The interim budget scheduled to be presented on February 1, ahead of the general elections, is unlikely to propose capital infusion for public sector banks (PSBs) because they are well-capitalised and have the lowest levels of bad loans, experts said. “Problems of PSBs were solved after the asset quality review. After recognising the problems, the government funded the banks and the banks.

Bank privatisation may not be mentioned in the upcoming Union Budget in February since this time it is only a vote on account, experts said. "This is an interim Budget; so it's like a non-Budget you are not supposed to announce any new thing. Privatisation is a controversial thing. So personally I doubt. In most interim Budgets they just repeat things that they had in their election manifestos.

The board of Bajaj Auto will consider a buyback of shares in the meeting scheduled on January 8, the exchanges were informed on January 3. (This is a developing story. Please check back for more updates)

Adani Group on January 1 announced partnering with renowned architect Hafeez Contractor for its ambitious Dharavi project, which involves redevelopment and rehabilitation of 0.7 million residents in one of Asia’s largest slum clusters. Contractor is a big name in the Indian real estate sector with apartments being easily sold in top cities if the Padma Bhushan recipient is the architect.

In a unique move, Ideas2IT, a high-end product engineering company headquartered in Chennai, has decided to share ownership with its employees. The company has unveiled an “Employee Ownership Programme”. Touted as a strategic initiative, the programme is aimed at "providing genuine ownership to ensure a pleasurable and continuous journey”. Under this initiative, employees will get a 33% stake.

The benchmark indices traded lower for the second straight day on January 3 as participants wait for the next trigger to get the momentum going. For now, investors will track the US Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook from the FOMC minutes, to be released later in the day. The October-December (Q3) quarter results, too, will guide traders to selective stock picking, analysts said.

State-owned Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) on January 3 trimmed its home loan rate by 15 basis points to 8.35 per cent as part of its new year offer to customers. The processing fees are also waived on home loans, BoM said in a statement. This dual benefit of reduced interest rates and waiver of processing fees in home loans is a testament of bank's commitment to offer best financing solutions.

Though the Indian market’s rally in the past year has given smiles to all local investors, however, it pales in comparison to how the market in neighbouring Pakistan has performed. Pakistan's flagship KSE100 index is the second-best performing headline index in the world in the last year delivering about 63 percent returns. The index lags behind only Argentina's S&P MERVAL.

Shares of Ircon International and RITES jumped over 5 percent each on January 3 after the companies announced management changes earlier this week. IRCON informed stock exchanges on January 1 that on attaining the age of superannuation, Pramod Kumar Singh, project director for Patna, and Ravi Sahay, chief general manager (civil) ceased to be senior management personnel of the company.

Gensol Engineering Ltd (GEL) on Wednesday said it has bagged a Rs 139-crore solar power project in Chhattisgarh. The 33 megawatt (MW) solar power project has been awarded by Sarda Energy & Minerals Ltd (SEML), Gensol Engineering said in a statement. The captive solar project will come up at SEML's Kharora plant in Chhattisgarh, it said, adding that the value of the project is Rs 138.72 crore.

Shares of Tata Steel fell 2.5 percent in trade on January 3 after brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Equities downgraded the stock to 'reduce' citing unfavourable risk reward at the current valuations. On that account, the brokerage has also assigned a price target of Rs 145 for the stock which reflects an upside potential of merely 3 percent from the previous day's closing level.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has announced the appointment of Anupam Kaura as its chief human resources officer (CHRO). He joins Kotak from CRISIL, London, where he was the global HR chief. Kaura has over 25 years of experience in leadership roles across Indian and global banking and finance companies, Kotak said in a statement. He has an extensive background in strategic HR leadership.

Shares of Coal India were trading in the red, falling around two percent in January 3 despite the state-owned company supplying an all-time high volume of 98 million tonnes (mts) to non-regulated sector (NRS) consumers till December. Compared to the the year-ago period, the supply is up 23 mts or 31 percent more than over 75 mts . At of 12.15 pm, Coal India was trading at Rs 388.95.

The IPO pipeline remains robust in 2024, with 27 companies having received SEBI approval to raise a combined amount of Rs 28,500 crore, and another 36 companies awaiting approval to raise a total of Rs 40,500 crore. “The next couple of months should see several IPOs being launched before a pause on account of the general elections,” said Pranav Haldea, Managing Director, of Prime Database Group.

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co said on Wednesday it has set its 2024 global sales target at 4.24 million vehicles, down about 2% from its 2023 target of 4.32 million vehicles. Its affiliate Kia Corp said it aims to sell 3.2 million vehicles globally, unchanged from its 2023 target.