Chinese investors played a dominant role in Cambodia’s investment landscape in July, funding numerous projects in the garment and power sectors, creating thousands of jobs and contributing significantly to the country’s economic development. However, experts advise Cambodia to diversify its investment portfolio beyond Chinese funding.
Reliance Power shares have witnessed a significant surge following the Union Budget 2024, driven by the company’s achievement of debt-free status. The stock has climbed over 30% in eight consecutive sessions, reaching new 52-week highs. Experts believe the Budget’s focus on power and infrastructure growth will further benefit the company’s financial performance in the coming fiscal year.
PSU stocks experienced a significant decline today due to stricter regulations proposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on projects under implementation. The RBI’s guidelines mandate a 5% general provision for all existing and new project loans in the construction phase, with provisions gradually decreasing to 1% under certain conditions when projects enter the operational phase. This news led to a sell-off in PSU stocks, with companies such as Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) witnessing declines of up to 13.6%. PSU banks like Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Bank of India also witnessed sharp falls of over 5%. The Nifty PSU index fell 4.3% to 7,202 points, and the BSE PSU index dropped 3.4% to 19,760 points, with 54 constituents trading in the red.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) poured over 5,400 crore into the Indian stock market during the first half of April 2024. This influx is primarily attributed to the purchase of cyclicals and capital-intensive stocks, including those in the power, finance, industrial, auto, telecom, and real estate sectors. Notably, FPIs sold defensive stocks, IT, and FMCG during this period. As of April 15, FPIs’ asset under custody (AUC) reached a record high of 64.76 lakh crore or $776.22 billion. This buying spree coincided with geopolitical tensions and rising US bond yields, but analysts attribute the outperformance of beta stocks to a positive near-term growth outlook for domestic cyclicals.
