stocks looked vulnerable compared to cyclical and value stocks. All bull markets pass through many small and large corrections on the way. There is some more room for benchmark indices to correct, but we believe Indian stock markets are headed higher on back of earnings growth over the longer term.

3. Do you think momentum in midcaps and small caps will continue in next fiscal and why?

Mid Caps and small caps companies will benefit from lower funding costs and a recovering economic cycle. Higher business growth prospects and better profitability has excited investors to hunt for opportunities in mid and small cap space. As far as valuations are concerned, mid-caps are now as expensive as large caps. Hence, returns will be moderate and in line with earnings growth.

4. What are your overweight and underweight sectors for FY22 and why?

The pharmaceuticals and Information Technology sectors are the leaders of this rally. Government policies like Atma-Nirbhar Bharat and PLI schemes offer unique opportunities for manufacturing firms to grow their businesses. We believe metals have more upside left. PSU as a theme will be in the limelight this year based on the progress on divestment and privatization. Banks, Auto sectors may find it difficult to rise materially and may underperform for a while.

5. What factors would drive the stock markets and what are the key risks?

Stock prices are slave to earnings. Investors anticipate future earnings growth and discount them in advance by valuing it at an appropriate level. Global liquidity contraction due to reversal of quantitative easing (QE) by central banks; faster-than-expected increase in inflation will force policymakers to raise interest rates. If bond yields rise substantially from current levels, that could be the party pooper for stocks markets. Many pension funds and endowment funds redeem their funds from equity markets and put it into bonds. Apart from this, in India, we have the added uncertainty of the monsoon and the upcoming assembly elections.

Nissanka, Samarawickrama fifties propel Sri Lanka to 8-wicket win; England near elimination

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England’s reign as the 50-over World Cup champion sunk into serious jeopardy as resolute fifties by Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama along with a set of on-the-money bowlers spurred tenacious Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory here on Thursday.

England, opting to bat first, suffered a baffling batting implosion and were bundled out for a paltry 156, courtesy the five wickets shared among themselves by comeback man Angelo Mathews (2/14) and impressive Lahiru Kumara (3/35).

With just two points from five matches, England retain a mere theoretical chance to make it to the semifinals, while the Islanders, who now have four points, can eye a few stronger outings in the remaining four matches.

England might have hoped for a miracle when they dismissed opener Kusal Perera and Lankan captain Kusal Mendis through left-arm pacer David Willey to reduce their opponents to 23 for 2.

But Nissanka and Samarawickrama, two of SL’s best ODI batters this year, combined to produce a solid partnership to ease Lanka’s nerves.

The right-handers are capable of elegance but with a victory very much in need the pair traded flair for compactness for a good part of their alliance.

Flashes of their natural batsmanship, though, were there. Samarawickrama delectably drove Wiley through the covers, while Nissanka waltzed down the track and smoked leg-spinner Adil Rashid over long-on for a huge six.

Nissanka brought up his fifty, his fourth in the tournament, with a flowing cover drive off pacer Mark Wood and Samarawickrama reached his second half-century of this edition with a wristy single to mid-wicket off Chris Woakes.

But otherwise, the Lankans batted within themselves and gathered runs in a determined fashion to keep England bowlers at bay.

And England lacked determination on the day. It was just a matter of a couple of batsmen sticking out in the middle for the Three Lions to reach a far better and competitive total.

But none barring Ben Stokes (43) and Dawid Malan (28) did not even remotely attempt to bat with purpose for a team that was playing in a must-win match.

There was a bit of spongy bounce on the M Chinnaswamy Stadium deck and the Lankan bowlers were accurate but the shambolic way in which the England batsmen played could not be shielded.

Opener Dawid Malan who milked 45 runs with his partner Jonny Bairstow, could be excused though.

Mathews, an injury replacement for pacer Matheesha Pathirana, put him in two minds with a delivery that bounced from the length just enough to take an edge off his bat to Mendis behind the stumps.

However, Malan during his 25-ball 28 showed that the pitch is not a hard one to bat on while essaying some gorgeous drives through the off-side.

Unfortunately, several subsequent batters were culpable of playing really poor cricket.

Joe Root got run out while taking off for a non-existing single, captain Jos Buttler made an expansive drive outside the off-stump off Kumara to get caught behind and Bairstow never timed the pull off Kasun Rajitha to find Dhananjaya de Silva at mid-on.

