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The fourth quarter earnings season is underway and it has been a mixed one for the IT sector. While TCS’ fourth-quarter numbers were better than expectations, Infosys missed estimates on revenue and FY25 guidance.On Friday, as many as 15 companies will announce their quarterly numbers with some of the major ones in the mix, including Wirpo, Jio Financial, and HDFC AMC among others.Other companies which will declare the results are Hindustan Zinc, Elecon Engineering, Benares Hotels, VL-E Governance, Rajnish Wellness, Amal, Sejal Glass, Roselabs Finance and others.Wipro Q4 expectationsWipro earnings for the March quarter are set to be another forgettable one for Dalal Street as the weak demand environment continues to weigh on growth.The company’s consolidated revenue for the reporting quarter is expected to be flat sequentially and decline 4.3% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 22,185 crore, according to the average of estimates given by 10 brokerage firms.Consolidated net profit, though, is likely to rise by nearly 4% sequentially, but decline a sharp 9% YoY to Rs 2,799 crore, the estimates showed.But more than the earnings, the Street will be all eyes and ears on the new MD and CEO Srini Pallia, seeking to hear about the planned strategy to bring Wipro back on the growth track in the current financial year. Read full preview hereHindustan Zinc Q4 expectationsHindustan Zinc is likely to see a sharp drop in its fourth-quarter earnings growth as net sales could fall around 11%. Meanwhile, net profit for the quarter may also dip 22% year-on-year."We expect zinc, silver and lead sales to increase by 3.9%, 3.8% and 0.1%, respectively year-on-year. We expect EBITDA to remain flat quarter-on-quarter with higher metal sales almost entirely offset by lower zinc prices," Kotak Equities.All eyes will be on the guidance on CoP, volumes, and realizations. Further, investors may also keep a close watch on guidance on future dividend payout.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

Equity markets continued their downtrend for the fourth straight day on Thursday amid concerns over fading rate cut hopes and conflict in the middle east.Stocks that were in focus included names like Infosys, which rose 1%, Just Dial, which rose 14%, and Tata Motors, whose shares declined 1.54% on Thursday.Here's what Riyank Arora, Technical Analyst at Mehta Equities, recommends investors should do with these stocks when the market resumes trading today.Infosys (Sell)The stock has broken down below its major support level of 1468.00 on daily charts, with volumes nearly three times its 30-day average. With the stock experiencing significant selling pressure, it is expected to head lower towards 1350 eventually. A stop-loss for short positions can be placed near the 1450 mark to manage risk effectively.Just Dial (Buy)The stock has broken out above its recent resistance level of 1004.00 on its daily time frame charts. With volume picking up and the RSI (14) on daily charts nearing 73, the overall momentum looks strong, and the stock appears poised for an up-move towards 1100 and 1125. A strict stop-loss should be placed near the 960 mark to manage risk effectively.Tata Motors (Sell)The stock has broken down below its important support level of 978.50 on its daily charts, indicating overall weakness. With the stock breaching this crucial support, it is likely to head lower towards 940 and 920 as selling pressure persists. A strict stop-loss should be placed near the 1000 mark to manage risk effectively.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

Mumbai: Promoters of over 200 companies increased their shareholdings in the quarter ended March 2024, as optimism around long-term business prospects dominated near-term concerns over elevated valuations. According to an ET study of the shareholdings of 2,300 companies, which have disclosed their fourth quarter shareholdings so far, stake increases by promoters in these firms are the highest in over eight quarters.While some promoters raised their holdings through rights issues or converting warrants into shares, many bought shares from the open market.For instance, Adani Group increased its stake in Ambuja Cement from 63.15% to 66.70% in the March quarter by converting the warrants issued in October 2022. Aditya Birla Group increased its stake in Grasim by 31 basis points to 43.06% in the March quarter by subscribing to the rights issue."With the structural growth story in India remaining strong, we view these additions by promoters as a play on both the increasing consumption