Indian economy has started showing some signs of improvement and economic indicators point towards slow recovery in government revenue. However, the GST collections have reduced in the recent months and Finance Ministry is concerned about the issue. The informal economy suffered a major blow and farm incomes reduced. The Finance Minister has introduced a budget which is focused on agriculture sector.

We present views of Shanti Ekambaram, President – Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank on the Union Budget presented by Arun Jaitley.

A budget focused on priority segments

The Finance Minister focused the FY18/19 budget on spends in Agriculture, rural upliftment, the poor, health, education, Infrastructure and Digital India.

Indian stocks touched new all-time high this week. The markets worldwide have witnessed strong gains, mainly led by the U.S. stock markets. Investors are upbeat and strong economic signals have improved confidence of funds managers about future market returns. Indian stocks touched new high and markets were trading strong with small declines in select counters.

Indian real estate sector is expecting better growth in 2018 and the majority of gains could be witnessed in organized real estate segment. Many Indian real estate developers are working on affordable housing projects. Over the last few years, inventory levels have remained high in fast-growing Indian cities.

In 2018, real estate experts are expecting better demand for affordable housing and medium cost housing in developing cities. The bank interest rates have declined and home buyers can now buy with confidence as real estate developers will be following RERA regulations.

Indian real estate sector is undergoing major changes as the government has announced RERA regulations. State governments have notified their own RERA regulations and real estate developers have to get their projects approved under new ruling. Many rogue developers and real estate companies with limited funding will not be able to start with new projects as requirement bar has been raised by majority of states across India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi could lead delegation of nearly 100 CEOs from Indian companies at Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Many top officials and Union Ministers are also expected to attend the event of International business community. As per media reports, Modi is also expected to also expected to address a special plenary session in Davos. After 1997, Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister to attend the event in almost two decades.

Bitcoin is showing further strength and the value could soon touch $20,000 as more people are buying cryptocurrency after its recent rally. While many technical experts, bankers and government authorities have spoken against the Bitcoin valuations, small investors have ignored those warnings. Bitcoin traded in $13,000 - $18,000 range during the first half of December 2017 but now it is looking all set to cross $20,000.

Indian automobile giant Tata Motors is aiming at improving its service network in order to boost consumer confidence in its vehicles. Tata Motors is working on a plan to rationalise the number of platforms to two from the six at the present. The company said that the motive behind the move is improved efficiency, better consumer satisfaction and cost cutting.

Indian Stock Markets are trading near their all-time high and any negative news at this point can lead to selloff in equities. While the markets have bounced back quite sharply after each minor correction, the sentiment in local markets will largely depend on global cues. The U.S. government is expected to move ahead with tax overhaul and US stocks are leading global rally on expectations of major tax relief for large businesses. Indian Markets can see volatility in December on account of Gujarat Election results.

Indian Markets Recovered from Previous Week's loss and bulls were completely in charge of the market. The sentiment among retail investors are upbeat as many stocks touched their 52-week high. Indian markets are once-again hovering around their all-time high and global cues have led further strength to Indian equities. Majority of voices talking about correction have been silenced (at least for short term) by underlying strength in the market.

Nifty ended up giving a follow up buying post a reversal pattern last week and reversed from its crucial moving averages. The comeback of bulls was led by positive cues coming in from global markets which continued to flourish near all-time highs along with domestic cues as well.

Indian stocks markets witnessed selling pressure this week but the bullish sentiment returned during the end of the week as Moody's upgraded ratings for India. Market experts are still not convinced about strength in markets to reach new highs next week. Majority of analysts indicate high chances of correction in the market. As results season is about to end, Indian markets will mainly depend on global cues for direction over next few weeks.

Indian markets scaled new highs this week as the global sentiment was bullish. As the U.S. Government announced new tax rates, investors in the United States are upbeat about economy and future results from companies (mainly due to tax cuts). BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty touched all-time high during the week. Trading in majority of stocks remained positive and many companies touched their 52-week high during the trading sessions.

Strict orders from the Supreme Court and proper implementation across the country led to reduction in emissions from firecrackers during Diwali 2017. A survey conducted by SAFAR, a central government air quality monitoring agency, has found nearly 50 percent reduction in emissions on October 19, 20 and 21. The Supreme Court announced strict ban on sales of firecrackers.

Also, there was a ban on lighting firecrackers during festivals in terms of timing. Earlier, people continued celebrating and lighting crackers till late night. The study conducted by SAFAR team added that the air quality level returned to pre-Diwali level within three days.

NSE Nifty touched an all-time high of 10,191 on Friday and closed at all-time high of 10,167. Stock markets have offered nearly 20 percent return this year with some stocks offering even more than 100 percent return in the last two quarters. Investors have turned cautious in many blue chips and we have witnessed strong selling pressure at higher levels.

Market analysts believe that Nifty can scale new highs if it strongly closes above 10,200 level. Banks have not participated in the recent pullback in the stock markets. Few banks have declared quarterly results, which have remained below market expectations. And, market analysts are not having high expectations from public sector banks considering higher provisions for bad loans.

Uber’s Middle East division has announced that the ride-hailing service will launch Tesla vehicles in Dubai on October 10. The project has been started by Uber in cooperation with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai. Dubai is a fast growing market and with high number of tourists, there is high demand for Uber services in Dubai.

Uber users will be able to book Tesla Uber cars in Dubai starting October 10. Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty, head of Uber's operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa said, “Customers will then be able to choose between the Model S or Model X, with a fee that is expected to start at a base fare Dh10 and charge Dh1.9 per kilometer.”

Comments on RBI Policy decision by Mr. Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research. Today’s RBI Policy was, as widely expected by the market, neutral. Market has been expecting the same since the volatility was easily absorbed and markets remained at day’s high post policy announcement. The neutral stance is very much consistent with the core objective of RBI that is to keep medium term inflation in check at 4%.

Policy has of course revised its Inflation projection at 4.2-4.6% in second half of FY17-18. Inflation has changed its trajectory to upwards and seems to have tapered off the base effect in August.

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Indian stock market touched all-time high level of 30,793 for BSE Sensex benchmark index on Thursday. The rally in the last hour of the trading session led stocks to their highest level till date. Indian markets have been touching multi-year highs over the last few months. Today’s rally was supported by banks and blue-chip stocks.

Market analysts and traders are still optimistic about strong rally in coming months. If global factors remain positive, Indian stocks could easily push 31,000 level in June.

Among major gainers in today’s trade were Maruti Suzuki, L&T, HDFC Bank, TVS Motor, Voltas and KEC International.

Macroeconomic data i.e. IIP and inflation data signaled the economic revival, which led the benchmark indices to trade positively on the Monday. Further, indices made fresh highs following the IMD forecast report on arrival of early monsoon. Apart from that, FIIs who have turned net seller in the market, again seems to be buoyant in the Indian market, which has also provided positivity to the surging indices. Also, GST Panel meeting in Srinagar remained the lime light as council was meeting to finalize the rates of goods, services. Apart from above, better than expected corporate results for the Q4 too provided support to the surging indices.

Investors turned cautious after President Donald Trump started controversy in the United States following surprise change of FBI chief. President Trump is facing a major crisis and investors in the U.S. market turned cautious. As the U.S. markets declined, markets worldwide reacted and declined as well. Most of the stock markets have been trading at their yearly or multi-year highs and even small events of uncertainty lead to fear among market players.

In the Indian stock market, partial sell-off was witnessed on Thursday. However, other emerging markets like Brazil and Turkey faced major declines. Indian stocks closed almost flat on Friday but investors have turned cautious after recent U.S. events.