COST Financial News

The Express Tribune newspaper said that during the meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, the caretaker government will also discuss reforms in various sectors, including taxes and energy. The report said once the economic review is successfully completed, Pakistan will receive the next installment of USD 700 million from the IMF after its board's approval. The Washington-based global lender transferred USD 1.2 billion to the cash-strapped country in July, as part of the USD 3 billion bailout program for nine months to support the government’s efforts to stabilize the country's ailing economy, PTI reported.

Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, fell to 57.5 last month from 58.6 in August. September data showed a let-up in the recent surge in costs faced by Indian goods producers. After quickening to a one-year high in August, the rate of inflation receded to its lowest mark in over three years.

Anil Agarwal's strategic move to demerge Vedanta into six different listed entities to unlock value is not enough for the Patna-born mining baron to clear the heavy debt obligation estimated to be worth over $4 billion but lays the groundwork for future deleveraging. Vedanta Ltd's parent company Vedanta Resources Ltd (VRL) has debt repayments worth $1.3-1.4 billion to make in the next six months, including bond payments of $1 billion in January 2024. In FY25, there are debt obligations worth $3 billion, besides interest-servicing requirements, according to various brokerage estimates. As the demerger process will likely take 12-15 months to complete, it won't help the parent company to meet debt obligations.

Qantas chairman Richard Goyder standing aside would not fix the airline’s issues and investors should welcome new chief executive Vanessa Hudson’s focus on customers, analysts say, with 185 new planes set to be delivered over the next decade.

Promises of money today create expectations of more money tomorrow As in the 1990s, government attempts to boost their chip industries are running into trouble. Morris Chang, the founder of tsmc, a big Taiwanese producer, told Nancy Pelosi, a senior Democrat, that American efforts to rebuild chip manufacturing at home were doomed. The firm says that production at its first plant in Arizona will be delayed until 2025 due to a shortage of specialist workers.

London | Partners at the UK arm of Deloitte will earn more than £1 million ($1.9 million) again this year despite a recent slowdown in demand.

Cuscal, the payment infrastructure business used widely by smaller banks, has lifted its operating income by almost one-third over the past 12 months but says costs are also rising because of staff and technology expenses.

India's factory activity expanded at the slowest pace in five months in September but remained solid, with strong demand driving business confidence to its highest level this year, despite increased inflationary pressures, a private survey showed. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, fell to 57.5 last month from 58.6 in August, missing the Reuters poll forecast for 58.1. That marked the 27th straight month of the index being above the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction. «India's manufacturing industry showed mild signs of a slowdown in September, primarily due to a softer increase in new orders which tempered production growth,» said Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence. «Nevertheless, both demand and output saw significant upticks, and firms also noted gains in new business from clients across Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.» New orders and output rose sharply despite the sub-indexes easing from August, driven by both domestic and foreign demand. International demand grew for the 18th month in a row. That bolstered optimism and pushed business confidence to a nine-month high. It also prompted firms to increase headcount.

“We expect sectors such as 1)IT, 2)Healthcare, 3)Manufacturing, and 4)Consumer Discretionary to drive the next leg of the rally, given their attractive valuations and strong fundamentals,” says Aditya Sood, Fund Manager- InCred Asset Management. In an interview with ETMarkets, Sood said: “We expect a mixed bag of earnings for the rest of the financial year; with the automobile and financials expected to perform resiliently, the earnings of cement and consumer companies are expected to be under pressure” Edited excerpts: What a week for Indian markets – 20,000 and then some profit taking in the week gone by. How are you looking at markets? At the current levels, we believe the markets are fairly valued and foresee limited scope for multiple expansions in the short term.

Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson, an unwavering equity bear, says the correlation between real rates and equity returns has fallen deeper into negative territory — a sign that interest rates have once again become a determinant of stock performance. At Bank of America Corp., however, Savita Subramanian thinks equity markets can still thrive if rates remain elevated.

