by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, Markets, News
By Rohit Vaid,
Mumbai : The upcoming quarterly results season, along with key macro-economic data points, are expected to determine the trajectory of equity indices next week.
Market observers opined that global cues, combined with the direction of foreign funds, will also impact investors’ risk-taking appetite.
“Markets would look to the upcoming earnings season, though the expectations remain muted on weaker growth on the back of GST implementation. The divergence of weak Indian macros and buoyant global growth, combined with higher Indian market valuations, will keep the positive momentum in Indian markets capped,” Zyfin Advisors’ Chief Executive Devendra Nevgi told IANS.
“Fiscal overruns and inflation stickiness and the lack of other adequate levers to pump growth will result in markets relying on domestic liquidity for help,” Nevgi added.
IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is expected to be the first blue chip to come out with its second quarter (Q2) results on October 12.
“Domestic market is concerned with the lack of earnings growth — led by GST disruption and reduction in liquidity by global central banks… However, in the near term, Q2 earnings will be the key factor which will determine the direction of the market,” elaborated Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Apart from the Q2 results, investors will also look out for the upcoming macro-economic data points such as the IIP (Index of Industrial Production) figures.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is slated to release the macro-economic data points of IIP and CPI (Consumer Price Index) on October 12, Thursday.
Besides the macro-economic data points, rupee’s movement against the US dollar and an outflow of foreign funds could make investors nervous.
The Indian rupee weakened by nine paise on last Friday to close at 65.38 to a US dollar from its previous week’s close at 65.29.
In addition to Indian currency, provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) off-loaded stocks worth Rs 3,022.07 crore.
Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) divested equities worth Rs 550.75 crore during October 3-6.
“FPIs have sold over $2 billion in Indian equities over the past couple of months as they grow cautious due to economic growth slowing down and expensive stock prices. A constant outflow of foreign investment from domestic equity markets have weighed on rupee,” Anindya Banerjee, Deputy Vice President for Currency and Interest Rates with Kotak Securities, told IANS.
“As a result, we can see USD-INR rise towards 66/66.20 levels in the coming days from 65.35 now. However, we do not expect USD-INR to sustain above 66.20 levels for long, as RBI is expected to remain a seller at higher levels to contain volatility.”
On technical charts, Nifty can move towards record highs after crossing the 9,980-10,000 points hurdle.
“Nifty’s sharp bounce back on Friday has opened up possibility of a further up-move in the early part of next week,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research for HDFC Securities.
“A decisive move above the hurdle of 9,980-10,000 points level could lead Nifty to move towards the recent all-time high of around 10,178 points level in the next 1-2 weeks. On down moves, it could take support at 9,830 points.”
Last week, the key Indian equity indices — the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty — rose on the back of global cues, along with healthy macro and auto sales data.
Consequently, the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE surged by 530.5 points, or 1.7 per cent to 31,814.22 points.
Similarly, the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) edged higher by 191.1 points, or 1.95 per cent to close the week’s trade at 9,979.70 points.
(Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Banking, Economy, Markets, News
Mumbai : Breaking a four-day gaining streak, key Indian equity indices — the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 — closed with marginal losses on Thursday as investors booked profits in banking, and oil and gas stocks.
The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed below the psychologically important 9,900-mark. It fell by 26.20 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 9,888.70 points.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed at 31,592.03 points — down 79.68 points, or 0.25 per cent, from its previous close.
However, the BSE market breadth was bullish — 1,498 advances and 1,157 declines.
“After showing an upside bounce in the last four sessions, Nifty slipped into minor decline today due to profit taking and closed the day lower by 26 points. Today’s minor decline has not damaged the market breadth, which has closed on positive note on both the exchanges,” Deepak Jasani, Head – Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
“Major Asian markets ended on a positive note, barring the Jakarta Composite. European indices traded with mixed trend. While the DAX and CAC 40 traded lower, FTSE 100 traded higher,” he added.
