Author: Asian Lite Newsdesk

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Business Economy

Surging Gold Price Pushes Demand, Gold Loan Growth

Incessant surge in gold prices led to higher demand for gold loans amid the pandemic and increased the asset under management of major gold loan NBFCs, according to a report by World Gold Council (WGC).

The report said that the outstanding organised gold loan is expected to grow to Rs 4,051 billion ($55.2 billion) in FY 2021 from Rs 3,448 billion ($47 billion) in FY 2020.

“The 28.8 per cent rally in domestic gold price this year has led to increased demand for gold loans. Borrowers have benefited from higher loan value for the same collateral while lenders have benefited from lower loan-to-value (LTV) ratios on their existing loans and higher demand,” it said.

With a higher gold price and greater liquidity needs arising with the onset of COVID-19, it was believed that COVID-19 would induce higher gold recycling from consumers. However, consumers used their gold holdings as collateral to obtain their financing needs rather than outright selling.

Also, the rural economy has performed strongly this year, reducing the need for distress selling.


“Demand during the pandemic has pushed gold loan AUM (Assets Under Management) higher for India’s leading gold loan NBFCs – the AUM of Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance increased by 15 per cent and 33.4 per cent y-o-y respectively in Q2 2020,” it said.

Kerala-based Federal bank reported 36 per cent increase in gold loan AUM y-o-y in Q2 2020. Indian Bank has witnessed 10 per cent increase in average ticket size of gold loans to Rs 88,000. Recent industry interaction and media articles have also mentioned higher demand for gold loans.

Banks have aggressively promoted and launched gold loan schemes since the outbreak to capitalise on these lucrative schemes, as per the report.

Somasundaram PR, Managing Director, India, World Gold Council said: “The gold loan industry has traditionally been a pillar of support for small businesses and households in need of emergency short term assistance. In addition to unorganized lending that normally co-exists with any robust gold market, the regulated Institutional framework of “gold loans” in India has made it ubiquitous over the past decade which is indeed a boon.”

He noted that Covid has boosted demand for gold loans through banks and non-banking financial companies.

“Gold loans will benefit not just from the demand side but supply side dynamics too as many banks and non-banking institutions target this product segment on account of its acceptable risk profile,” he added.

Also Read: Future Of Indian Jewellery Industry

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Business

Mutual Funds See Rs 2,724 Cr Outflow in October

Mutual Fund. (IANS Infographics)

Equity mutual fund schemes saw an outflow of Rs 2,724.95 crore in October, showed data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

According to the data, the net outflow stood at Rs 2,724.95 crore in October, compared with an outflow of Rs 734.40 crore in September.

The outflow had stood at Rs 4,000 crore in August. In July, the net outflows stood at Rs 2,480.35 crore.

Contributions through systematic investment remained flat at Rs 7,788 crore over the previous month in September.

“Open-ended equity schemes overall saw an outflow of INR 2,724.95 crore, while the categories like Large & Mid Cap Fund saw positive flows of INR 256.74 crore and Sectoral or Thematic Funds witnessed net flows of INR 2,214.67 crore due to two NFOs during October 2020,” the AMFI said in a statement.

“The outflow significantly moderated for Hybrid scheme category at INR 1,681.87 crore for October 2020, as compared to INR 4,219.01 crore in September 2020 and INR 4,819.45 crore for August 2020.”


Besides, the data showed that ‘Total Mutual Fund AUM’ as on October 31, 2020 has reached its highest ever level of Rs 28.22 lakh crore.

Furthermore, the ‘Average AUM’ for October was Rs 28.33 lakh crore was due to rise in retail SIP contribution and surge in net flows in overall debt schemes.

On an overall basis, the MF industry witnessed an overall positive flows at Rs 98,575.96 crore in October 2020.

In October 2020, MF SIP accounts grew to 3.37 crore, leading to a rise in monthly SIP contribution to Rs 7,800 crore, compared to Rs 7,788.37 crore in September.

“Rise in both SIP Contribution and SIP AUMs during October 2020 and continued slowing outflow in equity schemes reinforces the retail investor confidence in the mutual fund as an asset class,” AMFI CEO N.S.Venkatesh said.

