Business Standard Podcast

Rajya Sabha on Monday approved a resolution revoking the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and passed a Bill to split the state into two Union Territories, as Home Minister Amit Shah promised to restore full statehood after normalcy is restored in the militancy-hit region. Under Article 370 of the Constitution, Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed complete autonomy and the state legislature was free to draft its own laws except in the areas of communications, defense, finance, and foreign affairs. Also, Indian citizens were prohibited from purchasing land in the state. So, what will exactly change in J&K if the Lok Sabha today passes the Reorganisation Bill?   Listen to the Podcast.

Tensions in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir coupled with simmering trade war concerns between the United States and China led to broad-based sell-off at D-street on Monday as benchmark indices plunged up to 675 points at the S&P BSE Sensex and 215 points at the Nifty50 intra-day. Benign corporate earnings and sluggih economic activity furter contributed to fresh-five month lows during the volatile trade. The Sensex ended 418 points, or 1.13 per cent, lower at 36,700 levels dragged by selling across public sector banks and metal counters. YES Bank, Tata Motors, Power Grid, and Reliance Industries were the top laggards while Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, TCS and Bajaj Auto gained the most during the day. The Nifty50, too, slipped 135 points, or 1.23 per cent, to settle at 10,863 mark. India VIX, the volatility index, rose 15 per cent intra-day. The Narendra Modi government on Monday moved to scrap provisions under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which grants a special status to the state of Jammu & Kashmir in the Union of India. It has decided that Jammu and Kashmir would be turned into a Union Territory with a legislature, similar to Delhi and Puducherry, and the Ladakh division would be made a separate Union Territory without legislature, akin to Chandigarh and most other Union Territories.  In the broader-market, S&P BSE Mid-cap dipped to 13,376 level, down 170 points, or 1.26 per cent. The S&P BSE Small-cap closed at 12,285 level, down 212 points, or 1.7 per cent. Sectorally, all but Nifty IT index ended with cuts. Nifty auto, metal, PSU bank, realty, private bank, and financial services indices ended between 1.4 to 2 per cent lower. NIfty IT index settled 0.63 per cent higher at close. Shares of Nestle India rallied 4 per cent intra-day to Rs 11,912 apiece, in an otherwise weak market, on the BSE on Monday after the company reported a good April-June quarter (Q2CY19) results. The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company also declared a dividend of Rs 203 per share, including a special dividend of Rs 180 per share. The stock was trading close to its record high level of Rs 12,026 touched on July 1, 2019 on the BSE in the intra-day deal.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday announced the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution, which provides a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The government also moved a Bill proposing the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories - first, Jammu and Kashmir, which will have a legislature like Delhi, and second Ladakh, which will not have a legislature like Chandigarh. The official notification on the matter was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind. Meanwhile, J&K remains on edge, with some of its leaders including ex-chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti under house arrest. Listen to this podcast for more.

Jammu and Kashmir has been on the edge following deployment of additional security forces in the state last week. Speculation has been rife that the Centre has plans to do away with Article 35A, which gives exclusive rights to the state's residents in government jobs and land.  The administration of Jammu and Kashmir, which is under President's rule, has ordered curtailment of the annual Amarnath Yatra and asked pilgrims and tourists to leave the Kashmir Valley, citing terror threat. Outstation students, studying in the NIT in Srinagar, have also been asked to leave the campus and go home and not to return till further order. Listen to this podcast for more.

RBI policy meet, June quarter results, macroeconomic data, and global cues are the key factors that will sway market sentiment this week. This apart, progress in monsoon, foreign fund flow, oil price, and the movement of rupee against the US dollar will also be on investors' radar. They will keep an eye out for various domestic and global macroeconomic prints set to be released this week, including India-Market PMI services and IIP figures. Companies will continue to roll out June quarter earnings. The big ones include Indiabulls Housing Finance, Titan, HCL Tech, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Tata Steel. Investors will react to these and other major results announced post market hours on Friday and during the weekend that includes results of ITC, Nestle, Care Ratings and JK Cement. Today, as many as 100 companies, including the likes of Bombay Dyeing, SRF, Tata Power, and Torrent Power are scheduled to announce their June quarter earnings today. Now, let's focus on the primary market. Microfinance lender Spandana Sphoorty Financial will launch its Rs 1,200-crore initial public offering (IPO) today. Spandana’s business is a new one, with almost no baggage of the past.   Additionally, markets will react negatively to any escalation on the US-China trade war front, revived last week by US President Donald Trump who announced 10 per cent tariffs on $300 billion Chinese imports. Now, let's take a look at the global markets. Asian shares extended their losses on Monday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.25 per cent. Japan's Nikkei slipped 1.1 per cent, while Australian shares were also down. In the commodities market, oil prices were pulled down on demand worries. Brent crude was down 50 cents at $61.39 a barrel while US crude was down 24 cents at $55.42 a barrel. And now, here're the top headlines for the day - >> Govt moves SC to make NCLT judges stick to deadline for resolving cases; >> Embassy may call off stake-purchase deal with Indiabulls Real Estate;  >> Economic slowdown is cyclical; growth will pick up in 1-2 yrs: Bimal Jalan;  >> Deloitte quits as auditor of crisis-hit DHFL