Liam Livingstone played the wrong line off Kumara to get trapped leg-before. Moeen Ali went for a cut off Mathews when there was no width on offer, and Kusal Perera snaffled the simple offering at point.

These were batsmen who were expected to lead England’s batting charge and they failed to respond.

Stokes did try on his own. He had the assistance of fortune as well when Samarawickrama floored a tough chance at point off Kumara when the all-rounder was on 12. England were 86 for 5 then.

The left-hander played some archetypal power-packed shots through either side of the wicket, but the day was not made for a one-man show.

His dismissal, caught by substitute Dushan Hemantha, at deep of Kumara, effectively ended England’s chances of posting a challenging total.

Rashid’s comical run out while backing up too far could be taken as a symbol of England’s drudges with the bat on the day.

But the inept batting display of England should not rob the Lankan bowlers of the just credit.

Kumara has the tendency to be all over the place but when he hits his lengths correctly, the right-arm pacer is a different beast who can hustle the batters.And hustled England were indeed on the day by a vastly superior Lankan side.

Weather Update: IMD predicts fresh spell of heavy rainfall over south India; Delhi likely to experience misty mornings – Check forecast

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South Peninsular India is bracing for another round of heavy rainfall, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting a fresh spell of showers on October 29-30. The region has already witnessed the onset of the Northeast Monsoon, which began on October 21 bringing some relief from the scorching heat.

The IMD’s weather forecast indicates that rainfall activity in South Peninsular India and northwest India (excluding Uttar Pradesh) is expected to be normal to above normal during the next week. Conversely, the rest of the country is likely to experience below-normal rainfall during this period.

Isolated heavy rainfall is likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, South Interior Karnataka, Kerala, and Mahe during the same period. This weather pattern is indicative of the active Northeast Monsoon, which brings much-needed moisture to the region.

For Andaman & Nicobar Islands, light to moderate rainfall is expected at many places throughout the next week.

Delhi to experience misty mornings till Oct 31

According to the Met Office, the national capital is likey to experience misty mornings till October 31. Delhi on Thursday reached a maximum temperature of 31.8 degrees Celsius, and its air quality remained in the ‘poor’ category for the fourth consecutive day. The India Meteorological Department reported that the national capital had a minimum temperature of 15.1 degrees Celsius, slightly below the usual for this season.

One in six top 500 firms have ‘related’ CMDs

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By Ashley Coutinho

One in six, or seventy nine, of the top 500 companies listed on the NSE have their family members or relatives as both chairperson and managing director or chief executive officer.

In addition, 146 companies have the same person serving as both the chairman and managing director (CMD), data fromprimeinfobase.comshows.

“bout three-quarters of the promoter-owned companies would have relatives or family members as CMDs. In some instances, you could have even 3-4 family members sitting on the boards, which is alarming,” said Shriram Subramanian, founder and MD, InGovern Research Services.

According to experts, a lot of promoters put in their blood, toil and sweat to run the companies and it is only natural to not want to cede control. This also helps in succession planning, where the senior member usually moves into the role of chairperson and a younger member of the family is placed as the CEO.

That said, family members have to be competent and have the required expertise that is in line with the role. “The member needs to have a buy-in from both internal (senior management) and external stakeholders. It is said that family-owned companies have more skin in the game but that presumes that there are no related-party transactions in the firm,” said Subramanian.

“Having family members at the helm could still work if there is a robust and independent governance framework in the company, which includes specialised policies covering operations, governance and decision making, selecting the right (but independent decision-makers) to administer such policies, an effective mechanism to monitor compliance and lastly an impartial mechanism to redress grievances,” added Arjun Paleri, partner, BTG Legal.

Also Read: Bond market investors should invest in infra assets: Crisil

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires listed companies in the US to disclose and explain their chairman-CEO structure, whether or not one or two people hold the roles. The requirement has increased shareholders’ attention to governance, said experts.

“The regulator is dealing with a related problem as well. Family offices are not registered by Sebi as a category of AIF, REITs, PMS or Investment Advisors or in any other capacity. There have been cases where promoter family offices are investing in the material subsidiary companies, bringing conflict of interest,” said Sumit Agrawal, managing partner, Regstreet Law Advisors.

