
Key indices slip to 2-mth low
The 30-share BSE barometer tanked 572.07 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 80,891.02, a level not seen since June 4. During the day, it slumped 686.65 points or 0.84 per cent to 80,776.44. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 156.10 points or 0.63 per cent to close at a nearly two-month low of 24,680.90.
As many as 35 Nifty shares declined, and 15 advanced.
Analysts said disappointing quarterly results and continued selling by FIIs dragged stock markets down for the third session in a row. Nifty has tanked over 2 per cent or 539 points while Sensex retreated by 1,835 points or 2.2 per cent to trade at near two-month low levels. Among Sensex firms, Kotak Mahindra Bank tumbled the most by 7.31 per cent after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 4,472 crore for the June quarter, and flagged stress on the retail commercial vehicle portfolio due to adverse macroeconomic conditions.
The profit in the year-ago period was Rs 7,448 crore, but it had included gains of over Rs 3,000 crore on its stake sale in the general insurance arm, while the net profit for the March quarter stood at Rs 4,933 crore. Bajaj Finance dropped 3.64 per cent amid asset quality concerns, while Bharti Airtel fell by 2.35 per cent. Tata Consultancy Services dropped 1.76 per cent amid reports that the IT major has decided to lay off over 12,000 employees.
Sources said that the IT Ministry is keeping a close watch on the entire situation and is in touch with the tech company over the matter. Titan, HCL Tech and State Bank of India were also among the laggards. However, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, HDFC Bank and ITC were the gainers.
'Domestic market sentiment has remained cautious, weighed down by a disappointing set of Q1 earnings, delays in the India-US trade agreement, and continued FII outflows. In contrast, global markets remain broadly positive, supported by US-EU trade developments that are perceived as less concerning than anticipated. 'The upcoming monetary policy decisions from the Fed and BoJ, along with the trajectory of domestic quarterly earnings, are expected to play a pivotal role in shaping market direction in the near term,' Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
The BSE smallcap gauge tumbled 1.31 per cent and midcap index fell by 0.73 per cent. Among BSE sectoral indices, realty tanked 4.11 per cent, followed by telecommunication (1.56 per cent), capital goods (1.49 per cent), BSE industrials (1.40 per cent), teck (1.21 per cent) and metal (1.06 per cent).

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Mint
17 minutes ago
- Mint
Unravelling the Kapur family rift: Fault lines emerge from 2017
The recent passing of Sunjay Kapur, chairperson of Delhi-based Sona Comstar, has stirred not just grief but also deep rifts within the Kapur family. At the heart of the escalating dispute is the company's promoter entity Aureus Investment Pvt. Ltd and a gradual yet consequential shift in ownership and control of Sona Comstar, the country's eighth-largest auto component maker. The genesis of the current tensions appears to be a chain of events between 2017 and 2019. In that period, the family's matriarch and Sunjay's mother, Rani Kapur, left the board of the promoter firm Aureus and transferred her shareholding to a trust named RK Family Trust. Aureus holds nearly 28.02% promoter stake in Sona Comstar, currently worth around ₹8,000 crore, and represents the interests of the Kapur family on its board through one nominee director. Sona Comstar is listed on the BSE and NSE as Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd. There was a gradual transfer of ownership and power at Aureus in the two-year period mentioned above, following the wedding of Sunjay Kapur to Priya Sachdev in April 2017, according to Mint's review of publicly available filings of Aureus. It is unclear what caused the ownership and control transfer and whether it was part of a planned succession. Queries to Rani Kapur, Priya Kapur, and Sona Comstar to the effect went unanswered. In response to Mint's queries, an Aureus spokesperson said that the settlement of the shares into the trust was done of Rani Kapur's own volition in 2017, as part of a well thought out plan for the revival of the business as well as to ensure a smooth family succession. 'In 2017, when Mrs Rani Kapur settled the shares into the trust, Sona Comstar was not the Company you see today. It had a negative Ebitda and was laden with serious high debt. The turnaround from a large debt burden ridden company to what it is today was led by Sunjay, when he repositioned the company and also took in private equity investment. The overall structure has even been scrutinised by Sebi at the time of the Sona Comstar IPO on June 24th, 2021." The spokesperson further added: 'Since 2017, Sunjay has ensured that structures and processes are in place to ensure that Mrs Rani Kapur has been financially supported to live in a manner consistent with her needs and lifestyle. These structures continue to be supported by Sunjay's wife after his passing." How things unfolded In June 2015, Rani Kapur received a 42% stake in Aureus (then known as Sona Autocomp Holding Pvt. Ltd) following the demise of her husband Surinder Kapur, former Sona Comstar chairperson and Sunjay's father. In a letter to the Sona Comstar