EPFO to put more money in equity, plagiarism in Environment Ministry rules, Q1 corporate revenues to hit a two year high, telcos underreported income, CAG says Nearly 3,000 words of the 3,900 word Environment Ministry draft for rules on pollutants is a direct lift from a US Supplementary Environment Project Policy document. The new environment minister is yet to respond. IE Changes in the Employee Provident Fund: The EPFO is now looking to invest beyond 5% in equities, after investments last year yielded good returns. The investment might increase to around 10% of its total fund, translating into Rs. 10,000 crore annually. ET Ratings agency CRISIL says that corporate India's growth in Q1 is likely to hit a two year high - driven by exports from IT and overall could hit 8% in revenue. BS CAG says that telcos have under-reported revenues of upto Rs 46,000 crore between 2006-10. The agency will issue a Rs. 12,500 crore demand notice to these companies. LiveMint Picture of the Day: China's constructions in the South China sea - new islands and military bases. NYT
Flipkart blacklists sellers, government steps up efforts to identify black money, and what exactly is the size of India's e-commerce market? In its efforts to improve customer experience, Flipkart is blacklisting sellers it says do not meet quality norms and customer satisfaction requirements. Sellers are charging that the company is targeting merchants that protested lower commissions, and who are part of lobby groups. BS A comparison of Flipkart and other online seller payments is here The government has stepped up its efforts to identify black money and tax dodgers, turning to recent international agreements signed to get the information. The disclosure scheme that ends on September 30, the government says, is a window to disclose without penalty, after which evaders will have to face the music. ET The bulls and bears of India's e-commerce market: LiveMint looked at various estimates of India's e-commerce market and found wide variation in expectations - there is a gap of $70 billion between the most optimistic and most conservative numbers. Morgan Stanley is the most gung-ho, and expects the market to grow to $120 billion in the next four years, while the UBS AG predicts a $48-60 billion industry. The Cabinet reshuffle is politically savvy, IE writes, showing a Prime Minister and government conscious of public dissatisfactions, and making an effort to include Dalit leaders as well as prominent communities who've been demanding greater inclusion and caste quotas. Photo of the Day: Oscar Pistorious, the famous double amputee sprinter who had entered the Olympics in 2012 as a celebrated athlete, receives a six year prison sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. NYT
Wednesday Morning Brief: Mood downbeat in global markets as oil falls 5%, Moody says risk for 7.5% India GDP target, 4G expansion slow US markets are downbeat as oil falls 5% on sentiment towards global growth. US today has more untapped oil than Saudi Arabia, a significant shift in global oil supply CNN Money The ratings agency Moody points out global slowdown and weak credit as downsides for India's 7.5% GDP growth target. Lending capacity of India's public banks will be impaired due to asset issues, it pointed out. ET Adoption of 4G services in India is much lower than expected. One year after the launch of 4G by Bharti Airtel, there are just 6.5 million users across the country. BS Smriti Irani is no longer HRD minister post Cabinet rejig - she's moved from 'textbooks to textiles', as UP Minister Javedkar gets her portfolio. IE Photo of the Day: A ice crystal cave near Lake Baikal in Siberia. The lake is covered in ice from May to November. NatGeo
Stock Market Roundup and Stock Pick of the Week: June 24 - July 5 2016 Research reports roundup this week! Seventeen company stocks saw BUY reports from analysts One company stock saw a SELL report from analysts One stock came in as NEUTRAL. Pick of the week: ITC Limited - ITC, which has received seven price upgrades over the last six months from Phillip Capital, ICICI Securities Limited, Angel Broking, Motilal Oswal, ICICI Securities Limited, HDFC Securities and Prabhudas Lilladhar. However, a cautionary note - proxy advisory SES has asked ITC shareholders to vote against the re-appointment of ITC auditors Deloitte, noting that the auditor re-appointment by the company violates SEC norms. Date Stock Target Upside Type Report Date Price CMP Upgrades/downgrades - last 6 months 2016-06-24 Manpasand Beverages Limited - MANPASAND 750 26.84 BUY 520 591.3 2016-06-25 ITC Limited - ITC 375 Pre-Bonus/ Split BUY 353.4 244.85 7 upgrades till date, 2 downgrades 2016-06-27 Ujjivan Financial Services L.. - UJJIVAN 510 22.21 BUY 