Experts Financial News

Gold should remain a key component of investor portfolios in 2024 to help mitigate the volatility expected in equities and fixed income amid crucial local and global events, said experts. While an easing interest rate environment is seen propping up prices of the yellow metal, double-digit returns like those in 2022 and 2023 are unlikely, especially at the current levels, they said, advising investors to stagger purchases. «Whenever interest rates in the US come down, gold prices tend to rally, and some part of this year's rally is already reflecting this,» said Nilesh Shah, managing director, Kotak Mutual Fund. Gold prices have gained 12% in 2023 as stress in the banking system and expectations that the US central bank would pivot saw some safe-haven buying at the start of the year.

equity capital markets (ECM) experienced a remarkable 66% surge, reaching a high of ₹2.18 lakh crore ($26 billion) in the calendar year 2023 from ₹1.31 lakh crore ($16 billion) in the previous year, according to data from Bloomberg. The number of deals also saw a significant 66% increase, totalling 340 in CY23 compared to 205 in CY22. Notably, block deals took precedence, contributing to the substantial rise by generating over $20 billion through several large deals. Maintaining its leadership position from CY22, Kotak Investment Banking emerged as the frontrunner in the ECM league table in CY23, according to Bloomberg data.

SJVN DIPAM has agreed to the proposal of the company and Ministry of Power to form four Joint Venture companies for the development of Hydro and Renewable Projects in India and Nepal. Eicher Motors Royal Enfield sales were down 7% to 63,387 units in the month of December as against 68,400 units in the preceding month. Read more: Here's the trade setup for today's session LIC The company has received communication/demand order for collection of GST along with interest and penalty for Maharashtra state. TVS Motor TVS Motor recorded monthly sales of 301,898 units in December 2023 with a growth of 25% as against 242,012 units in the month of December 2022. G R Infraprojects G R Infraprojects has been emerged as successful bidder and has received Letter of Intent for «Transmission system for Evacuation of Power from RE Projects in Rajgarh (1000 MW) SEZ in Madhya Pradesh- Phase II» through Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process (TBCB). APL Apollo Tubes APL Apollo Tubes registered a sales volume of 6,03,659 ton in Q3FY24 compared to 6,05,049 Ton in Q3FY23 and 6,74,761 Ton in Q2FY24. Dhanlaxmi Bank Dhanlaxmi Bank's gross advance came in at Rs 10,350 crore for the quarter ended December, up 11% year-on-year.

«Overall we expect positive momentum to continue and markets to end the year on a buoyant note,» said Siddhartha Khemka, Head — Retail Research, Motilal Oswal. Here's breaking down the pre-market actions: STATE OF THE MARKETS

private sector life insurer is set for a market debut after a gap of six years. IndiaFirst Life Insurance received approval for an initial public offering from the capital markets regulator Sebi in March last year and aims to float the issue by March. The company is meeting investors to gauge the market sentiment. Life insurers are becoming a hard sell after the withdrawal of several tax benefits and the poor post-listing show by the biggest player, the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation. Promoters Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India are likely to sell a part of their holdings in the IPO. «It has received final observations from Sebi in March 2023,» said a source.

₹50 trillion milestone for the first time in November 2023, latest central bank data showed. This was aided by demand from individuals, a push by banks and the merger between HDFC Bank and erstwhile mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (HDFC).

Supreme Court, claiming they suffered from many «defects and discrepancies». The Lok Sabha had on December 21 passed three key legislations — the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bills. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bills on December 25.

The Nifty50 continues to trade at 19.8 times its 1-year forward P/E based on the consensus earnings. On a 10-year basis, the index is still trading 10% above its 10-year mean valuation, says HSBC Mutual Fund. Valuations in the midcap and smallcap space are much more elevated.

₹5,069 crore bid to redevelop Dharavi. “We anticipate the harmonious fusion of expertise from our world-class partners and the vibrancy and spirit of Dharavi’s citizens to cultivate a model of urban redevelopment that the world can look up to and can be replicated across other locations and cities," the spokesperson said.

Diffusion Engineers has filed preliminary papers with the capital markets regulator Sebi to raise funds through an initial share sale. The initial public offering (IPO) is purely a fresh issue of up to 98,47,000 equity shares with a face value of Rs 10 each, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed on December 27.

