Markets had been looking to US consumer price report in hopes that easing inflation would lower pressure on the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates. US inflation moderated but topped expectations at 8.3%, signaling persistent price pressures. Traders raised bets the Fed will roll out another half-point interest-rate hike in September, following similar increases in June and July
Campbell Wilson appointed CEO & MD of Air India: Tata Sons
European markets deep in the red
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Petronet seeks lower price for renewing Qatar deal: PTI
India’s top gas importer Petronet LNG Ltd wants Qatar Gas to lower prices for it to renew a long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) import deal beyond 2028, its CEO Akshay Kumar Singh said on Thursday.
The company in the immediate term is looking to tie up 0.75 to 1 million tonnes of LNG to meet the burgeoning energy demand in the country, particularly of the city gas sector.
In a call with journalists, Singh said Qatar sells 7.5 million tonnes a year of LNG to India at an indexation of 12.67 per cent of the prevailing Brent price plus USD 0.52 per million British thermal unit. (At USD 100 per barrel oil price, the LNG price comes for USD 13.19 per mmBtu).
Petronet also buys an additional 1 million tonnes of LNG at a slight variation to this price. The 8.5 million tonnes a year contract ends in 2028.
Market crash: Sushant Bhansali, CEO at Ambit Asset Management
The pressure of increased inflation on corporate earnings is quite visible since the last 2 quarters and is expected to continue for another 1-2 quarters. As a result, earnings are getting downgraded more than being upgraded by markets. The mix of earnings downgrade along with a reversal of the interest rate cycle is increasing volatility in the markets. We believe that we are in the consolidation phase after the big bull run in the last two years, a much-needed breather.
Profit booking alongside revisions in asset allocation will drag the markets down while fresh flows will push the markets up during this phase. The consolidation phase shall continue for a few more months depending to a large extent on how inflation plays out globally. Thus this phase can be anytime from 3 more months to 3 more quarters from hereon. During this phase we expect the benchmark indices to be range-bound within 15-20% of the lifetime highs observed a few months back. Fresh highs will be seen at the end of this consolidation phase.
India’s economic growth to slow if central bank hikes rates: TV
India’s economic growth rate is likely to slow if the central bank hikes interest rates, Finance Secretary TV Somanathan told CNBC TV18 on Thursday.
India’s central bank is likely to raise its inflation projection for the current fiscal year at its June monetary policy meeting and will consider more interest rate hikes, a source said on Wednesday.
The central bank hiked its repo rate by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40% following a emergency meeting earlier this month.
Broader markets crash; India VIX up over 8%
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Copper plunges below $9,000 a ton for the first time since October: Bloomberg
Hotstar fetches over 4 million new subscribers for Disney+
Disney+, the video streaming service owned by Walt Disney, added around 8 million new subscribers globally in the January to March quarter, with over half of those coming from Disney+ Hotstar, as the service is known as in India and other Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. (Read more here)
Indian citizens, students travelling overseas now eligible for booster shot, says heath minister
Byju’s said to be in talks with lenders for $1 billion funding: Bloomberg
Byju’s, India’s most valuable startup, is in talks with lenders to raise more than $1 billion in acquisition financing as the online education provider looks to expand its business rapidly, people familiar with the matter said. (Read here)
SpiceJet and Axis Bank launch co-branded credit card
Delhi Court dismisses bail petitions of Chitra Ramkrishna, Anand Subramanian: agencies
Rupee falls 0.5% to trade at 77.63: Reuters
Vodafone Idea: Credit Suisse retains underperform rating, target price ₹5.50 per share
Indian bonds recover losses; 10-year steady at 7.22%: Bloomberg
Kalyan Jewellers March quarter results glitter bit less
Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd’s shares touched a new 52-week low on NSE on Wednesday. This was after the company announced its results for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2022 (Q4FY22). Consolidated revenue fell by 7% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs2,857 crore. Kalyan’s operations in Q4 were hindered due to the impact of the Omicron wave. Further, the geopolitical conflict resulted in volatility in gold prices, which dented demand as consumers tend to postpone their purchases awaiting stable prices. (Read here)
European Gas Surges as Russian Moves Spur Supply Worries: Bloomberg
European natural gas prices jumped as disruptions to a key transit route through Ukraine and a move by Moscow to retaliate against sanctions ramped up the risk of supply cuts.
Dutch front-month gas, the European benchmark, was 12% higher at 105 euros per megawatt-hour.
Indian Bank targets credit growth of 8-10% in FY23, says CEO SL Jain
Indian Bank expects to grow its loan book by 8-10% in the financial year 2022-23 on the back of higher retail as well as corporate loan demand, chief executive S L Jain said on Thursday
SC refuses to grant interim relief on pleas seeking stay on LIC IPO share allotment
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to grant any interim relief and stay the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) IPO share allotment on a batch of pleas filed by some policy holders.
A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and PS Narasimha said that the court should be reluctant to grant any interim relief in matters of commercial investments and IPO.
“We are not inclined to grant any interim relief”, the bench said as it issued notice to the Centre and LIC on the batch of pleas seeking their response within eight weeks.
The LIC IPO opened on May 4 for retail and other investors and is set to be allotted on Thursday.
Mahanagar Gas – Rating: BUY | CMP: Rs765 | TP: Rs1,103: Avishek Datta – Research Analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher
Regular price hikes drive earnings
We lower our FY23/24E estimates by 22%/16% to factor lower volumes (-6% each) and lower margins (Rs8.8/Rs9.5 vs earlier Rs10.2 earlier). Q4 results were ahead due to higher than expected margins supported by reduced spot LNG purchase and lower volumes.
MGL remains a play on increased gas usage from rising vehicles and PNG penetration. We like the business because of its dominating share in growing markets of Mumbai and its suburbs. Reiterate ‘BUY’ with a TP of Rs1,103 (Rs1,187 earlier).
SC refuses to grant interim relief & stay LIC IPO share allotment on batch of pleas by policyholders: PTI
LIC IPO: SC issues notice to Centre on pleas challenging constitutional validity of provisions of Finance Act, 2021 & sections of LIC Act
UK economy shrinks in March, grows 0.8% in Q1: Reuters
Britain’s economy shrank by 0.1% in March but expanded by 0.8% for the first quarter of 2022 as a whole, official figures showed on Thursday in what is likely to have been a high point for 2022 as the cost of living crisis increasingly bites.
Economists polled by Reuters had on average expected gross domestic product (GDP) to be flat in March and to have grown 1.0% over the first three months of this year, compared with the final…
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