Moneycontrol Daily: Your Essential 7

1 Market Buzz

Nifty @ 11k, what lies ahead

It took the Nifty50 34 sessions to complete its journey from 10,000 to 11,000, as Indian markets climbed all wall of worries to head north after hitting a swing low of 7,500 on March 24. The Nifty reclaimed 10,000 levels on June 3 and went past the 11,000-mark on July 20. Experts are of the view that if the index manages to hold above 11,000, it can gain 500 more points. The index has risen about 10 percent since June 3 while about 11 BSE 500 stocks rallied 50-100 percent during the same period. Are they still a good buy? Read here.

2 Big Story

Oxford vaccine shows promise

AstraZeneca's experimental COVID-19 vaccine was safe and produced an immune response in early-stage clinical trials in healthy volunteers, data has shown. The vaccine, called AZD1222 and under development by AstraZeneca and scientists at Britain's Oxford University, did not prompt any serious side effects and elicited antibody and T-cell immune responses, according to trial results published in The Lancet medical journal. "We hope this means the immune system will remember the virus, so that our vaccine will protect people for an extended period," study lead author Andrew Pollard of the University of Oxford said. Read here

3 Your Money

Think before buying a house

The decision to buy a house can’t be made just on the basis of emotions and desire. There are numerous other factors to consider before deciding on renting or owning a house. A house is one of the biggest investments you ever make. And it is likely that even after putting a large chunk of your savings towards down payment, you still need to take a home loan.  So, before taking a decision to buy, evaluate whether you have sufficient funds to make the down payment. The higher your down payment, the lower would be your home loan burden and, therefore, equated monthly installments. There are more factors to consider as well, read here

4 Global Watch

Banks scrutinise Hong Kong clients for pro-democracy ties

Global wealth managers are examining whether their clients in Hong Kong have ties to the city's pro-democracy movement, in an attempt to avoid getting caught in the crosshairs of China's new national security law. Bankers at Credit Suisse Group AG, HSBC Holdings Plc, Julius Baer Gruppe AG and UBS Group AG, among others, are broadening scrutiny under their programmes that screen clients for political and government ties and subjecting them to additional diligence requirements. The designation, called politically exposed persons, can make it more difficult or altogether prevent people from accessing banking services, depending on what the bank finds about their source of wealth or financial transactions. Read here

5 Tech Tattle

Compact luxury cars in death lane

Size does matter, at least when it comes to luxury cars. India’s growing appetite for large SUVs has left compact luxury cars gasping for breath, even forcing companies to pull them out of showrooms. Once hailed as volume generators, small luxury cars today are non-existent, with India mirroring global trend. Mercedes-Benz, India’s largest luxury carmaker, has phased out three of its four models in the compact segment in less than a year. India’s second-largest luxury carmaker BMW has pulled the plug on the 1 Series hatchback, which was brought in to challenge the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. Why small is not beautiful anymore? Read here

6 Startup Tales

Digital payments up but data points to jagged recovery

The coronavirus outbreak has ravaged the Indian economy, bringing almost every business activity to a standstill. As businesses resume in a staggered manner, the big question is how will the country recover from this blow? Will it be a ‘V’- shaped quick recovery? If early data of consumption patterns is any indication, the answer is no. Data sourced from digital payment companies, banks and the Reserve Bank of India suggests that at best, it may be a jagged recovery followed by stagnation, maybe a fall again and then finally some gains. This trend will likely continue till the end of the current financial year. Read here.

7 Tailpiece

Instagram’s India roll of followers

Cricket again scores over Bollywood.  Among the Top 10 most followed Indian celebrities on Instagram, eight are from Hindi cinema industry. In a list dominated by women–there are only three men there-- Akshay Kumar is the only male actor to figure on the list. He is ranked number 8, with 42.7 million. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with 45.4 million followers, is two places ahead of him, making him the only politician on the list. Shraddha Kapoor has hit 50 million followers to have the third-highest fan following on the Facebook-owned app. Almost four million followers separate her from the second most popular actor. The top of the class is a cricketer.  To find out more, click here.