Crude oil falls on rising cases
- Crude oil prices fell due to concerns over the impact of rising cases on economic growth. The spread of the Delta variant is leading to a rise in cases globally, including in the UK and US.
- Further, the OPEC+ alliance had earlier failed to reach an agreement on increasing production levels. Analysts believe that crude oil prices could remain volatile till there is clarity from OPEC and its allies. After hitting nearly $77 per barrel last week, US crude oil is currently trading below $75.
SFB holding companies’ shares surge
- Shares of Equitas holdings and Ujjivan Financial Services were locked in the 20% upper circuit today. This comes after the Reserve Bank of India allowed small finance banks to merge with their holding companies on completion of five years from the date of commencement of business.
- With the merger, the so-called holding company discount will disappear. After the merger, investors of the holding companies will get shares of SFBs in a swap deal as these holding companies will cease to exist.
Godrej Prop to invest over $1 bn in couple of years
- The Mumbai-based real estate developer will invest over $1 billion (about ₹7,500 crore) in the next couple of years. It will acquire and develop new projects to achieve its target of higher growth.
- The company was the largest developer by value and volume of sales in FY21. It recorded sales bookings of ₹6,725 crore in the last fiscal, surpassing nearly ₹6,000 crore achieved by Macrotech Developers (earlier known as Lodha Developers). The company said business was impacted in FY21 due to the pandemic but expects FY22 to be a year of strong growth. Shares of Godrej Properties were up 2.5% today.
Maruti Suzuki raises prices
- India’s largest car manufacturer today announced that it will increase the prices of its popular brand Swift and all CNG variants with immediate effect. The company said that it will be hiking prices by ₹15,000 due to an increase in input costs.
- The prices of its other models will also be hiked soon, the company added in its exchange filing. Rising input cost is an industry-wide phenomenon and as seen in the past, other players could follow suit. Shares of Maruti Suzuki were up 0.5% and the Nifty Auto index was up 0.1% today.