“This trend is reflective in economy improving further with green shoots amply visible – attractive interest rates, rise in GST collections, digitalisation-driven efficiencies making Indian corporates healthier, conducive GoI policy for attracting FDI and continued surge in FII investment coupled with favourable geo-political scenario would continue to keep Indian equity markets an attractive investment destination over a long term.”

Also Read: Equity market, FII inflow witness huge rise

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Business Tech Lite USA

Samsung pips Apple in US smartphone sales

Samsung.(File Photo: IANS)

In a significant achievement, Samsung Electronics sold largest number of smartphones in the US in the third quarter of the year, beating its rival Apple for the first time in three years.

According to market researcher Strategy Analytics, Samsung accounted for 33.7 per cent in the US smartphone market in the July-September period, up 6.7 per cent points from a year earlier, reports Yonhap news agency.

Apple was the runner-up with a 30.2 per cent share, followed by South Korean smartphone maker LG Electronics with a 14.7 per cent share.

This is the first time since the second quarter of 2017 that Samsung topped the US smartphone market.

Solid sales of its mid-tier and budget smartphones, along with launch of flagship devices, like the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Fold2, apparently boosted Samsung’s presence in the US.

Industry insiders said the late launch of Apple’s iPhone 12 series may have also helped Samsung to thrive in the US.

Apple usually releases a new iPhone in September, but this year, the US tech titan began to sell new smartphones from October.

Samsung was also the leading vendor in the global smartphone market in the third quarter of the year with a 21.9 per cent share, beating China brands Huawei Technologies with a 14.1 per cent share and Xiaomi with a 12.7 per cent share.

Apple had 11.9 per cent market share in the global market in the third quarter.

Also Read: Samsung recaptures India’s smartphone crown after two years

Also Read: Apple expected to grow 15% riding on 5G wave

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USA

NASA chief Bridenstine to quit with Trump

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has no intention to continue in his current position even if asked by the Joe Biden administration, said a media report.

In an interview to AerospaceDaily, Bridenstine said a new chief of the US space agency under the new administration would be in the best interest of America’s space exploration programme.

“The right question here is ‘What’s in the best interest of NASA as an agency, and what’s in the best interest of America’s exploration program?” Bridenstine was quoted as saying in the interview on Sunday.

“You need somebody who has a close relationship with the President of the U.S. … somebody trusted by the administration, including OMB (Office of Management and Budget), National Space Council, National Security Council. I think I would not be the right person for that in a new administration,” he said.

When President Donald Trump nominated the former Republican Congressman to lead NASA in 2017, many lawmakers opposed the idea of a politician heading the US space agency.

The Senate, however, confirmed him in April 2018, with lawmakers voting along party lines, The Verge reported.

Bridenstine’s unwillingness to continue under the Biden administration gains significance especially in the context of NASA’s ambitious goal of returning humans to Moon by 2024 under the Artemis programme.

He, however, told the AerospaceDaily that there is strong bipartisan support for Artemis.

Also Read: Artemis Programme: NASA grants $374 mn worth contracts to 14 Cos

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-Top News Arab News

PLO Secretary General succumbs to COVID 19

Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Saeb Erekat

Saeb Erekat, the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), died Tuesday, weeks after being infected by the coronavirus, reports Arab News. He was a veteran peace negotiator and prominent international spokesman for the Palestinians for more than three decades.

The 65 year old American-educated Erekat was involved in nearly every round of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians going back to the landmark Madrid conference in 1991, when he famously showed up draped in a black-and-white checkered keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.

Over the next few decades Erekat was a constant presence in Western media, where he tirelessly advocated for a negotiated two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, defended the Palestinian leadership and blamed Israel for the failure to reach an agreement, the report added.

Also Read: Palestine congratulates Biden, expects change

Categories
Cricket Sport

IPL 13: Viewers await the summit clash

It will be the advantage Mumbai Indians (MI) in the final of the Indian Premier League 2020 to be played on today evening as they enjoy an overall better team balance than Delhi Capitals (DC).