Fresh trade war concerns between the United States and China weighed down investors' sentiment on Friday leading to a sluggish trade through the day. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex and the broader Nifty50 plummted 411 points and 131 points respectively during the intra-day trade before staging a smart recovery during the last trading hour. Indices inched higher on reports that the PMO took stock of the steep sell-off being witnessed in the market since the presentation of the Union Budget 2019-20. Reports suggested that PMO met officials from the Finance Ministry on Thursday to discuss concerns raised by the FPIs and even considered proposals submitted by them. The Sensex closed at 37,118 level, up 100 points, or 0.27 per cent with Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, and Maruti being the top gainers. On the other hand, Tata Steel, SBI, Vedanta, and ONGC ended the day with steep losses. The broader Nifty50 failed to hold the psychological 11,000-mark to end at 10,997, up 17 points, or 0.16 per cent.  In the broader markets, S&P BSE Mid-cap closed at 13,547 level, up 20 points, or 0.15 per cent while the S&P BSE Small-cap settled 55 points, or 0.44 per cent, lower at 12,496 level. Sectorally, metals slipped the most as risks to global economy increased after US President Donald Trump imposed fresh tariffs Chinese imports. The index dipped 2.16 per cent at close, followed by Nifty PSU Bank, down 1.12 per cent. Among the gainers, Nifty Auto index ended 1.26 per cent higher, followed by Nifty IT index, which gained 0.57 per cent on the back of weaker rupee.  State Bank of India (SBI), on Friday, was back in the black and reported a net profit of Rs 2,312 crore for the June quarter of 2019-20 (Q1FY20) on the back of healthy growth in advances and stable asset quality. The bank had reported a net loss of Rs 4,875.9 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal (Q1FY19) and a PAT of Rs 838.4 in the March 2019 quarter (Q4FY19). Shares of Bharti Airtel climbed 5 per cent to Rs 339 apiece in Friday's early morning trade on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in an otherwise weak market after the telecom operator reported an improved margin and industry-best average revenue per user (ARPU) for the June quarter (Q1FY20).

Fresh trade war concerns could weigh investors' sentiment today as US President Donald Trump, in a tweet last night, said that Washington would slap fresh tariffs of 10% on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese imports from Sept 1. That apart, corporate results, global cues, and update on monsoon will give direction to the market today. Globally, Wall Street fell after Trump's tweet. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.05 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.9 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.79 per cent in the overnight trade on Thursday.  Asian stocks, too,  tumbled in the early trade. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.51 per cent while Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.91 per cent. SGX Nifty, the Singaporean exchange for Nifty Futures, also suggests a negative start for the indices.  On Thursday, indices hit fresh five-month lows with the S&P BSE Sensex slipping below the 37,000 mark and the broader Nifty50 breached 11,000 mark in the intra-day trade.  The Sensex ended 463 points, or 1.23 per cent, lower at 37,018 level while the Nifty50 ended the day with losses of 138 points, or 1.24 per cent, at 10,980 mark. Now, lets see the stocks that are likely to remain in focus today-- >> Bharti Airtel reported its Q1 result yesterday, after market hours, and posted a loss of staggering Rs 2,866 crore. However, revenue was up 2.8 per cent at Rs 15,345 crore. >> Auto stocks may be in focus as data showed that sales in July continued to go down amid poor demand. >> Public lender SBI is scheduled to report its June quarter result today and is expected to clock a net profit of Rs 5,934.5 crore as compared to a net loss of Rs 4,875.9 crore in Q1FY19. In total, 82 companies are scheduled to declare their Q1 results today. You can read full coverage on these results and other companies on our website. At last, here are the top headlines-- >> DSP Mutual Fund has initiated legal action against DHFL to recover dues >> Lenders are unwilling to provide extra funds to the beleaguered Jet Airways >> GST collections were back above the Rs 1 trillion mark in July despite a subdued central and state GST revenue mop-up.

