12:30 pm
Vodafone Idea hikes tariffs by 20-25%
Telecom service provider Vodafone Idea has increased its tariff plans by 20-25% for prepaid users with effect from November 25, 2021.
“The new schemes will initiate the process of improving ARPU and help in addressing the financial stress faced by the industry,” the company said in a filing to the exchange.
This announcement comes after Airtel’s decision to hike tariffs by 20-25% for prepaid users.
12:15 pm
Retailers Association urges government to reconsider proposed GST rate hike
The Retailers Association of India (RAI) urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, state governments and the GST Council to reconsider the proposed 12% hike in GST rates on several textile and apparel items from January.
RAI said the apparel retail businesses are already ailing and the 7% hike has been proposed to address the issue of inverted duty structure in the textile industry faced by a small segment of the total textile value chain.
“However, such a sharp increase in the GST rate will adversely affect 85 per cent of the industry, while trying to mitigate the problem that does not exceed 15 per cent of the industry,” the retailers body said in a statement.
11:50 am
MobiKwik will delay the planned IPO
Payments firm MobiKwik has delayed its plans to go ahead with an initial public offering (IPO) of shares this month after major rival Paytm’s disappointing market debut.
Founder and CEO Bipin Preet Sigh told Reuters that MobiKwik will go public “when we think we will have a successful IPO”. He said his firm has a year from October, when it got regulatory approval to launch an IPO.
Paytm shares are down more than 30% from its issue price of 2,150 per share, as investors questioned both the company’s stable valuation and its business model.
11:40 am
IMF urges El Salvador to use bitcoin as official currency
The International Monetary Fund warned El Salvador against using bitcoin as official tender due to the risks associated with the cryptocurrency.
In September, El Salvador announced plans for the world’s first “Bitcoin City”, months after becoming the first country in the world to legalize bitcoin as legal tender.
“Given the high price volatility of bitcoin, its use as legal tender poses significant risks to consumer protection, financial integrity and financial stability,” the IMF said in a statement.
11:15 am
Future Retail employees urge top court to approve sale of assets in Amazon dispute
Employees of Future Retail have asked the Supreme Court to allow the company to sell its retail assets and rule in an ongoing dispute against Amazon.com Inc.
Employees cited risks to 27,000 jobs as the Supreme Court prepares to hear the dispute on Tuesday.
Future has failed to close a $3.4 billion deal to sell its retail assets to Reliance Industries due to successful legal challenges by Amazon. It argued that Future violated certain pre-existing contracts that both parties had struck by deciding to sell their retail assets to Reliance.
10:50 am
Latent View climbs 160% on debut
Shares of Latent View Analytics opened at a 160% premium to their offer price, indicating strong investor demand for the company following the listing debacle of digital payments firm Paytm.
LatentView’s initial public offering was oversubscribed more than 300 times. The stock opened at ₹512.20 in pre-open trade, while the offer price was ₹197.
10:40 am
Rupee slips to 74.55 against US dollar
The Indian rupee fell 16 paise to 74.55 against the US dollar in early trade on a sluggish trend in the domestic equity market and a strong US dollar.
The rupee opened on a weak note at 74.48 and lost further ground to touch 74.55 against the US dollar. On Monday, the rupee had closed at 74.39 against the US dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.01% to 96.55.
10:00 am
India and US will find ways to resolve trade issues
India and the United States agreed to explore ways to resolve differences on market access and digital trade as US Trade Representative Catherine Tai is on a two-day visit to India.
New Delhi and Washington have failed to reach a conclusion on a range of issues, including tariffs, for more than a year.
The two countries have agreed to revive their trade policy forum after a gap of four years, on the hope that the forum can help expand bilateral trade that has never lived up to its potential.
9:26 am
market update | Sensex fell over 650 points, Nifty 17,250. below from
Indian benchmark equity indices opened on a negative note after falling nearly 2% on Monday. At 9:23 IST, Sensex was down 670.83 points or 1.15% at 57795.06 and Nifty was down 195.70 points or 1.12% at 17220.85.
Shares in Asia were mostly down on Tuesday after US President Joe Biden elected Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to a second term on hopes the US will ease its stimulus soon.
MSCI’s gauge of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.49%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and China’s benchmark CSI300 index opened 1.1% and 0.2% lower, respectively.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 outperformed with a gain of 0.55%, while Japanese markets remained closed for a public holiday.
9:15 am
Oil falls on hopes that countries will tap emergency crude reserves
Oil prices fell on rising discussions that the United States, Japan and India would give up crude stockpiles despite a threat to demand as COVID-19 cases in Europe continue to rise.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 0.6% to $76.32 a barrel and Brent crude futures fell 0.4% to $79.40 a barrel.
The US Department of Energy is expected to borrow oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and coordinate it with other countries.
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Latent View Analytics is listed on the stock exchanges today. Indian benchmark equity indices fell nearly 2% on Monday following a series of unfavorable news during the weekend. Paytm extended losses for the second day after a weak start last week, while Reliance fell on the announcement that it would re-evaluate the deal with Saudi Arabia’s Aramco.
, Edited by John Xavier
(With inputs from Reuters, PTI and other news agencies.)