₹66135 crore in Indian equity markets during December 2023 meant that FPI were buyers worth ₹1.7 trillion ( ₹171107 crore) in the equity market during the year 2023 as per NSDL data. “Since 2024 is expected to witness further declines in U.S. interest rates, FPIs are likely to increase their purchases in 2024 too, particularly in the early months of 2024 in the run up to the General elections", as per Dr VijayaKumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Agro Phos(up 11.74%), Sikko Industries(up 4.99%), Bohra Industries(up 4.90%), Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chem(up 2.79%), ZUARIAGRO(up 2.72%), Madras Fertlizers(up 1.00%), Coromandel International(up 0.96%), Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers (up 0.53%), Deepak Fertilizers & Petrochemicals(up 0.53%) and Krishana Phoschem(up 0.18%) stood among the top gainers. Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers(down 2.25%), Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals(down 2.11%), Aries Agro(down 1.99%), G S F C(down 1.63%), Rama Phosphates(down 0.58%), Khaitan Chemicals & Fertilizers(down 0.50%), Fertilizers & Chemicals Tranvancore(down 0.35%), Southern Petrochemicals Industries(down 0.19%), Paradeep Phosphates(down 0.15%) and Madhya Bharat Agro Products(down 0.12%) were among the top losers of the day.

On the BSE, Sailani Tours N Trav(down 11.85 per cent), W H Brady(down 11.60 per cent), Hilton Metal(down 11.17 per cent), Dipna Pharmachem(down 9.97 per cent) and Eastern Logica Infow(down 9.91 per cent) stood among the top losers in today's trade. In the Nifty pack, 20 stocks closed in the green, while 30 stocks ended in the red.

NMDC Ltd(up 1.21%) and Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores(up 0.63%) stood among the top gainers. Ashapura Minechem(down 1.81%), KIOCL(down 1.81%), 20 Microns(down 1.76%), Coal India(down 1.30%), Pokarna(down 1.03%), MOIL(down 0.98%), Orissa Minerals Development Company(down 0.76%), Gujarat Mineral Dvpt Corporation(down 0.71%), Oriental Trimex(down 0.53%) and Aro Granite Industries(down 0.41%) were among the top losers of the day.

Shares of Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd.(up 3.82 per cent), Ashok Leyland Ltd.(up 2.42 per cent), Tata Motors Ltd.(up 1.36 per cent), Tube Investments of India Ltd.(up 1.31 per cent) and Bosch Ltd.(up 1.03 per cent) ended the day as top gainers in the pack. On the other hand, Eicher Motors Ltd.(down 2.53 per cent), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.(down 1.5 per cent), Bajaj Auto Ltd.(down 1.41 per cent), Hero MotoCorp Ltd.(down 0.5 per cent) and TVS Motor Company Ltd.(down 0.33 per cent) finished as the top losers of the day.

Sensex closed flat in a highly volatile market on the first session of 2024 as gains from IT and energy stocks were offset by banking, auto and financial stocks. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex rose 32 points or 0.04% to settle at 72,272. The broader NSE Nifty gained 10 points or 0.05% to end at 21,742.

The NSE Nifty index ended the session 47.3 points down at 21731.4, while BSE Sensex fell 170.12 points to 72240.26. In the Nifty index, Tata Consumer Products Ltd.(up 4.40 per cent), Tata Motors Ltd.(up 3.46 per cent), Bajaj Auto Ltd.(up 1.40 per cent), Adani Enterprises Ltd.(up 1.39 per cent) and Nestle India Ltd.(up 1.26 per cent) stood among the top gainers.

KPI Green Energy(up 10.00%), Kalpataru Projects International(up 7.85%), Transformers and Rectifiers(India)(up 7.60%), Inox Wind Energy(up 5.00%), Alstom T&D India(up 5.00%), Indo Tech Transformers(up 4.99%), Power & Instrumentation(Gujarat)(up 4.91%), Reliance Power(up 4.25%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures(up 3.72%) and Inox wind(up 2.96%) stood among the top gainers. Energy Development Company(down 1.66%), Gujarat Industries Power(down 1.58%), PTC India(down 1.17%), NTPC(down 0.88%), Power Grid Corporation of India(down 0.79%), NHPC(down 0.54%), DPSC(down 0.51%), GE Power India Limited(down 0.48%), SJVN(down 0.38%) and KEC International(down 0.28%) were among the top losers of the day.

Stock to buy today: Share India Securities shares have been in a bull trend since March 2023. After bottoming out at around ₹1,015 apiece in mid of March 2023, Share India Securities share price came out of the base building mode and it has been climbing to new life-time highs on a regular basis.

BSE Midcap index, and BSE Smallcap index surged to new all-time highs. Sensex opened 22 points lower at 72,218.39 and traded in the negative territory for the most part of the day. However, the index touched its fresh all-time high of 72561.91 during the session.

Canadians are ringing in the new year with plans to cut down on spending and make other behaviour changes amid growing recession fears after a year riddled with concerns about inflation, rising interest rates and high cost of living.