The broader markets, on the other hand, outperformed the benchmark index. The S&P BSE mid-cap index rose by 0.49 per cent, and the small-cap index gained 0.79 per cent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: “Market traded range-bound with a negative bias due to lack of optimism to the upcoming earnings season.”
“However, some positive development in auto sales numbers, core sector growth and festival demand will add some light over the consolidation phase,” Nair added.
On the currency front, the rupee weakened by 13 paise to close at 65.14-15 against the US dollar from its previous close at 65.01-02.
“Shares slipped on Thursday after four straight sessions of gains as investors booked profits in oil refiners amid a lack of fresh triggers after the central bank kept rates unchanged in a move that was widely expected,” said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.
“The RBI held its policy rate steady near seven-year lows on Wednesday after inflation surged, but looked to prop up the cooling economy by spurring banks into lending more,” Desai told IANS.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE oil and gas index slipped by 84.59 points, followed by banking index by 84.04 points and consumer durables index by 71.50 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE healthcare index was up by 47.93 points, metal index by 40.37 points and basic materials index by 29.77 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Thursday were: NTPC, up 1.79 per cent at Rs 170.80; Coal India, up 1.11 per cent at Rs 273; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 0.85 per cent at Rs 1,300; Reliance Industries, up 0.61 per cent at Rs 824.20; and Tata Motors (DVR), up 0.61 per cent at Rs 241.10.
Major Sensex losers were: Power Grid, down 1.99 per cent at Rs 204.85; ICICI Bank, down 1.54 per cent at Rs 271.75; Hero MotoCorp, down 0.97 per cent at Rs 3,757.20; Bajaj Auto, down 0.94 per cent at Rs 3,139.80; and Axis Bank, down 0.82 per cent at Rs 501.15.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Opinions
By Christine Nayagam,
The Indian outbound traveller is now a much-coveted commodity around the world, as the country’s booming middle class seeks new destinations and emerges as a key market.
The Indian market has set a new record as 1.17 million tourists visited the US last year, according to Brand USA, the nation’s first public-private partnership to promote the United States as a travel destination.
“Brand USA has reached the million visitor mark from India, we expect much more growth. This year has seen our largest delegation of our Brand USA India mission with nearly 40 organisations, we actually had a waiting list of people wanting to tap the Indian market. And that really shows the importance that India has,” Suzana Shepard, Manager Global Trade Development Brand USA, said during a branding event organized by Brand USA representative Sartha Global Marketing in New Delhi.
In February, Brand USA inaugurated the US-India travel and tourism partnership year in Delhi, led by the US Department of Commerce’s National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO). The NTTO had forecast a 72 per cent increase in arrivals from 2015 through 2021.
While business travelers and family visits have been the norm so far, more Indians travel to less visited states and try new activities involving adventure and thrills.
“Indians are big consumers of adventure activities and this is exactly what we got in Nevada for them. The US is very much a road trip destination and there is so much to see, different landscapes, just like in India I guess but with a different decor, different people and a great melting pot of cultures,” said Claudia Vecchio, Director of the Department of Tourism & Cultural Affairs in Nevada.
According to Brand USA, India ranks 11th in international visitors and also represents the sixth biggest spender with $13.6 billion registered last year.
“There is really a great opportunity, only one per cent of the population has a passport and there is a growing middle class. It leaves room for a lot development,” Shepard said.
The increasing number of direct flights from India by national carrier Air India has also helped in catering to the tourists’ demand, the latest being Delhi-Washington DC. A couple of years ago, Air India also added San Francisco to its other non-stop flights to New York, Chicago and Newark. The carrier is said to be evaluating a direct flight to Los Angeles as well.
“With the non-stop service from India, San Francisco Airport has seen the traffic back and forth to India grow by 10 per cent, said Melissa Andretta, Director of International Marketing at San Francisco International Airport.
