Month: August 2018

Here are the major gainers and losers for the week in the market

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian shares ended mixed on Friday after tepid trade for most part of the day, owing to weakness in the rupee, subdued global sentiments over renewed US-China trade war concerns and sustained selling in energy, metal and bank stocks in particular.

The BSE Sensex ended lower by 45 points or 0.12 percent, to 38,645, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled marginally up by 3.70 percent or 0.03 percent, at 11,680.50.

For the week, the Nifty 50 gained 1.07 percent, while the Sensex added 1.03 percent. The Nifty MidCap and the BSE SmallCap were up nearly two percent, while Nifty Pharma, PSU Bank and IT gained over 3 percent each.

Here are the major gainers and loser stocks for the week:

UPL: Shares of agro-chemical firm added 9.4 percent for the week. The stock ended 2.47 percent higher at Rs 713.35 today, adding Rs 17.20 in value.

Hindalco: Shares were down today by nearly a percent to settle at Rs 237.90, but overall gained 7.14 percent for the week.

Tech Mahindra: Ending 4.66 percent higher at Rs 766 today, the IT stock enhanced the value for investors by Rs 31.10 apiece. It has added 6.5 percent on a weekly basis.

Power Grid: Shares rose over 5.5 percent for the week, ending today’s trade also higher at Rs 201.15, surging by 2.13 percent.

Tata Motors: The Tata Group’s automobile company gained 4.7 percent this week, with the stock quoting at Rs 266.95, up by 2.93 percent today.

Other major gainers for the week were Infosys up by 4.5 percent, NTPC at 4.38 percent, Tata Steel at 4.3 percent. Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank also rose 4 and 3.7 percent, respectively.

Yes Bank: Among losers, Yes Bank declined the most by 8 percent for the week, with the stock quoting at Rs 343, slipping lower by 5.18 percent.

Bajaj Finserv: The Bajaj Group financial services scrip declined 4.3 percent on a weekly basis, ending today at Rs 6,753. The stock lost nearly Rs 177 in value today, falling by 2.55 percent.

Eicher Motors: The auto stock ended higher by 1.21 percent today at Rs 27,936, adding Rs 333.85 in value, but overall for the week, declined by 2.8 percent.

Reliance Industries: The index heavyweight stock shed 2.8 percent this week, settling 2.79 percent lower today at Rs 1,270.

GAIL: The state-owned gas company slipped lower by 1.32 percent to quote at Rs 371.25 apeice today. For the week, Gail shares declined by 2.2 percent.

Other major index losers were Zee Entertainment, which lost 2.04 percent, HPCL, Bajaj Finance, each at 2 percent, Coal India down by 1.74 percent and shares of Asian Paints were down 1.5 percent.

Among midcap gainers, Jaiprakash Power stands out with 55.3 percent jump, Globus Spirits at 23 percent. Century Extrusion gained 20 percent, while Dixon Tech added 15.9 percent. Coffee Day and Welspun India surged over 12 percent this week.

Among midcap losers, Kwality shed 22 percent, while IndiGo lost 12 percent. Vakrangee was down nearly 9 percent, while HCC lost value by 5.6 percent. JK Paper shed nearly 10 percent.

Disclosure: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Nifty, Sensex end steady on tepid global sentiment

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian shares ended little changed on Friday, as global sentiment remained muted after US President Donald Trump made fresh trade threats against China, while gains in tech and healthcare were offset by losses in energy and financial stocks.

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed down 0.12 percent, while the broader NSE Nifty ended 0.03 percent higher.

Both indexes marked a sixth straight weekly gain, with the BSE closing 1 percent higher and the NSE ending 1.07 percent firmer.

The BSE Sensex gained 2.76 pct in August, while the broader NSE Nifty climbed 2.85 pct, having hit 11 record highs this month.

The indexes posted their biggest monthly gain for August since 2014.

Shares of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, top gainer on the Nifty index, ended 4.7 percent higher, while Reliance Industries Ltd closed 2.8 percent lower.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

India’s April-July fiscal deficit at 86.5 percent of full-year target

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India reported on Friday a fiscal deficit of Rs 540,000 crore for April-July, or 86.5 percent of the budgeted target for the current fiscal year compared with 92.4 percent a year earlier.

