Business News at 05:30 pm on 13th December 2023

Let’s begin…The domestic refined copper demand growth will remain healthy at ~11 per cent in FY2024 and FY2025, outpacing the rate of global growth in copper demand, given the Government’s thrust on infrastructure development and a gradual transition to renewable energy, ICRA reported. It noted that the price of copper is expected to remain range-bound at current levels of ~8200-8300/tonne in the near term and it foresees a stable outlook for the domestic copper industry. In the domestic market, around ~40 per cent of the copper is consumed in the infrastructure and construction sector and ~11-13 per cent each in the automobile and consumer durable sectors.

Next up, Economists said that the retail inflation based on the CPI, in November 2023 increased to 5.55 per cent, far from the RBI’s medium-term target level of 4 per cent, driven by a surge in food and beverage inflation to 8.0 per cent in November. Experts said that while the RBI will closely monitor inflation as it remains above the MPC’s long-term target of 4 per cent, it will hold the interest rate steady for the next couple of meetings. India’s CPI based inflation rose to 5.55 per cent in November from 4.87 per cent in October which was the lowest level in five months, as a spike in prices of onion led to a rather broad-based rise in food inflation, as per NSO data.

Now let’s talk aviation…One of India’s oldest carriers, Air India, unveiled its new pilot and cabin crew uniforms yesterday. The new collection of uniforms has been designed by one of India’s most renowned fashion designers, Manish Malhotra. In a statement, the airline said the new uniforms will be introduced in a phased manner over the next few months. Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said that the airlines’ crew uniforms are amongst the world’s most storied in aviation history. The uniforms were designed keeping in close touch with the cabin crew representatives and the airline’s In-flight services team, who also conducted an extensive testing exercise for the new designs.

Moving on, Companies in India are ramping up regional suppliers and production facilities to become less vulnerable to disruption. Per a research by Accenture, by 2026, 63 per cent of companies in India intend to buy most key items from regional suppliers, up from 34 per cent currently. The report, called “Resiliency in the making”, said that 77 per cent organisations in India are planning to produce and sell most of their products in the same region by 2026, up from the current 29 per cent. According to the report, leaders are prioritizing proximity-based hubs that concentrate production facilities and sales within the same region to streamline logistics, improve inventory management and accelerate response to market demand.

In another news, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport set very much welcomed records in the month of November this year, achieving significant milestones. The airport reportedly set new records for the highest-ever monthly passenger traffic, single-day traffic, and single-day Air Traffic Movements. It saw its highest-ever monthly traffic of around 4.46 million passengers in November. This marked a 13% jump from the figure recorded in November 2022. The airport also recorded a noteworthy 109% recovery in passenger traffic compared to the pre-pandemic levels of November 2018. On November 11, it set a record for its highest single-day ATMs, totalling 1,032 movements. Furthermore, November 25 witnessed the highest single-day traffic with 167,132 passengers. Noteworthy domestic destinations included Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai.

Moreover, Mirae Asset Securities, the parent company of Mirae Asset Capital Markets (India) on Wednesday announced that it has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with BNP Paribas SA to acquire Sharekhan Limited, subject to terms and conditions of the SPA and receipt of the applicable regulatory approvals. Mirae Asset Securities is a Korean securities company that entered into the Indian capital market in 2018 and has become the first to acquire a local firm in just a span of five year. Established in 2000, Sharekhan Limited is a brokerage firm in India with a total of 3,500+ employees, approximately 30 lakh+ accounts, and more than 4,000 business partners. It has 130+ branches across 400+ districts nationwide.

Lastly, let’s take a look at the stock market. Today, DOMS Industries IPO opened for public subscription and will close on Friday, December 15, 2023. The bidding for anchor investors concluded on Tuesday, wherein the company collected Rs 537.75 crore. The price band for its public issue at Rs 750-790 per equity share of face value Rs 10 each. At the upper end of the price band, the company’s promoters and shareholders seek to raise Rs 1,200 crore from the IPO. Ahead of the public issue, DOMS Industries shares’ GMP rose 62.66% over the upper end of the share price on offer.