The US sanctions on Iran became effective from 05th November but the markets hardly reacted. On the contrary the price of Brent Crude dipped below the $70/bbl mark. What went wrong?
The US sanctions on Iran became effective from 05th November but the markets hardly reacted. On the contrary the price of Brent Crude dipped below the $70/bbl mark. What went wrong?
In many ways Dr. Raghuram Rajan has been the equivalent of an Elvis Presley of central banking. With him around, there was never a shortage of spoken words or decisive action. To his credit he did manage the near external crisis in 2013 appreciably. However, he may have gotten his views grossly wrong when he blames GST and note ban for the weak GDP growth in India.
Two pieces of data stood out in stark contrast in the month of October 2018. On the one hand FPIs were compulsive sellers in the Indian markets. The FPIs sold equity to the tune of Rs.29,000 crore and debt to the tune of Rs.10,000 crore taking the total FPI selling for the month of October to Rs.39,000 crore. Over the last 10 months since the beginning of 2018, FPIs have sold more than Rs.1 trillion worth of equity and debt in India. This trend is not restricted to India alone. FPIs had sold emerging market equities to the tune of $17 billion in October alone. But, on the other hand, mutual fund inflows went on unabated. Inflows into equity funds were to the tune of Rs.12,622 crore in the month of October with SIPs making up nearly Rs.7,965 crore during the month, which is a record. What explains this dichotomy?
When the NBFCs started feeling the squeeze, the first sector to take a hit was the realty sector. Most realty stocks have seen violent correction. What is this correlation all about?
Indian aviation has a real problem and that became apparent when the quarterly results were announced by Indigo Airlines. Despite a 42% market share, Indigo had to take a huge loss in the quarter. According to CRISIL, the total combined losses of the aviation sector in India are likely to be to the tune of Rs.9300 crore. This is the highest loss made by aviation companies in the last decade. This is also worse than the loss of Rs.7400 crore made by aviation companies in 2014 when oil prices were ruling at $120/bbl. Let us look at the reasons.
