Sluggish urban market to weigh on HUL, price hikes may help
High raw material costs limited the margin gains even as the company spent less on advertising during the quarter. The raw material cost grew 5% on year and constituted 49.6% of the revenues, driven by inflation in tea and crude palm oil prices. The company’s ad spends declined 15% on year with these spends standing […]
Inflation worries trump lone vote to boost growth, highlights RBI MPC’s minutes
Nagesh Kumar advocated for a rate cut to revive demand and investment amid economic uncertainty during the early October MPC review. Despite Kumar’s argument for normalization, five members, including RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, voted to maintain the repo rate, citing inflation concerns.
Rupee closes at record low for 3rd consecutive day
Traders said the next key level would be 84.15 per dollar. That was the weakest level in the non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market, which was touched a month ago.
PSUs fizzle out over unrealistic valuations, sluggish earnings
Nineteen out of 64 non-banking stocks have plunged between 40% and 55% from their yearly highs, while another 28 have declined by 30% to 40%. Overall, 64 state-owned corporates have lost nearly ₹8 lakh crore in market capitalisation since August 1, the day the BSE PSU index hit an all-time high.
Goldman Sachs takes note of a slow turn in the India story
The downgrade comes amid continuous selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who have offloaded Indian stocks for 17 consecutive days. So far this month, FPIs have sold shares worth ₹89,200 crore