board last week, Rani claimed that a will by her late husband, which was executed on 30 June 2015, ensured that she was the sole beneficiary of his estate. Until 2016, the decision making at Aureus was being jointly led by Rani and Sunjay. During a board meeting on 28 June that year, the board of directors adopted a resolution authorising the two family members to sign official documents. The same day, Rani Kapur also formally requested for reappointment as a director of Aureus. The length of her tenure is not clear. Typically, a director on the board of Aureus has been given a tenure of three years. Being the largest shareholder herself, the appointment shouldn't have been a problem, although no further filing by the company showed the outcome of the shareholder vote. But in February 2017, the company modified the definition of promoter in its articles of association from Surinder Kapur to Rani Kapur and her successor and legal heirs, showing that the matriarch was still firmly in the driver's seat. However, just four months later, in June 2017, there was a change at the board of Aureus. According to the annual report for the financial year 2017-18 filed with the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), Rani Kapur ceased to be a director on the board of the promoter company on 30 June 2017. Priya Sachdev Kapur was appointed as a director the same day. In November that year, Priya was further elevated to managing director of Aureus. She went on to serve in the position till May 2023 when she ceased to be a director in the company. The RK Family Trust was created in October 2017 to house the shares of Aureus held by Rani, according to the Red Herring Prospectus of Sona Comstar filed in 2021. In 2019, the RK Family Trust told Sona Comstar, which was a privately held company at the time, that its sole beneficiary was Sunjay Kapur, according to a press release issued by Sona Comstar on Friday. Through consolidation of shareholding in later years, the RK Family Trust went on to hold more than 65% stake in Aureus, which remains the promoter entityof Sona Comstar. Meanwhile, Rani Kapur went from being the largest individual shareholder of Aureus to being a person with no locus standi. Priya's return sparks war Just a week after Sunjay Kapur's death in the UKon 12 June, Aureus held an extraordinary general meeting on 20 June, where Priya Kapur was appointed managing director for three years at a salary of ₹1 crore per month. The reason given was the creation of a casual vacancy due to Sunjay's demise. Subsequently, Aureus nominated Priya to the board of Sona Comstar, which was approved by shareholders during the AGM on 25 July with more than 99% votes in her favour. Unhappy with Priya's appointment, Rani wrote to Sona Comstar's board on 24 July, a day before the AGM, asking for cooperation on details from the company on the recent appointments and the events that transpired after the demise of her son Sunjay. The matriarch questioned the authority of those who approved the appointment of Priya, and alleged that she was made to sign certain documents while she was grieving and that she has no knowledge of what she signed. 'I was approached multiple times and compelled to sign various documents without explanation or even having time to read and understand the same," she wrote in her letter. 'Despite being under immense mental and emotional distress, I was coerced into signing such documents behind locked doors and though I've requested repeatedly, the contents of such documents have never been revealed to me." Her lawyer, Vaibhav Gaggar, toldMintearlier that she was not aware of day-to-day details or how the entire ownership was structured. 'Post-2015, she was the one controlling everything for the trust of the family. Whatever be the structures which were put in place, ultimately, she was the one who was the controlling head. As far as the details go, she was not the one who was handling the day-to-day affairs, so she is not aware of the full details. She is asking the company to cooperate and give full details," Gaggar said. Legal experts suggest that Rani Kapur can move court if she was coerced into signing documents that resulted in transfer of shareholding, trust ownership and appointments to the board. 'Under Indian law, any transfer made under fraud, undue influence, or without free consent can be declared void," Adnan Siddiqui, partner at King Stubb & Kasiva, Advocates and Attorneys, said. However, Siddiqui added that the company can respond saying that the transfer of shares was properly documented while Rani remained silent for years and Sona Comstar only followed formal trust records that named Sunjay Kapur as the beneficial owner. Sona Comstar said in two press releases over the past five days that Priya's appointment was made at the recommendation of Aureus. The company said that Rani Kapur has no locus standi in the company's matters. 'Any insinuation that she was coerced into signing documents or that her consent is required for Company affairs is completely baseless and legally untenable," read the second press release from Sona Comstar, issued on Monday. Rani Kapur's next steps in this matter remain unclear. Sona BLW Precision Forging's shares on the NSE have fallen 4% since 24 July, when Rani Kapur wrote the letter to the company's board. In the same period, the Nifty Auto index has fallen by 1%.


