FINXpress
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Term of Week
In Focus
Opinion
Personality
Tech World
Transfer Pricing|
6
Google Chromecast |12
Dr. Kiran Majumdar-
Shaw |11
Are surprise rate cuts
the way ahead| 4
JANUARY 18, 2015 | A FINNICHE INITIATIVE
BSE Index after interest
rate cut| 2
FinXpress
Disclaimer: FinXpress takes no responsibility for the opinions expressed in the magazine.
P u b l i s h e r o f t h e e d i t i o n :
P r i t i S u r e k a
With the ongoing matches in Cricket, Football and Badminton, all teams are busy planning
strategies and practicing hard to emerge as winners. Lodhi celebration brought some respite from
the winter.
Club FinNiche releases its weekly magazine FinXpress, 2015 with the In Focus talking about the
‘BSE Index after interest rate cut’. The Opinion gives an overview of ‘Are surprise rate cuts the way
ahead?’.
The term of the week describes “Transfer Pricing", setting of the price for goods and services sold between controlled legal entities. Do have a look at the market section, Tech world which brings to you about Google Chromecast and Personality of the week, Dr Kiran Mazumdar—Shaw. Hope everyone likes the revamped version of magazine. Club FinNiche welcomes any comments, suggestions or criticism regarding the magazine. Please do write to us and share your ideas. Happy Reading! Regards The Editorial Team Club FinNiche
Page 1 of 13
January, 18 | 2015 | Volume 30
CONTENTS
InFocus | 2
BSE Index after interest
rate cut
Opini on | 4
Are surprise rate cuts the
way ahead?’
Term o f the Week | 6
Transfer Pricing
Marke t th i s Week | 7
News | 9
Personal i ty | 11
Dr. Kiran Mazumdar– Shaw
Tech Wor l d | 12
Google Chromecast
Page 2 of 13
S&P BSE Index recorded
its highest single day rally
in the last five years after
sudden announcement of
interest rate cut by the
RBI.
In Focus - By Priti Sureka
On Thursday, January 15th RBI announced a
reduction in main lending rates. On the same
day, key equity benchmark indices
rebounded as investors welcomed the
decision of RBI.
As a reaction to the cut in interest rates, S&P
BSE Sensex was up 2.84% at 28,122.86 on the
same day. The Sensex registered its biggest
single day rally in the last five years.
All 13 sectoral indices on BSE rallied higher.
However, BSE Realty Index and BSE Bankex
Index outperformed the Sensex as these were
up 8.39% and 3.65% respectively.
BSE Consumer Durables Index, BSE FMCG
Index, BSE Healthcare Index are among the
buzzing stocks.
Crude oil prices have halved from the year
ago level. Interest rates have been decreased
unexpectedly by the RBI Governor. This will
impact the margins of FMCG companies
positively. On the other hand, due to
decrease in interest rates, there may be an
increase in consumption demand.
As fall in crude oil prices helped the FMCG
companies shares to perform well, on the
other side the same reduction in oil prices put
pressure on oil shares. ONGC declined more
than 2% and RIL is down 0.7%. Whereas, BSE
FMCG Index was up 1.53%.
BSE IT Index and BSE Teck Index failed to
perform well as compared to other BSE
sectoral indices. Current losses in major IT
companies such as Infosys, TCS and Wipro
put pressure on IT shares which did not
allow IT shares to perform well.
The BSE Auto Index was up 2.42% as these
stocks witnessed fresh buying as investors
sentiments were boosted due to fall in
interest rates. A fall in the repo rate will
improve liquidity in housing and auto
sectors. Shares of Maruti Suzuki gained
around 1.5%, M&M was up 1.2%, shares of
Hero Motocorp gained 1%. However, shares
of Tata Motors are trading flat.
The Financial shares are very sensitive
towards interest rates. As there was a
reduction in the interest rates, the BSE Bankes
Index outperformed the Sensex. Among the
financial shares, ICICI Bank incurred loss and
shares of HDFC Bank are trading flat. The
shares of Axis Bank and SBI gained.
BSE Metal Index overall suffered because of
pressure from Chinese economy.
Overall a combination of lower inflation and
lower interest rates triggered the investors
confidence.