In February, Sebi had decided to make splitting of the CMD posts by the top 500 listed entities voluntary after a pushback from India Inc.

“It was unfortunate to see the diktat getting rolled back,” said Pranav Haldea, managing director at PRIME Database.

“The CMD norms were a step in the right direction as they would have avoided concentration of power in the hands of one individual or family. It was not difficult to implement, especially considering the time which was given to companies, but the move would have meant ceding significant control. Hopefully, it will see the light of the day in the not so distant future.”

Indian companies have been known to come up with workarounds to regulatory requirements in the past. When the regulator made it compulsory to have a woman director on the board, for instance, a large number of companies complied only a week before the deadline, and that too by appointing their sisters, daughters and mothers on the board defeating the spirit behind the regulation.

“Had Sebi gone ahead with the diktat to split the CMD post, my sense is that companies would have found a workaround by appointing a friendly independent director as the non-executive chairperson of the company and retaining the MD position,” said Haldea.

A single person holding a dual role could have repercussions of its own, said Agrawal. For instance, when Carlos Ghosn, erstwhile CEO and chairman of Nissan Motor, was arrested, its partner company Renault SA found it difficult to find a replacement. Similarly, in another instance, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk was asked to step down as its chairman and the company was told to add two independent directors by the US SEC. “Such issues become more complex in case of family-driven boards,” said Agrawal.

NCDEX relaunches derivatives contract in Robusta Cherry AB Coffee

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National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) will relaunch the Robusta Cherry AB coffee futures contract for trading from Friday.

Initially, monthly contracts expiring in February, March and April would be made available for trading. The contract will be a compulsory delivery contract and deliverable at Kushalnagar in Karnataka.

Also Read: Sensex, Nifty end in red for 7th straight day amid volatility on F&O expiry; all eyes on RBI MPC meet decision

Also, with this contract, NCDEX hopes to bring down the complexity of trade and make it easier, Raste said, adding this launch has a special significance from the NCDEX point of view as it marks the exchange venturing into the south for the first time, as Indian coffee is almost entirely produced in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The contract will have a daily price limit of 6% (4% + 2%), which means once the price reaches a 4% cap on either side the trading will be halted for a cooling period of 15 minutes, after which another 2% movement can be allowed on the same side until the end of the session. The lot size of the contract has been fixed at 1 metric tonne (MT) in line with physical trade in the commodity.

Kapil Dev, chief business officer at NCDEX, said globally, coffee has been one of the top traded soft-commodity contracts. But in the absence of any hedging tool domestically, the Indian growers had few options available to take benefit of such activities. Even for price discovery, they had to rely completely on international exchanges. As India exports over 60% of the produce, the indigenous coffee futures contract will prove to be a boon for exporters in exercising price risk management domestically.

At around 350,000 tonnes per annum, India accounts for 3.5-4% of the global coffee output pegged at around 10 million tonnes. Karnataka accounts for nearly 71% of the country’s total production followed by Kerala at 21% and Tamil Nadu at 5%. Nearly 65% of the output is exported and the rest is consumed in the country. The demand for coffee has been growing in the domestic market as well and so is the expansion of plantations in non-traditional areas of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and North-Eastern states.

Buy these two stocks with strong support on charts while Nifty soars to fresh all-time highs

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By Nagaraj Shetti

The uptrend continued in the market for the third consecutive sessions on Wednesday and the Nifty closed the day higher by 142 points. After opening on a positive note, the market slipped into intraday decline soon after the opening and filled the upside gap completely. A sustainable upside bounce has occurred in the market during early to mid-part of the session and shifted later into a range move in the mid to later part of the session.

The new all-time high formation at 14868 on Wednesday has resulted in a faster retracement of the last downswing. Recently, the market has consumed 6 trading sessions to complete its down leg, which started from the high of 14753-21st Jan. 

The sharp upmove of the last three sessions has retraced this down leg in three sessions compared to 6 sessions of decline. The previous broken support (trend line and moving averages) has been regained and that subsequently resulted in a false downside breakout. This action could be a positive for the market and one may expect further upside in the near term. However, the placement of long term resistance by the way of cluster trend lines could offer temporary resistance for the market around 14800 levels.

The short term trend of Nifty continues to be positive. Having placed at the resistance zone of around 14800 levels, there is a possibility of volatility or minor profit booking from the highs of 14800-14900 levels in the short term, but eventually this hurdle is going to be taken out on the upside. Immediate support is placed at 14750.