Net tax receipts in the first four months of 2018/19 fiscal year that ends in March 2019 were Rs 2,92,611, government data showed.

The country also received Rs 43,125 crore of non-tax revenue and Rs 13,731 crore of non-debt capital, it said.

Total expenditure incurred by the government is Rs 889,724 crore, out of which Rs.778,387 crore is on revenue account and Rs 111,337 crore is on capital account, the data showed

India expects to trim the deficit to 3.3 percent of GDP this fiscal year, after meeting an upwardly revised fiscal deficit target of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2017/18.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lupin gets USFDA nod for generic Potassium Chloride Oral Solution

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Drug firm, Lupin, on Friday said it has received approval from the US health regulator to sell its potassium chloride oral solution used for treatment of low potassium levels in the American market.

The company has received approval to market its Potassium chloride oral solution USP, in the strengths of 20 mEq/15 mL (10 per cent) and 40 mEq/15 mL (20 per cent) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), Lupin said in a filing to BSE.

The company’s product is generic version of Genus Lifesciences Inc’s Potassium chloride oral solution in the same strengths, it added.

As per IQVIA MAT June 2018 data the oral solution in the two strengths had annual sales of around USD 184.95 million in the US, Lupin said.

“The product is indicated for the treatment and prophylaxis of hypokalemia with or without metabolic alkalosis, in patients for whom dietary management with potassium-rich foods and/or diuretic dose reduction are insufficient,” it added.

Shares of Lupin Ltd were trading at Rs 933.35 on BSE, up 4.44 percent from the previous close.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Euro zone inflation eases, supporting ECB view

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Euro zone inflation slowed this month, supporting the European Central Bank’s assessment that a recent spike may only temporary as, despite years of monetary stimulus, underlying price pressures remain weak.

Inflation in the 19 countries sharing the euro eased to 2.0 percent from 2.1 percent in July, Eurostat said on Friday, undershooting expectations for a steady rate, as the pull from energy and food prices eased.

The ECB targets inflation at just below 2 percent but has undershot for half a decade, even as it cut interest rates deep into negative territory, gave banks ultra cheap cash, and bought trillions of euros worth of debt to stimulate growth.

Still, price pressures have built up enough for the ECB to curb some of its measures and the bank plans to end the bond purchases this year, even if interest rates are on course to remain unchanged at least for another year.

Some critics say that the ECB is already at its inflation target and should therefore roll back stimulus more aggressively, but ECB chief Mario Draghi argues that spiking energy prices are the main culprit and underlying inflation – stripped of food and fuel prices – show a more subdued trend.

Indeed, underlying inflation eased to 1.2 percent in August from 1.3 percent in July, while a narrower measure looked at by economists that also excludes alcohol and tobacco fell to 1 percent from 1.1 percent.

In a potentially worrying sign for the ECB, the price of industrial goods not related to energy grew by just 0.3 percent after 0.5 percent the previous month, even as the euro’s weakness against other currencies likely increased import costs.

The ECB expects inflation to average 1.7 percent through 2020, a figure Draghi considers below target, even as hawkish policymakers say it is good enough, particularly since the economy continues to motor ahead, so price pressures should continue to build.

Supporting this argument, Eurostat also said on Friday that unemployment held steady at a post-crisis low of 8.2 percent with the number of jobless shrinking further.

Although growth has slowed this year, the expansion has lasted five years already and several recent sentiment indications have surprised on the upside, indicating that growth is steadying at a rate that is still above the bloc’s natural potential so will continue to absorb spare capacity.

The ECB next meets on Sept 13, when no substantial decision is expected as rate-setters have already laid down the policy path for the next year, requiring only incremental changes as long as the economy meets expectations.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Apple dominated global smartwatch market in Q2 2018

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Apple continued to dominate the smartwatch market with a 41 percent share as global smartwatch shipments grew 37 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2018, a Counterpoint report said on Friday.