India.com
17 minutes ago
- India.com
‘Deals Working Out Very Well': Trump Talks Sweet About ‘Good Friend' India, Hints At Bitter 25% Tariff
Washington: Inside the humming cabin of Air Force One, President Donald Trump leaned back and spoke to reporters as casually as one might comment on the weather. But his words carried weight, especially for India. With just a couple of days left before an August 1 deadline, he said things between Washington and New Delhi were 'working out very well'. But at the same time warned tariffs as high as 20% to 25% might be on the way. He did not make the comment out of nowhere. A reporter had asked about whispers from New Delhi that India might be bracing for steep new duties. Trump shrugged off the speculation but made his stance clear. 'India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country over the years. But now I am in charge. And you just cannot do that,' he said. Though there has been no formal communication to India so far and no signed letter like those sent to other nations, the possibility of new tariffs is very much on the table. Despite the tense undertone, Trump called India 'a good friend'. Back in April, the Trump administration had already slapped a 26% tariff on Indian imports, only to hit the brakes later, describing them as 'reciprocal' measures that could be revisited. On the Indian side, the mood has been more optimistic. Speaking this past Sunday, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said India is negotiating from a position of strength. 'India today negotiates from a position of strength, a position of confidence. It is this very confidence that continuously encourages us to make good free trade agreements. Our discussions with the United States are progressing very well,' he said. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri echoed similar confidence during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent trip to the United Kingdom. He told the media that India is in regular touch with U.S. officials on the possibility of a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), though those talks are being handled under a separate track. 'We are discussing that under a different vertical. All I can say is that our engagement is underway. The contacts are underway, and we will see how that goes,' Misri said after the India-UK Free Trade Agreement signing ceremony. Back on July 14, a senior Indian official said the government was moving ahead with 'concrete progress' on the BTA with Washington, describing the deal as something both nations are committed to finalising under the leadership of Modi and Trump. India's goal? A win-win deal. 'We are moving in terms of a BTA. We are looking at a mutually beneficial deal,' the official said. But trade was not the only card Trump played in the air that day. He also took a moment to reflect on what he called his role in halting the conflict between India and Pakistan earlier this year. The standoff began after the April 22 terror attacks in Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives. India's response, now widely discussed Operation Sindoor, involved targeted precision strikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Trump claimed he had helped broker the peace. 'Look, India, they are my friends and he is (PM Modi) my friend. And you know they ended the war with Pakistan and by request and I was great and Pakistan did also. We did a lot of great settlements,' he said. India, however, had offered a different version of events. According to New Delhi, it was Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations who made the first move and reached out to his Indian counterpart to ask for a ceasefire. Only then did hostilities ease. Whether Trump's version holds up or not, trade and geopolitics are once again tied together, with India and the United States carefully maneuvering, with each step being closely watched. (With ANI inputs)


Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
NMC Resumes Demolition Drive for Ramji Pehalwan Rd Widening After Over a Decade
1 2 Nagpur: After over a decade of delays, the long-pending Ramji Pehalwan road widening project in the Mahal area has finally picked up pace, with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) resuming demolition of properties from Tuesday. Proposed in 2012, the project was repeatedly stalled due to complex land acquisition challenges. The proposed stretch of 1,950 metres, connecting Ram Cooler Square to Durga Mata Mandir Square, is being widened from its current 30 feet to 60 feet (18 metres). The widened road is expected to relieve severe traffic congestion in the densely populated and historically important Mahal area, where narrow lanes have long led to snarls, especially during peak hours. Of the total 124 properties marked for acquisition, NMC earlier managed to demolish 84 properties through sale-purchase agreements. In the subsequent phases, the civic body acquired the remaining private properties under the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act. These acquisitions allowed NMC to gain control over major portions of the stretch, though the execution remained sluggish. Besides private holdings, 15 govt-owned properties fall along the proposed widened stretch. Out of these, eight have already been handed over to NMC, while acquisition of the remaining seven is pending. Notably, these govt properties are being transferred to the civic body without any compensation. On Tuesday, armed with heavy police protection, NMC's town planning department, along with its enforcement squad, began a fresh round of demolitions to clear remaining encroachments, razing 22 properties from CP & Berar College Square to Ramaji Pahelwan Square. Approximately 18 properties are still left to be razed. The civic body plans to carry out the demolitions in a phased manner, depending on ground-level resistance and logistical challenges. "The razing will continue in phases and is critical to completing the long-stalled road widening project. Once fully cleared, it will greatly ease traffic movement in the core areas of the city," said a senior official from NMC's Town Planning Department. The overall cost of the project is pegged at Rs 65 crore. Of this, the state govt is bearing 70% — around Rs 45 crore — while the remaining Rs 20 crore is being funded by the civic body. Once completed, the widened Ramji Pehalwan Road will significantly boost vehicular mobility, reduce travel time, and improve accessibility for emergency vehicles. It will also allow for better footpath infrastructure, enhancing pedestrian safety. NMC hopes the renewed demolition drive will finally lead to the completion of this long-overdue infrastructure project.