Stock Picks: 

Buy CARE RATINGS LTD- (CMP Rs 523) 

The weekly timeframe chart of CARE Ratings Ltd signal a formation of crucial bottom reversal. After showing a weakness in the last couple of months, the stock price has bounced back smartly, post the formation of reversal candle pattern in the last week at the low of Rs 461. The upside bounce in the stock price has emerged from the cluster supports like horizontal line (support line as per change in polarity) and 20 week EMA around Rs 470-475 levels.

Weekly 14 period RSI is currently placed just below 60 levels. Its sustainable move above 60 could further strengthen upside momentum in the stock price. 

Buying can be initiated in CARE RATING at CMP (523), add more on dips down to Rs 500, wait for the upside target of Rs 580 in the next 3-4 weeks. Place a stop-loss of Rs 485.

Buy TRENT LTD – (CMP Rs 678) 

The sharp downtrend in the stock price seems to have reversed and the stock price has witnessed a sustainable upside bounce in the last few session. The downside breakout of the trend line support at Rs 630 of last week seems to have turned out to be a false downside breakout, as the stock price witnessed upside bounce and regained the lost support area in the subsequent week-as per weekly chart. We observe positive chart pattern like higher highs and higher lows on the weekly chart. The recent swing low of Rs 585 could be considered as a new higher low of the pattern. Hence, one may expect further upside in the near term. 

Buying can be initiated in TRENT at CMP (678), add more on dips down to Rs 650, wait for the upside target of Rs 750 in the next 3-4 weeks. Place a stop-loss of Rs 630.

(Nagaraj Shetti is a Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities. The views expressed by the author are his own. Please consult your financial advisor before investing.)

Share Market HIGHLIGHTS: Sensex rises for 4th day straight, Nifty at 18070 as bulls dominate D-St; RIL up

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Share Market News Today | Sensex, Nifty, Share Prices HIGHLIGHTS: Domestic equity market benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 extended gaining streak to the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday. BSE Sensex jumped 456 points or 0.8 per cent to end at 60571, while NSE Nifty 50 ended at 18070. Stocks of Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, L&T, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Titan Company, among others were top index gainers. On the flip side, Tata Consultancy Services was the top index laggard, followed by Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy’s, Sun Pharma, and Maruti Suzuki India. India VIX, the volatility index, fell 2.6 per cent to settle at 2.6 per cent.

Live Updates

Share Market Today | Sensex, Nifty, BSE, NSE, Share Prices, Stock Market News

15:38 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Closing bell: Sensex, Nifty end at 5-month high

BSE Sensex jumped 456 points or 0.8 per cent to end at 60571, while NSE Nifty 50 ended at 18070

14:49 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 ITC share price at new 52-week high

ITC share price rose to new 52-week high of Rs 335 apiece on BSE amid positive market momentum on Tuesday

14:44 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Indian rupee can take care of itself: CEA Anantha Nageswaran

Indian authorities are not “defending” the rupee as it can take care of itself, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran has said. “I think India isn’t defending the rupee. India is just making sure that the market forces and the economic fundamentals direct the rupee in a particular direction and making sure that it is happening smoothly and gradually,” the government’s top economist said on September 13 while speaking at the 15th Mindmine Summit. “I don’t think Indian fundamentals are such that we need to defend the rupee. The rupee can take care of itself,” he added.

14:15 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Market rally may not sustain when Q2 results start coming in

“The markets are going higher on decreasing daily volume at a time when institutional investors are exiting. 18000 is a landmark number but I do not think it will sustain when the Q2 results start coming in. The second quarter experiences a weak rupee and high inflation; coupled together it means that input costs of firms were exorbitantly high with no time to pass on these costs to customers. Earnings will probably drop by around 6% which will in turn pull down valuations of large-cap stocks.”

