Share markets in India have extended their losses, tracking a global selloff amid US-Iran tensions. The BSE Sensex fell over 650 points, breaching the 41,000 mark, while the NSE Nifty tumbled below 12,050.
Barring consumer durable stocks, all sectoral indices are trading on a negative note with stocks in the metal sector, auto sector and banking sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.
The BSE Sensex is trading down by 644 points (down 1.6%), while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 195 points (down 1.6%). The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 2% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 1.7%.
The rupee is trading at Rs 72.08 against the US$.
The rupee slid past 72 against the US$ as oil prices spiked. The rupee fell to as much as 72.09 against the US dollar in early trade as compared to previous close of 71.80.
In news from the retail sector, shares of Titan Company climbed 3% in early trade today after the company's jewelry sales for the December quarter (Q3FY20) came in line with guidance.
The company said that "retail sales in jewellery were better than expected at the beginning of Q3FY20, possibly due to a good wedding season and reasonable inelasticity of wedding jewellery. The industry witnessed satisfactory growth in the festive season and the company performed better than industry, which led to market share gains."
It added that growth in watches and eyewear segment were difficult to come by. Sales in all divisions in the second half of December were also impacted to some extent due to forced store closures due to the protests in the North East and in many other parts of the country.
The company said its jewellery division met its revised expectations for the quarter with revenue growth at 11%, year-on-year (YoY).
Retail growth was much better at 15% YoY due to a large Rs 2 billion institutional order for gold coins in the base quarter.
Further, the company said it will add 50 stores for the year, primarily due to operational delays in roll out.
Titan share price is presently trading up by 1.8%.
Here's an interesting data on Titan, every Rs 100 invested in the company in 2002 would have multiplied 330 times by 2019!
Every Rs 100 Invested in Titan in 2002 Multiplied 330 Times by 2019
Co-head of Research, Tanushree Banerjee believes the opportunities in the Rebirth of India are not only more profitable than the ones in 2002 but the gains could come faster too.
Moving on to news from the finance sector, the committee of creditors (CoC) to Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL) has approved a plan under which the mortgage lender will resume advancing home loans beginning with Rs 5 billion a month to arrest the decline in its loan book.
A document from R. Subramaniakumar, the central bank-appointed administrator showed DHFL is recovering Rs 17-18 billion from past loans every month and, after setting aside money for securitization payments and operational expenses, it can restart disbursements of Rs 5 billion per month.
The company has not disbursed loans in more than six months, due to a liquidity crunch that also led to a series of defaults in repaying debt.
However, the document does not mention any proposal to pump in any additional funds as sought by DHFL before it was referred to the National Company Law Tribunal.
Reports state that, at present, DHFL's assets under management stand at Rs 1,199.5 billion, of which Rs 636.9 billion are in retail loans and the rest in wholesale.
In other news, to reduce operational cost, the administrator has decided to shut down DHFL's two representative offices in Dubai and London.
How the above developments pan out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on all the latest news from this space.
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