Bloomberg survey and 27.4% notched in August. It suggests that policymakers have a case to increase the benchmark policy rate at the next meeting due on October 30. Record interest rates cooled prices for three straight months from June and prompted the central bank to hold fire in the last meeting.

Auto stocks Shares of auto companies including Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, TVS Motor among others will be in focus following the announcement of monthly sales numbers. Hindustan Zinc The company has reported highest-ever first half year mined metal production at 509kt, up YoY on account of higher ore production largely at Rampura Agucha supported by better overall metal grades. Read more:Here's the trade setup for today's session Ultratech The company's consolidated sales volume rose 16% year-on-year to 26.69 million tons, while India sales volume jumped 15% year-on-year to 25.66 million tons in the second quarter. SRF The company's capital expenditure for establishing 220 KV grid connectivity for the plant at Dahej, Gujarat has been commissioned and capitalised at a cost of Rs 147 crore. PNC Infratech PNC Infratech announced the revision of 'eligible disputes' to NHAI under the contractual disputes scheme by PNC Raebareli Highways, a subsidiary of the company for'one time settlement. Ramkrishna Forgings Ramkrishna Forgings Board has approved raising of funds up to Rs 1,000 crore by way of issuance of equity shares through qualified institutional placement (QIP). Godrej Agrovet Godrej Agrovet's palm oil business announced the company will be setting up an integrated palm oil complex in Telangana. Bluedart Bluedart to implement a general price increase from January 1, 2024.

Edelweiss Alternatives has raised its third special situation fund of ₹8,000 crore from a mix of prominent global institutional investors and large Indian family offices as it sees attractive opportunities offered by robust sales of secondary loans. While many underlying assets are operating well, they require tailored solutions to reach sustainable debt levels. So, Edelweiss believes that the private credit market will boom in the coming decade, growing from its present size of $14 billion to $100 billion. Over the past year, Edelweiss Alternatives has already deployed nearly ₹3,500 crore, which is over 40% of the total raised, across eight transactions in various sectors, including roads, steel, paper, hotel leased offices, and real estate.

Automotive News executive editor Jamie Butters discusses the expansion of the UAW strikes and its impact on car buyers.

As BHP’s auction for Daunia and Blackwater gets to the pointy end, owners of other coal assets in the M&A pipeline are starting to get their ducks in a row.

Battery-powered mine trucks would haul less ore and spend less time on the road than diesel-fuelled alternatives, delivering a productivity hit of between 19 per cent and 33 per cent to Australia’s biggest export industry.

Brazil-based aerospace major Embraer plans to attract potential collaborators and partners to grow its presence in India.

Sharply subdued levels of edible oil prices in the global markets for nearly a year, coupled with the government’s resolve to pass the benefits on to the consumers, have kept consumption high, but hit the bottom lines of domestic companies hard.

Federal Reserve officials typically gather many of their insights and observations about the economy from some of the top Ph.D. economists in Washington

Advent could rope in new investors into its planned combination of Suven Pharma and Cohance Life Sciences, as it looks to create a top three contract development and manufacturing organisation with a diversified shareholder base by combining the portfolio companies, according to sources in the know. «A few investors have been sounded out. They are looking to induct new investors as part of the merger plan of Suven Pharma with Cohance. The idea is to have a diversified shareholder base in the merged entity and bring in investors who could add value to the business,» a person in the know said.

Vodafone, on Monday urged the EU to make tech and streaming giants pay for the massive amounts of bandwidth they use. The idea is not new but has ignited a fierce debate. Telecoms giants say that they need more money to maintain and update the infrastructure to meet Europe's voracious data needs, and that it would be fairer if firms like Netflix contributed towards the cost. But tech behemoths say telecoms companies already get money from customers, while digital rights activists fear making web giants pay would create a two-speed internet. «Big tech companies pay today almost nothing for data transport in our networks, far from covering the costs needed to expand networks,» a letter published by the European telecoms lobby group ETNO and signed by 20 CEOs said.