378.75 417.3 1 upgrade till date 2016-06-27 Vinati Organics Limited - VINATIORGA 656 20.81 BUY 540.05 543 5 upgrades,1 downgrade till date 2016-06-27 Good Luck Steel Tubes Limited - GOODLUCK 154 41.09 BUY 102.8 109.15 1 upgrade till date 2016-06-27 Navkar Corporation Limited - NAVKARCORP 261 21.68 BUY 205.2 214.5 5 upgrades till date 2016-06-29 Larsen & Toubro Limited - LT 1420 -9.28 NEUTRAL 1481.8 1565.2 6 upgrades,2 downgrades till date 2016-06-29 KEC International Limited - KEC 170 17.61 BUY 143.85 144.55 2 upgrades, 2 downgrades till date 2016-06-29 Tata Communications Limited - TATACOMM 543 11.27 BUY 472 488 2 upgrades, 2 downgrades till date 2016-06-30 POLARIS CONSULTING & SERVICE.. - POLARIS 280 44.18 BUY 194.95 194.2 1 upgrade till date 2016-06-30 Astra Microwave Products Lim.. - ASTRAMICRO 154 20.08 BUY 123.15 128.25 1 upgrade till date 2016-06-30 DLF Limited - DLF 181 14.12 BUY 150 158.6 1 upgrade,1 downgrade till date 2016-07-01 Minda Industries Limited - MINDAIND 1355 16.31 BUY 1152.8 1165 6 upgrades, 1 downgrade till date 2016-07-01 Finolex Cables Limited - FINCABLES 412 11.53 BUY 360 369.4 5 upgrades, 1 downgrade till date 2016-07-01 Prestige Estates Projects Li.. - PRESTIGE 264 41.1 BUY 182.6 187.1 2 upgrades till date 2016-07-01 Steel Strips Wheels Limited - SSWL 578 18.93 BUY 471.95 486 1 upgrade till date 2016-07-01 Aarti Industries Limited - AARTIIND 620 15.46 BUY 525 537 5 upgrades till date 2016-07-01 Godrej Properties Limited - GODREJPROP 415 12.76 BUY 361.5 368.05 2 upgrades till date 2016-07-01 KPIT Technologies Limited - KPIT 125 19.15 SELL 157.5 154.6 5 upgrades, 4 downgrades till date
Ultratech seals Jaypee Group deal with last minute price increase, Narendra Modi interview, markets await announcement of Cabinet expansion, Swiggy working to cut costs through partnerships UltraTech withdrew its legal notice it served Jaypee last week and signed a revised deal with the company, increasing its acquisition price by Rs 289 crore. The deal had grown tenuous in the last minutes as UltraTech had written letters to the lenders Jaypee, saying talks with rival buyers was illegal. ET In an interview with IE, Narendra Modi said that his biggest challenge has been in winning over sceptics, and says that under the BJP government the economy has seen a turnaround from high inflation and market turmoil to higher growth. After gains over the last few days Indian markets have opened low, with investors cautious and awaiting news of the Cabinet expansion. Investors are hoping for appointments that signal an aggressive reform agenda. BS Swiggy has been shifting away from its own delivery fleet and instead partnering with logistics companies in an effort to cut costs and reduce its burn rate. LiveMint Photo of the Day: NASA's spacecraft Juno nears Jupiter, prepares for orbit insertion. NASA
An emerging water crisis is hurting India's growth numbers India's water crisis is showing up in different parts of the country as droughts, crop failure, unclean water, widespread water contamination. The Economic Times writes today that water shortages are affecting factory production across India, threatening Make In India and the country's growth plans. But it is not just factories that are reeling: every urban Indian resident who is buying an RO system or water filter knows that the struggle for clean, easily available water is now everywhere. It is affecting Indians across demographics, cities and income classes, and is set to worsen - the Water Resources Institute predicts that in ten years, India's available water will be 50% below demand. Areas like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab are already deeply stressed - affecting crop production and poverty levels. In the south, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are scrambling for water. In Bangalore, the water shortage has resulted in predictions that the city will become 'unlivable' in five years, due to droughts. The fight for water today is between India's farms, factories, and ordinary people. It is a thirst that is becoming harder to quench every year as monsoons have grown unreliable. The dependence on groundwater is drying up wells - over half of these are now severely stressed. Water shortages of the kind India is facing cannot be addressed by short-term solutions: we are at the point where it impacts GDP growth, and incumbent politicians are paying the price during re-elections due to droughts and farmer suicides - the issue of drought now hits news headlines every week. Local bandaids and river linking projects do not address the basic issue of shortage and contaminated supply. Governments will have to put in systems that halt the abuse of groundwater, water wastage, and the dumping of sewage in rivers and lakes: something that has been ongoing for the last few decades. Image source: Water Resources Institute