“The United States has always been a prime destination for Indian tourists, the country being home to an important Indian diaspora. We are seeing a lot of FITs coming, a lot of Indian weddings celebrated in Washington DC where an important Indian origin population lives. You can even celebrate Indian festivals like Diwali just like you would do in India as the city organises special decorations and festivities,” said Yi Lu, International Sales Manager at Destination DC.
On the recent visa restrictions on Indian travellers to the USA, Shepard said that they had no impact on the tourism to India and that Indians are warmly welcomed by many Americans.
(Christine Nayagam can be reached at c.nayagam@mediaindia.eu)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Emerging Businesses, Large Enterprise, Marketing Basics, Markets, Technology
By Nishant Arora,
New Delhi : Even though premium segment player Apple has moved a notch up to the “super premium” category with the iPhone X, its bid to grab a bigger chunk of the Indian market won’t be easy, with the popular Samsung Galaxy S8 firmly in place and the Galaxy Note 8 set for a massive landfall.
To be made available on November 3, iPhone X will cost Rs 89,000 (64GB) variant while the 256GB version will cost Rs 102,000.
In the January-June quarter of 2017, Apple sold 3,00,428 units of iPhone 7 and 2,06,292 units of iPhone 7 Plus. In the same period, Samsung sold 1,22,000 units of S8 and 1,40,000 S8 Plus, according to the data provided by Cybermedia Research.
Now, over 2.5 lakh people have registered to buy the Rs 67,900 Galaxy Note 8 device — also launched on September 12 in India — which would be available starting September 21.
“Although iPhone X is the real competition to Samsung, we must keep in mind that Samsung currently has two successful flagships with them — with Galaxy S8 (doing well) and Note 8 (just launched with huge pre-orders). This makes the super-premium end of smartphone market very interesting for the next two quarters or so,” Navkendar Singh, Senior Research Manager at IDC India, told IANS.
According to Singh, the high pricing of the iPhone X will ensure that only a very serious and real Apple fan will buy it.
“However, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, with a similar design — but premium build and lower pricing — will probably appeal to iPhone 6s/7 users who were waiting for an upgrade. These two models should be the volume drivers for Apple, with iPhone X acting as a flagship at the super-premium end,” Singh explained.
When it comes to Chinese brands in India, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo now have a combined market share of 54 per cent in the second quarter this year, up from 51 per cent in the first quarter, says the “Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker” report by IDC.
Samsung continues to be India’s top smartphone brand with 24 per cent market share. Apple, with its premium portfolio, has nearly three per cent market share by volume and 11 per cent share by value in the country.
According to Narinder Kumar, an analyst at Cybermedia Research, in terms of significant business contribution, shipments of iPhone 7 Plus and iPhone 5S declined sequentially by 59 per cent and 57 per cent, respectively, in 2Q 2017.
“Personally, I never see a Samsung versus iPhone competition. The iPhone community is primarily for iPhone and won’t shift to another phone — and moving to Samsung means the big decision of coming out of the iOS ecosystem,” Faisal Kawoosa, Principal Analyst, Telecom and ESDM, CMR, told IANS.
For him, the battle in the premium segment is now between iPhone and Samsung premium models like the Note 8.
“The trend will continue to be so for now; iPhone fans will upgrade only to an iPhone, and those looking for a premium option within Android, will go for Samsung,” he added.
Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Mobile Devices and Ecosystems, Counterpoint Research, expects initial sales to be high with the Apple user base upgrading to its new devices irrespective of pricing and specs.
“However, Apple will have its task to cut out to acquire Android users in the premium segment when both the S8 and Note 8 likely to give strong competition to the company in India,” Pathak told IANS.
From the strategy point of view, he said, iPhone X is a good move from Apple, initiating a new design form factor that can be further leveraged in successive iterations.
iPhone X and iPhone 8 can co-exist and won’t be a threat to one another.
“These models can definitely co-exist as we have seen that Apple has lately moved away from single new model per year to multiple models playing at multiple price points, which is really an attempt to drive volumes and gain more share,” Singh noted.
iPhone X has some hugely incremental features compared to the present iPhones, like less-bezel, facial-recognition system, wireless charging, animoji, etc.