~Suman Bannerjee, CIO, Hedonova

14:05 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 What’s crippling share market? SEBI boss calls out markets’ polio, smallpox; no view on IPO pricing

SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch termed insider trading, front running, and information asymmetry as Indian equity market’s smallpox and polio. She assured that SEBI’s every single policy is back-tested by data. “There is not a single piece of paper now that moves within SEBI that is not backed by data,” Buch said at an event on Tuesday, 13 September. She added that the capital market regulator was trying to keep pace with the evolution of the market. SEBI holds no view on the IPOs pricing, and companies are free to price their issue, which they feel is appropriate for them, Buch iterated. Read full story

13:13 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Stock markets poised to rise further

We are confident the market will continue to do well as levers for growth continue. India’s PLI scheme, China plus one strategy, India as among the fastest growing economies in the world and inflation continuing to remain soft are all indicators that the market should do well. India is in a very sweet spot where growth would be high and inflation low. These two combined are rare to find in a volatile world economy. No fund manager can afford to ignore this. Therefore, we believe that 18k is just a number and that Indian indices will continue to rise even further. Sunil Damania, Chief Investment Officer MarketsMojo

13:12 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 India is on a growth path

Nifty has touched 18000 because the undercurrent in the market is robust. India, for the first time, witnessed 10 crore demat accounts, and we are also seeing how FIIs have come back strongly. Even the volume in the market has improved significantly. India Inc’s earnings and their commentary continue to make us believe that India is on a growth path. At the same time, the report from Moody’s also suggests that global events will not impact India’s growth story. Sunil Damania, Chief Investment Officer MarketsMojo

11:49 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 FM Sitharaman’s 4-wheel car to drive India’s economic growth: Skills, jobs for youth important; check other 3

Skill building and job creation for the youth, be it in STEM, technology and innovation, or even in non-technical fields, are among the important factors that could help drive India’s economic growth ahead, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today in conversation with industrialist Sunil Kant Munjal. “Engaging youth power by generating opportunities according to their skills be it innovative, STEM sciences, technological or even non technical, will be a key focus area for the government to ensure workforce participation is at its maximum,” Sitharaman said. Read full story

11:29 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Gold price today, 13 Sep 2022: MCX gold gets cheaper, down over Rs 250, US CPI inflation to guide yellow metal

Gold Price Today, Gold Price Outlook, Gold Price Forecast: Gold prices in India were trading lower on Tuesday, yellow metal firmed up globally. On Multi Commodity Exchange, gold October futures were ruling Rs 276 or 0.6 per cent down at Rs 50,355 per 10 gram, as against the previous close of Rs 50,631. Silver December futures were trading Rs 463 or 0.8 per cent down at Rs 57,028 per kg. Globally, yellow metal prices held firm near a two-week high hit in the previous session, helped by a subdued dollar, while investors awaited U.S. inflation data that could provide cues on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike path. Read full story

11:11 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Sensex needs to close above previous high of 60400 for sustained rally till 61720

Recovery in global markets especially US and Europe due to lower energy prices have led investors to believe that global inflation could taper off in the coming months. This has led to a strong rally in both Nifty & Sensex since the past few sessions. Technically, Nifty needs to close above 18000 this week and then we can expect 18350-18470 in the coming days. BSE Sensex needs to close above previous highs of 60400 for a sustained rally till 61720. Investors should stay cautious in buying as markets could remain volatile this week due to host of economic data to be announced from US and Europe. AR Ramachandran, Co-founder & Trainer, Tips2Trades

11:10 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Sensex and Nifty may touch 61500 and 18600 respectively till Diwali

Sensex and Nifty are riding high taking cues from the gain in the global markets. The reclaiming of it’s territories by Ukraine has cooled off the crude oil prices giving some relief to the imports bill. Also, Foreign investors have continued to be net buyers in the Indian market, which is a stark change from a couple of months back. All these factors have combined to give a positive impact on the benchmark indices. Sensex and Nifty may touch the levels of 61500 and 18600 respectively till Diwali festival. Ravi Singh, VP & Head of Research, Share India Securities

11:03 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Indian companies will have to become global leaders across sectors: FM Sitharaman

In a conversation with Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Enterprise at the 2022 edition of Mindmine Summit, the Finance Minister emphasised on the fact that Indian companies will have to become global leaders across sectors and govt will work on providing more solutions for MSMEs as locally, they are the ones to employ people across economic sections.