domestically and an expected pick-up in exports," said Manish Chowdhury, head of research, StoxBox. "The recent share purchases by promoters indicate that they are confident of the company's outlook and business performance going ahead."109416273When promoters increase their holdings in companies, it is seen as a positive sign by investors. Founders are perceived to know best about their companies' prospects.Companies such as Himadri Speciality Chemical, Jai Balaji Industries, Electrosteel Castings, Zydus Wellness, Ramco Cements, Paisalo Digital, JTEKT India, Chambal Fertilisers, and Atul are among companies where promoters have raised stake in March 2024 quarter."If the industry, the company operates in, is expected to grow, promoters might be strategically increasing their stake to benefit from the upswing," said Amit Goel, chief global strategist, Pace 360.Himadri Speciality's promoters have increased their stake by 5.5% from 44.79% to 50.29%. Sanjiv Goenka's family has increased stake in RPSG Ventures from 59.0% to 63.51%.Among others, promoters of Electrosteel Castings have raised their stake from 44.08% to 46.22%, while Gokul Agro's founders increased their stake in the company from 72.56% to 73.62%.Securities and Exchange Board of India regulations permit promoters to purchase up to 5% stake in their companies in any financial year from the secondary market through the creeping acquisition route.The stake increases by founders have happened amid concerns about share valuations - especially in the mid-cap and small-cap space - being elevated. Analysts said many of them might have raised stakes during the market selloff in March.

Mumbai: Sustained buying by overseas funds in the fully accessible category of Indian government bonds has met with a sudden trend reversal after persistently firm American economic data reduced visibility on rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, causing a surge in US bond yields and reducing the allure of emerging-market debts.Adding to the sudden reversal in foreign buying interest in bonds is the rise in crude oil prices over the past few weeks due to concerns of tighter supply and a recent flare-up in Middle East tensions. A higher trajectory for crude oil prices imparts uncertainty to the outlook on India's inflation and trade deficit."The cocktail of rising oil prices, strong dollar and repricing of Fed's path leading to higher US yields is behind the debt selloff in India... since index-inclusion related passive flows will only begin in June, till then, the reactions of the 'front-runners' and BAU (business as usual) investors will continue to dominate," said Dhiraj Nim, FX strategist at ANZ.From March 21 to April 16, FPI holdings of Fully Accessible Route (FAR) government bonds have declined by ₹9,873.71 crore to ₹1.66 lakh crore, latest data released by the Clearing Corporation of India showed. FPI holdings of FAR government bonds had increased from ₹94,416.14 crore as on September 21 to ₹1.77 lakh crore as on March 21. On September 21, JP Morgan had announced inclusion of Indian bonds in its emerging market bond index from June 2024, sparking a rush amongst foreigners to stock up on local debt, especially those looking to reap quick price gains.109416240According to Arete Capital's vice-president Mataprasad Pandey, FPIs had brought down short-term bond holdings and moved towards longer-duration debt, suggesting a trading strategy that hinges on capital appreciation as and when the RBI cuts rates. Yield on the 10-year US bond climbed 30 basis points from March 21 to April 16, while crude prices have gained more than 15% so far in 2024, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, the rupee has touched new lows versus the US dollar, breaching the 83.50/$1 mark, although the decline in the local currency has been more contained than peer currencies.Higher US bond yields typically lead to outflows of foreign investment from emerging market fixed-income assets to bonds in the world's largest economy. Further, a weaker rupee eats into FPIs' returns from Indian bonds. From March 21 to April 16, yield on the domestic 10-year benchmark bond rose 14 basis points. Bond prices and yields move inversely.Since Indian bonds were included in global indices, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has referred to foreign inflows as a double-edged weapon, pointing that if there inflows there could be outflows too. While short-term trading calls by some categories of foreign players such as hedge funds have the potential to impart volatility, analysts broadly believe the index-related flows would be more stable than not.

