Moneycontrol Daily: Your Essential 7

1 Market Buzz

Equity inflows tank in June; should you worry?

Liquid funds registered an outflow of Rs 44,226 crore in June on the back of advance tax outflows, data shows. Net inflow slumped 95 percent to a little over Rs 240 crore as investors pulled out from largecap and multicap funds due to profit-booking. Mutual funds had Rs 25.48 lakh crore in assets under management, a growth of 4 percent compared to May. A careful examination of the data reveals that the underlying trend in the MF industry has not deteriorated too much though the slowing of monthly SIP contributions is worrying. Experts point out that the overall inflows into equity funds in June were higher as compared to May but there was a significant increase in redemptions that led to weak net inflows. Read here.

2 Big Story

NPA trouble for top 5 private banks

Top five private sector banks may see their slippages double to 5 percent this fiscal due to the poor loan offtake and the moratorium-driven contraction in net interest margins, warns a report. These five banks—HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank --collectively control a quarter of the system and three-fourths of the private banking space, according to a report by India Ratings. "We forecast FY21 slippages to nearly double to around 5 percent for these banks from 2.3 percent in FY19 and 2.7 percent in FY20, even though net slippages would be lower if refinancing remains a challenge, resulting in a 4 percent contraction in their net interest margin," the report said. Read here

3 Your money

Gold is glittering but don’t get dazzled

That thing that has been glittering in your portfolio in this past one year is gold. Gold price has appreciated to Rs 49, 240 for 10 gram in the spot market, registering a spike of 41 percent in the year ended 9 July 2020. Rising gold prices have been attracting investors’ attention for quite some time now. In uncertain times when other asset classes such as stocks and real estate move south, investors find it difficult to look away from the yellow metal. The question is: should you buy more gold or have gold prices peaked? Read here.

4 Global Watch

Wear mask for faster economic growth

The key to ensuring a faster US economic recovery is wearing masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan said on Friday. "How the virus proceeds and what the incidence is, is going to be directly related to how fast we grow," Kaplan told Fox Business Network in an interview. "While monetary and fiscal policy have a key role to play, the primary economic policy from here is broad mask-wearing and good execution of these health care protocols; if we do that well, we'll grow faster." Goldman Sachs Group Inc economists, too, have argued that a national mask mandate would boost the chances of a faster recovery. Read here.

5 Tech Tattle

$20 billion lost in transactions

Online retailers suffered a loss of nearly $20 billion due to failed online transactions and falsely rejected payments in 2019, a study conducted by Checkout revealed. According to the report, merchants lost nearly $ 13 billion last year as customers got frustrated over falsely rejected payments. These false transactions often get flagged as false declines, resulting in monetary loss to retailers. Online retailers lost an additional $ 7.5 billion of consumer money due to unfulfilled digital transactions, the study said. Lack of payment options is also seen as a barrier for consumers. Read here.

6 Startup Tales

Corona pain for Zomato

Online food delivery major Zomato has reported a 105 percent year-on-year jump in FY20 revenue to $394 million. In Q1 FY21, revenue has been affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing lockdown, with the restaurant aggregator and food delivery start-up reporting only $40 million. While the last year numbers show Zomato has taken a few steps forward towards earning money in the delivery business, COVID-19 has completely turned its financials awry. If Q1 FY21 revenue at $40 million is anything to go by, Zomato could end up seeing its business being set back by a year. Read here.

7 Tailpiece

Mukesh Ambani 8th richest in the world

India's richest man and CMD of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani has overtaken Warren Buffett to become the eighth richest man in the world, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Ambani's wealth is now worth $68.3 billion, surpassing Buffett’s $67.9 billion as of July 9, Bloomberg reported. Ambani is the only Asian tycoon in the exclusive club of the world’s top 10 richest people. Warren Buffett’s wealth dropped this week after he gave away $2.9 billion in charity. Let’s have a look at the 10 richest people in the world on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, click here.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.