Here’s a roundup of the day’s top stories in brief.
1. IIP Rises For Second Straight Month
India’s industrial output rose for the second straight month after six months of contraction.
- The Index of Industrial Production rose by 3.6% in October over last year.
- Industrial production rose by 0.5% in September compared to 0.2% estimated earlier.
- A poll of economists by Bloomberg had forecast October IIP growth at 1.1%.
Among the three key sectors, mining remained in contraction but others saw an expansion in activity.
2. Maruti Suzuki’s SUV Challenge
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. has been dominating the nation’s automobile market for the last two decades. Yet, the sport utility vehicle segment remains a challenge as competition heats up.
- Maruti’s products in the SUV category, which includes only Brezza and S-Cross, are witnessing intense competition from the Hyundai Venue and Creta, Tata Nexon and Kia Sonet and Seltos.
- All other segments, including commercial vehicles, have been growing, according to Shashank Srivastava, executive director of sales and marketing at India’s largest carmaker.
Here’s how India’s largest carmaker plans to tackle that.
3. Sensex's Sixth Week Of Gains
Indian equity markets ended yet another week with gains, after trading in a narrow range for the last two sessions.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.3% higher at 46,099 while the NSE Nifty 50 index ended above 13,500, up 0.26%.
This was the sixth straight weekly gain for the indices.
Follow the day’s trading action here.
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U.S. Stocks Drop
Stocks dropped as the impasse over an almost $1 trillion stimulus package signaled slimmer chances of a deal anytime soon.
Most major groups in the S&P 500 retreated as the benchmark gauge extended its weekly losses, led by financial, raw-material and technology shares.
Walt Disney Co. hit an all-time high after a bold forecast for its new streaming services.
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1% to $46.74 a barrel.
Get your daily fix of global markets.
4. Indian Pharma Is Cutting R&D Spends
Indian drugmakers cut spending on research and development even prior to the pandemic as they faced pricing pressure and competition in the U.S., their biggest market.
- Aggregate R&D spend of India's pharmaceutical sector as a percentage of revenue consistently fell in the last three financial years, according to data by Axis Capital.
- It stood at 6.2% in FY20.
The Covid-19 disruption may force firms to either further reduce or keep R&D spends in check.
5. India’s Biggest Office Market Weathers Turmoil
The office space market in Bengaluru—India’s biggest—faced the biggest threat from the Covid-19 lockdown. Yet, the city’s premium commercial property landowners have weathered the threat so far.
- A compilation of data for nine key micro-markets in Bengaluru— Outer Ring Road, Whitefield, CV Raman Nagar, Old Airport Road, Inner Ring Road, Old Madras Road, Koramangala, Vittal Mallya Road and Race Course Road—shows only a marginal increase in vacancies over the previous year.
- Demand held up in Grade-A commercial properties in these areas.
Read this BQ Blue exclusive analysis of Bengaluru's commercial real estate market.
6. Bank Of Baroda Plans To Raise Rs 5,000 Crore
Government-owned Bank of Baroda is planning to raise between Rs 4,000 - Rs 5,000 crore by selling shares to institutional investors through a qualified institutional placement, three bankers aware of the development told BloombergQuint, requesting anonymity.
- In response to an e-mail query sent by BloombergQuint, Bank of Baroda’s Chief Financial Officer Subrat Kumar said that the bank may consider issuance of equity capital after getting the requisite regulatory approvals.
Here's the likely timeline for the QIP.
7. Jan Dhan Deposits Stagnate
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has seen savings stagnate since August.
- While deposits surged earlier in the year as the government announced cash transfers as part of its Covid relief program, balances have since diminished, which some attribute to a decline even in rural incomes.
- Between August and December so far, deposits in Jan Dhan accounts rose just 0.65%, compared to a growth of nearly 7% in the corresponding period last year.
Does the data indicate rural income pressures or improved ability to spend?
8. A Tax Budget Wishlist
Two Mumbai-based bodies representing chartered accountants and industry have urged the government to simplify and rationalise direct taxes and allow more deductions to taxpayers in their pre-budget memorandum issued in December.
- The Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society and Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry have sought several changes in the existing tax regime in light of the economic slump caused by the outbreak of Covid-19 and its impact on taxpayers.
- This comes at a time when India saw its tax collections drop for the first time in nearly two decades in April, dipping further till August and recovering slightly in the Aug-November quarter.
Here are the key suggestions by BCCI and BCAS made for the upcoming Union Budget.
9. IPO Craze: A 1990s Rerun?
Initial public offerings have been doing extremely well lately, bringing to mind the excesses of the tech bubble in the late 1990s.
- The FTSE Renaissance Global IPO Index, which tracks the performance of offerings worldwide, is up 82% this year.
- There are some pretty clear similarities between the Bloomberg index versus the S&P 500 in 1998-99 and the Renaissance gauge now.
- The performance after that in the late 1990s was even more dramatic.
If IPOs were to follow the same pattern, they would have a huge jump -- before a pretty spectacular drop.
10. Covid-19: New Cases Fall Below 30,000 Again
India's active Covid-19 caseload dropped further as the infection rate slowed.
- India reported less than 30,000 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally near 98 lakh in the world’s second-worst infected nation, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m.
- At over 37,500, daily recoveries continued to surpass new cases for two weeks now.
- Active cases remained below the 4-lakh-mark for a fourth day in a row.
Track news and developments around the Covid-19 outbreak, here.
Vaccine Approval Race—A Dangerous Game
Drug regulators only have two speeds, as an old gag puts it: Too fast, and too slow. That’s certainly the perception in this pandemic, writes Lionel Laurent.
- Regulators, whose job it is to supervise vaccine's efficacy, safety and distribution are in a very tough spot.
- The pressure to go fast is immense.
- Now the urge to win points for speed risks backfiring as regulators indulge in one-upmanship, undermining trust.
Instead of competing, it makes more sense for gatekeepers to work together or risk falling into a reputation trap.
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