Samvat 2079 begins on bullish note, indices gain nearly 1 percent
India’s equity markets started Samvat 2079 on an optimistic note with benchmark indices gaining nearly 1 percent, the biggest increase in Muhurat trading in nearly 14 years. The Sensex ended the ceremonial one-hour trading session at 59,832 points, up 0.9 percent, while Nifty gained 154 points, or 0.9 percent. On Muhurat trading on October 28, 2008, the indices had climbed nearly 6 percent.
Why it’s important: This was the fifth consecutive year when the stock market ended with gains on Muhurat day. It indicates the long-term optimism of primarily stock traders.
Rishi Sunak to be first British Prime Minister of Indian origin
Rishi Sunak will become The UK’s youngest Prime Minister in modern times. One of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, Sunak, 42, will become the country’s first leader of color, and its third prime minister in less than two months, as he takes over during one of the most turbulent eras in British political history.
Why it’s important: Sunak will face testing times, burdened with steering a deeply polarized country through an economic downturn that could millions of people poorer.
Indian venture capital firms continue to grow despite global headwinds
As many as 145 new venture capital firms were established in India in the past two years — 123 in 2021 and 22 in 2022, according to Tracxn data. The total number of local VCs jumped 29 percent in 2021 compared to 2020, when 95 funds were founded. However, despite the growing number of VCs, funding for startups reached a two-year low in the three months to September to just $ 3 billion, compared to $ 14.9 billion in the same quarter of 2021, Tracxn reported. Sequentially, funding was down by 57 percent.
Why it’s important: The larger number of venture capital firms points to a robust start-up ecosystem in India. This would, however, not be able to stop the funding winter, as investors have turned cautious and are demanding more efficiency and transparency.
Coca-Cola sponsoring UN climate summit faces backlash from environmentalists
Soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co’s sponsorship of the UN climate conference, known as COP27, sparked an online backlash and highlighted broader concerns about corporate lobbying and influence. The COP27 negotiations aimed at limiting global temperature increases are set to kick off next month in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.
Why it’s important: The Egyptian organizers cited Coca-Cola’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and focus on climate. This has triggered outrage on among environmentalists, who pointed to its massive impact on plastic pollution and called out the sponsorship effort as greenwash.
Increased demand sees hotels planning to hike corporate rates by 15 percent
Amid a strong domestic demand across segments, hotel chains in India are looking to renegotiate contracts with corporate firms and the new rates are expected to go up at least by 15 percent from now, taking from January 2023. Renegotiating contracts is an annual exercise and hotels typically increase rates by 5-7 percent.
Why it’s important: The pandemic forced hoteliers to stall the annual rate increases. Increased demand has given them renewed leverage as meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and corporate travel make a strong comeback.
Railways to tweak wagon and track infrastructure to carry more SUVs
The Indian Railways is redesigning wagons and overhauling track infrastructure so that more cars, especially sports utility vehicles, can be transported on its freight trains. The Railways aims to halve the cost of freight for automakers through these measures. Indian Railways transported 2,206 rakes of passenger vehicles across the country in the current financial year, registering a annualized growth of 68 percent.
Why it’s important: Given that almost half the personal vehicles sold in India during the first half of 2022-23 were utility vehicles, the move by the national transporter makes sound business sense.
5G signals fail to show up on high-end mobile phones on software hitches
Although Airtel and Reliance Jio have 5G services in India and have promised to expand them rapidly in the coming months, device makers are yet to release software updates that enable the next-gen network experience.
Why it’s important: 5G connectivity on mobile devices could still be over a month away. This is likely to delay putting a stable 5G network in place across India. The government has already taken serious note of this.
Hindustan Zinc scouts for acquisition as it seeks to expand overseas footprint
Hindustan Zinc, a subsidiary of Vedanta, is looking to expand its operations to markets such as the US and Europe in its next phase of growth, CEO Arun Misra has said. The world´s second-largest zinc producer proposes to do this by acquiring assets in the US and Europe, as it looks to get to a mining capacity of 1.5 2 million tons a year over the next few years.
Why it’s important: Most of the zinc assets are currently held by parent Vedanta in countries such as Namibia, South Africa, and Ireland. This would change with the new acquisition strategy.
Rising interest rates could moderate sales of real estate properties
The real estate industry is facing a double blow with rising interest rates and a slowdown in the infotech industry that is expected to negatively impact office leasing, according to Radha Dhir, chief executive and country head, India, JLL international property consultancy.
Why it’s important: The outlook for both residential and office property markets in India has dimmed as the monetary cycle has turned and the IT industry is facing a slowdown. The situation might not change in the short to medium term.
Mukesh Ambani to use finance to close the loop of digital trail of consumers
As Mukesh Ambani targets 428 million subscribers of Reliance Jio with a new 5G service and seeks to lure another 300 million feature-phone users to smartphones, his challenges have changed. Ambani aims to explore a consumer and merchant lending business based on proprietary data analytics to complement and supplement the traditional credit bureau-based underwriting, Reliance Industries said in a statement.
Why it’s important: The digital trail people leave behind on e-commerce or social media sites can be used to bind them into a strong network, which can be harnessed to encourage borrowing activity, which Reliance seeks to leverage.
Disclosure: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