Despite having no batsman in their ranks to match the numbers of Delhi Capitals veteran Shikhar Dhawan who sits at the second spot in the list of leading run-scorers in the tournament, the Rohit Sharma-led side still hold an edge in batting on the strength of a consistent middle order.

GloFans Cric Data Metrics analysis shows a sharp contrast in batting strength of the DC and MI.

Rohit Sharma

In contention for the Orange Cap, Dhawan has over 600 runs to his name. For Mumbai, there hasn’t been a single batsman to aggregate over 500 runs during this year, but their top three batsmen edge out Delhi’s top trio in collective scores.

The top DC trio – Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer and Marcus Stoinis, have aggregated 1,409 runs whereas the top MI trio – Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav, have aggregated 1427 runs.

In bowling too, the four-time champions are better than DC. They have a economy rate of 7.75 whereas that of DC is 8.13. MI’s strike rate of 20 is also a shade better than DC’s strike rate of 21.9 while MI have also conceded less number of runs than DC while picking a wicket. MI’s average is 25.83 while DC’s average is 29.69.

Shreyas Iyer

Also, Dubai, which is the venue of the final, has been a happier hunting ground for the bowlers in comparison to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Bowlers’ statistics in all three major aspects — economy, strike rate and average — have been slightly better than the overall tournament numbers.

Bowlers have conceded 8.08 runs per over in Dubai while in the entire tournament they have conceded 8.16. Bowlers also have a better strike rate of 21.61 in Dubai than in the entire tournament where they have 22.41. Bowling average in Dubai is 29.1 while it is 30.47 in the tournament.

Also Read: Don’t let IPL break you: Gayle’s advice to his mates

Also Read: ‘IPL A Smashing Success This Year’

Categories
Business Economy

Equity market, FII inflow witness huge rise

The Indian equity market has been on a fresh record run of late backed by a surge in foreign institutional investments (FII). In the past three days alone, net FII inflow in the Indian capital markets stood at Rs 14,786.57 crore.

On Tuesday, the Sensex crossed the psychological mark of 43,000 points for the first time ever. The surge in the Indian market comes in line with the global markets, after pharmaceutical major Pfizer said its experimental Covid-19 vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective based on initial trial results.

Further, the bull-run started globally along with the domestic markets after it became clear that Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate would be the next US President. This positive trend comes despite the anticipation that Donald Trump’s exit from the White House may trigger a collapse in the stocks markets.

Markets rallied on hopes of fewer regulations, easing of protectionist measures brought in by Trump and a bigger stimulus package for the US economy under a Biden administration. Further, hopes of ease in H-1B visa norms also led to a spike in the IT stocks.

FIIs have been the biggest push for the recent bull-run in the Indian markets. Post the significant outflow in September, foreign funds made a comeback in October and the flow has strengthened further in November.

FII inflows in October stood at $2.5 billion. However, at a time when FIIs have been net buyers, domestic institutional investments (DII) have remained net sellers. In October, DII outflow stood at $2.4 billion, highest monthly outflows since March 2016.

So far in November, net DII outflow stands at Rs 9,826.17 crore, while net FII inflow stands at Rs 17,947.80 crore.

Also Read: Biden calls Harris ‘South Asian’ not Indian

Also Read: ‘Indian Economy Clearly On Recovery Path’

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-Top News UK News

Asian Lite Daily Digital – November 10, 2020 – Vaccine Success Fuels Covid Fight

Vaccine Success Fuels Covid Fight; Biden Begins with Setting up COVID task Force; World Leaders Eager To Join Biden On Climate Action; China Worried Over Its Foreign Policy Fallout; Tibet Seeks Renewed Policy Under Biden Admin – all in Asian Lite Daily Digital – click here to read the full edition.

Categories
Business Economy India News

Core Sectors Lead the Demand For Construction Equipment

Work underway on a route of the under-construction Delhi Metro Phase 4 project in East Delhi

“The demand for construction equipment is picking up for the past couple of months and it is expected to accelerate further owing to the demand from sectors like roads, railways, energy, irrigation and others,” Jagadish Bhat, Managing Director and CEO, Ajax Engineering…reports Venkatachari Jagannathan

Construction equipment companies are smiling as demand from core sectors like roads, railways, irrigation, energy and other sectors for their products is picking up, said top officials of industry majors.