Best companies to work for survey, Taxi apps set for big growth in 2016, India's GDP is 'overstated', Facebook betting on streaming video for global growth The best companies to work for survey is out. Google India scores number 1 - employees evidently love both the massage chairs and quality of work. American Express comes in second, and Ujjivan Financial Services scores third place. ET The online taxi aggregator space, where Uber and Ola are lugging it out, is set to cross Rs 11,400 crores in booking value in 2016. Competition and lower prices are encouraging customers, and spurring growth across cities. BS Morgan Stanley's chief global strategist, Ruchir Sharma says that India's GDP growth of 7.9% looks overstated, and said private investment needs to improve. Inflation needs to be lower and below 5% for sustained growth, he added. IE Facebook is betting on live streaming videos for growth, and has signed up big content publishers including Buzzfeed and Huffington Post to stream videos exclusively on Facebook. This strategy will be replicated globally. SeekingAlpha Photo of the day: France ends Iceland's dream run IE
Bangladesh minister says Dhaka attack was not ISIS, foreign investor money rides high on hopes for a good monsoon, RBI governor tenure lowest among central banks, China dominating Bitcoin Bangladeshi Home Minister says that the attackers in the Dhaka restaurant were not ISIS but a homegrown group called the Jameytul Mujahdeen, which has no connections with ISIS. The group has been banned in the country for over a decade. IE The RBI governor's term is the lowest of all central bank governors globally. In the US, the central bank governors have served consecutive renewable terms, with Alan Greenspan serving for over 20 years. BS Foreign investors have brought in over Rs 3700 crore into the stock markets, riding on hopes of a good monsoon. ET The digital currency Bitcoin has become a multibillion dollar industry, one that is increasingly dominated by China. Chinese exchanges account for 42% of worldwide Bitcoin transactions, and Baidu has invested alongside Chinese banks in the Bitcoin company Circle. NYT Photo: A Nepali youth plays in a paddy field during National Paddy Day . Source: Atlantic
Attack on Dhaka restaurant ends, India-US reach arms deal, TN students corner over 80% SRCC seats, boost for regional airline connectivity ISIS siege on a Dhaka restaurant popular with foreigners, finally ends with militants killed. Soldiers moved in at 7:40 am Saturday to rescue hostages held by armed men inside the restaurant. IE, NYT PM Modi has cleared the purchase of a $1 billion deal with the US, for four Poseidon longrange, surveillance aircraft. These aircraft can detect submarine intrusions in the sea, and are aimed at detecting Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean. The aircraft specialize in finding and repelling such threats. ET The Central govt has proposed a scheme to improve underserved air routes in India, capping fares on these routes at Rs 2,500. The reduced fares would be subsidized by flyers on existing routes. BS Students from the Tamil Nadu state board exams had an advantage in SRCC admissions, whose cutoff for UG programs was at 98.25% and 98%. Delhi University does not have a process for rationalizing marks from various state boards. Over 80% of SRCC seats have been allotted to TN students. ET Photo of the Day: Fireflies, with the central Milky Way in the background. NASA
FridayList: Uncertainty for the world, but some positive notes for Indian markets this July Anxiety is up in global markets - the chart above shows the Policy Uncertainty Index, which indicates a spike in uncertainty across the world with Brexit. Analysts suggest that India however, looks better placed to weather the storm. 1) IT up for grabs: Nifty IT is at a three month low, driven by anxieties over Brexit. This is a good time to pick up IT heavyweights with good fundamentals. 2) Auto results: Auto stocks are likely to outperform expectations on the heels of a normal monsoon and also from government pay hikes announced this week. Stocks like Bajaj Auto have seen exports hit by struggling African demand, but still seeing bullish BUY recommendations. 3) Manufacturing: China's manufacturing index has hit a four month low, but India's manufacturing activity is at a three month high, driven by domestic demand. Thie optimism is likely to continue for India as international investors look the country as an option in the face of China's slump. 4) New accounting standards have kicked in for Indian firms in April, and will boost companies like L&T, hiking up the company's net worth estimates.
