Business News at 05:30 pm on 17th November 2023

Let’s begin. Shares of bank and NBFC firms tumbled up to 7 per cent in morning trade on Friday due to heavy selling pressure after the Reserve Bank tightened norms for consumer credit. State Bank of India shares fell 3.34 percent, Axis Bank declined by 3 percent, Canara Bank went lower by 2.67 percent, and Bank of Baroda dipped by 2.31 percent. Federal Bank (1.39 percent), HDFC Bank (1.26 percent), ICICI Bank (1.16 percent) and IndusInd Bank (0.89 percent) also declined on the BSE. The BSE Bankex index fell 1.12 percent. Among non-banking financial companies, shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services tumbled 6.70 percent, Ujjivan Financial Services fell 5 percent, Arman Financial Services (3.91 percent) and IIFL Finance (3.78 percent).
Meanwhile, Indian investigators are seeking to restart a probe into Adani Group for alleged overvaluation of coal imports and have asked the Supreme Court to allow them to collect evidence from Singapore, a step they say the company thwarted for years, legal documents show. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence since 2016 has been trying to procure transaction documents related to Adani’s dealings from Singapore authorities. The agency suspects many of the group’s coal shipments imported from Indonesian suppliers were first billed at higher prices on paper to its Singapore unit, Adani Global Pte, and then to its Indian arms. Adani Enterprises and its subsidiaries have successfully mounted repeated legal challenges in India and Singapore to block the documents’ release, court papers show.
Moving on. Emirates announced on Thursday that it will acquire an additional 15 Airbus A350-900s, amounting to $6 billion, following a public dispute with the European manufacturer during the Dubai Airshow. This order, smaller than anticipated, came after Emirates and its sister carrier FlyDubai made a substantial $63 billion purchase of Boeing aircraft earlier in the week amid the global travel recovery post-COVID-19. Emirates has now ordered a total of 65 A350 aircraft. Earlier in the week, Emirates President Tim Clark expressed reservations about a major A350 purchase, citing concerns about the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines on the A350-1000 and their maintenance requirements in Dubai’s hot and desert conditions. Rolls-Royce contested Clark’s comments vigorously.
Over to technology. Instagram has announced a series of updates aimed at enhancing the creative experience for its users. The social media platform is introducing improvements to Reels, feed photos and carousels, Stories, and new filters that comes after ages. The new photo filters allow users to explore different moods for their photos and carousels, offering more options for creative expression. Some of the filters that have arrived on Instagram include Fade, Fade warm, Fade cool, Simple, Simple warm, Simple cool, Boost, Boost warm, Boost cool, Graphite, Hyper, Rosy, Emerald, Midnight, Grainy, Gritty, Halo, Color leak, Soft light, Zoom blur, Handheld, Moiré, Lo-res, Wide angle, and Wavy. Other key updates include video editing tools like Undo and Redo to simplify the editing of individual video clips.
In other news, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation today on concerns surrounding deepfakes. From what it’s understood, Modi spoke on artificial intelligence’s (AI) misapplications that give rise to deepfakes. At the Voice of Global South Summit, Modi virtually stated that deepfakes can become a huge concern for India’s system by creating problems in the society. In addition to that, Modi asked for vigilance from the country’s citizens and the media to address deepfake-related issues. Moreover, Modi also specified the need for ChatGPT’s team to caution everybody on the presence of deepfake content amongst social media platforms.
Now, some updates from the Indian Railways. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has dismissed the reports of a shortage of berths for passengers opting for non-AC coaches. Vaishnaw said that instead, there has been a nearly three-fold surge in the number of special train trips this festive season as compared to last year. The Indian Railways, during the festive season from October 1 to December 31, has operated 6,754 additional train trips to accommodate the increase in passenger demand, a significant rise from the 2,614 trips during the same period last year, the minister said. He further added that as of now, 2,423 trips have been successfully completed, and the remaining trips are scheduled to be conducted in the upcoming days.
Lastly, let’s see how the share market performed today. Benchmark indices ended lower in the volatile session on November 17 with Nifty below 19,750. At close, the Sensex was down 187.75 points or 0.28 percent at 65,794.73, and the Nifty was down 33.40 points or 0.17 percent at 19,731.80. About 1926 shares advanced, 1654 shares declined, and 138 shares unchanged. SBI, Axis Bank, ONGC, BPCL and Bajaj Finance were among the top losers on the Nifty, while gainers included SBI Life Insurance, HDFC Life, Apollo Hospitals, Larsen & Toubro and Hero MotoCorp. Among sectors, auto, capital goods, FMCG, pharma and realty up 0.5 percent each.