Economy Market Snapshot May 2024

General News

• Lok Sabha polls: ECI releases voter turnout data for all completed phases; final phase to be held on June 1.
• Phase 1 sees turnout of 66.14%, phase 2 66.71%, phase 3 65.68%, phase 4 69.16%, phase 5 62.2% and phase 6 63.36%.
• Arvind Kejriwal, out on bail, joins campaign trail, to surrender on June 2.
• Seventy-five delegates from 23 countries arrive in India to witness Lok Sabha elections.
• Telangana government directs departments to replace ‘TS’ with ‘TG’.
• Mayawati removes nephew Akash Anand as ‘successor’ till he gains ‘full maturity’.
• 3 Independent MLAs withdraw support, BJP govt reduced to minority in Haryana.
• Punjab Govt. bans all Zee Media channels in state from May 28th.
• Sam Pitroda steps down as chairman of Indian overseas Congress amid row over racist remark.
• Indian Air Force achieves milestone; successfully lands aircraft using night vision goggles in eastern sector.
• ISRO achieves major milestone with 3D printed rocket engine test.
• India signs 10-year pact with Iran to operate its Chabahar Port.
• Military Affairs Department seeks feedback from three services on Agnipath scheme.
• ICMR releases updated dietary guidelines for Indians in 2024.
• First Citizenship certificates issued under CAA; 350 individuals granted Indian nationality.
• Monsoon arrives simultaneously over Kerala and northeast India, rainy season begins in the country two days in advance.
• Cyclone Remal hits Bangladesh and India, leaving destruction and death.
• Delhi Court denies bail to BRS Leader K Kavitha in CBI and ED cases linked to Delhi Excise Policy Scam.
• SIT arrests Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna at Bengaluru airport after his return from Germany.
• CM Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar arrested by Delhi Police in Swati Maliwal assault case.
• Padma Awards: Vyjayanthimala, Chiranjeevi, late justice M Fathima Beevi among others honoured.
• Santosh Sivan first Asian to be conferred the Pierre Angénieux Tribute award at Cannes.
• Cannes 2024: Payal Kapadia clinches Grand Prix award; Anasuya Sengupta becomes first Indian actor to win Best Actress.
• India’s ‘Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know’ receives Cannes’ La Cinef award for Best Short.
• India ranks 159 among 180 countries in World Press Freedom Index.
• Sushil Kumar Modi, Bihar’s former Deputy Chief Minister, passes away at 72.
• India fully withdraws soldiers from Maldives ahead of May 10 deadline.
• Israel shells Rafah as Biden vows arms suspension.
• Hamas says ready for complete agreement if Israel stops war in Gaza.
• Russia launches wide attack on Ukrainian energy facilities.
• Russia accuses US of meddling in India’s internal affairs, ongoing elections.
• President Vladimir Putin signs decree to allow seizure of US properties inside Russia.
• Ukraine parliament passes Bill allowing certain prisoners to join armed forces.
• Biden partially lifts ban on Ukraine using US arms in strikes on Russian territory.
• Blinken visits Ukraine to tout U.S. support for Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s advances.
• China, US agree to manage maritime risks through continued dialogue.
• Spain, US pledge millions worth of military equipment to Ukraine.
• Pro-Palestine protests mark college graduation ceremonies in the US.
• President Biden imposes tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to protect American workers.
• Donald Trump found guilty of all 34 charges in hush money trial.
• Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister and others killed in helicopter crash.
• Iran to hold presidential election on June 28; nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri named acting foreign minister.
• Sri Lanka to hold presidential election between September 17 and October 16.
• Ireland, Norway and Spain recognise Palestine as independent state.
• Spain becomes 99th member of International Solar Alliance.
• Taiwan, US hold trade talks in Taipei, discuss agricultural products and forced labour.
• Lee Hsien Loong steps down as Singapore’s Prime Minister after 20 years, Lawrence Wong takes charge.
• China’s Xi Jinping visits France in first post-pandemic trip to Europe.
• More than 2,000 believed buried alive in Papua New Guinea landslide, India sends $ 1million aid.
• Nepal PM Prachanda wins vote of confidence in Parliament, fourth in 18 months.
• IPL 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in finals for third IPL title.
• Sunil Narine was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
• Virat Kohli won the Orange Cap; Harshal Patel cinches the Purple Cap.
• Indian football icon Sunil Chhetri announces retirement.
• Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty win Men’s Doubles title at Thailand Open Badminton.
• Dipa Karmakar clinches India’s first-ever gold medal in women’s vault at Asian Championships.
• Praggnanandhaa defeats World No. 1 Carlsen for first time at Norway Chess tournament.
• India parts ways with International Boxing Association, joins World Boxing.
• Wrestler Bajrang Punia indefinitely suspended by Anti-Doping Agency before Olympic trials.
• Indian women’s 4×400 metre relay team qualifies for Paris Olympics.
• French Open: Rafael Nadal suffers early exit as Zverev records straight-set win over 14-time champion.