Thursday's carnage on D-Street dragged indices to fresh five-month lows with the S&P BSE Sensex slipping below the 37,000 mark. On the other hand, the broader Nifty50, too, breached 11,000 mark in the intra-day trade. The Sensex plunged 787 points intra-day to hit a low of 36,694, while the Nifty50 shed 204 points to touch 10,881 mark. Mixed corporate earnings, weak domestic and global cues, and continuous selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were among the key reasons for the fall. The Sensex ended 463 points, or 1.23 per cent, lower at 37,018 level after recovery in stocks like Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Industries, HDFC twins, and Hindustan Unilever helped the index to pare losses partially. Vedanta, State Bank of India, Tata Motors, and Bharti Airtel were the top laggards at close, while Maruti Suzuki, Reliance Industries, Power Grid, and Bajaj Auto ended the day as top gainer. The Nifty50, too, ended the day with losses of 138 points, or 1.24 per cent, at 10,980 mark. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-cap slipped 117 points, or 0.86 per cent, to end at 13,526 level while the S&P BSE Small-cap settled at 12,552 level, down 140 points, or 1.1 per cent. Sectorally, all the indices ended in the red, barring the Nifty Auto index. Nifty Metal index slipped the most, ending the day with a cut of over 3 per cent, followed by Nifty PSU Bank index, down 2.66 per cent. NIfty Auto index ended the day flat. Wipro shares climbed 4 per cent to Rs 276 in early morning trade on the BSE on Thursday in an otherwise weak market after the company said it'll begin its Rs 10,500-crore share buyback programme on August 14 and close on August 28. Shares of Delta Corp hit an over two-year low of Rs 141 per share, down 8 per cent intra-day on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, after foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded about 1 percentage point stake in the company through open market.   The stock was trading at its lowest level since May 23, 2017, when it hit a low of Rs 139 apiece on the NSE in intra-day deals.

Investors will look at US Fed rate cut, corporate results, and macroeconomic data for market direction today. They will also react to major results announced yesterday, including by DLF and Allahabad Bank among others. The biggest factor though will be the US Federal Reserve lowering interest rates for the first time in more than a decade by 25 basis point to a range of 2 per cent to 2.25 per cent. Although, Fed Chair Jerome Powell later poured cold water on expectations of a lengthy easing cycle by saying the easing was "not the beginning of a long series of rate cuts". You can read special stories on the US Fed's rate cut that cover the highlights, reasons for the rate cut and much more on our website. Investors will also keep a tab on the Markit PMI manufacturing data for India, US, and UK to be released later in the day. A total of 53 companies, including Bharti Airtel, Godrej Consumer Products, and Marico are scheduled to declare their June quarter results today. Analysts expect a marginal growth in Bharti Airtel's Q1 revenue and average revenue per user (ARPU) on a sequential basis. You can read the full preview of Bharti Airtel's result on our website. Auto stocks may also be in focus today after the government agreed to first target highly-polluted urban cities in its plan for the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). Now, let's see how the global markets fared overnight and they mean for Sensex and Nifty. Powell's comments post the rate cut sent US equity markets into a tailspin. Overnight, the Dow and the Nasdaq lost 1.2 per cent each while the S&P 500 declined 1.1 per cent.  Asian shares fell to six-week lows on Thursday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.4 per cent and Japan's Nikkei also fell 0.4 per cent. South Korea's KOSPI slipped 0.5 per cent while Australian shares declined 0.3 per cent. As for SGX Nifty, it's indicating a positive start for the negative indices. In the end, we have some stock calls for you: Tradebulls Securities recommends buying Havells at the current market price of Rs 645 for the target of Rs 667 and Rs 710. CapitalVia Global Research recommends buying HCL Techology above Rs 1,035 for a target of Rs 1079.90. Stop loss should be placed at Rs 999.70