The country’s mammoth exercise to elect its 18th Lok Sabha begins today, when 16.63 crore registered voters in 102 out of 543 constituencies will cast their franchise in the first and the largest of the sevenphased polls ending June 1. A total of 1,625 candidates are in the fray, covering seats in 21 states and Union territories. Assembly elections in Arunachal (60 seats) and Sikkim (32) will also be held on the same day. While results for the two legislatures will be out on June 2, Lok Sabha results will be declared on June 4. The key details: 109412172 109412175 109412178 109412183 109412189 109412192 109412196 109412198 109412203 109412209 109412214109412541

India is forecast to post strong growth of about 7%. Do you think global developments pose a risk to prospects?More than risks, I would say they pose a challenge: uncertainties are going to increase, people will play safe rather than take calculated risks, investment will certainly be even more pressured. You will have to introduce a lot more policy certainties. Over and above that, because of supply chain disruptions, the cost of essentials and commodities will be upended. That will be the biggest challenge. And, how much readiness can you show in anticipation of rising commodity prices and in anticipation of short supply of crude? So the challenges are mounting. We have to respond like the way we did during and after Covid and when the Russia-Ukraine war started. So there's more work to do, more readiness for firefighting. Domestically, our issues are fairly well laid out. Our monsoon this time is expected to be good, but you can't sit back and say that monsoon, which is the most unpredictable thing for India and Indian planners, may be all right. You have so many external worries. So we have to be prepared for that.Has the ministry taken stock of the impact of the West Asia escalation?There is some work going on there. People are watching. The chief economic adviser is looking at various indications of what is coming. Also, the public policymakers in the US, the Fed's decisions, and the EU's decisions are all constantly being monitored. The statements that are coming out of the Middle East itself - whether it is Iran versus Israel, or Israel on the Gaza issue - we are closely monitoring. The statement given by India's external affairs (ministry), saying please sit down and negotiate for peace rather than escalate. We want to see it all settled and some calm to prevail. Economies like India, and emerging markets, all are going to disturbed. And is it purely for ourselves? No. We are growing fast, but the world economy is still struggling to come up to some reasonable numbers. Repeatedly, the IMF and the World Bank have been speaking about how it is the emerging markets that are going to be the engine of growth. Now, if the engine itself is going to stutter, it will be very difficult for the global economy to do well. So, it's in our collective interest, globally, to restore peace.There is a consensus that inflation will remain high globally and rate cuts are off the table. What does this mean for India?First of all, I think we should be in a way convinced that the Reserve Bank of India and a few other central banks around the world are taking independent decisions and not synchronising decisions based on what the US Fed does. Keeping growth in mind is important rather than keeping synchrony. India's central bank is making its decisions with a lot of sense of discretion. Our public sector banks are also clearly aware of the liquidity cycle, the credit input cycle which industries face, and the typical requirements of MSMEs. Therefore, today, India's banks and NBFCs are gradually understanding the credit and liquidity requirements. Inclusion of Indian bonds in the JPMorgan bond index, will certainly bring more money into India. And that would be through their natural flows, which come as per a certain proportion for each of the countries. So that itself will, I think, bring something like $20 billion to Indian markets, which augurs well for our requirement, particularly given that we're looking at expanding manufacturing.The opposition has consistently raised the issues of rural stress, price rise, and unemployment. What is your take?While I will get into the specifics, I don't think it would be wrong for me to take the example from Mahabharata. Shalya, the maternal uncle of Nakul and Sahadev, joins with the Kauravas. Joins them because of pure deceit. Shri Krishna gets a promise out of him saying you won't betray us. As a result, you find him being with Karna, as his charioteer, but one who constantly undermines him, irrespective of his achievements. He keeps telling him that he'll never be able to make it. The reason why I'm bringing this up is that Congress has ruled this country but it doesn't believe in India and India's capabilities. I would even go to the extent of saying that even if it believes that Indians are capable of performing, delivering, and achieving for some reason, like Shalya, it constantly keeps saying India can't reach there or match China. While Shalya did it for some dharmic compulsion, the Congress party is out there to undermine, demoralise the people of India in their hatred towards Modi.Between 