Share Market highlights: Sensex ends 278 points higher, Nifty above 10,900; Yes Bank, Tech Mahindra top gainers

Over five months after the department for promotion of industry and internal (DPIIT) government issued the draft e-commerce policy for regulating flow and storage of user data along with ensuring compliance with laws governing online marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, the department of consumer affairs has now issued a separate ‘consumer protection guidelines’ for e-commerce to ‘prevent fraud, unfair trade practices, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers,’ according to the draft issued by the department for which stakeholders’ suggestions are sought by September 16, 2019.

The Sensex and Nifty extended gains in the afternoon trade on Tuesday, as fears of yuan falling further eased and investors prepare for repo rate cut from RBI tomorrow. The Sensex is up 358 points to 37,061 while the Nifty is trading near the 11,000-mark. Yes Bank, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank are among the biggest gainers, jumping up to 3%. Powergrid, Infosys, TCS were among the biggest losers in the Sensex pack, shedding more than 2% each. A look at LIVE Sensex hetmap.

Despite being a Law graduate, Company Secretary Anika Gupta (name changed) made a mistake while filing her Income Tax Return (ITR) two years ago when she was working with a multi-national company in Mumbai. A year later, she returned to Delhi to stay with her parents and joined another organisation, but the mistake she made continued to haunt her as the concerned Income Tax Commissioner issued a notice and summoned her for personal appearance at the Income Tax (I-T) Department in Mumbai.

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Sterling and Wilson Solar IPO (initial public offer) for Rs 3,125 crore opened for subscription today. A Shapoorji Pallonji subsidiary, Sterling and Wilson Solar is among the largest global solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) solutions provider. Sterling and Wilson Solar emerged as the world’s largest solar EPC solutions provider in 2018 based on annual installations of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems of more than five mega-watt peak (MWp) with a market share of 4.6 per cent for the year, according to a report by IHS Markit. Even as investors may be mulling to subscribe to the issue, we take a look at key details of the public offer.

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The Sensex and Nifty extended gains in the afternoon trade on Tuesday, as fears of yuan falling further eased and investors prepare for repo rate cut from RBI tomorrow. The Sensex is up 275 points to 36,944 while the Nifty is trading above the 10,950-mark. Yes Bank, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank are among the biggest gainers, jumping up to 3%. Powergrid, Infosys, TCS were among the biggest losers in the Sensex pack, shedding more than 2% each. A look at LIVE Sensex heatmap.

Just a few days after news surfaced that Indigo promoters have called it a truce, co-founder Rakesh Gangwal called the earlier media reports “planted” and wrote a letter to the board of directors maintaining that the issues between him and InterGlobe Limited are not over yet. Dissing media reports, Gangwal said that the reports left misleading information and false impression that the issue between promoters is over. Rakesh Gangwal also said that the issues on RPTs and changes to the Articles do not have the support of both promoter groups. “I am ” … unable to support the resolution in the absence of the complementary Board resolution on the Articles and the RPT policy”,” Gangwal said. The disagreement on related-party transaction (RPT) policy and board composition still persist between the Indigo promoters, according to a BSE filing.

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The momentum that Modi government has created with the decisive step of abrogating the section 370 has to be sustained. Political leaders thrive on positive waves as it can lead to shift in mindsets and this seems to be the purpose here. Mindset change is important if you want any behavioural change in a recalcitrant population. This is the biggest opportunity in front of the BJP government when it comes to these two new UTs- J&K and Ladakh. This is also a huge opportunity for the population of J&K and Ladakh to look at a new future break the patterns of the past which no longer serves anybody’s interests. There is hope for weaning away misguided Kashmiri youths to dream about a better life.

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Shares of India's largest private sector airline Interglobe Aviation tanked in trade on Tuesday morning, after promoter Rakesh Gangwal refuted reports of truce with Rahul Bhatia. Interglobe Aviation shares slumped 1% to Rs 1,477. IndiGo promoter Rakesh Gangwal refused to vote affirmatively on a special resolution for "Alteration in Articles of Association". The firm's board has decided to expand the strength of the board to up to ten members, including four independent directors. Also, there would be one woman independent director. "Gangwal has stated in his letter of August 5, 2019 that he has set up a website to update “relevant information” as needed. Please note that this website has not been approved or authorized by the Company and no reliance should be placed on the contents of this website as it may contain incomplete and therefore misleading information," IndiGo said in a statement to the exchanges. 

After opening lower tracking global cues, the Sensex and Nifty  recovered in the morning trade. The Sensex is up 152 points to 36,852.54 while the Nifty is trading above the 10,900-mark. Yes Bank, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank are among the biggest gainers, jumping up to 3%. Powergrid, Infosys, TCS were among the biggest losers in the Sensex pack, shedding more than 2% each. A look at LIVE Sensex heatmap.

India’s gold imports in July plunged 55% from a year ago to the lowest level in three years as a rally in local prices to a record high and a hike in import taxes curtailed demand, a government source said on Monday. Lower purchases by the world’s second biggest consumer could cap gains in global prices that jumped to the highest level in over 6-years on Monday, but help the south Asian country in bringing down the trade deficit and supporting rupee .

