As per preliminary estimates put out by the Ministry of Commerce, India’s exports crossed $300 billion Apr-Dec 2021 with December seeing record exports of $37 billion. India has targeted exports of Rs.400 crore for the full financial year FY22. December 2021 exports are nearly 38% higher than the Dec-2019 levels, underlining the fact that trade growth is driving the GDP revival. Among specific export buckets, engineering goods grew 37%, Gems and jewellery 16%, Garments 22% and electronics by 33% in Dec-21.
GPT Healthcare, which runs the chain of ILS Hospitals, has secured SEBI approval for its Rs.500 crore IPO. The IPO comprises of Rs.17.50 crore by way of fresh issue and the balance via offer for sale which will be achieved through the issue of 2.98 crore shares. Out of the OFS, Banyan Tree Growth Capital will offer 2.61 crore shares with GPT Sons offering the balance shares. The fresh issue proceeds will be used to buy medical equipment for the hospital. GPT operates 4 multi-specialty hospitals with capacity of 556 beds.
In a rather significant move, SEBI has tweaked the exercise mechanism of options on commodity futures. Under the new rules, SEBI has stipulated that all ITM (in the money) options contracts will be exercised automatically, unless there are contrary instruction given by the long position holder. However, all OTM option contracts will expire worthless. All the exercised options will be assigned to short positions in a fair and random manner. The new framework will be effective for contracts launched on or after 01-Feb 2022.
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund announced launch of India’s first auto ETF, which will be benchmarked to the Nifty Auto Index. The NFO will be open from 05-January to 10-January. It will reflect the movement of the automobile index with the sole purpose of reducing tracking error to the bare minimum. This is a passive approach to getting exposure to the auto sector, which is likely to bounce back during the year as the microchip shortage problem gets resolved. The focus will also be on riding the much talked EV wave.
For December 2021, PMI manufacturing lost some momentum and eased to a 3-month low. This was largely along expected lines as the overhang of Omicron was quite strong. From a high of 57.6 in Nov-21, the IHS Markit Purchasing Manager Index for manufacturing fell to 55.5 in Dec-21. While reading of PMI above 50 still indicates expansion of economic activity, the weaker momentum is visible in Dec-21. During the month, new orders saw an upturn. Output was strong but business sentiment was tamed by Omicron.
SEBI notified rules for vault managers that allow exchanges to set up a gold exchange. In Sep-21, SEBI had cleared the proposal to set up a gold exchange wherein gold will be traded in the form of electronic gold receipts (EGR). This will enable transparent domestic spot price discovery for gold. The EGRs will have trading, clearing and settlement like other securities. This is likely to create a vibrant gold ecosystem. The vault manager will be registered and regulated by SEBI and will provide vaulting services to create EGRs.
Delhi High Court will rule on Future Group’s petition against Amazon to quash arbitration proceedings on 04th January. This was after Future Coupons moved the Delhi Court seeking termination of arbitration currently underway at Singapore International Arbitration Centre, following the recent CCI order which had suspended its approval of Amazon’s deal with Future Coupons. CCI has also imposed a fine of Rs.200 crore on Amazon for making false and incorrect statements while seeking approval for the inorganic deal.
In its review of December 2021 quarter, HDFC disclosed that it had assigned 5% higher loans at Rs.7,468 crore. All the loans assigned during the Dec-21 quarter were to HDFC Bank, which is part of the buyback option embedded in the home loan arrangement between HDFC and HDFC Bank. For the full year 2021, HDFC had sold loans worth Rs.27,591 crore, a yoy spike of 63%. HDFC has a strong liquidity position with Rs.27,000 crore of unencumbered HQLA. HDFC must maintain basic liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) of 50%.
