Mumbai: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is likely to impose stricter margin trading rules on budget day to combat potential volatility, said two people aware of the matter, including an official with the regulator. The Union budget is scheduled to be presented on 1 February.

Stock markets can become volatile on budget day. While the past seven years saw the Sensex’s budget day close change less than 2% of the previous day’s, there have been instances when the markets have seen wild moves—for instance, Pranab Mukherjee’s 2009-10 budget when the Sensex closed 5.83% lower or Yashwant Sinha’s 2000-01 budget when it fell 5.12%.

New Delhi: Chances of the formation of a ‘grand alliance’ in Uttar Pradesh to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dimmed with the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) saying it is not in talks with the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and doesn’t fancy giving any seats out of its share to the party.

On Thursday, before an official announcement of the alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, a senior leader of the former said it would contest 300-plus seats in polls for the 403-member assembly.

We interacted with key officials of Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Udpadan Nigam (RRVUNL) on the proposed takeover of its 2,320MW (4x250MW and 2x660MW) Chabra power plant by NTPC. Key attributes of the subcritical plant include: station heat rate (SHR) of 2312.3kcal/kWh which is difficult to achieve, if not impossible, due to which the variable cost is not within the RERC norms; past three month’s average PLF of ~90% builds in seasonality; approved capital cost of R50 million/MW is transfered to NTPC at book value (BV), and equity value of R7 billion adjusted to the extent of normalised SHR.

Tata Communications (TCOM) has transformed from a long-distance voice services provider to a full-service data connectivity and value-added services provider. Its deep connectivity and array of customised solutions should drive a healthy 10% CAGR in data revenue over FY16-19 in a largely commoditised market. Yet, its focus on (a) the higher-margin enterprise segment, and (b) value-added services should support a 490bp expansion in core EBITDA margin over FY16-19.

DAVOS: Analysts scratching their heads over the impact on India's banks of the country's move to ban high-value notes have every right to be puzzled, as estimates offered by the chairman of State Bank of India indicate.

The bank could retain anything from 15 per cent to 40 per cent of the deposit boost it received after the government withdrew about four-fifths of the banknotes in circulation in November, Arundhati Bhattacharya said in an interview on Wednesday with Bloomberg Television's Erik Schatzker. She was unable to give a precise estimate amid uncertainty about how much of that money came from Indian businesses as opposed to individuals.

BENGALURU: Infosys has "released" 8,000-9,000 employees in the past one year because of automation of lower-end jobs, the company's human resources head Krishnamurthy Shankar said. He said these employees are now working on more advanced projects.

"We have been releasing about 2,000 people every quarter and also training them in special courses that will help them in their new assignments," Shankar said on the sidelines of an event organised by the Bengaluru chapter of Global Shapers, a body backed by the World Economic Forum.

Infrastructure heavyweight Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Friday said its subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon has bagged orders worth Rs 1,700 crore in its construction services vertical.

"L&T Hydrocarbon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro, has won orders worth Rs 1,700 crore order in its construction services vertical," L&T said in a BSE filing.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M) has forayed into Turkey through the acquisition of 75.1 percent stake in Hisarlar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi - a farm equipment maker - for approximately $ 19 million (about Rs 130 crores). As part of the transaction, Darby Converging Europe Fund II will exit its investment. European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (18.7 percent) and the founder Turker family (6.2 percent) are the other stakeholder in the company.

A day ahead of his inauguration as the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump today said he is going to unite the country as he promised the Americans to work hard and turn things around.

"We are going to unify our country and we will make America great again. We will make America great for all of our people, everybody throughout the country," Trump said while a crowd of thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial here at his inaugural 'Make America Great Again' rally and concert.

Shares of Axis Bank tanked over 6% after the private lender reported a whopping 73% decline in net profit at Rs 580 crore in the December quarter on account of rise in bad loans.

It had reported net profit of Rs 2,175 crore in the same quarter of last fiscal year.

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