2016 and today, look at the spurt in number of startups. Nearly 70,000 are registered. If you assume that each one has one plus two workers... Take the number of unicorns that have come out of them, 100 or more, they would be at least one plus 30 fellows. Decacorns are also coming out. That is one end of the story. The data, by district, of the number of startups getting money without collateral for people to do their own business. You think they are just taking the money and sitting at home? They're not creating jobs? Look at the expansion in our real estate sector. Literally, every metropolitan town and every tier II town today is booming in real estate. Is real estate possible without construction workers? Today our service sector is contributing more than 60% of our GDP. Is it devoid of people who are working there? Are these not jobs? Look at the new age sectors, renewable... today the achievement in solar, you think they are running without people who are maintaining, establishing them. Outfits of people who are getting these panels together, are they devoid of workers? Look at the number of small finance banks that have come up, new fintech companies, which are bringing out applications and platforms, are they doing it with a magic wand? I am purposely using the word magic wand, the one which Rahul Gandhi thinks he is going to use to remove poverty. So, where are these jobs getting counted?What about inflation? UPA keeps saying that its 10 years were golden years of growth. What was the level of inflation: double digit for nearly 22 continuous months. No attempt to bring it down at all. Food inflation was somewhere in the range of 11.5%. They have no right to speak about inflation at all. If anything 2014 to today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a committee of ministers that is constantly monitoring - where are the godowns stacked which are not coming into the market? Take action against hoarders, import when you need. Onions were imported. Bharat brand atta, rice, all at nominal price going into the market. Are these not steps to alleviate price pressures? Inflation, even if it may hit people, we didn't want the core basic foodgrain to be affected because of that. So we said you have to give it for free to the poorest of the poor. Isn't that reaching people?Another narrative that we've seen coming from Opposition-ruled southern states is on the devolution of revenue, that they get low amounts despite contributing more. They are completely wrong. If the argument is what was given as a formula by the Finance Commission, and what has been accepted by the cabinet is not coming, then they are right. But that's not the argument. Their argument is for every rupee that we pay as tax, we get only 29%. They are also putting this whole baseless argument that the pool itself is getting narrower because you're collecting cess and surcharge. On both these scores, they're fundamentally wrong. And on the second one, in particular, they are constitutionally wrong. Cess and surcharge, by the constitution, the central government has every right to levy if it chooses to levy. After all, over and above the Centre's share from the divisible pool, if the central government has to meet the growing expenses on defence, or modernisation of the rails, or to build newer seaports, or to enhance the number of international terminals at our airports, where does the money come from? And these are not confined only to Delhi. World-class international terminals are coming up in states. Seaports today are doing turnover, which even some of the advanced western countries are not able to do. Who's spending money to bring in that kind of technology and who's going to build those seaports? Getting the right equipment for our armed forces, developing the border villages. So where does money come from? So cesses and surcharges are completely constitutionally provided if the Centre chooses. So that's not taking away from the states. They are seeing that. But not speaking clearly helps them to confuse the minds of the people and therefore they like to speak in those kinds of ambiguous language.The divisible pool for ₹100 collected in tax, how much goes back to a state, and what share remains with the Centre are all decided by the Finance Commission and it continues to be implemented for the next five years. The new Finance Commission is already constituted. Now, even the Finance Commission does not sit in Delhi and take a call. They go to the states, take their points of view and then decide on how much to go.The BJP manifesto has refrained from populism but there are a lot of new ideas. You presented a very balanced interim budget. Do you think there is room to provide funds for these ideas?I am not sure which ideas you are referring to. The overall manifesto has looked at schemes with a sense of responsibility. PM Modi is known for inclusive growth, making sure he covers sections in need of empowering them with greater resources. But equally, he's never known for profligacy. Everything that we put in the manifesto is clearly worked out with a sense of responsibility that the taxpayers' money should be used efficiently.Will you be sticking broadly to the interim budget numbers for 2024-25 if