Major industry players like Schwing Stetter India and Ajax Engineering are expanding their capacities to cash in on the impending surge in demand.

“It is smiling time for us. Business during September and October was better than corresponding period of 2019. Similarly, November business is also looking good,” VG Sakthikumar, Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India, told IANS.

According to Sakthikumar, the machines of the rental players have got deployed in projects.

“The demand for construction equipment is picking up for the past couple of months and it is expected to accelerate further owing to the demand from sectors like roads, railways, energy, irrigation and others,” Jagadish Bhat, Managing Director and CEO, Ajax Engineering, told IANS.

Both Bhat and Sakthikumar said trade enquiries for their machines have picked up.

“The demand is from highways, railways, metros, and sectors. Bulk of the proposed $1 trillion investment mentioned in the National Infrastructure Pipeline will happen next year,” Sakthikumar said.

The companies are hoping to close this fiscal with better revenues than what they had expected when the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown happened.

“Last year, we closed with a turnover of about Rs 1,730 crore. This year, we hope to close with a business of Rs 1,400-1,500 crore,” Sakthikumar said.

Schwing Stetter India makes concrete mixers and other machinery used in construction works. It also sells earthmoving equipment of XCMG, China.

The Indian company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of German group Schwing Stetter. The German group is owned by the Chinese XCMG group, which is ranked sixth globally among the construction equipment machinery makers.

Sakthikumar said with the demand picking up, the company will take some time to shift some of its plant and machineries to its new Rs 230-crore plant being built in Tamil Nadu.

“The production is going on in full steam at our existing facilities while component suppliers are trying to match our needs,” Sakthikumar said.

Queried about the market trend for Ajax Engineering Bhat said the company started seeing recoveries from August onwards and in October the performance was good.

“We see the recovery to be better than expected. During the first six months, the turnover was about Rs 250 crore. Going by the enquires and orders we expect to close this fiscal with a turnover of about Rs 800 crore,” Bhat remarked.

According to him, apart from demand for self-loading concrete mixers, there is good demand for boom pumps and concrete pumps.

“These machines are bought under finance and the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) have started loosening their purses. After October, there is a general momentum but has not touched the pre-Covid levels. After November, increased disbursals are expected,” Bhat said.

Ajax Engineering has decided to invest Rs 140 crore this fiscal in setting up a new plant for making slip form concrete pavers, batching plant and also in capacity expansion, Bhat added.

“As a part of Make-in-India or Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant) programme we have built a slip form concrete paver which is now being field-tested. Currently, concrete pavers are imported, each costing about Rs 10 crore. Our product is thus an import substitute,” Bhat said.

With about Rs 800 crore turnover, Ajax Engineering will start commercial production of the 12-metre slip form concrete pavers soon as the first machine was tested and validated in couple of road projects.

“We should be competitive by 20-25 per cent as compared with imported machines. We also plan to export the machines,” Bhat added.

“Slip form concrete pavers are majorly built by German and American companies and Ajax Engineering is the first Indian company to do so,” an industry official preferring anonymity told IANS.

Normally about 100-150 slip form concrete pavers are imported per year by India.

The concrete paver and the boom pumps will be made at the Rs 100 crore new plant proposed to come up at Doddaballapur near Bengaluru where Ajax Engineering has acquired 20 acres of land.

According to Bhat, another Rs 40 crore will be invested at its existing plant in Gowribidanur Industrial Area, Kudumalakunte village, Karnataka to increase production capacity of the transit mixers, and concrete batching plants.

The fresh investments will be made from company’s internal accruals.

According to Bhat, construction of the new plants will begin in three or four months.

Also Read: ‘World to witness massive infrastructure push’

Also Read: RBI sets up Payments Infrastructure Development Fund

Categories
-Top News USA World News

World Leaders Eager To Cooperate With Biden On Climate Change

Joe Biden.

“The American people to Donald Trump: ‘You’re fired!'” reacted former UN Environment Executive Director and a green optimist Erik Solheim in a tweet…reports Vishal Gulati

Lawmakers and climate advocates from around the globe have lined up to work eagerly with US President-elect Joe Biden to move quickly to implement green recovery policies that will accelerate the shift to a cleaner and safer world for all and also restoring the US climate leadership.