The benchmark BSE S&P Sensex and broader Nifty50 gained nearly 450 points and 146 points respectively from lows to end in the green on Wednesday. Domestic indices traded lower for better part of the day but saw sharp surge during the last trading hour. Weak corporate earnings, economic slowdown and tax issues continued to weigh down investment sentiment. The Nifty50 slipped to the lowest level since March 6, 2019 to hit an intra-day low of 10,999 mark. As per reports, markets witnessed the worst July in 17 years, managing to hold gains slightly better than the one seen in 2002. While Sensex slipped 4.9 per cent, and Nifty50 shed 5.7 per cent in July,  Nifty Midcap in logged worst performance in 17 years. The Sensex gained 84 points, or 0.22 per cent, to end the day at 37,481 levels with IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, YES Bank, and Hero MotoCorp being the top gainers. Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries and NTPC, on the other hand, slipped the most during the day. The broader Nifty50, too, ended at 11,118 mark, up 32 points, or 0.29 per cent. In the broader market, S&P BSE Mid-cap closed the day with gains of 97 points, or 0.72 per cent, at 13,643 mark. The S&P BSE Small-cap settled 42 points, or 0.34 per cent, higher at 12,692 levels. Sectorally, only media, financial services and realty ended in the red. Nifty Metal index was the lead gainer, closing 2.42 per cent higher, followed by Nifty PSU Bank index, up 1.73 per cent. Nifty media slipped the most, down 2.92 per cent. Shares of Coffee Day Enterprises, the parent company of India's largest coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), hit lower circuit limit of 20 per cent for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, after news reports said the body of the company's founder VG Siddhartha has been found from the Nethravathi river. Shares of Gujarat Gas zoomed 17 per cent to Rs 192 in Wednesday's early morning trade on the BSE in an otherwise weak market after the company reported a strong 92 per c

The body of Cafe Coffee Day founder V G Siddhartha, who had gone missing, was found on Wednesday in the Netravati river in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka after 36 hours of intense search, officials said. Two days prior to his disappearance, the coffee baron had left behind a note to his employees that revealed he was in deep debt. The mountain of debt was impairing his business as working capital requirements could not be met. It led him to sale his stakes in IT firm Mindtree that gave him some room to manoeuvre. "I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts. I would like to say I gave it my all. I am very sorry to let down all the people that put their trust in me. I fought for a long time but today I gave up as I could not take any more pressure...," his note read. Listen to podcast for more

Investors will look at June quarter results, global cues, and macroeconomic data for market direction on Wednesday. They will also react to major results announced on Tuesday after market hours that includes results of Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, and Hero MotoCorp. Expectations were high from Axis Bank which posted a net profit of Rs 1,370 crore in the June quarter, a 95 per cent year-on-year growth, although it didn’t match the Street’s expectations ofRs 1,860 crore profit, largely because of elevated provisioning. Tech Mahindra reported a 6.8 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 959 crore for the quarter ended June 30. It had posted profit of Rs 897.9 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially, the numbers dropped 15 per cent. Hero Moto Corp posted a 35.89 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,256.69 crore for the first quarter on the back of a one-off exceptional gain of Rs 737.48 crore. You can read our full coverage on these results and companies on our website. A total of 88 companies, including Eicher Motors, Ashok Leyland, and Indian Oil Corporation, are scheduled to declare their June quarter results today. Bank stocks may be in focus today after the Reserve Bank of India allowed domestic banks to directly sell their bad loans in manufacturing and infrastructure sectors to investors abroad as part of one-time settlement exercises. The growth data of eight core sectors in June will also be out today. And, let's take a look at top trading ideas from HDFC Securities. The brokerage recommends selling IndusInd Bank at the current market price with the target price of Rs 1,260 and a stop loss of Rs 1,380. Another stock the brokerage is bearish on is Reliance Industries (RIL). It recommends selling the stock at CMP, for the target of 1110, keeping a stop loss at 1230 on closing basis.      Globally,  the US Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates later in the day. On the other hand, US President Donald Trump has warned China against waiting out his first term to finalize any trade deal, saying if he wins re-election in the November 2020 US presidential contest, the outcome could be no agreement or a worse one. Now, let's see how the global markets fared overnight and they mean for Sensex and Nifty. Major Wall Street stock averages ended slightly lower on Tuesday after Trump's China threat. Asian shares weakened in early trade on Wednesday. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.04 per cent while Japan's Nikkei slid 0.84 per cent. As for SGX Nifty, it's indicating a positive start for the negative indices.