Talking about FMCG sector, HUL shares
emerged as the top performer in the BSE
FMCG Index. HUL started this year with a
big high in its share price and it gained
overall 13% in the first seven trading sessions
BSE Index after interest rate cut
In Focus
Page 3 of 13
Of the year 2015. On the other hand, ITC
turned out to be the worst performer among
FMCG stocks. Decline in cigarettes volume
and concerns regarding the upcoming Union
Budget have been major factors affecting the
share price of ITC. In such a situation, ITC
shares seem to be least affected by decline in
oil price and lower interest rate.
Talking about the global market, most Asian
stocks also ended higher after interest rate
cut in India. Key benchmark indices of
China, Hongkong, Japan, Singapore and
South Korea gained.
On the other side, European markets were
trading mixed as many investors weighed
company earnings results. Key benchmark
indices in France and in UK eased by 0.47%
to 0.56%. Germany’s DAX also quoted higher
by 0.13%.
Therefore, overall Indian as well as global
stock market ended higher as a result of
reduction in interest rates.
Many analysts believe that RBI is likely to
reduce the interest rate further in February
and April 2015 and this is just a beginning of
a big rate cut cycle.
There was a slowdown in the stock market
during past few sessions due to lack of any
trigger from the side of government and RBI.
But few days ago, announcement by RBI was
enough to rebound the entire stock market.
The day when BSE Sensex will be recording
30,000 seems to come near.
Such decision by RBI will also have an
impact on export of the country. Maruti
Suzuki gained over 1% and according to
media reports, the company is aiming to
achieve a 20% growth in exports of its
vehicles. Not only Maruti Suzuki, other
companies will increase their export target
addressing improved investors sentiments.
Opinion
Are Surprise Rate Cuts the way ahead?
- by Mohammed Zakir Ahmed
Page 4 of 13
In a double surprise, RBI has added zing to the
markets which had doubts on the timing of
announcement of rate cut in credit policy. The first
surprise was announcing a rate-cut between two
policies, as expected from the earlier policy
statement that RBI would not wait for policy cycle
to end for lowering the rates if the inflation and its
future were acceptable. The second surprise was
the timing of announcement of cut made in the
morning just before markets opened rather than
the usual Wednesday evening.
The concept of a surprise has become a routine
for monetary policy as there is a belief that unless
a surprise element is present, the impact of
monetary policy is minimal. When rate are
increased or decreased in line with market
expectations, the market remains undisturbed as
the information is already considered by the
market. Hence, a surprise policy has more impact
on the market and increases its volatility.
Curiously, the goal behind having a series of
monetary policies that ranged from 8 to 6 was to
remove this ‘noise’ factor. In the past, when rate
changes were announced in between policies,
there would be considerable distortions in the
market because of different guesses made by the
people.
G-Secs, stocks, money markets, currencies all
tend to be affected by such conjectures.
Usually, the central bank reserves the right to
intervene at any time, but this is done when there
are serious problems in the economy. In 2013, for
example, when the rupee went down, there were
emergency measures announced concerning the
LAF and rates to ensure that there was order. But
by making such an announcement when things
are going right, a new dimension has been added
to the process of conduct of monetary policy.
Two implications stand out due to the
announcement. The first is that RBI is convinced
that inflation has come down and will after
November is put to rest as central bank expects
CPI to stay in limit.
R a t e c u t b y R B I
RBI has slashed the Repo rate
by 25 bps from 8% to 7.75%
on Thursday.
Our Indian economist expects
the RBI to cut the rates by
another 25 bps after the end-
February budgert announce-
ment. change date percentage
january 15 2015 7.750 %
january 28 2014 8.000 %
october 29 2013 7.750 %
september 20 2013 7.500 %
may 03 2013 7.250 %
march 19 2013 7.500 %
january 29 2013 7.750 %
april 17 2012 8.000 %
october 25 2011 8.500 %
september 16 2011 8.250 %
H S B C r e p o r t
HSBC Asia Pacific rates team
expects credit cost to fall fur-
ther to 6—6.5% within 2-3
years.