US-based wearables major Fitbit grabbed the second spot with 21 percent market share while Fossil was at the third spot with four percent share in the second quarter of 2018.

According to Counterpoint’s “Global Smartwatch Tracker”, smartwatch makers are looking to add cellular connectivity for standalone use-cases as 90 percent of smartwatches shipped today are not cellular-capable.

“Apple is catalysing the trend of ‘smartwatch as a standalone wearable device’ with the adoption of cellular connectivity, which is driving the new wave of cellular connected wearables globally, great news for mobile operators,” Satyajit Sinha, Research Analyst, Counterpoint Research, said in a statement.

“Battery-life is a constant concern with smartwatches, given their tiny batteries. However, Apple, Samsung and Huawei are consistently working to optimise the software and the overall design and adding components such as eSIM to make space for bigger batteries.

The adoption of cellular Low Power Wireless Access (LPWA), technology especially LTE-M in smartwatches will also drive core use-cases in a smartwatch while boosting battery life,” Sinha added.

According to the market research firm, the shift to Androidwear OS still has not happened like in Android for smartphones.

“This is partly due to lesser focus, less intuitive user interface (UI) and selective smartwatch OEM partnerships by Google over the last few years for Androidwear OS,” it said.

According to Research Director Neil Shah, despite the initial hype and traction of cellular-based Apple Watch Series 3 in the first two quarters, “Apple iPhone users are actually choosing the Series 1 as a non-cellular option over Series 3 non-cellular model which is surprising to many industry watchers”.

“This also shows that Apple users are choosing Series 3 preferably if they want to add cellular connectivity, else Series 1 remains the most popular model contributing to almost nine out of ten Apple Watch sold in Q2 2018,” Shah noted.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

SAIL falls on news public sector company declines dividend to government

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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State-owned Steel Authority of India’s (SAIL) shares were down 1.9 percent at Rs 79.45, after the company declined a government call for a dividend this year, citing financial risks, Reuters reports.

SAIL’s refusal could make it harder for govt to meet its budgeted target of raising Rs 1.06 trillion ($14.95 billion) from dividends and profit of state-owned companies.

A SAIL spokesman told Reuters that the firm posted a loss in the 2017/18 fiscal year, “so there is no chance of a dividend.”

More than 7.6 million shares change hands, 0.8 times the 30-day moving average.

Seven of 19 brokerages rate the stock “buy” or higher, 5 “hold” and 7 “sell” or lower; median price target is Rs 86, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The stock had fallen 11.9 percent this year as of last close.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Ravi Shankar Prasad seeks Google’s support for spreading digital awareness among Indian farmers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Google should play a greater role in creating digital awareness among millions of India’s farmers about weather and scientific farming, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has told the internet giant’s India-born CEO Sundar Pichai.

The plan to seek greater involvement in the digital inclusion programmes, including “Digital Village” initiative to empower millions of people in the country was also discussed.

Prasad, who is on a four-day trip to the US, visited Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California on Wednesday.

“Held a very meaningful meeting with @Google team at California HQ. Sought greater involvement of Google in digital inclusion programmes of India including Digital Village. Asked them to work for creating more awareness among India’s farmers about weather & scientific farming,” Prasad tweeted.

The main idea for “Digital Villages” was pitched as part of developing the rural sector and ensuring the empowerment of farmers.

The “Digital Village” or “DigiGaon” programme is aimed at connecting villages with Wi-Fi and provide digital literacy to its residents and assist in entrepreneurship opportunities. The government plans to expand the initiative to 700 villages across the country by the end of this year.

After his visit to the Mountain View office of Google, Prasad tweeted: “I felt so pleased to see many Indian professionals working at the @Google campus in California including the CEO @sundarpichai and Ben Gomes, Vice President of Google Search.”

During his visit to California, Prasad held discussions with several leading technology and business CEOs and senior executives including venture capitalists focused on the Indian market.

“A truly informative and momentous visit to @Google campus in Mountain View, California. Great centre of digital technology research, development and empowerment,” he tweeted.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow