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Latest business, finance and stock market news today at 10am on June 10, 2024
Transcript of today’s latest business news at 10am on June 10, 2024
Let’s begin – GIFT Nifty was trading down 76.50 points or 0.33% at 23,253.50, indicating a negative opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Monday. Earlier on Friday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended up 468.75 or 2.05% to close at 23,290.15, while the BSE Sensex jumped 1,618.85 points or 2.16% to 76,693.36. Stocks to watch today include Adani Enterprises, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Mphasis, KEC International, Railtel, Borosil Renewables, Wardwizard Innovations and Jubilant Pharmova.
Next – The new NDA government can guarantee up to 50% of the last basic salary as pension to central government employees under the National Pension System, compared to the current market-based returns. The Modi 2.0 government set up a panel headed by finance secretary TV Somanathan in March 2023 to suggest ways to increase pension benefits under the NPS for government employees without reverting to the fiscally disastrous non-contributory OPS . Sources said the committee, in its report submitted to the government in May, largely followed the Andhra Pradesh NPS model enacted in 2023. Accordingly, the Center will give 40-50% of the last payment as guaranteed pension, subject to adjustments linked to the number of years of service and withdrawals from the corpus, if any, sources said.
Moving forward – The stock market may have recovered from its nearly 6% drop on poll results day, but IPO hopefuls may take a little longer before taking the plunge, experts say. Most would like to assess the ramifications of a coalition government at the Center and wait at least until the Budget in July before firming up their listing plans. Around 11 IPOs with issuances exceeding Rs 9,200 crore have received permission from SEBI in 2024 but are yet to be listed. These include ixigo’s parent company, Le Travenues Technology, Allied Blenders & Distillers, Asirvad Microfinance and Fincare Small Finance Bank. The new government is expected to focus more on consumer expenditure rather than capital expenditure.
In another development – To fulfill its election promise of a 42% bonus on MSP for rice farmers, the new government in Odisha has to make a budgetary provision of over Rs 6,000 crore/year, given the current level of procurement in the state, official sources said. The largesse will also require the food ministry to grant an exemption to the Odisha government for procuring surplus rice above what is required for the central reservoir, as done for Chhattisgarh in the ongoing procurement season – 2023-24. Sources indicated that the ministry is not very inclined to grant this exemption as it will inflate the economic cost of grains due to higher storage and transportation costs.
Meanwhile – With regulatory restrictions on Kotak Mahindra Bank’s online and mobile banking channels still in place, the lender relies on physical branches to get new customers. The bank will add up to 200 branches in FY25, about 20% more than new branch additions in 2023-24. The bank has opened 168 branches in 2023-24. While it is also planning to increase customer service staff across all branches, Kotak Bank has not disclosed the expected increase in the number of employees for the current financial year. About 45% of agencies are located in metropolitan areas. On April 24, the RBI directed Kotak Mahindra Bank to stop onboarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and issue new credit cards.
In other news – The Ministry of Statistics does not expect to carry out any significant downward revision of the official economic growth estimate for FY24, and may refute many analysts in this regard. It also sees the possibility of gross domestic product expansion in FY25 exceeding 7%, with “strong momentum” being witnessed. According to the National Statistical Office’s provisional estimates, India’s GDP in FY24 grew by 8.2%, while GVA grew by 7.2%. The unusual disparity between the two growth figures raised some concerns, as did the fact that consumption growth was half the rate of GDP. The RBI has projected that India’s economy will grow at 7.2% in fiscal 2025, but many economists say the growth rate could be lower than 7%, and some have even pegged it at 6.5%.
Lastly – Inox Air Products, which manufactures industrial and medical gases, has now forayed into the green hydrogen segment and intends to expand its business in the area, at the same time as it aims to become an important supplier of green fuel to the world. The company will complete its investment target of Rs 3,000 crore in the current financial year and invest Rs 1,000 crore on an average every year, said managing director and promoter Siddharth Jain. Furthermore, Jain expects to continue the company’s 16% growth target going forward. The company recently signed a 20-year green hydrogen supply contract with Japanese multinational Asahi India Glass and aims to commission the project in three months.