1. Amid Fears of a War, Stocks Tumble, Rupee Weakens
Escalating tensions between India and Pakistan sent the domestic financial markets tumbling on Thursday with benchmark indices dropping 1.6 percent - their biggest single-day fall in three months. The rupee also weakened 0.6 percent to 66.86 against the dollar.
Traders' perception of near-term risks in the market increased with the volatility index (VIX) soaring 33 percent — the highest in a day in 13 months — amid heightened concern that India's military strikes could intensify into a full-blown war, prompting foreign investors to pause their investments into the country .
(Source: The Economic Times)
2. Did the Stock Market Grab the Surgical Strikes as an Excuse to Sell Off?
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.64 percent on Thursday as news came in of India conducting surgical strikes across the Line of Control in Kashmir on terrorist camps.
Almost all other Asian indices were up, unfazed by the panic in the Indian market.
The European markets, too, rallied, apparently shrugging aside the prospect of open hostilities breaking out among two nuclear-armed states in the subcontinent. Surprisingly, even the Karachi KSE 100, after initial jitters, ended the day down a mere 0.15 percent.
And in India, foreign portfolio investors bought a net Rs 3,413 crore worth of stocks in the cash market and also Rs 876 crore of index futures on Thursday, according to data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE), suggesting a complete absence of panic.
That raises the possibility that the Indian market, which had in any case become frothy, took the opportunity to book profits.
(Source: Livemint)
3. Large Appliances the next Growth Driver for Online Retail Sales
For once, Flipkart and arch-rival Amazon India, which has a rival sale event called the Great Indian Festival around the same time as Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale, will be working towards the same goal: persuading more and more shoppers to shift their purchases of large electronic items online.
Typically, less than 8 percent of large appliances are sold online in a given month, according to industry executives. In the Diwali sale period, however, Flipkart and Amazon are betting that deep discounts, a wide product range and product exchange schemes will lift sales of large appliances.
As much as 25 percent of sales of all LED TVs, 10 percent of all washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners (ACs), and 40 percent of all microwaves will happen online in India next month, according to Flipkart estimates. The company itself expects to sell 20 percent of all LED TVs sold, or some 200,000 units, in October.
(Source: Livemint)
4. Largest Spectrum Auction to Kick off on 1 October Amid Telecom Battle
India’s largest spectrum auction starts on Saturday against a backdrop of battling telecom firms. That the sale of spectrum could lead to more bandwidth for telecom firms to address call drops is almost an afterthought.
On offer is 2,354.55 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum worth Rs 5.63 trillion at the minimum or reserve price.
Reserve prices that both telecom firms and analysts said were set too high by the government had sparked concern that response to the auction might be muted.
(Source: Livemint)
5. GST Council To Meet On Friday To Discuss Rules, Exemptions
The GST Council at its meeting on Friday will finalise the rules regarding registration, refunds and payment and also take a view on exemption of goods under the upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
To be chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Council will also deliberate on a formula for payment of compensation to states for revenue loss in the aftermath of implementation of the GST.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
6. Retail Chain DMart’s Parent Avenue Supermarts Files For Rs 1,870-Crore IPO
Avenue Supermarts Ltd, the parent company of the DMart retail chain, said on Thursday it has filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO), where it plans to raise up to Rs 1,870 crore.
The company, which has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd. as the global coordinator and the book running lead manager, also appointed Axis Capital Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, ICICI Securities Ltd, and five other intermediaries as book running lead managers.
The company said in a filing on Thursday that it intends to get listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange as well as the National Stock Exchange, and had received permissions from both the bourses for the said listing.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
7. Heritage Act May Be Amended to Make Way for Public Projects
Mughal emperor Akbar's final resting place in Sikandra may lose its tranquillity with a flyover built bang opposite it. Prodded by infrastructure ministries, the Modi government is readying to amend the law that forbids any new construction close to protected monuments.
The culture ministry is preparing to seek Cabinet nod to a proposal to allow construction in “public interest“ for projects in close vicinity to some protected monuments, officials told ET.
If cleared, the proposal will exempt key government projects from provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR), 2010, which bars new construction within 100 metres of a protected monument. Roads and infrastructure being built by the government are among the projects being considered for the exemption.
(Source: The Economic Times)
8. Government Cuts Rates On PPF, Other Small Savings Schemes By 0.1%
Interest rates on small savings schemes have been cut by 10 basis points for the October-December period.
The Public Provident Fund Scheme, the Kisan Vikas Patra Scheme, and the Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme will fetch lower returns post this revision.
The Public Provident Fund Scheme will fetch an interest rate of 8 percent in the third quarter of the current fiscal, according to a finance ministry statement. The Kisan Vikas Patra Scheme will carry an interest of 7.7 percent and will now mature in 112 months instead of 110 months. The interest rate on the Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme will now come down to 8.5 percent.
(Source: BloombergQuint)
9. Corporation Tax Mop-Up Below Par
If advance tax collections are an indicator, the corporate sector is still struggling even as it has seen a slight uptick in the first half (H1) of financial year 2016-17 (FY17) compared to the corresponding period last year. In fact, collections from three key sectors — banks, coal and oil and gas — have been sub-optimal. The overall direct tax collections till 15 September also showed that corporation tax collections were not at all encouraging.
Advance corporation tax collections grew 8 per cent in H1 FY17 against 6 per cent last year. A moderate pick-up in advance corporation tax collections suggest the sector might not witness significantly high growth in FY17.
(Source: Business Standard)
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