Experts Financial News

Bandhan Bank Ltd. fell 0.72 per cent to Rs 192.9 at 12:42PM hours (IST) on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the stock saw a gap up start to the session. As per data available on BSE, total traded quantity on the counter stood at 326,027 shares with a turnover of Rs 6.31 crore till 12:42PM (IST). The stock traded at a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 12.09, while the price-to-book value ratio stood at 1.34.

Jio's Akash Ambani and Airtel's Sunil Mittal recently voiced concerns about market access for multinational corporations in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the report by (Pankaj Doval) said. During the India Mobile Congress, Ambani emphasised the need for the local storage of data and expressed worries about data being moved abroad.

World Bank report has highlighted the persistent gender disparity in employment across South Asia, with women experiencing a significant decline in labor force participation post-marriage, often referred to as a "marriage penalty." In India, female employment rates drop by 12 percentage points after marriage, about one-third of the pre-marital employment level, even in the absence of children. Meanwhile, men gain a 13-percentage-point employment premium upon marriage, although this advantage gradually erodes after five years. “This marriage penalty among women without children persists up to five years after the wedding in India and Maldives,” the report states, attributing the trend to deep-rooted social norms. In addition to the marriage penalty, women also face a “child penalty,” as caregiving responsibilities often push them out of the workforce.

banking, auto, and IT stocks. The BSE Sensex was trading 161 points, or 0.20%, lower at 81,659. The Nifty50 was down 33 points, or 0.13%, trading at 25,024 around 9:18 am.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd. traded 1.92 per cent down in Wednesday's trade at 11:52AM (IST). Around 23,735 shares changed hands on the counter. The scrip opened at Rs 422.2 and touched an intraday high and low of Rs 430.7 and Rs 417.9, respectively, in the session so far. Shares of the company of Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals Ltd. quoted a 52-week high of Rs 483.65 and a 52-week low of Rs 262.1.

National Conference leader Sheikh Bashir Ahmad on Wednesday said that the new government in Jammu and Kashmir will fulfill people's expectations. He stated that unemployment and inflation are major issues in the valley and that Article 370 must be restored. «After ten years, a government that will represent Jammu and Kashmir is being formed. There has been presidential rule for five years. People were suppressed by bureaucracy. J-K has witnessed a lot. We hope that we fulfill all the expectations of the people. Unemployment will be the top priority. The youth has no opportunities. Prices have been skyrocketing. Along with that, there are so many issues. It is a border state. Peace must be established here. We will work together for it,» said the NC leader. Speaking on the demand for restoring statehood, he said, «The day BJP took away the statehood, they mentioned that it will be restored. If they empathise with people, then, it must be done. We will push for this demand. J-K's land and jobs were secure under Article 370. We will fight for it.»

Bengaluru is facing incessant rain since Monday evening, affecting normal life in the city. Several localities witnessed water-logging and traffic congestion. Many citizens faced difficulties navigating through the city due to the downpour as several roads in Varthur, Hebbal, Kadubeesanahalli, and surrounding areas were water-logged. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Wednesday and Thursday in the city. Union Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kuamraswamy took to social media platform to blame the Congress government for the poor infrastructure.

Uday Kotak backed Kotak Mahindra Bank’s ambition to be India’s third largest private sector lender could expose it to significant M&A risk given the integration challenges and the weaker RoA of smaller banks, Bernstein Research a part of the Société Générale group has said. The brokerage house also said that given the high growth outperformance ask, inorganic growth would almost be inevitable for Kotak Mahindra to achieve its ‘Top 3’ objective. To emerge as the third most profitable private sector bank, Kotak will need an organic earnings growth which is 7% percentage points higher than Axis which looks unlikely, it said. In a recent interview with The Economic Times, Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO Ashok Vaswani had said that he aspires that the bank would become the third largest private sector bank by profits by 2030.

Punjab National Bank traded 0.04 per cent down at Rs 104.9 on Wednesday at around 11:45AM (IST), while the benchmark BSE Sensex declined 387.68 points to 81432.44. As many as 161,723 shares changed hands on the counter with a total value of Rs 1.69 crore.

Vishnu Deo Sai on Wednesday announced a 4 per cent hike in the dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees, bringing the total DA to 50 per cent. Speaking to reporters in Raipur, CM Sai said, «There is a cabinet meeting today at 11:30 am… Our government has decided that all state employees are currently getting 46 per cent DA, we are increasing their DA by 4 per cent. From now on, they will get 50 per cent DA.» The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's Office added that the revised 50 per cent dearness allowance will be effective from October 1.

Benchmark NSE Nifty index fell 20.1 points to 25037.25 amid selling in frontline bluechip stocks.