“That should excite the staunch iPhone base looking for an upgrade. This segment is not price-sensitive and I don’t see price out of expectations range. So, iPhone X should be doing good numbers, though not of the volume of mass market models or brands,” Kawoosa added.
One should also not forget that, though primarily a premium segment player, Apple is slowly opening up new avenues — like the Bengaluru-assembled iPhone SE (32GB) at Rs 26,000 — to expand its presence in India, a price-sensitive market with a gigantic user base scouting for devices in the Rs 15,000-Rs 30,000 range.
(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Markets, Technology
By Hardev Sanotra,
Chicago : HP India has ramped up its digital team after the initial success with Pro 8 tablets when Jharkand government ordered 40,000 pieces last week, according to a top HP official.
The order had come within days of the launch of the tablet, which is aimed at providing professional capabilities to the ‘Digital India’ initiative.
“The Pro 8 tablet is made with India as its market and will help bring about digital inclusion which the government is keen on,” said Sumeer Chandra, Managing Director, HP Inc India, here.
Chandra, who was speaking to IANS on the sidelines of the HP Reinvent Partner Forum here, said that the device is compatible with the requirements of ‘Digital India’, including having a jacket where Aadhaar biometric — fingerprint and iris scans — could be verified. He said they were in the process of talking to several state governments for the product.
The tablet is priced at just over Rs 19,000, but it was not immediately known at what price the bulk order of 40,000 to the Jhrakhand government was made. Chandra, who took over as head of India operations of HP beginning in May this year, said they were confident of selling the product to many more state governments.
The Pro8 tablet range supports regional languages and comprises an 8-inch tablet, coupled with customisable features that will allow the delivery of services, including financial inclusion and benefit schemes.
Chandra also said that HP India was carrying out a pilot project in Andhra Pradesh, where it had adopted 10 schools in Guntur to bring in information and communication technology (ICT) for the young. He added that they would expand the programme once the feedback from the project came in.
Richard Bailey, President, Asia Pacific and Japan for HP Inc, said India was among the most important markets in the whole region and that’s the reason why it had the largest number of HP employees among all the countries under him.
He noted that although China was the second biggest market after the United States, India was emerging as immensely important since it was predicted to double its economy in the next few years.
Bailey told IANS that the Indian market had seen a 15 per cent growth and HP was a market leader the country in both printers and PC segments. The APJ area too had seen a market share of 50.1 per cent for printers and 33.9 per cent for PCs. It was the clear leader in printers while for PCs, it was second, behind Lenovo.
Bailey said the next big revolution coming was in 3D manufacturing where printers would print products from plastic materials, shaping them according to the client requirements.
Such outlets have already come up in the US (like printing bureaus) where they offer digital manufacturing to all clients. The technology would be reaching India by spring next year, although he conceded that there had been no major demand seen in the country at present. “Once people know the details of its capabilities, it will become more popular,” Bailey added.
Chandra said he would see the growth of HP tablet taking place in the financial areas where banking could reach remote areas. Healthcare would be another area of growth for it.
The device would work where a cell tower was present, he said, adding that the company provides an “end-to-end” service for the clients on tablets with full company support. The earlier experiment for providing people with laptops did not work (in Uttar Pradesh) because the complete solution had not been thought through.
According to Bailey, the company had emphasised strongly on the security aspects of all its devices and that’s the reason why they offer printers with the highest amount of security among all other matching products.
Asked if providing embedded security against malware was not an over-protective move, Bailey said there had been some malicious attacks against printers and they do not want to leave any product vulnerable.
Chandra said that not only can hackers take control of unprotected printers, most modern printers are also gateways to the network. “The hackers can reach the heart of any company or conglomerate through printers as they are connect to all the systems in a company,” he said, adding that secure environment had to be secure from all attacks.
(Hardev Sanotra is in Chicago at the invitation of HP Inc. He can be reached at hardev.sanotra@ians.in)
—IANS