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India’s gold imports in July plunged 55% from a year ago to the lowest level in three years as a rally in local prices to a record high and a hike in import taxes curtailed demand, a government source said on Monday. Lower purchases by the world’s second biggest consumer could cap gains in global prices that jumped to the highest level in over 6-years on Monday, but help the south Asian country in bringing down the trade deficit and supporting rupee .

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The brokerage said that the company is expected to remain free-cash flow negative over FY20-21 too, just as it has been for the last six years, given that its liabilities have dramatically gone up to $65 billion in FY19 from $19 billion in FY15. RIL’s total liabilities, as disclosed in its annual report, include debt, higher crude payables, customer advances, capex creditors and spectrum payouts, said Credit Suisse analysts. According to CS, RIL has been FCF negative for the past six years and this has resulted in financing liabilities increasing from $19 bn in FY15 to $65 bn in FY19. During this period, the company’s net debt has increased from $2.7 billion to $12.4 billion. Additional debt at the consolidated balance sheet rose from $9.4 billion to $20.6 billion. Interest cost for the company has risen to a whopping $4 billion in FY19 (including both reported and capitalised interest cost) from $1.2 billion in FY15, which was a high 44% of Ebit.

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Distressed employees of MTNL on Monday protested in front of Sanchar Bhawan, which houses the department of telecommunications, and also tried to meet Communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. However, they failed to meet the minister as he was busy in Parliament. MTNL employees have not got salaries for the past two months. Sources in the telco said that the company was trying to arrange the salaries through collection of dues but it won’t suffice the salary of its 22,000 staff for two months.

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Chennai-headquartered public sector lender Indian Bank on Monday reported a 74.56% jump in its net profit to `365.37 crore for the first quarter of FY20, compared with `209.31 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Total income rose 14% to `5,832.11 crore from `5,131.96 crore. Speaking to media persons after releasing the earning performance, Padmaja Chunduru, MD & CEO, attributed the good growth in the net profit to arresting of further slippage to bad loans, increased recovery and a remarkable increase in other income.

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Global stocks extended their already substantial losses and the offshore yuan hit an all-time low on Tuesday after Washington designated Beijing a currency manipulator in a rapid escalation of the U.S.-China trade war. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday the government had determined that China is manipulating its currency, and that Washington would engage with the International Monetary Fund to eliminate unfair competition from Beijing.

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The headline indices Sensex and Nifty are likely to opened lower tracking global cues, but recovered in the morning trade. The Sensex is up 100 points to 36,836.26 while the Nifty is trading neat the 10,900-mark.  Global stocks extended their already substantial losses and the offshore yuan hit an all-time low on Tuesday after Washington designated Beijing a currency manipulator in a rapid escalation of the U.S.-China trade war. A look at LIVE Sensex heatmap.

Wall Street’s major indexes posted their biggest percentage drop of the year on Monday, as a fall in the yuan following U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods sparked fears of further escalation of the U.S.-China trade war. While stocks pared losses in the last hour of trading to finish off their session lows, the benchmark S&P 500 fell about 3% to notch its biggest one-day percentage decline since Dec. 4. The decline amounted to a $766 billion paper loss for the index, according to Refinitiv data. The S&P 500 has fallen for six consecutive sessions and is now about 6% below its record closing high on July 26.

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Gold prices continued to rise on Tuesday as the protracted trade war between the United States and China intensified after Washington designated Beijing a currency manipulator, prompting a flight towards safe-haven assets. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,465.91 per ounce as of 0122 GMT. On Monday, gold surged 2% to its highest level in more than six years. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,480.90 an ounce. The U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday it had determined for the first time since 1994 that China was manipulating its currency, and that Washington would engage the International Monetary Fund to eliminate unfair competition from Beijing.

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The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India has launched its much awaited term insurance plan Jeevan Amar, which is much cheaper than its just-withdrawn Amulya Jeevan Term Plan. Not only the new term plan is cheaper, but it is more flexible and has much wider features. As Jeevan Amar is a term plan, it is a without profit plan and is also a non-linked plan. Which means, the plan is not market-linked and there will be no maturity value and only death claim will be payable to the nominee in case of unfortunate demise of the life assured during the policy term, provided the policy is in force.

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North Korea on Tuesday said US-South Korean war games are a “flagrant violation” of efforts to reach peace on the Korean peninsula and reflect a lack of “political will” to improve relations. The comments by an unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesman, carried by state news agency KCNA, came as Pyongyang fired two “unidentified projectiles” off its east coast, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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Oil prices edged up on Tuesday, but remained under pressure as the escalating U.S.-China trade war stoked concerns over global economic growth and future demand for crude. Brent crude futures had risen 10 cents, or 0.17%, to $59.91 a barrel by 0149 GMT after earlier dipping to their lowest since mid-January at $59.07. The international benchmark fell more than 3% on Monday as traders worried the ongoing trade tensions between the world’s two biggest oil buyers would dent appetite for fuel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 7 cents, or 0.13%, to $54.76 per barrel.

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