the NDA comes back to power?That's a commitment given even in the vote on account, which was given earlier in the year. And the party's manifesto and the governance issue run in parallel. I am confident we will be able to stick to them.One idea that did not take off was asset monetisation and privatisation, including banks. Could we see more focused action? They have got focused attention even today. Even as we talk about disinvestment and even as we wait for disinvestments to happen, the valuations of PSUs have been given a good ramp-up. There is improvement in professionalism in terms of running the organisation. These are all the work the government does. If you really look at the kind of valuations these listed PSUs have - their share prices have increased. That is what I want to underline. The disinvestment plan will be fulfilled, but in the meanwhile, the valuations are also being worked on.The BJP is talking about 400-plus seats this time for the alliance. Is that something you think is achievable considering the party is near its peak in north India and yet to make enough of a dent in other parts?NDA's 400 plus is what has been given by the Prime Minister himself so we will work towards achieving it.All ministries are drawing up a 100-day agenda for the new government. There is also discussion on five-year plan and a long-term plan for 2047. What could be the key focus areas?2047 is the destination and five-year plan is what has been given in the Sankalp Patra (manifesto). But even as we swear in after elections, we are not going to be looking around saying okay where do we start for the next 100 days as to what we have to do. The checklist is getting ready. Essentially it will draw on the Sankalp Patra and keep the 2047 destination (of the country becoming a developed economy). There has been discussion on next-gen reforms in taxation, especially GST. Is GST simplification on your to-do list?It is one thing for the BJP to see it and also talk about it in the Sankalp Patra but it is a totally different exercise when you go into the GST Council. As it is, the council had already recognised the fact that rationalisation is important and a committee of state finance ministers was formed and some work happened. But after that some state elections happened and again now the Lok Sabha elections. So as soon as this is over and the GST Council meets, this will be taken up. As a council, I think, there is recognition that rate rationalisation is one of the very important things. Equally, to clean up the system, which for some reason got muddled in some areas, in some sections on the input tax credit, duty inversion, all that.There is a growing concern in industry on the rising instances of notices by the tax authorities. Is their concern valid?While I don't want to ignore their concerns, I think the situation got muddled because there were some court orders, some time-bar-related issues and also because of the transition from manual record keeping to digital record as there was a hiatus between the two. And when the tax authorities went to take the details, they had to rely on manual data. If you are relying on manual data, you also want to double-check that with the assessee. So you had to send them a notice. These are very legitimate and for sovereign duty performance of tax collection. Authorities are duty bound to ascertain and put on record the facts and, facts cannot be put on record unless the assessees reply. So notices had to be sent. I know when it is year-end, the boards have a tendency to rush. I keep telling them they should start this exercise from October or November rather than March. These can irk tax assessees, I recognise. These will all improve.The manifesto talks of revamping economic and commercial legislations. What is it alluding to? Several things that we have already done to some extent - ease of doing business, some compliance requirements, too many penal clauses, some penal processes even resulting in a jail sentence, penalties, accumulating, fines being levied - all of them will be made simple. All violations are not with malafide intent. Some can be by error or omission and commission. It has to be looked at... and in order that too many layers of oversight are not there. To make it simpler, we want to look at it all comprehensively.India and Mauritius just amended their tax treaty in line with multilateral agreement to prevent base erosion and profit shifting (MLI), which has made the investors jittery about retrospective questioning of investments at the time of exit. Will these be grandfathered?The board (Central Board of Direct Taxes) will together with Revenue (Department) give a set of clarifications, so that doubts, if any, in the minds of investors will be answered.The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code process is seeing delays in resolution. Is it time to relook at the entire framework?No, I don't think so. IBC has actually made a difference. Imagine the days of Sarfaesi and the Debt Resolution Tribunals and compare with them the kind of results which IBC has given us. However, we need to strengthen the capacity of resolution professionals. We need to bring in greater standards of performance among them and also the