Our specially curated package of the most interesting articles from this morning
Here are the top stories this afternoon:
Has India’s GDP taken a turn for the better or worse? Depends on how you look at it
India’s economic growth is slowing. The question is how badly. The October-December GDP growth of 4.4 percent was the slowest in three quarters. What’s worse is this growth comes on top of a modest 5.2 percent gain in the corresponding period of FY22.
The internals of GDP growth data give more reason to worry. Manufacturing Gross Value Added (GVA) shrank 1.12 percent, the second straight quarter of contraction for the sector. One more quarter of contraction would mean India has a manufacturing recession underway. Analysts believe the odds of this happening are high.
Services growth, too, has slowed; the GVA growth for the third quarter, at 6.19 percent, was again the slowest in three quarters. Read on
Under ki baat: Rupa, Dollar shares rebound to ‘oversold’ territory
Innerwear stocks Dollar Industries and Rupa & Company surged sharply on March 1 after many sessions of either decline or subdued gains.
Dollar Industries was quoting at Rs 346.75 apiece, higher by 9.8 percent from previous close, while Rupa surged over 11 percent to Rs 230 at 11:45 am.
Rupa & Company’s trading volumes of over 15 million shares were 11 times its 20-day average volume. At two lakh shares, Dollar Industries’ volumes were twice its daily average volume over the last three months. More here
How Joshi the Jadugar worked the mechanics in Axis front-running case
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has barred Viresh Joshi and 20 more listed in the Axis mutual fund front-running case from buying, selling or dealing in the securities market or associating themselves with the securities markets.
Further, Rs 30.55 crore is to be impounded from these entities according to the wrongful gains they have made through their front-running activities.
The order also unearths the modus operandi of the whole operation in threadbare details. Joshi, referred to as ‘Jadugar’ in WhatsApp conversations by others involved in the illegal scheme, used his position in Axis mutual fund as a dealer and availed of the hybrid working model during the peak COVID-19 years to work around any physical supervision on his actions.
He also secured another mobile, which he did not disclose to Axis mutual fund, and used it to communicate his front-running trades to others. Read more
Costly gas, EMIs. Some pocket-pinching changes that kick in from March 1
Post the announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget on February 1, several rules relating to money, banking, and other sectors change from March 1. Listed below are the ones you ought to know about:
The prices of LPG, CNG, and PNG gases are decided at the beginning of every month. Although there was no change in LPG cylinder price last time, it got costlier this month.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently increased the repo rate, following which several banks hiked the MCLR (Marginal Cost of Funds Based Landing Rate) rates too. As expected, this hike is now making its way into loan interests and the EMIs. Read on to know more
Why Ajay Srivastava feels banks can’t deliver superlative returns
Stocks continue to be very expensive, even as the market is seeing a normalisation. As people move to fixed income, the incremental money flows are slowing down, said Ajay Srivastava, CEO of Dimensions Corporate Finance Services, while speaking with CNBC-TV18 in an exclusive conversation.
He recommended investors balance their portfolios and get into fixed-income segments. “Non-MNC consumer stocks I think those are the first ones which will keep falling till they come to a peak of 2025,” he opined. Know more here
MC Explains| Axis Bank completes acquisition of Citibank’s consumer business. Here’s what it means for customers, employees
On March 1, Axis Bank completed the acquisition of Citibank’s consumer business. The deal, which was announced in March 2022, will see India’s third-largest private sector bank absorbing Citibank’s consumer businesses, covering loans, credit cards, wealth management and retail banking operations in India.
The deal happened after Citigroup in 2021 announced its decision to shutter its retail banking operations in 13 countries, including India, as part of a global business strategy. Axis Bank put out a video advertisement to welcome Citibank’s 30 lakh plus customers on March 1. Here is an explainer on what the deal means for customers and employees. Read on