10:34 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 FM Nirmala Sitharaman speaks at Mindmine Summit 2022

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was speaking to Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman of Hero Enterprise, on the topic ‘Post Pandemic: Repurposing India!’ at the opening session of 15th edition of Mindmine Summit 2022

10:24 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Rupee trades at 6-week high

Indian Rupee trades at six week’s high level at 79.15 against US Dollar

10:21 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Indian rupee likely to trade in 78.70-80.10 range against US Dollar amid global uncertainties

The rupee could start the day on a positive note amid foreign fund inflows, risk-on sentiments and lower crude oil prices. Risk sentiment was bolstered by developments in Europe, where Ukraine was making progress in its counteroffensive against Russia. While investors now appear comfortable with the prospect of a 75-basis point interest rate rise by the Federal Reserve. Read full story

10:16 (IST) 13 Sep 2022

HDFC Life Insurance shares opened higher after a huge block deal in which around 43 million shares changed hands. Around 43 million shares, or 2% stake of the firm, changed hands in bunch trades, reported Bloomberg. However, details of the buyers and sellers were not known. The stock was trading at Rs 594 on BSE, up 2.5% from its previous close.

10:15 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Ujjivan Small Finance Bank shares fall 2%

Ujiivan Small Finance Bank sheds 2%; opens QIP issue at a floor price of Rs 21.93 a share

10:13 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Bajaj Finserv jumps 4.7%

Bajaj Finserv shares were trading ex-bonus and ex-split. The stock gained 4.7 per cent. The company had fixed September 14, 2022 as the ‘Record Date’ for the purpose of determining the members, eligible for the sub-division of existing equity shares, and issue of bonus equity shares.

09:44 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 MCX Crude oil September futures may trade at Rs 6500-7250/bbl this week; OPEC cuts output, US CPI focus

The recent bounce back in oil prices can be mainly attributed to a sharp fall in the dollar index, which is not expected to sustain unless US CPI surprises on the downside. Demand concerns and rising supplies from OPEC+ might weigh down on oil prices. West is actively formulating a price cap mechanism by year-end when EU sanctions take place, without affecting Russian oil output. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was unlikely that the US and Iran would reach a new nuclear deal anytime soon, providing some underlying support for prices. We expect MCX Crude oil September futures to trade in the range of Rs 6,500-7,250 per bbl for the week, with a downward bias. Read full story

09:25 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Bank Nifty tops 40800

Bank Nifty index jumped 0.5 per cent to trade above 40,800 level

09:24 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 HDFC twins, Reliance, Infosys top BSE Sensex contributors

Index heavyweights such as Infosys, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, and Bajaj Finance, and others contributed the most to the indices gain

09:22 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Reliance, HDFC Bank, Titan top Sensex gainers

Stocks of Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Titan Company, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank were among top BSE Sensex gainers

09:21 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Sensex jumps 300 pts, Nifty tops 18000

BSE Sensex was up 312 points or 0.5 per cent to 60427, while NSE Nifty 50 soared to 18045.45. Nifty has reclaimed 18000 for the first time since April

08:58 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Indian Rupee support seen at 79.20

As quite correctly mentioned by Piyush Goyal, Rupee has shown more resilience compared to its DM and EM peers, though at the cost of reserves, it’s performance cannot be overlooked in the shadow of global glooms. Well, amid a strong comeback in the Equities with Sensex breaching 60,000, resumption of foreign inflows, and subdued oil prices, one shouldn’t be surprised to see the rupee below 79.50 levels. As the pair sustainably trades below 79.50, importers are likely to get complacent and exporters would begin to panic and sell those who might have not covered earlier, further aggravating the move. With 79.20 remaining next crucial support, if taken out, the rupee can move towards 78.80. On the flip side, a rebound over 79.50 could drive the pair to 79.80 levels. Hence, though the trend of the market would be puzzling, anchoring our positions to the policy will keep us far from the commotion. Amit Pabari, MD, CR Forex Advisors

08:57 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Petrol, Diesel Price Today, 13 Sep 2022: Fuel cost steady; Check rates in Delhi, Noida, Mumbai, other cities

The price of petrol and diesel has been kept steady on 13 September 2022 (Tuesday), keeping costs steady for more than three months now. Petrol and diesel in Delhi is priced at Rs 96.72 and Rs 89.62 a litre, respectively. In Mumbai, petrol is retailing at Rs 106.31 per litre and diesel at Rs 94.27 per litre. The last country-wide change in price came on 21 May 2022, when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a cut in excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre, and Rs 6 per litre on diesel. Since then, Maharashtra is the only state to have cut rates. The Maharashtra government had announced a cut in value-added tax (VAT) on petrol by Rs 5 a litre and by Rs 3 a litre for diesel in July. Read full story