Opinion
Page 5 of 13
The second implication is that we can see this rate-
cut as the beginning of a series of similar rate-cuts
during the year. The scale and pace will be largely
determined by the actual CPI inflation and
expectations of the same. Assuming a normal
monsoon, one can expect a 100 bps reduction in
interest rates during the course of the calendar year
2015.
RBI announcement leads to two questions to be
asked. Whether or not industry would be happy with
this announcement and whether banks would follow
with rate cuts. The industry is expected to be
satisfied since the rate cut was long overdue and has
been under consideration for last 2-3 months, a
positive sign for industry. This however might not
lead to fresh investments as there will be a wait and
watch period. Infrastructure projects would wait for
further cuts as money borrowed has to be committed
for a long fixed tenure. Manufacturing sector with
capacity utilisation of 70% due to stagnant demand,
would not hurry to invest and will wait to see a revive
in demand.
On the second issue, RBI will be keenly observing
whether or not banks lower their interest rates. Prior
experience says that bank lower deposit rates than
lending rates immediately after rate cut by RBI. There
is always a lag between the two, but when the
lending rates are eventually lowered, the extent of
reduction is lower than that of deposits. The lowering
of interest rates by RBI is good news as it provides
clear direction to the markets. It will be interesting to
see the future actions generated by the normal
course of economic activity between the two policies.
If so, the market might try to guess such action, and
expectation of considerable volatility in the financial
markets when such situation occurs are triggered.
The surprise rate cut has been manifested by lower
interest rates, stronger currency and rising stock
markets.
And at an ideological level, if we are going to pursue
the policy of acting on an ‘as and when when
required’ basis, then should we revert to the
conventional bi-annual policy approach?
T ra n s f e r P r ic e
Transfer pricing is the setting
of the price for goods and
services sold between
controlled (or related) legal
entities within an enterprise
A r m ’ s L e n g t h P r i c e
The price at which two
unrelated parties would agree
to a transaction
The arm's length principle is
the condition that the parties to
a transaction are independent
and on an equal footing
Transfer Pricing
Term of the Week
Page 6 of 13
Transfer pricing occurs at whatever situation,
two organizations that are part of the same
multinational organisation indulge in trade
with each other. In the event that two random
organizations trade with one another, the
business sector cost for the transaction will by
and large be just. This is known as "arms-
length” trading, as it is the result of bona fide
transaction in a market. This “arm’s length
price” is normally considered to be adequate
for assessment purposes.
However when two related organizations
exchange with one another, they may wish to
falsely contort the cost at which the exchange
is recorded, to minimize the taxation costs.
This may, for instance, help it record as much
of its benefit as could be expected in a tax
heaven with low or zero duties.
The “arm’s length price” with regard to an
international trade or domestic trade, when
specified by Central Government can be
calculated by any of the following methods.
a. Comparable uncontrolled price method
Cost of the transaction is compared with
the results of similarly situated
organisations for which reliable data is
available.
b. Resale price method
Net price at which a similar good or
service is sold or provided by the
organisation to an unrelated party.
c. Cost plus method
Calculate costs related with the product/
service and add gross mark-up over that.
d. Profit split method
Total profit recorded in the books by both
the parties is calculated and the combined
profit is divided among the associated in
comparison with a similar controlled
transaction in the market.
e. Transactional net margin method
Net profit net profit generated through
the transaction is compared with the
profit of a comparable trade between non
-related parties.
f. Any other method prescribed by CBDT
The method to be used may differ on the
circumstances of the trade Moreover, Central
Government has notified in its official gazette
that if the difference between the “arm’s
length price” calculated by one of the above
methods and the price at which transaction
was concluded is up to 3 percent of the total
transaction cost, the transaction cost will be
treated as the “arm’s length price” for that
transaction.
- By Arihant Jain
R B I
Dramatic fall in oil prices is
considered as boon for Indian
economy as it helps in saving
import bill by $50bn.
S & P 5 0 0
A decline in American retail
sales combined with a slump in
copper prices weighed on
stock markets causing the S&P
500 to have its worst start to
the year since 2009 .
