Top 10 Business, Markets News In Under 5 Minutes: BQuick On Feb. 10
Here’s a roundup of the day’s top stories in brief.
1. Future Group Lenders Plan To Restructure Debt By March 31
Lenders led by State Bank of India are planning to proceed with the restructuring of the debt under the Reserve Bank of India’s one-time restructuring scheme, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
2. Will Biyani’s Appeal Against SEBI Order Hold Up?
Kishore Biyani and his brother Anil Biyani have both contested the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s order that barred them from securities market for allegedly violating insider trading norms. In the coming weeks, the Securities Appellate Tribunal will have to determine whether speculative media reports and coverage in reports of brokerages impact the existence of unpublished price sensitive information.
3. Titan’s Profit Falls Despite Festive Boost
Titan Co.’s quarterly profit fell even as the largest maker of branded jewellery in India saw higher demand during the festive season. Profit fell 11% year-on-year mainly due to a loss on hedging contracts.
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Hindalco’s profit rises 76% driven by Novelis and domestic business.
Eicher Motors’ profit rises 7% as sales pick up.
GAIL profit rises 20%, margin expands.
4. Volatile Session For Nifty, Sensex
Indian equities saw another volatile trading session as benchmarks remained rangebound and closed with modest losses. The S&P BSE Sensex ended 20 points lower at 51,309 while the NSE Nifty 50 ended little changed at 15,106.
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Macquarie’s portfolio rejig: stocks that saw increase or decrease in weight.
Page Industries stock hits a two-year high on record profit.
Brokerages remain bullish on Adani Ports.
Mahanagar Gas stock falls after Q3 earnings.
5. RBI Signals Lower Yields With Bulk Bond Buying
India’s central bank picked up the bulk of the bonds in the 10-year segment at a higher than expected price in an open market purchase auction on Wednesday, highlighting its focus on keeping the benchmark yields anchored.
6. Exporters Seek Rollback Of ‘Penalty’ Proposed In Budget
India’s exporters are seeking quashing of a proposal that would lead to confiscation of goods in case of a wrongful tax refund claim. The Federation of Indian Export Organization said the proposal would adversely impact business and dent India’s image as a reliable supplier.
7. How To Make Scrappage Policy Work
India is planning to take lakhs of old polluting cars, trucks and buses off the roads. However, that may be stymied by a lack of incentives for owners and the infrastructure to recycle the vehicles.
8. Fitch Flags Fiscal Deficit Challenge
Fitch Ratings said India's high fiscal deficit would pose a challenge in lowering the debt to gross domestic product ratio, which is expected to remain above 90% in the next five years.
9. Grasim Wants To Be Paintmaker Too. But It’s Not That Easy.
Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Grasim has outlined a plan to launch a paints unit to expand its offerings to a larger market. But that also means taking on entrenched incumbents, including Asian Paints Ltd. And that’s something none of the new entrants have had much success with.
10. Twitter Yields, But Government Miffed
Twitter Inc. has permanently suspended over 500 accounts and blocked several others within India agreeing to an order by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. In a blogpost, Twitter said it has not blocked accounts of news media, journalists, activists and politicians to protect free speech. However, the government termed it unusual for Twitter to publish the post before talks with the IT secretary on the same issue.