08:34 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Rupee likely to appreciate against US dollar

The Indian Rupee is likely to appreciate on Tuesday amid softness in dollar index, rise in risk tolerance in equity markets, sustained FII inflows. USDINR spot price likely to trade in a range of Rs 79 to Rs 80.30 in next couple of sessions. In the previous session, rupee pared its initial losses to settle higher against the US dollar, tracking positive domestic equities and foreign fund inflows. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 79.66 against the greenback, and ended at 79.55, up 2 paise from its previous close. Rupee has shown more resilience than most of the other currencies in recent years and the compounded average growth rate of depreciation is lower as compared to pre-2014, said commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Monday.

Read full story

08:25 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Will bulls push Nifty 50 to reclaim 18000? 5 key things to know before share market opening bell

Indian equity markets are expected to open in the green on Tuesday as SGX Nifty hinted at a positive start for domestic benchmark indices BSE Sensex, NSE Nifty 50. Nifty Futures were up 112 pts or 0.62% on the Singapore Exchange ahead of today’s session. “Although key indices are lacking a bit of momentum, the undertone seems strongly bullish and as a result, the Nifty is now within a touching distance of the psychological mark of 18000. It’s merely a formality now, we would see it on the screen very soon. The real question is, does the market have enough legs to move beyond it to touch the record highs? In our sense, it’s happening sooner or later, said Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel One.

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08:23 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Stocks to watch today

HDFC Life: Abrdn, formerly Standard Life, is looking to sell 2 per cent of its stake in the private sector insurer via block trades on Tuesday. According to the term sheet, Abrdn (Mauritius Holdings) has put on block 43 million shares of HDFC Life at Rs 564.1-Rs 578.55 per share.

Tata Consultancy Services: C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc, an industry leader in supply chain solutions and wholesale grocery supply in the United States, has selected Tata Consultancy Services to build its new operations platform on Google Cloud.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank: The bank has opened its qualified institutional placement issue for subscription. The floor price has been fixed at Rs 21.93 per share.

Read full story

08:13 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Angel One top picks for today

Federal Bank: Buy |CMP: Rs 120 |Target: Rs 138 |Upside: 15%

Suprajit Engg: Buy |CMP: Rs 347 |Target: Rs 485 |Upside: 40%

Stove Kraft: Accumulate |CMP: Rs 722 |Target: Rs 805 |Upside: 12%

AU Small Finance: Buy |CMP: Rs 660 |Target: Rs 848 |Upside: 28%

HDFC Bank: Accumulate |CMP: Rs 1,492 |Target: Rs 1,700 |Upside: 14%

Sona BLW Precision: Buy |CMP: Rs 526 |Target: Rs 843 |Upside: 60%

08:01 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Nifty’s major hurdle at 18115; aggressive buying advised with next goal post at 18605

“The Nifty is steadily racing towards the psychological 18000 mark as the street seems to be quite optimistic in forecasting inflation in the US to collapse to 2% within the next 18 months. Bulls have shrugged off the fact that the Fed will almost certainly issue a third-straight 75 basis point rate increase at its policy meeting scheduled on September 21. Bulls will be enthusiastic with aggressive inter-month goal posts at Nifty 18605 mark. For Tuesday’s session, Nifty’s major hurdle is seen at 18115 mark and above the same, aggressive buying is advised with the next goal post at psychological 18605 mark.”

~ Prashanth Tapse – Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities

07:56 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Market to remain firm with Nifty likely to head towards 18000-18200

“US markets after sharply underperforming, are now showing signs of recovery with a positive weekly close post 3 consecutive weeks of decline. An aggressive rate hike by US Fed in its upcoming September meeting seems to be already factored in by the market. Investors are also hoping for a dip in domestic as well as US inflation data which can further support the positive momentum. While the Sensex has managed to cross 60k mark, Nifty is just at knocking distance from the key 18k levels. Sector rotation was visible in the market with interest seen in underperforming sectors like IT and Metals. Specialty Chemicals were also in focus on news of rising global prices on back of supply constraints from Europe and China. We expect market to remain firm with Nifty likely to head towards 18,000-18,200 zones.”

~Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services

07:55 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 CPI inflation spikes back to 7% in August

After declining for three months, retail inflation rose to 7% in August due to higher food prices which may prompt the Reserve Bank of India to go for another rate hike later this month in order to tame price rise. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation, which is factored in by RBI while deciding the monetary policy, has remained above the central bank’s comfort level of 6% for eight months in a row. Retail food inflation accelerated to 7.6% last month, up from 6.7% in July, driven by a jump in the prices of cereals, vegetables, pulses and milk & milk products. Inflation in food and beverages rose to 7.57%, because of a spike in prices of cereals, and some of the key vegetables and fruits.

07:54 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 Wall Street posts fourth straight day of gains ahead of CPI report

Wall Street extended its winning streak on Monday, rallying to a sharply higher close as investors awaited crucial inflation data that could provide clues about the duration and severity of the Federal Reserve’s tightening policy.

07:51 (IST) 13 Sep 2022 SGX Nifty hints at a positive start for Indian markets

Early trends on SGX Nifty hinted that Indian benchmark indices are likely to open in green. Nifty futures traded 114.5 points, or 0.64% higher at 18,056 on the Singapore Exchange, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for a positive start.

Over 12 listed firms under Sebi’s lens for accounting spinoffs

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By Ashley Coutinho

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is believed to be examining instances of manipulation of financial positions by more than a dozen listed companies, that includes transactions pertaining to related parties.

Also Read: Sebi comes out with guidelines for overseas investment by AIFs, VCFs

Companies are entering into transactions with related parties in the form of sale of goods or loans. The same money is transferred from one entity to another and subsequently routed back to the listed company or its promoters through those companies. In the process, all of the related party companies get their capital or net worth increased and are able to procure more financing from banks.

“The money ultimately comes back to the promoter. In the listed companies’ books it is shown as provisioning of loans or the loans and transactions are written off as impairment of trade receivables. The impairment is then disclosed through the help of audit firms in the notes to accounts in the financials of the company. So, effectively the company will say everything is in the ordinary course of business and attribute it to adverse economic and business factors,” said the person.

The person added that companies are going to the extent of impairing the selling of an entire subsidiary for a paltry amount.

Also Read: Sebi mulls farmework for market making to deepen bond markets

“There has generally been a concern among investors and regulators on the use of related party transactions to transfer economic resources and benefits to one group of shareholders and their related entities to the detriment of other minority or non-promoter shareholders,” said Sai Venkateshwaran, partner, KPMG in India.

According to him, this has led to periodic review of the regulatory requirements around approval and disclosure of related party transactions, such that there is greater transparency and oversight on such transactions. “The tighter regulations also serve as a deterrent to companies undertaking any abusive related party transactions,” he said.

The recently introduced amendments to the Sebi Listing Regulations, which are partly effective now and become fully effective from April 1, 2023, moves away from a rules-based definition of related parties and covered transactions to a principle-based approach and moves from the legal form of arrangements to looking at their substance, said experts. Under these new rules, transactions undertaken with unrelated parties, where the ultimate beneficiary is a related party, would get covered.

“Greater oversight and approval requirements by the listed parent company’s audit committee and the increasing regulatory reviews of corporate filings, both by Sebi and NFRA will also bring greater rigour to compliance in this area and deter any undesirable practices,” said Venkateshwaran.

“In a bullish market, when valuations are based on revenues or multiples of revenues these kind of shenanigans are bound to happen, be it private or listed markets. This will be especially common in mid and small-cap companies which are typically under-researched,” said Shriram Subramanian, founder and MD, InGovern Research Services.

According to him, investors are often guilty of just looking at the headline numbers and not doing adequate research. “Financial influencers have also been guilty of bidding up stock prices by focussing only on metrics such as PE multiples, RoE and RoCE without digging deeper or doing channel checks. It’s only in the bear markets that most of this manipulation comes out in the open,” he said.

An email sent to Sebi late evening did not immediately get a response.

Sebi had recently settled a case with realty firm Sobha and four individuals in a case related to fraudulent trading and disclosure lapses for Rs 2.92 crore. Sebi had conducted an investigation into certain transactions by Sobha with D K Shivakumar and his family for fiscal years FY17 to FY19. It was alleged that Sobha fraudulently misrepresented the receivables with respect to the construction of residence of DKS in these years and the corresponding provisioning for the same during this time. This allegedly led to publication of manipulated financial results for the three years, which painted a false picture about the financial health of the company.