INDIAN MARKETS The Indian stock markets ended the week in green (+2.4%) with a major boost coming
from Reserve Bank of India's decision to cut repo rate by 25 basis points. The US stock markets
were down by 1.3% during the week on concerns regarding strength of the global economy and
falling oil prices .The stock markets for Germany and France were the biggest gainers with re-
spective indices up 5.4% and 4.8% over the week. The major Asian stock markets closed the
week on a mixed note with China and Hong Kong gaining 2.8% and 0.8% over the week while
stock markets in Japan and Singapore were down 1.9% and 1.1% respectively.
BSE SENSEX
CNX NIFTY
Market this Week
Page 7 of 13
Open High Low Close
SENSEX 28056.61 28176.1 27,945.31 28129.89
NIFTY 8504.05 8,530.75 8452.25 8513.8
Market this Week
Page 8 of 13
COMMODITIES
EXCHANGE RATES INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Commodity Unit Rs / Unit % Change
Gold 10 grams 27600 0.59
Silver 1 kg 39098 2.92
Crude Oil 1 bbl 3021 0.77
INR/ 1 USD 61.89
INR /1 EURO 72.01
INR/ 100 JAPAN YEN 53.08
INR / 1 POUND STERLING 93.92
Open High Low Close
NYSE Comp 10,508.62 10,664.53 10,503.35 10660.32
NASDAQ 4,566.38 4,635.82 4,563.11 4634.38
S&P 500 1,992.25 2,020.46 1,988.12 2019.42
FTSE 100 6,498.78 6,553.20 6,443.28 6550.27
CAC 4,303.55 4,387.22 4,294.76 4379.62
DAX 9,985.51 10,207.97 9,940.64 10,167.77
NIKKEI 225 16,812.96 16,864.34 16,592.57 16864.16
SSE 50 3,343.60 3,400.32 3,340.49 3376.5
Hang Seng 24,196.8 24,253.09 24,086.21 24103.52
RBI governor Raghuram Rajan cut repo rate by 25 bps: here are the reasons
The long awaited rate cut was announced by Reserve bank of India’s governor Raghuram Rajan on
Thursday, bringing cheer to the markets. Now the repo rate is 7.75 per cent after the cut of 25 bps.
Following are the major reasons for the rate cut:
Easing of inflation: Inflation which is lower than expected is because of the sharper than expected
decline in the Prices of the vegetables and fruits since September. In addition to this there was a huge
fall in the crude oil prices because of geo-political issues, which are expected to remain low for at least
a year.
Fiscal deficit target: Government has assured to adhere to their fiscal target of 4.1% in the current
fiscal year. Raghuram Rajan said all the efforts are being made so that the government does not default
on the fiscal deficit.
Inflation expectations: Inflation expectations for both near-term and long term have eased to single
digits. With the current policy in place inflation may even fall below 6 per cent by January
2015,according to RBI.
India builds solar plants atop canals to save land, water
India has done something in Vadodara to improve usage of solar power, it is exploring new places to
install solar panels, including across the top of canals. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last
weekend inaugurated a “canal-top” solar energy plant in Vadodara district in India's western state of
Gujarat. The two fold advantage of this is: it is cheap and efficient usage of land and also evaporation of
water in the channels can be prevented.
News of the Week
Page 9 of 13
Railway finances in ‘deep trouble’: Suresh Prabhu
Railway minister Suresh Parbu said that the government behemoth, Indian Railways is in deep trouble
financially, because if it’s poor investment choices by compromising its services. He also said that
pension fund may be used for financially supporting railways, which is already facing losses of
thousands of crores. Prabu said railways may not be in a good position now, but in coming years with
improved infrastructure it will be one of the drivers of Indian GDP and may even contribute 2.5% to 3%
of GDP.
FDI led by equities up 22.6% to Rs. 15 trillion in FY14:
Foreign direct investment (FDI) flowing into the country has increased by 22.65 per cent to a sum of
Rs.15,08,960 crore as of end March 2014, up from Rs.12,30,250 crore as of 2012-13. Major share of
this is dominated by equity of about 93.9 per cent. FDI flowing out of the country has increased higher
by 26 per cent to Rs.5,39,030 crore during the same period from Rs.4,27,900 according to the latest
date released by Reserve Bank of India on Friday.
Google to enter mobile-payment services, negotiating deal with Soft card:
Google is in talks with mobile payments services Soft card, which may be valued below $100 million.
