Business News

Mumbai: Overseas investors were sellers of Indian equities worth ₹27,258 crore across 14 sectors between May 1 and 15, as per NSDL data. Financial services and information technology sectors witnessed the highest selloff in the same period. Foreign investors offloaded shares worth ₹9,687 crore and ₹5,574 crore in the financial services and IT sectors, respectively. In April, the two sectors witnessed selling of over ₹9,000 crore each. In 2023, financial services had received foreign inflows worth ₹52,900 crore while IT saw selling worth ₹7,066 crore.The construction sector witnessed foreign selling worth ₹3,811 crore in the first half of May after they bought shares worth ₹280 crore in April. Oil & gas and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) also saw foreign selling worth ₹2,808 crore and ₹1,158 crore respectively.110346665Power, automobile, and telecommunication sectors also saw a shift in sentiment, with foreign investors dumping shares worth ₹792 crore, ₹706 crore and ₹272 crore in the first half of May after buying shares worth over ₹4,000 crore, ₹1,000 crore and ₹8,000 crore respectively in April.

Mumbai: Are concerns over the wave of retail trader participation in stock futures and options overblown? Exchanges and stock brokers may have a reason to believe so. According to NSE data, the value of trades by retail investors who traded less than ₹10 lakh in a month as a percentage of total equity F&O turnover of ₹46.25 lakh crore in March was 0.6%.Options turnover in the total F&O turnover has been calculated on the basis of the premium and not the strike value (which is used by NSE and BSE to calculate their turnover officially). Premium is the price that traders pay to buy an option or receive by selling an option. In comparison, the NSE data showed retail investors' activity in the cash segment (shares) is higher at 2.8% of the total turnover of ₹18.57 lakh crore in March. 110346606Brokers contend that though overall retail activity in equity futures & options has grown in recent years, it may not be alarming when compared to the overall turnover."The reason for overall volumes in derivatives being very high compared to cash market can be assigned to high-frequency trades and proprietary trades of brokers aided by a large number of professional dealers known as arbitrageurs," said Vinod Goyal, national president of the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI).The debate around the growing retail activity in F&O surfaced after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said, "Any unchecked explosion in retail trading of futures & options can create future challenges, not just for the markets, but for investor sentiment and household finances."A Sebi study last year showed 9 out of 10 individual traders in the equity F&O segment incurred an average loss of ₹1.1 lakh during FY22. Most of them traded in the options segment.“It's not about the volumes, but some newcomers are trading directly in options without having any knowledge or shares in the cash market, which is a concern for regulators,” said Rajesh Palviya, head of technicals and derivatives at Axis Securities. “Additionally, many unregistered influencers are encouraging new investors to trade in options by selling their strategies."The turnover of the F&O segment on NSE based on the options premium paid was an average of 1.96 lakh crore daily in FY24 compared to 1.63 lakh crore in FY23. However, the notional turnover (based on strike value) shows an average turnover of 400 lakh crore daily in 2024.The number of active investors in the options segment was 43.7 lakh in March 2024, as compared to 48.2 lakh in the previous month.Many traders have shifted from trading in shares to options because of more stringent margin requirement in the cash segment.“Some retail volume has shifted towards options, because of lower margin requirements in options especially for buyers,” said Om Damani, VP, IIFL Securities. “In the past few years, the market regulator has introduced several new norms regarding margin and pledge of shares, and one of them was the concept of peak margin reporting, in which stockbrokers will calculate margin based on the end of the day position and the intraday peak position.”

Last year, Europe's largest hotel chain Accor opened Raffles London at The OWO, London’s most expensive hotel owned by the Hinduja Group.“I am very grateful to the Hindujas for this partnership and thank them every day,” Sébastien Bazin, group chairman and CEO of Accor, told ET when he visited India last month. But the Hinduja Group is not alone. The numbers of Indian origin hotel owners in markets such as Europe, UAE and the UK has been rising over the past few years.In December last year, InterGlobe Enterprises announced the introduction of a new lifestyle hotel brand, Miiro, to launch a collection of individually designed hotels in European cities. InterGlobe said launching Miiro was a part of the group’s diversification strategy into Europe through ‘unique’ assets in premier European locations. InterGlobe had said at the time that Miiro branded hotels will be opening in Paris in summer 2024, followed by London and Vienna in 2025.Marriott International will launch its first W hotel on the Marjan Island of Ras Al Khaimah in 2027 in association with Indian investor Dalands Holding, the developer behind projects such as Hyatt Regency Dehradun and Wyndham Resort in Goa.Shruti Shibulal, CEO and director of Tamara Leisure Experiences, acquired the Moxy Bremen hotel in Germany in 2022, and said she will continue investing in Germany. “We intend to take the Tamara Resorts brand overseas, as we believe we can create a unique value proposition for our guests,” she said. Industry insiders said there has been a noticeable surge in Indian origin hotel owners expanding into overseas markets. “We see interest growing among Indian origin owner investors for markets such as the Middle East and Europe,” said Manav Thadani, founder chairman of hospitality consultancy firm Hotelivate. Markets such as Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah offer a ‘compelling blend’ of investment opportunities such as ‘robust demand’, a well-developed tourism infrastructure and advantageous tax structures, said Nandivardhan Jain, founder and CEO of NOESIS Capital Advisors. "These factors collectively stimulate investor interest, drawing NRIs towards investment opportunities in hotel and resort development ventures," he added. According to Deepak Jain, founder of MayFair Consultants, the key markets where Indian origin owners are actively looking for expansion opportunities are London, Switzerland, Dubai, and Bali. "We are in conversations with Indian origin investors based in the UK and the Middle East for sourcing the right hotel investment opportunities for them in key cities," he added. In the US, the second generation of Indian origin hotel owners is lining up aggressive expansion plans and Indian origin owners control around $80 billion worth of hotel assets, said Raj Patel, founder of Raj Hospitality and Arvox Capital Group, whose portfolio includes 42 hotels of brands such as Wyndham, Choice, and Oyo.“For many Indian folks who now have a green card in the US, their main aim is to get into a hotel business," he said.The growth opportunities Radisson offers through its owner-focused initiatives and ‘near-perfect’ renewal rates are attractive to Indian hoteliers seeking global expansion, particularly in markets such as the Middle East and Europe, said Nikhil Sharma, MD, and area senior vice president, South Asia at Radisson Hotel Group. “With over 1,320 hotels in operation and development globally, we remain committed to further growth by nurturing existing partnerships and forging new ones,” he added.