Business News at 10:00 am on 13th March, 2024

Let’s begin – Retail food inflation rose to 8.66% in February, 2024, from 8.3% the previous month due sequential rise in vegetable and meat prices. The relevant consumer food price index last month recorded a sequential rise of 0.1% on the month. Annual food inflation in February, 2023 was 5.95% on year. Deflation in edible oils continued in February. Inflation in vegetables was 30.25% last month, while prices rose by 27.03% in January, 2024 on year. Rise in retail prices of tomatoes last month was 42.01% against an increase of 38.01% in January, 2024 on year. Retail inflation onion was 22.1% last month, while prices rose by 29.69% in January, 2024 on year.

Up next – Mid- and small-cap stocks lost more ground on Tuesday as concerns that valuations have turned ‘frothy’ has prompted some investors to take risk off the table. The selling is partly the fallout of regulatory concerns of a bubble in the segment and a directive by the Association of Mutual Funds of India to mutual funds to conduct stress tests. While the BSE SmallCap Index lost 2.11%, the BSE MidCap index gave up 1.31%. In the last two sessions, the small-cap gauge has dropped from 44,653 to 42,831, logging a fall of about 1,822 points or 4.08%. The mid-cap index has come off from 39,852 to 39,238, recording a drop of 614 points or 1.54% in two days.

Moving on – Shares of Aditya Birla Capital rose nearly 6% intra-day following the announcement that the company will merge subsidiary Aditya Birla Finance with itself. The stock closed up 2.23% at Rs 183.65 on the BSE. On the National Stock Exchange, shares closed with gains of 1.97%. Aditya Birla Capital is the holding company for the Aditya Birla group’s financial services business and owns various operating entities. The merger, which is expected to take 12 months, will make Aditya Birla Finance the first entity among the upper layer NBFCs to set a clear path for complying with Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s scale-based regulations. The regulations require the mandatory listing of Aditya Birla Finance by September 2025.
“In other news – State-run coal companies are seeking a larger role in non-fossil energy. These firms have set a target of achieving 9 giga watt of renewable energy capacity by the year 2030, a major part of which solar energy. The move is expected to give a significant push to the nation’s plan increase the share of non-fossil fuels in the energy mix and meet the target of net-zero by 2070, according to government sources. Currently, the combined solar energy capacity of the major state-run coal public sector enterprises – Coal India, NLC India, and SCCL stands at 1.7 GW, with an additional 51 MW obtained from wind mills.

Meanwhile – Airfares and hotel rates across top holiday destinations are shooting skywards for the Holi and Good Friday weekends as travellers make a beeline for a quick getaway. Travel agencies say the end of the school and college exam season, and the start of summer holidays are inducing holidaymakers to combine the two long weekends for a week-long escape. One-way airfare for a morning flight on a low-cost carrier from Mumbai to Goa is up four times at Rs 9,500 from the usual Rs 2,300 for the Holi weekend starting March 23. Similarly, fares on the New Delhi to Srinagar sector have jumped by at least two times to Rs 11,200 for the same period.
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Moving ahead – Ahead of the spectrum auction in May, Vodafone Idea has surrendered 5 MHz spectrum in 1800 MHz band in two circles – West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh East, according to officials. The spectrum surrendered was up for renewal after a 20-year lease period. In the absence of timely auction, the government had last month approved interim allocation of spectrum to telcos for renewing the expired spectrum at earlier reserve price, and the balance amount if any was to be adjusted after the auction. Vodafone Idea, however, decided not to opt for renewing the spectrum. Instead, it is expected to renew the spectrum in 900 MHz in these two circles in the auction, officials said.

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“Lastly – GIFT Nifty indicated that Indian equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 may see a positive opening on Wednesday. GIFT Nifty traded up by 18.50 points or 0.08% at 22,457 indicating a positive opening for domestic indices NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex on Wednesday. Previously, on Tuesday, the NSE Nifty 50 ended up by just 3.05 points or 0.01% to settle at 22,335.70, while the BSE Sensex gained 165.32 points or 0.22% to 73,667.96. The key stocks to watch in trade are ITC, Vedanta, ICICI Pru AMC, Aurobindo Pharma, Glenmark Life Sciences, Shree Cement, Muthoot Capital and JG Chemicals among others.