This deal could help Google to battle against Apple and its new Apple Pay service.
News of the Week
Page 10 of 13
Personality of the Week
Page 11 of 13
Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw - Chairperson & Managing Director, Biocon Limited
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, is a first generation
entrepreneur, who has made her country
proud with a globally recognized bio-pharma
enterprise, Biocon, which is committed to
affordable innovation to deliver world class
therapeutics to the patients worldwide. As
the first woman brew master of India, with a
pioneering spirit to ‘make a difference’ she
has leveraged her learning’s of fermentation
science to pursue the road less taken and has
built an innovative bio-pharma company, the
first in India as the only publically listed
biotech company.
Her vision and work for biotechnology have
drawn global recognition both for the Indian
Industry and Biocon. She is a compassionate
philanthropist, who beleives in empowering
marginalized communities through
sustainable solutions in the areas of
healthcare and education. She is a much
sought after biotech pioneer who has been
referred to as "India's Biotech Queen" by The
Economist and "India's mother of invention"
by New York Times. She was conferred the
Wharton- Infosys Business Transformation
Award in 2006 for spearheading the
Biotechnology sector in India. Nature
Biotechnology has recently voted her the
most influential Bio-business personality
outside Europe and USA.
She also serves on the Board of reputed
Companies and Institutions and is also the
Chairperson of Karnataka's Vision Group on
Biotechnology. Kiran is also the Honorary
Consul of Ireland in Bangalore.
About Biocon
Today, Biocon is India’s largest Biologics
Company which is also the most innovative.
It has developed and delievered two novel
biologics, in addition to developing the
world’s only pichia based recombinant
human insulin, which is now available in
over 50 countries. Under her leadership
Biocon has become a well-recognized global
brand.
Biocon aims to more than double its revenues
to $1 billion by 2018. Ahead of a long-awaited
listing of research services arm Syngene,
Biocon bought back GE Capital's 7.7% stake
in it for $35 million and sold 10% to
investment firm Silver Leaf Oak. Last week,
Biocon was honoured at Thomson Reuters’
India Innovation Awards 2014.
B o r n
23rd March, 1953
E d u c a t i o n
Graduate Honors degree in
Zoology, Bangalore University
(1973)
Master Brewer from Ballarat
University, Australia (1975)
N e t W o r t h
$1.2 Billion
N o t a b l e A w a r d s
1989: Padmashri
2005: Padma Bhushan
Two National Civilian Awards
L a u nc h i n I n d i a
10th December 2014
P r i c e
Rs. 2,999
M e m o r y
512 MB RAM DDR3L
S t o r a g e
2 GB
D i s p l a y
1080p
Tech World
Page 12 of 13
Google Chromecast
Chromecast is a digital media player developed
by Google. It is a thumb size media streaming
device. It can play audio/video content by
plugging it into the HDTV port of a TV set. The
media can be directly streamed via Wi-Fi from
the Internet or a local network. Media can be
selected by users through mobile apps or web
apps that support the Google Cast technology.
Also, media can be mirrored from the Google
Chrome web browser active on a laptop or a
smartphone running on android.
With Chromecast, phone can be used as a
personalised remote control. It can be used to
browse, play, pause, rewind, control the volume
and even make playlists. Moreover while
streaming through Chromecast, the smartphone
used as remote, is free to use for other things.
Any number of phones or tablets can be used
for this purpose with no additional setup
required.
In December 2014, Chromecast was introduced
i n I n d i a t h r o u g h e - c o m m e r c e
marketplace Snapdeal. in partnership
with Bharti Airtel.
Pros
Cheaper alternative for streaming services
instead of relying on cable provider
Since it communicates with the cloud server,
smartphone is freed for other use
Smartphones can be used as a remote
Cons
One will have to sacrifice one of the TV's
USB ports or a power outlet
It supports limited applications as of now
For mirroring to work, strong Wi-Fi
connection is required
Lack of dedicated remote means that
smartphone or tablet will always be required
to operate it
It faces huge competition from Roku LT and the
only competitive feature as of now is the low
cost model and lacks in the number of channels
it provides. Other competitors include Eyecast
and Teewe.
- By Arihant Jain
Our Sponsors
Page 13 of 13
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