India Financial News

Indian banks are in talks with the international financing messaging system SWIFT on migrating to the new instant and real-time gross settlement system under ISO 20022, effective from November 25. So far, only four Indian banks have partially transitioned to the new system, said two bank executives aware of the deliberations. “The matter was discussed at a meeting last month, and it was decided to discuss the issue with officials from SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) for a smooth transition and, if possible, an extension of the deadline,” said one of the executives, who did not wish to be identified. SWIFT has also suggested expediting the process of migration to the new mechanism, according to the executive.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is considering a plan to ease restrictions on short-selling — a trading strategy betting on a decline in prices of an asset-- on most stocks. In a recent meeting of the regulator-appointed secondary market advisory committee (SMAC), the proposal was discussed after broking industry officials highlighted that the market watchdog's January 2024 proposal to bar short-selling in stocks that are not in the future and options segment had caused uncertainty. The new recommendations, if implemented, could allow short-selling in all stocks, barring those in the trade-to-trade, or T2T, segment, said sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Sebi officials, during the discussions, agreed to give the plan another thought, they said. An email to Sebi went unanswered till press time.

India marking the 20th anniversary of the Bengaluru office for the Wall Street bellweather, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon spoke with ET’s Arijit Barman, emphasizing that the global economy will remain deeply interconnected despite the rising intensity of trade tariff rhetoric. During his brief one-day visit to India where the firm has invested over $8.5 billion, Solomon will stop at the firm’s Bengaluru campus where Goldman Sachs’ technology engineers and quants are driving innovation—developing systems that span from trade execution and risk management to advancing the immersion of AI with their global colleagues throughout the firm.

«We have seen volumes drop by over 40% compared to last year's peak in the cash market,» said Sandip Raichura, CEO-retail broking and distribution at PL Capital. «This is due to first-time investors who are seeing their first correction and exiting, along with large clients like treasuries and HNIs (high networth individuals) unwilling to bet big in the current weak scenario.»

Advance Decline Ratio, widely used to gauge investor sentiment and market strength, in February was at 0.72 — the lowest reading in five years. A declining ADR means more stocks are falling as against the gainers and points to a weakening market. In January, the reading was 0.9, while in the period before October — when the market started declining, it was in the range of 1 to 1.28 on average.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. IPO-bound online investment platform Groww has issued compulsorily convertible preference shares as bonus to existing investors, including Peak XV and Ribbit, according to a Competition Commission of India’s notice. According to the notice issued on 3 March, the transaction will also result in collapse of the differential voting rights (DVR) held by Harsh Jain, Lalit Keshre, Neeraj Singh and Ishan Bansal, the founders of Groww.

Blackstone has pulled out of the race to pick up a minority stake in the snacks business of India's Haldiram's over valuation concerns, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. Rival bidder Temasek remains in the race to acquire a minority stake in the business, said a third source with direct knowledge of discussions. Blackstone had spent seven months on the deal, but there is «no turning back» now from a decision to end talks, one of the first people said.

Samco Securities. The average one month forward returns stand at 2.68%, the study found. “We did a backtest to check what happens one month after the index closes for 8 or more consecutive negative sessions. Since 2002 there have been 9 instances of eight or more days of consecutive negative closing. The index closed on a positive note one month later in 6 out of these 9 instances,” Samco said in a note.

electric vehicles globally by 2030, José Muñoz, President & CEO of the Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) said. Munoz, who was in India to review operations at the Indian subsidiary Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), said, the company is committed to make EVs more accessible and suited to needs of Indian consumers. “With HMC’s target to sell 2 million EVs by 2030 globally, India will play an important role in achieving this milestone”, Munoz said, adding, “HMC will continue to support HMIL to expand its EV offering and invest in the necessary infrastructure to support this shift.” Hyundai Motor India — which launched the Creta EV earlier in January this year targeting customers in the mainstream market — plans to launch three more EVs in the coming years. Prior to the launch of the Creta EV, the company had a sole electric vehicle Ionia 5 on sale (at the upper end of the local passenger vehicle market).

President Donald Trump's new 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada took effect, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%, at 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT).

Virat overthrew Ponting for the elusive feat during the high-stakes Champions Trophy semi-final clash between cricket behemoths India and Australia in Dubai on Wednesday.