For them, Biden’s climate plan strives for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and unveiling $2 trillion investments in clean energy and climate-resilient infrastructure as a core pillar of his economic recovery and jobs program.

In his victory speech on Saturday night, Biden said he will “marshall the forces of science in the battle to save our planet”.

Sending well wishes to Biden and running mate Kamala Harris, Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted, “The US is our important ally and I look forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security,” remarked Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In Fiji, where rising sea levels and intense cyclones have forced people to abandon their homes, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama tweeted his congratulations to Biden.

“Together, we have a planet to save from a climate emergency and a global economy to build back better from COVID19. Now, more than ever, we need the USA at the helm of these multilateral efforts (and back in the Paris Agreement — ASAP!” he said in a message.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he was looking forward to strengthening excellent US-Swedish relations and to work jointly for multilateralism, democracy and global security.

“Together, we can lead a green transition creating jobs for the future,” he informed in a tweet.

The EU was closely following the Presidential and Congressional elections in the US, said European Council President Charles Michel.

“The EU is ready to engage for a strong transatlantic partnership. COVID-19, multilateralism, climate change and international trade are some of the challenges which Europe wants to address together,” he tweeted.

“The American people to Donald Trump: ‘You’re fired!'” reacted former UN Environment Executive Director and a green optimist Erik Solheim in a tweet.

Congratulating Biden and Harris, COP26 President-Designate and British Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma, “Very much looking forward to working with the US on climate action and COP26 and thank you for your commitment to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.”

The US Department of State on November 4 began the process to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

Combo photo shows U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump attend their respective events on different occasions. (Xinhua/IANS)

President Trump had announced the withdrawal in 2017, stopping an Obama-era pledge to cut emissions.

To tackle climate change and its negative impacts, 197 countries adopted the Paris Agreement at the COP21 in Paris on December 12, 2015.

Entered into force less than a year later, the deal aims to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and to limit the global temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius while pursuing means to limit the increase even further to 1.5 degrees.

For an optimistic Harjeet Singh, Global Climate Lead at ActionAid, Biden’s victory must put an end to the influence of USA’s fossil fuel industry in the global climate talks.

“Being the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, his country has the greatest responsibility to act,” Singh told IANS.

“We hope the new government will show true climate leadership by drastically bringing down carbon emissions domestically and providing finance to developing nations, as per its fair share,” he added.

Responding to the victory, Christian Aid’s Senior Climate Lead, Kat Kramer, told IANS: “This is a significant victory for the climate which should have a material impact on efforts to accelerate the transition to a zero carbon world.

“The United States may have formally withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, but it’s telling that despite four years of waging war on climate action, Donald Trump’s successor will make this a very brief exit for the United States.

“We’ve seen countries announcing plans to decarbonise with net-zero emission goals set in Europe, China and Japan. And we’ve seen a groundswell of sub-national climate action taking place in the United States at the state and city level which will now be given new support from a Biden White House.”

Throughout their campaign, Biden and Harris have promised to Build Back Better and get the country on track for a Just Recovery.

May Boeve Executive Director of 350.org, said: “The US must now prove it can be taken seriously in the climate change fight by immediately re-entering the Paris Agreement, humbly working with global leaders on bolder climate ambitions and a global Just Recovery from COVID-19, and domestically taking rapid steps towards bold, comprehensive climate action.”

“The US must shift finance flows out of a fossil fueled past and toward solutions that will help us secure a livable future for all.”

The day US formally withdrew from the Paris agreement, Biden said, “Today, the Trump Administration officially left the Paris Climate Agreement. And in exactly 77 days, a Biden Administration will rejoin it.”

Beyond rejoining the Paris Agreement, say climate advocates, there are a number of other approaches Biden could take to accelerate climate action by using substantial existing executive authority to require clean energy adoption and restrict investments in infrastructure to extract, transport, process, and consume fossil fuels.

Also Read: Biden restores fired Covid-19 task force

Also Read: Biden to call on Governors to enact mask mandate