In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, insurance was seen as the best play on financials for stock investors, as banks and NBFCs stared at possible spike in bad loans and capital crisis. Life insurers did show a near V-shaped recovery in June-July, but the trend seems to have plateaued ever since, with most insurers reporting a drop in new business premium as well as annual premium equivalent, key measures of their business growth. The sluggishness is more pronounced among private players while PSU behemoth LIC's numbers reflected resilience. Looks like pent-up demand is tapering off. Ulips, a key growth driver for most private players, does not seem to be delivering. Maybe, it calls for a wait & watch on this space.
MARKET CUES: Where do we stand >>>  | Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange traded 15 points lower at 7 am (IST) this morning, signaling a weak start ahead for Dalal Street. |
| On Wednesday, Nifty50 tested its crucial support at 11,250 level and the psychological mark of 11,200 before staging a recovery. The index closed above the said support and ended up forming a small bullish candle on the daily chart. |
| Asian stocks rose Thursday as renewed market leadership by technology shares flowed through from the Wall Street session. Japan's Topix index rose 0.8%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.3%, Shanghai Composite 0.8%, Kospi 0.7% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.7%. |
| In overnight trade, Wall Street bounced back from the worst selloff for US technology stocks since March. The tech-weighted Nasdaq snapped a three-session rout to close 2.7 per cent higher. The broader S&P500 added 2 per cent, taking its cues from its European peers. Dow gained 439 points |
| Oil futures fell in early trade on Thursday. WTI crude futures slipped 20 cents, or 0.5%, to $37.85 a barrel while Brent futures dropped 14 cents, or 0.3%, to $40.65 |
| Snapping its two-day losing streak, the rupee rebounded by 5 paise and settled at 73.55 against the US dollar on Wednesday |
| The dollar steadied after declines. The pound fell 0.2%, while the euro bought dollars at $1.1814. The yen was little changed and the offshore yuan traded at 6.8375 to the greenback. |
| Gold and silver prices edged lower in Indian markets on Wednesday. On MCX, gold futures slipped 0.4% to Rs 51,140 per 10 gm while silver futures declined 0.75% to Rs 67,982 per kg. In international markets, the yellow metal was up 0.1 per cent at $1,948 an ounce. |
| LOOK WHO'S |  |
RIL eyes Rs 60,000 cr from retail stake sale… Reliance Industries is looking to raise Rs 60,000-63,000 crore by selling a 15% stake in Reliance Retail Ventures, the holding company of its retail businesses, to a clutch of private equity investors and sovereign wealth funds. A person familiar with the development said fresh shares will be issued to the investors and the company expects to complete the fundraise by October end. He said while the company would also like to induct a strategic investor, there were no active discussions on this front.
Read More Loans to women treble…. Gender parity in the top echelons of India's commercial banking may still be some distance away, but the latest borrower profiles from the formal lending system show that women empowerment has progressed beyond tokenism in the past six years. The number of women borrowers has more than trebled, although most accounts are smallticket loans taken by women for a variety of micro businesses.
Read More EPFO okays 8.5% interest for FY20… Retirement fund body EPFO has recommended that the government pay an 8.5% interest to subscribers for 2019-20 as announced earlier, but in two instalments instead of the usual one as market volatility has affected its income from equity investment. The government-managed fund has recommended that 8.15% interest, from its income from debt investment, be credited immediately into the accounts of its 50 million subscribers. The balance 0.35% will be paid in December, from the sale of investment in exchange-traded equity funds, it said.
Read More Sharp rise in airline occupancy… India's airlines have seen a sharp improvement in demand so far this month as states have progressively relaxed curbs and the number of flights has risen, prompting more business and leisure travel, beyond those flying due to personal emergencies. Maharashtra has doubled the number of domestic flights allowed out of Mumbai, for instance. Some carriers said passenger loads have risen as much as 10 percentage points in the early days of the month along with an increase in the number of flights.
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50,000 Chinese troops on border… China has amassed 50,000 troops and a range of aircraft and missile systems along the LAC. But the top echelons of Indian government feel the threshold for a conflict has not yet been reached though India is prepared for any eventuality. India has also clearly conveyed to China that any attempt to breach the perimeter around its forward posts along LAC will be treated as an act of hostility which will get a professional Army response.
Read More India Inc's share pledges on a high… Pledging of shares by promoters in NSE-listed companies saw a surge in August, with the value of stock pledged climbing to Rs 2.77 lakh crore. Data compiled by primeinfobase.com showed that the quantum of stock pledged increased to 1.86% of the total market capitalisation from 1.23% as on July 31. While Vedanta contributed a major portion to the increase in pledge for delisting Vedanta, the others were in need of liquidity as the Covid-19 outbreak caused a decline in cash flows.
Read More Equity funds see highest monthly outflow… Equity mutual funds saw highest monthly outflows in four-and-a-half years in August as investors uncertain about the near-term market prospects continued to redeem from these products. These schemes saw net redemptions to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore in August after Rs 2,480 crore in July 2020. Debt schemes saw outflows worth Rs 3,908 crore, mainly from liquid and overnight funds.
Read More Five leaders that are lagging... The stock market in the past three years has rewarded companies that are leaders in their space with premium valuations. But there are a handful of companies that are struggling to find favour among a large section of investors despite having strong positions in their sectors. Some of the prominent ones are SBI, ITC, L&T, NMDC and Coal India. Most of them are market leaders with a strong dividend-paying record but they fail to find favour with investors.
Read More Meanwhile... Covid claims make health insurers bleed… Health insurers have been swamped with Covid-19 claims since April. So much so that Covid-19 has emerged as one of the leading ailment categories under which claims have been registered in FY21. Between April and August this year, 'novel coronavirus' could have been the fourth leading claim category.
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