Non-tariff measures being announced by developed economies such as European Union's carbon tax and deforestation regulation limit market access for Indian goods in those markets, a senior government official said on Tuesday. Addressing a post-Budget webinar, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said that the other challenges before Indian exports include insufficient integration with global value chains, high import duties, technology disadvantage, and high cost of logistics (about 8-9 per cent of GDP against 5-6 per cent in developed nations). He added that the export window is also narrowing because of aggressive industrial policies of advanced nations like USA's Inflation Reduction Act and Chips Act, and UK's advanced manufacturing plan. Most non-tariff measures (NTMs) are domestic rules created by countries with an aim to protect human, animal or plant health and the environment. NTM may be technical measures like regulations, standards, testing, certification, pre-shipment inspection or non-technical measures like quotas, import licensing, subsidies, and government procurement restrictions.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Kolkata: As the sun set on Marquis Street in Kolkata, Mohammad Mazurul Islam, 75, and his wife Rashida Begum, 56, strolled around to check if they had missed out on buying any item from the list that they had made to take back home. They make two annual visits to the city for health checkups, and shop for themselves and their families.

The first leg of the knock-out leg is taking place at Santiago Bernabeu in Tuesday, February 4. Real Madrid versus Atletico Madrid UEFA Champions League match is scheduled to kick off at 3 pm (ET).

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government remains steadfast in reducing regulatory burdens, besides enhancing trust-based governance and taking steps to make India a «seamless, export-friendly» economy. A robust manufacturing sector free from unnecessary regulatory bottlenecks will further attract both domestic and foreign investments, driving economic growth, positioning India as a trusted global player, Sitharaman said while addressing a post-budget webinar on 'MSMEs as engine of growth, manufacturing, exports, regulatory, investment and EoDB Reforms'. «Our government remains steadfast in reducing regulatory burdens and enhancing trust-based governance to improve the ease of doing business. Through the budget announcements, we are taking various steps towards making India a seamless, export-friendly economy, one where businesses are free to focus on innovation and expansion, and not paperwork and penalties,» Sitharaman said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai: In an era where media consumption is more fragmented than ever, Nielsen, a company that has long been synonymous with audience measurement, finds itself in a race to keep up. Karthik Rao, chief executive of Nielsen, acknowledges the reality check: “The revelation was not about the media landscape—it was about what we need to do to keep pace and get ahead.

Gensol Engineering plummeted 20% on Tuesday to hit the lower circuit, closing at Rs 413.95 on the BSE, after CARE Ratings downgraded the company’s long-term and short-term bank facilities due to delays in servicing its term loan obligations. CARE Ratings downgraded Gensol Engineering’s long-term bank facilities worth Rs 639.7 crore to CARE D from CARE BB+ with a stable outlook. The rating agency also lowered ratings on other long-term and short-term facilities worth Rs 76.3 crore to CARE D from CARE BB+ and CARE A4+.

Benchmark NSE Nifty closed 36.65 points down at 22082.65 amid selling in frontline bluechip counters.

BJP on Tuesday slammed the Congress and other opposition parties over Maharashtra Samajwadi Party (SP) president Abu Azmi's remarks about Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and said they could stoop down to any level in their bid to «eradicate» Sanatan Dharma. The BJP's reaction came amid a row over the Maharashtra SP leader allegedly eulogising Aurangzeb in his recent remarks. He said during the Mughal emperor's reign, India's border reached Afghanistan and Burma (Myanmar), and the country was then called a golden sparrow with its GDP then accounting for 24 per cent of the world GDP. Asked about the fight between Aurangzeb and Sambhaji Maharaj, Azmi, an MLA from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar constituency in Mumbai, termed it a political battle. BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also termed Azmi's remarks an «insult to the entire Indian society» and alleged that the opposition INDIA bloc constituents are engaged in a «cut-throat competition» with each other to prove themselves anti-Hindu for minority votes.

Jan Vishwas Bill 2.0 to decriminalise over 100 provisions. «Our government remains steadfast in reducing regulatory burden and enhancing trust based governance to improve ease of doing business, said Sitharaman. »Through Budget announcements, we are taking various steps in making India a seamless and export-friendly economy. Where the companies are free to work on innovation, and not on regulations and penalties," added Sitharaman.