attempts at various levels to game the system by vested interests are all things which we'll have to weed out. With the NCLT and NCLAT doing their businesses speedily... and also filling up the positions in the NCLT and NCLAT can all improve the delivery of IBC. So, I don't think the IBC has become ineffective or anything. On the contrary, it is proving that even against such teething problems, it has performed well. We'd have to speed up on very many other things which we will definitely do.You had reduced the corporate tax rate for new investments in view of the global supply chain shift. Given that the manifesto focuses on global value chains, would you look at reintroducing it?We have to study what the incentive of 2019 did for us. We need to understand how effectively newer investments happened. How much of it is domestically triggered? How much of foreign money, and how much FDI came in because of that? With that picture in our hand, we'll be able to take a call in the forthcoming budget.Fintechs and NBFCs have come under the scanner. Will this impact financial inclusion and credit access?I don't think it will play out like that. It's more a question of looking at fintech and the apps which are being used as instruments by the wrong people. So regulating them is at one end aimed at people who are not really following the rules. But, regulation doesn't mean that we're going to touch on the number of fintechs for their function or any of that. We appreciate the work the fintechs are doing. We appreciate how our startups are playing a big role in it. We are global champions in that. Regulations are more for people who misuse the products.Tesla head Elon Musk will be in the country to meet the PM. What is the company's plan for India? I'm not sure what the details are. But it is a very good sign for manufacturing in India, particularly high-technology manufacturing. There is an ecosystem which prevails that is being recognised by top-notch world companies and they are showing interest to come in and set up business in India. Congress manifesto talks about a ₹1 lakh transfer to families? Is it fiscally doable?Did any of you in the media ask them alright, ₹1 lakh was for how many families? Has he told us about the number of families he's intending to give? Is ₹1 lakh for once or annually for all five years? Is that going to be the only instrument through which poverty is going to be alleviated? There are vital questions for them to answer rather than tout the promise for which they have not disclosed where they need to get the money.India's FDI policy imposes restrictions on investments from countries with which it shares a land border. While the concern is understandable for sensitive sectors, will it be reviewed for non-sensitive sectors?At the moment, I have no idea if there is any re-look that is likely to happen. But certainly, India's investments are looked at every time we make a technical decision. We are working on making India a manufacturing hub. But of course, it has to be Aatmanirbhar as well.Former RBI governor D Subbarao has spoken about the pressure to fluff up numbers...I had tweeted about it. In the days when growth was all fancy. If that was true, why did they have to pump up the number? Why did they put pressure on RBI to show a better number? So they were all cooking it up, right? They allege that the data under PM Modi is manipulated; they were the ones who manipulated. Respect for institutions and institutional credibility - are they the ones to lecture us? They claim that every institution has been played up and undermined by Modi. One write-up by a governor has shown how much they cared for the RBI's independence, and that has come from the horse's mouth itself.

Sales of existing homes in the United States pulled back in March, according to industry data released Thursday, with transactions bogged down by elevated mortgage rates.Existing home sales fell 4.3 percent from February to a seasonally adjusted 4.19 million rate, said the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The figure was in line with analyst expectations."Though rebounding from cyclical lows, home sales are stuck because interest rates have not made any major moves," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun in a statement.Inventory numbers have not changed massively either, he told reporters.The association added that from a year ago, home sales were down 3.7 percent.According to home loan finance firm Freddie Mac, the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.88 percent as of April 11, up from the prior week.Mortgage rates rose quickly in the past two years as the Federal Reserve rapidly hiked the benchmark lending rate to tackle surging inflation.While the central bank has signaled it expects rate cuts this year, all eyes are on when the first reduction will take place.Yun noted that with a rise in jobs created, there are also more aspiring home buyers in the market.The total housing inventory registered at end-March was up from February's level, according to the NAR.The median price across housing types rose 4.8 percent from the prior year to $393,500, the highest in seven months.This was also the "highest price ever for the month of March," the NAR said.