Domestic market hit a two-month low at the benchmark level, while Nifty500, in the broader market, hit a three-month low on Tuesday as weak corporate earnings and continuous selling by foreign portfolio investors knocked off investment sentiment. Frontline indices, which hit an intra-day low of 37,359 and 11,073 at S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty50 respectively, were dragged down by banking and financial stocks, followed by weakness in metal and auto counters. Indices shrugged-off optimism in the global markets ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision, scheduled to be announced on Wednesday.  The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex lost 289 points, or 0.77 per cent, to close at 37,397 level. Only eight out of the 30 stocks in the index ended in the green. YES Bank, IndusInd Bank, Hero Motocorp, and State Bank of India slipped the most while Bharti Airtel, TCS, HCL Tech, and L&T managed to hold gains. Nifty50, on the other hand, slipped below its 200-DMA level intra-day, to close below the psychological level of 11,100. It eventually settled at 11,085-mark, down 104 points or 0.93 per cent. In the broader market, S&P BSE Mid-cap slipped 217 points, or 1.58 per cent, to settle at 13,546 level. The S&P BSE Small-cap, too dipped, 276 points, or 2.13 per cent, to close at 12,650 level. Sectorally, all the indices barring IT, ended in the red. Nifty PSU bank index tumbled the most, down 5 per cent at close. This was followed by losses in the Nifty Metal index (down 3.25 per cent), and Nifty Auto index (down 2 per cent). Nifty Bank, Private Bank, Realty, and Pharma closed with losses of over 1.5 per cent each. Nifty IT managed to end with gains of 0.65 per cent. Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) founder and former Karnataka Chief Minister, SM Krishna's son-in-law, V G Siddhartha, is suspected to have jumped off a bridge in Mangaluru on Monday night, the Times of India reported on Tuesday.  In his last letter to the Coffee Day Enterprises' board of directors dated July 27, its co-founder V G Siddhartha said he had fought for a long time, but was giving up as he could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners who was forcing him to buy back shares. Siddhartha, who is missing since Monday night, had said that "tremendous pressure" from other lenders had made him succumb to the situation.  Shares of Coffee Day Enterprises plunged 20 per cent to hit the lower circuit limit of Rs 154.05 on the BSE in the opening deals on Tuesday.

In a ray of hope to over 16,000 harassed homebuyers, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) Ltd was willing to take up the stalled housing projects of the cash-strapped real estate major Unitech Ltd.  A bench, comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah, was informed by Attorney General K K Venugopal appearing for the Centre, that state-owned NBCC Ltd was ready to act as project management consultant for the stalled housing projects of Unitech. The top law officer said the Centre has proposed a high-powered committee, headed by a former High Court judge, to oversee the construction of the stalled projects and the panel can also have a retired technocrat who would assist it in its functioning. Listen to the podcast to know more about the NBCC's porposal:

Investors will eye quarterly earnings and global cues for market direction on Tuesday. They will also react to major results announced on Monday after market hours. A total of 72 companies are scheduled to declare their June quarter results today. That includes Tech Mahindra which analysts may report a weak set of numbers for the June quarter. In line with industry peers, the company is expected to see a dip in operating margin, owing to rupee appreciation, wage hikes, visa fees and Comviva seasonality. Another big name scheduled to declare results today is Hero Motocorp which may report a decline in revenue as well as profit due to falling volumes amid a sector-wide slowdown. Private lender Axis Bank may report an over 150 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter on improved loan growth and increased net interest income (NII). You can read our full preview for all three companies and what analysts expect to be on our website. Globally, all eyes will be on the US Federal Reserve which will begin its two-day policy review later in the day at which it is widely expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points. Apart from these, market participants will continue to track the progress in monsoon, foreign fund flow, oil price, and the movement of rupee against the US dollar. Now, let's see how the global markets fared overnight and they mean for Sensex and Nifty. US stocks on Monday took a breather ahead of an expected interest rate cut by the Fed, falling between 0.1 to 0.4 per cent. Asian stocks edged up on Tuesday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.15 per cent. South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.2 per cent and Japan's Nikkei added 0.7 per cent. As for SGX Nifty, it's indicating a positive start for the domestic indices. Next, let's go through today's top headlines -- The RBI plans to discuss the government's proposal to raise foreign currency debt on August 16 -- The state Bank of India on Monday cut its deposits rates for fresh cunds across segments -- Former RBI governor Bimal Jalan has warned that the higher income taxes the government introduced in its Budget could lead to a flight of funds from the country -- Internatinal rating agency Moody's has warned that the heightening growth slowdown and the lingering crisis at non-banking lenders post fresh challenges to their asset quality -- U.S. trade negotiators open a new round of talks with China in Shangai later in the day.