Business News

• RBI announces record dividend of ₹2.11 lakh crore to government.
• India registers record rise in exports; employment reaches 18-year high in May.
• India witnesses incorporation of 1.85 lakh companies in FY2023-24, surpassing last year’s numbers.
• Govt. eases FDI norms in space sector to attract foreign players and boost high-tech job demand.
• RBI moves 1 lakh kg of gold from UK back to India, first such move of this quantum since 1991.
• GDP growth at 7% in FY25, robust on back of healthy balance sheets of banks, corporates: RBI report.
• TRAI, SEBI, RBI and top ministries join hands to combat spam calls, online frauds.
• Govt slashes prices of 41 commonly used medicines, 6 formulations.
• Gold hits new record high on rising US Fed rate cut expectations, renewed Middle East concerns.
• India tightens permissible wastage norms for jewellery export.
• SEBI releases framework for supervision of research analysts, investment advisers.
• NSE launches India’s first Electric Vehicle index.
• Carlyle Group sells stake in Yes Bank, Goldman Sachs buys stake.
• RBI directs NBFCs to adhere to cash disbursal limit of ₹20,000 for loans.
• IDFC First Bank shareholders approve merger of IDFC Ltd with bank.
• Indian Oil signs second long-term LNG deal with France’s TotalEnergies.
• L&T arm opens new manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia.
• Adani Green signs a 20-yr agreement with Sri Lanka government for wind power stations.
• Airbus, SIDBI to collaborate for financing helicopter purchase in India.
• Shriram Finance exits housing finance business, sells entire 85% stake to Warburg Pincus for ₹4,630 crore.
• Mahindra & Mahindra Finance secures IRDAI license to offer tailored insurance plans.
• AstraZeneca withdraws Covid-19 vaccine globally, months after admitting rare side effects.
• Bharti Airtel, Google, tie-up to provide cutting-edge cloud solutions to customers.
• Elon Musk launches Starlink satellite internet service in Indonesia, world’s largest archipelago.
• Microsoft to invest $2.2 billion in cloud and AI services in Malaysia.
• US revokes Intel, Qualcomm’s export licenses to sell to China’s Huawei.
• MicrosoSouth Korea unveils $19 billion package to compete in global chip ‘warfare’.
• ft, Meta and Intel announce AI initiative to rival Nvidia.
• Apple announces largest-ever $110 billion share buyback.
• US Fed holds rates steady, flags ‘lack of further progress’ on inflation.
• Hong Kong allows China’s digital yuan to be used in local shops.
• Eurozone inflation rises more than expected in May to 2.6%.
• India gives Maldives $50 million in budgetary support as IMF warns island nation of ‘debt distress’.
• Godrej family announces ownership re-alignment, to be split into Godrej Ent & Godrej Ind group.
• Raymond’s board approves demerger of engineering business for its foray into aerospace, defence, EV.
• SC orders advertisers to submit self-declarations before promoting products in media.
• Supreme Court orders Patanjali to remove online ads, halts sale of suspended products.
• Google ties up with Foxconn to make Pixel phones in India.
• Amazon infuses ₹1,600 crore into India entity as e-commerce wars intensify.
• Google invests $350 million in Flipkart as part of nearly $1 billion funding round.
• NPCI inks pact with Bank of Namibia for developing UPI-like instant payment system.
• Paytm launches UPI Lite wallet for everyday payments; no PIN required, users can add up to ₹4,000 daily.
• Singapore court clears Pine Labs plea to move domicile to India.
• Paytm Paytments Bank moves bill pay business to Euronet India.
• Uber, Aaveg get Delhi government nod to run buses in Delhi.
• Puma to sponsor 400 Indian athletes, signs deal with Athletics Federation of India.
• Tata Play Binge becomes largest OTT aggregator with addition of discovery+.
• Coca-Cola earns $290 mn from India by divesting its bottling operations in Jan-Mar.
• IOC, GAIL, ONGC fined for 4th straight quarter for not appointing directors.
• ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri becomes CII President, replacing R Dinesh.
• Mohandas Pai, Rajnish Kumar quit BYJU’S advisory council.
• OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever announces departure after nearly a decade.
• Gopi Thotakura becomes 1st Indian space tourist on Blue Origin’s private astronaut launch.

Q4 Results

• Kotak Mahindra Bank Q4 Net Profit soars 18% to ₹4,133 crore; NII up 13.2% YoY.
• SBI Q4 PAT jumps 24% YoY to ₹20,698 crore, dividend of ₹13,70/share announced.
• PNB Q4 Profit surges 160% to ₹3,010 crore, gross NPAs at 5.7%, recommended a dividend of ₹1.50/ share.
• IDBI Bank Q4 PAT soars 44% YoY to ₹1,628 crore; NII rises 12%.
• Federal Bank Q4 net profit flat at ₹906 crore YoY, declares dividend of ₹1.2.
• NSE Q4 Net profit rises 20% to ₹2,478 crore, revenue up 34% ₹4,625 crore; recommends 4:1 bonus shares, ₹90 per share dividend.
• Dr Reddy’s Q4 Net profit up 36% to ₹1,307 crore, ₹40/share dividend declared.
• M&M Q4 Profit spikes 32% YoY to ₹2,038 crore, revenue jumps 11% to ₹25,109 crore.
• Ashok Leyland Q4 net profit rises 20% to ₹900 crore, revenue declines 3% to ₹11,267 crore.
• Hero MotoCorp Q4 PAT jumps 18% YoY to ₹1,016 crore; dividend declared at ₹40 per share.
• LIC Q4 net profit rises marginally to ₹13,762 crore, asset quality healthy; announces ₹6 interim dividend.
• Bharti Airtel Q4 PAT tumbles 31% YoY to ₹2,071.6 crore; ARPU rises to ₹209.
• ITC Q4 Net Profit falls 1.3% to ₹5,020 crore, final dividend declared at ₹7.50 per share.
• HPCL Q4 Net profit falls 25% YoY to ₹2,709.31 crore; declares 1:2 bonus issue.
• Adani Ports Q4 Net profit jumps 76% YoY to ₹2,040 crore; declares dividend of ₹6.
• Britannia Q4 Net profit falls 3.8% to ₹537 crore, revenue up marginally at ₹4,069.36 crore.
• Paytm Q4 Loss widens to ₹550 crore; revenue drops 3% YoY to ₹2,267 crore.