Market

By Bozorgmehr Sharafedin

LONDON (Reuters) -Oil eased on Monday from its highest in more than seven years as Ukraine hinted at possible concessions to Russia that could alleviate tensions between the two countries that Western governments say are on the brink of war.

Brent crude was down 60 cents, or 0.6%, at $93.84 a barrel by 1440 GMT after touching its highest since October 2014 at $96.16.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 47 cents, or 0.5%, to $92.63 after hitting $94.94, the loftiest since September 2014.

“Market participants are concerned that a conflict between Russia and Ukraine could disrupt supply,” said UBS commodities analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

He said the oil market is sensitive to any news of potential supply disruptions because oil inventories are low and producers’ spare capacity is

Higher bond yields as well as a potential US Fed rate hike sparked a global risk-off sentiment, leading to elevated FII outflows in India, said Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

According to the brokerage house, $13.5 billion in FIIs’ outflows have taken place in the secondary markets since October 2021.

“Domestic equities have also borne the brunt of rich valuations after a relentless rally post the bottom in March 2020,” the brokerage house said.

“While the Nifty-50 has corrected just 8 per cent from its October 2021 peak thus far, it is hiding the stress in the broader markets.”

Besides, it cited concerns around the cost of “equities going up” has taken a brutal toll on high growth stocks belonging to the Tech domain, with recently listed digital IPOs coming off 25-50 per cent off

The International Monetary Fund said Friday that El Salvador should dissolve the USD 150 million trust fund it created when it made the cryptocurrency Bitcoin legal tender and return any of those unused funds to its treasury.

The recommendation was part of the international lender’s report on El Salvador’s economy and went beyond its statement earlier this week urging El Salvador to drop Bitcoin as legal tender.

The trust fund was intended to allow the automatic conversion of Bitcoin to US dollars El Salvador’s other currency to encourage people wary of adopting the highly-volatile digital currency.

The IMF also recommended eliminating the offer of USD 30 as an incentive for people to start using the digital wallet Chivo and increasing regulation of the digital wallet to protect consumers. It suggested there could be benefits to the

Shares of C E Info Systems (MapmyIndia) hit a record low of Rs 1,271.65, on slipping 11 per cent on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade after the company reported 14 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in its consolidated profit at Rs 18.52 crore in December quarter (Q3FY22).

In Q3FY22, revenue from opreations was down 10.7 per cent YoY at Rs 43.37 crore. Earnings before interest tax and depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margins declined 700 bps YoY to 35.9 per cent.

The company said, lower revenue during the quarter were due to sales of automotive OEMs impacted owing to semiconductor shortage. Additionally, comparative quarters of Q2FY22, and Q3FY21 had benefitted from post-covid recovery pent-up demand, it said.

At 10:05 am; MaymyIndia traded 5 per cent lower at Rs 1,361.70, as compared to 1.2 per cent rise in the S&P BSE

The carnage on Dalal Street wiped off nearly Rs 4 trillion worth of investor wealth in early deals on Thursday. Bears came roaring back on the Street, after a day’s break, on the back of the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance.

The BSE Sensex index tanked over 1,180 points in opening deals to hit a low of 56,674 while the Nifty50 slipped below the 17,000-mark and hit a low of 16,928.

27 of the 30 index constituents on the Sensex and 47 of the 50 index constituents on the Nifty were in the red.

Tata Steel, Titan, HCL Tech, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, Tech M, Wipro, Divis Labs, HDFC twins, Grasim, Shree Cement, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, and Nestle tumbled between 2 per cent and 4 per cent.

In the broader markets, the

Standard and Poor’s (S&P) on Wednesday revised its outlook for India’s Axis Bank from “stable” to “positive”, citing improved asset quality of the privately owned lender.

The rating agency affirmed ‘BB+’ long-term and ‘B’ short-term issuer credit ratings on the bank under revised criteria.

In December 2021, the agency had set out details of revision in criteria for rating banks and non-bank financial institutions. It revised norms for Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA).

Axis is likely to sustain improvements in asset quality supported by improved risk management and India’s economic recovery, S&P said in a statement.

The positive outlook reflects a one-in-three chance that Axis Bank’s asset quality metrics could be commensurate with higher-rated Indian and international peers over the next 12-18 months.

Axis Bank’s loan growth, asset quality, and profitability