The first day for exchanging the Rs2,000 notes were nowhere close to the rush of 2016. In fact, most banks handled this transition in a very smooth manner. Most branches recorded very limited exchange of note transactions during the first day. This window is open till 30th September 2023, by which time people can either exchange these notes or they can deposit it into their bank accounts. Today, the Rs2,000 notes are just about 10.7% of the total currency in circulation and hence pressure on banking system will be low.
NMDC posted 28.3% higher net profits yoy at Rs2,277 crore for Q4FY23. For the same period, revenues fell 13.8% to Rs5,851 crore due to lower prices realizations. The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs2.85 per share to shareholders, over and above interim dividend of Rs3.75 per share already paid in FY23. Volumes continued to be robust for the month and this trend has been carried forwards over the last few quarters too. NMDC mines like copper, rock phosphate, limestone, dolomite, and even gypsum.
Rajiv Jain of GQG Partners has already made big gains on his March investment in Adani group stocks. Now he has added more Adani stocks to his portfolio by about 10%. He also plans to be part of future fund raising by the company. GQG’s Adani holdings are currently close to $3.5 billion and have appreciated by 49% since the stake buy in March this year. GQG Partners had invested in four Adani group stocks after the group market cap had been badly beaten down following allegations made in the Hindenburg report.
The SpiceJet stock fell 19% on Tuesday to touch am 8-year low of Rs22.65. The uncertainty surrounding the fate of Go First has created a lot of questions over SpiceJet. Inf fact, average trading volumes on the counter jumped over 8-fold on Tuesday with 11.5 million shares changing hands. Like Go First, even Spice Jet operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and Q-400 aircraft. Many of its aircraft are also grounded due to engine related problems. There are talks in the market that SpiceJet may also seek to file insolvency with NCLT.
According to a recent Moody’s report, India’s GDP crossed $3.5 trillion in 2022 and should remain fastest in GDP growth among large economies. However, Moody’s has also warned that bureaucracy and slow approval processes could be a roadblock to growth and also to foreign investments. Demand across the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors is likely to grow between 3% and 12% for the next decade. India has made rapid strides in boost ease of business, opening up to foreign investment and tax concessions.
The countdown to a US default may be moving at a rapid pace, unless President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are able to hammer out a solution. Either the debt ceiling needs to be raised, or in a worst case scenario, scrapped altogether. The US government is expected to run out of cash to pay its routine bills from June 2023. The debt ceiling was breached in January this year but the situation was managed via emergency cost cutting measures. That is also likely to outlive its capacity by June, leading to default.
Government of India plans to shortly invite financial bids for strategic disinvestment of 26% stake in Bharat Earth Movers (BEML). This has been in the works for a long time, but had to be put off amidst protests from employees. Government is just awaiting some NOCs before the final divestment. Government will sell 26% of BEML for about Rs1,500 crore. It currently holds 54.03% stake in BEML. In the last one year, the government separated the land assets of BEML into a separate company to simplify the strategic sale.
Big ticket housing finance companies are looking to grow their affordable-housing portfolio in a big way. Most of the HFCs are looking to increase their share of affordable home lending vis-à-vis prime lending. This demand has been driven by a slew of government incentives aimed at “housing for all.” In terms of volumes, 60-65% of fresh home loans are in the affordable segment with maximum ticket size of Rs30 lakhs. Despite the unattractive credit profile of such borrowers, the default rates are generally quite low.