Episode 1256

Business News at 05:30 pm on 31st May, 2024

In today’s podcast, we talk about MSCI Index rebalancing, what Congress and BJP manifesto’s means for the economy, among other news. Also, know how the share market performed today.

Today’s Latest Business News at 05:30 pm on 31st May, 2024.

[Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated]
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Let’s begin. The Reserve Bank of India will allow rupee accounts to be opened outside the country this year in what appears to be a move to promote the use of the Indian currency overseas. The central bank will allow lending in rupee by Indian banks to persons resident outside India. The RBI will also enable foreign direct investment and portfolio investment through special accounts, such as special non-resident rupee and special rupee vostro accounts, it said in its annual report released Thursday. Besides, it will promote the use of the rupee and other domestic currencies in the Asian Clearing Union mechanism, the RBI said. Earlier, the RBI asked banks to put in place additional arrangements for export and import transactions in the rupee.
Over to Market news, although India Inc reported a good jump in profits for FY24, an increase of nearly 25%, the dividend payout ratio for companies that have announced results so far, at 34.83%, is the lowest in the last five years. The somewhat conservative approach to rewarding shareholders is surprising at a time when business has been reasonably good. Only 1,009 companies companies that have declared their results – have paid out dividends to the tune of Rs 4.04 trillion for FY24. The total net profit reported by these 1,009 companies is close to Rs 12 trillion. In the previous year or FY23, a set of 1,151 companies had paid out a sum of Rs 4.14 trillion as dividends.
Next from Industry news, NTPC would seek to raise around “a billion dollars” over Rs 8,300 crore – at current exchange rate through the initial public offering (of its wholly-owned subsidiary NTPC Green Energy, chairman and MD Gurdeep Singh told FE. The NGEL issue is scheduled to hit the market early in the second half of the current fiscal, Singh added. Quote “Our balance sheet is very robust and healthy, and we can raise money easily. However, as a stated objective, we will go for 10% to start with, followed by 15% through OFS unquote Singh said, adding that the green arm is tipped to outgrow the parent. The follow-on offer will enable NGEL to meet the regulatory requirement of minimum 25% public float.
Over to technology section, Global players like Intel and AMD will have a level playing field with Nvidia for supplying graphics processing units for setting up compute infrastructure in the country under the Rs 10,372 crore AI mission. This is because the ministry of electronics and information technology will follow the tender route to procure the GPUs instead of any direct engagement with Nvidia, official sources said. US-based Nvidia, currently dominates the GPU market with about 80% share. As a result, supplies from the company is coming with a lag of several months. The details of the tender will be finalised once a new government takes charge next month. The development will come as a huge relief to Intel, AMD.
Moving to Economy news, lingering geopolitical uncertainties, renewed supply chain pressures due to geopolitical developments in the Middle East, lower reservoir levels, and fall in production of major crops pose upside risks to headline CPI inflation going forward, said the Reserve Bank of India in its Annual Report for 2023-24. On growth, the RBI said that the growth outlook for FY25 remains buoyant, given the government’s sustained focus on capital expenditure while maintaining fiscal consolidation. It says, India’s GDP in the current financial year is expected to grow at 7%, with risks evenly balanced. The RBI mentioned that the softening of the headline rate in FY24 was the outcome of the sustained “anti-inflationary” monetary policy stance, proactive supply management measures by the government.
Now latest on Monsoon. The India Meteorological Department announced onset of the southwest monsoon June-September simultaneously over Kerala and parts of north-east India, a day earlier than the predicted. The rains marks the the commencement of its four-month sojourn which brings in 75% of the country’s annual rainfall. Quote Southwest Monsoon has set in over Kerala and advanced into most parts of northeast India including entire Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and most parts of Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam Unquote according to the met department statement. The monsoon rains are likely to progress into parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the next couple of days, an official said. The monsoon rains this year have arrived over Kerala two days before normal date.
Lastly let’s look at Stocks in Focus today, these include Bharat Dynamics, Jio Financial, Apollo Hospitals, Muthoot Finance, EV Stocks, Aarti Industries. EV Stocks- The National Stock Exchange of India’s index services subsidiary, NSE Indices, has launched India’s first electric vehicle index, aimed at tracking the performance of companies within the EV ecosystem. On the other hand, Bharat Dynamics, the defense public sector company reported a significant 89% year-on-year increase in net profit, reaching Rs 288.8 crore for the fourth quarter.

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