Business News at 05:30 pm on 23rd April, 2024

Let’s begin. India’s private sector continued to strengthen in April and the business activity expanded at its fastest in nearly 14 years this month, fuelled by positive demand trends, according to a survey released by S&P Global. Per the HSBC Flash India PMI data, the manufacturing industry led the latest upturn, as was the case in March, although softening growth at goods producers compared with accelerations at service providers. The headline HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index, a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and service sectors, reported a rise from 61.8 in March to 62.2 in April, indicating the fastest rate of increase in aggregate business activity since mid-2010.

Meanwhile, PSP Projects recently announced the commencement of its qualified institutions placement to raise Rs 244 crore. The company has set the floor price for the QIP at Rs 682.59 per equity share, with a provision to offer a discount of up to 5% on the floor price to investors. This QIP issue, which begins today, follows the approval by the board on February 9 and the shareholders’ approval through a postal ballot on April 4. PSP’s fundraising committee convened on April 22 and greenlit the launch of the issue, the determination of the floor price, and the preparation of the preliminary placement document.

Moving on. Cement volume growth recovered to 7-8 per cent on-year in the last quarter of fiscal 2024, after growing approximately 15 per cent on-year in the first half and logging a moderate slowdown in the third quarter due to regional hindrances, said a report by CRISIL. This, it added, was driven on aggressive volume push. This ensured the third straight year of healthy demand growth at around 11 per cent in fiscal 2024 to approximately 441 million tonne (MT). On this high base, CRISIL MI&A Research said that the demand growth is expected to cool to 6-7 per cent in fiscal 2025. However, the report maintained that pan-India cement prices took a beating in the second half of the fiscal.

Over to market. The broking firm Motilal Oswal has maintained the rating and target price on the stock of Reliance Industries. However, it said that the company might see some pressure in oil to chemicals earnings in the first quarter of FY25 as volume is expected to be muted sequentially. It has a “Buy” rating, with a target price of Rs 3,245 per share. However, the company’s oil-to-chemicals profitability to be healthy over the next 1.5 years on the back of the refining net capacity additions in CY24 are trailing oil demand growth. Standalone EBITDA stood at Rs 20,000 crore in fourth quarter of FY24, supported by better feedstock sourcing, higher domestic product placement, and increased sales volume Quarter on Quarter.

Next up, banking. IndusInd Bank announced successful execution of RBI’s programmable CBDC pilot, becoming the first Bank to do so. In a regulatory filing, it said, quote, “This pilot project is executed in collaboration with Circularity Innovation Hub India Private Limited, as an alternate form of CBDC wherein the Bank can program the end use of funds, being disbursed to farmers instead of generation of carbon credits,” unquote. As a part of this pilot, IndusInd Bank initiated the programmable CBDC disbursement to 50 farmers in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra and will cover around 1000 farmers going ahead. This project involves IndusInd Bank crafting digital wallets and managing CBDC transfers, alongside partners.

Over to technology. Xiaomi announced a bunch of new smart home ecosystem products and “more” at its annual smarter living event in India today. Alongside the Redmi Pad SE, Redmi Buds 5A, Xiaomi Robot Vacuum Cleaner S10, and Xiaomi handheld garment steamer, Xiaomi also finally announced the launch date of the limited “World champions” or AFA (short for Argentina Football Association) edition of the Redmi Note 13 Pro Plus. The limited-edition model which marks the 10-year anniversary of Xiaomi in India and was first teased in January, is finally coming on April 30. Further details about price and memory configuration should be announced closer to launch.

Lastly, let’s see how the share market performed today. Indian equity indices ended higher for the third straight session on April 23 with Nifty around 22,350. At close, the Sensex was up 89.83 points or 0.12 per cent at 73,738.45, and the Nifty was up 31.60 points or 0.14 per cent at 22,368. About 2224 shares advanced, 1450 shares declined, and 109 shares unchanged. Grasim Industries, Bharti Airtel, Nestle India, Maruti Suzuki and HCL Technologies were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Sun Pharma, BPCL, Reliance Industries, M&M and Hindalco Industries. Among sectors, healthcare, metal, oil & gas and energy were down 0.3-0.8 per cent, while FMCG, power, IT, realty and auto up 0.4-2 per cent.