Wipro Ltd.(up 0.68 per cent), HCL Technologies Ltd.(up 0.52 per cent), L&T Technology Services Ltd.(up 0.41 per cent) and Persistent Systems Ltd.(up 0.1 per cent) were among the top gainers.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd.(up 1.33 per cent), Godrej Properties Ltd.(up 1.06 per cent), DLF Ltd.(up 0.3 per cent) and Phoenix Mills Ltd.(up 0.2 per cent) were among the top gainers.

REC Ltd. gained 0.84 per cent to Rs 552.1 at 10:29AM (IST) in Wednesday's trade. The scrip has hit a high of Rs 555.35 and low of Rs 545.85 so far during the session. The stock had closed at Rs 547.45 in the previous session. The counter has had a total traded volume of 109189 shares so far with a value of Rs 6.03 crore on the NSE. It traded at a price-to-earnings multiple of 9.93 and a price-to-book ratio of 1.73.

Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) fell by 6% to their day’s low of Rs 4,471 on NSE after the global brokerage firm Jefferies downgraded the stock’s rating to ‘underperform’ from an earlier ‘hold’ rating. However, despite a downgrade in the rating, the global brokerage firm has hiked the target price to Rs 3,500 from Rs 2,850 previously.

mutual funds have topped the return chart and offered an average return of around 6.01% in the last one month. Around 65 international funds or global funds have completed one month of existence in the market. Among these 65 funds, nine offered double-digit returns. The top three funds were from the Chinese economy. Mirae Asset Hang Seng TECH ETF FoF gave the highest return of around 48.86% in the last one month, followed by Edelweiss Gr China Equity Off-Shore Fund which gave 23.61% return in the same time period. Axis Greater China Equity FoF gave 21.74% return in the last one month.

HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd. gained 3.43 per cent to Rs 4705.0 at 10:04AM (IST) in Wednesday's trade. The scrip has hit a high of Rs 4783.75 and low of Rs 4563.05 so far during the session. The stock had closed at Rs 4548.65 in the previous session. The counter has had a total traded volume of 26118 shares so far with a value of Rs 12.36 crore on the NSE. It traded at a price-to-earnings multiple of 48.61 and a price-to-book ratio of 11.32.

swearing-in ceremony, Jammu and Kashmir CM-designate Omar Abdullah on Wednesday offered floral tributes at the Mazar-e-Anwar of «Sher-e-Kashmir» Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, in Srinagar. Omar Abdullah's grandfather, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was the first Prime Minister of JK after its accession to India and later served as Chief Minister. Omar's father Farooq Abdullah has been the CM of the erstwhile state thrice. Speaking after he offered prayers Omar Abdullah said his government has a lot to do for the people of the region.

junior doctors continued their fast-unto-death for the 12th consecutive day on Wednesday demanding justice for the deceased woman colleague of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and workplace security. Sourav Dutta of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, fasting since October 5 was hospitalised on Tuesday evening and is being treated at the CCU of the hospital in Jalpaiguri while Spandan Chowdhury and Rumelika Kumar joined the hunger strike on Tuesday. Claiming that Tuesday's 'Droher Carnival' was «successful» in bringing more people, from all walks of life, together to match their voice to demand for justice besides safety and security for them, junior medics on Wednesday opined to increase the heat of their ongoing protest. «Yesterday the world saw how people are keen on getting justice. We are happy to see that so many people especially common man are with us for this noble cause… this is giving us the zeal to keep on with our fight. We will make it stronger from now on to make the administration realise that we are not out of energy,» Debashish Halder, one of the agitating doctors told PTI.

Voltas Ltd. gained 3.43 per cent to Rs 1876.0 in Wednesday's trade as of 09:59AM (IST). It hit a high of Rs 1878.55 and low of Rs 1827.35 during the session. The stock quoted a 52-week high price of Rs 1946.2 and a low of Rs 806.9. The return on equity for the stock stood at 4.32 per cent. About 21,469 shares have changed hands on the counter so far.

electric vehicles globally, especially in China, is poised to disrupt the global oil market, according to a report released Wednesday by the International Energy Agency. In recent years, China has accounted for most of the growth in oil demand and planet-heating emissions, but electric vehicles now make up 40% of new sales of cars there, and 20% of sales globally, putting major oil and gas producers «in a bind.» The IEA World Energy Outlook 2024 outlines a future where EV adoption continues to gain momentum, potentially displacing up to 6 million barrels per day of oil demand by 2030. The agency said based on current trends and policies and the availability of materials, EV will reach 50% of global car sales in 2030. China already accounts for half the world's electric cars on the road. By 2030, it's projected that 70% of new car sales in China will be electric. With its massive additions of new wind and solar power, China is aligned with its target for addressing climate change, seeing emissions peak and begin to decline by the end of the decade.