The Indian budget for 2024 has been likened to a finale episode of a TV series by fans like the Kotak Private Equity team. The budget maintained continuity with no major surprises, but promised exciting new plot developments such as a focus on green energy and technology innovation. Other highlights include a fund for developing cutting-edge technology in sectors like clean energy and defence.

IKEA India CEO Susanne Pulverer announced that the company has exhausted its initial investment of Rs 10,500 crore in India and is planning for the next round. They are currently focusing on expanding in Delhi-NCR and sourcing more products from India for their global operations. They see huge growth potential in India due to its dynamic market and increasing demand for home furnishings.

Indian market saw a bounce back on Friday with Sensex rising over 400 points and Nifty50 closing above 21800 levels. Sectors like oil & gas, energy, metal, and public sector stocks saw buying while telecom and banking stocks saw selling. NHPC, NBCC, and SJVN were in focus as they hit record highs. Analyst Sanket Thakar advises short-term traders to take profit booking in these stocks.

MNRE has launched a pilot project for using Green Hydrogen in the steel industry, with a focus on three areas: Direct Reduced Ironmaking, Blast Furnaces, and reducing carbon emissions. The project aims to eventually replace fossil fuels with eco-friendly Green Hydrogen and is open to greenfield projects targeting 100% green steel production. It has a budget of Rs 455 crore.

Air India has appointed Ravindra Kumar GP as the Chief Human Resources Officer, succeeding Suresh Dutt Tripathi who is retiring. Meanwhile, Tata Motors named Sitaram Kandi as the new CHRO, taking over from Kumar. Kandi will head HR for passenger and electric vehicles and lead employee relations and skill building.

ONGC, IOC and other state-owned oil companies plan to invest 1.2 tn rupees in the upcoming fiscal year for oil and gas exploration, refining, petrochemicals, and pipeline expansion. This is a 5% increase from previous fiscal year, with ONGC having the highest planned capex of 30,800 cr rupees. The government's equity infusion in downstream oil companies has been postponed to the next fiscal year.

Red Sea crisis has not yet affected India's exports and imports, but transportation costs are on rise due to longer routes being taken by shippers. However, there may be potential impacts on trade in the long term, depending on demand from major trade partners like the US and EU. The closure of the Bab al-Mandab strait has disrupted global supply chains, causing delays and increased freight costs.

India's government bond market has surpassed the ₹2 lakh cr mark for a single sovereign security, showing an increase in borrowing limit. RBI data shows that the outstanding amount on a bond maturing in 2063 is now at ₹2.04 lakh cr. This increase highlights the need for measures like buyback and switch operations to manage repayment obligations.

22,624 properties including shops and commercial establishments in Ahmedabad were sealed for not paying property tax. The highest number of sealed properties were in the east zone. A total of Rs 14.35 crore was recovered, with Rs 3.06 crore from the east zone alone. Around 50,000 properties have been sealed in the last month by the civic body.

The Indian stock market reached a new high on the Nifty 50 during the budget week, with the fiscal deficit target for FY25 being lowered and focus on capex rather than populism. Positive global sentiment also helped lift the market. However, a correction in Bank Nifty and caution ahead of SBI earnings and RBI monetary policy next week caused the benchmark indices to close off their record highs.

A recent report reveals that PMS have outperformed mutual funds in a 10-year time frame, with 75 percent of PMS funds delivering superior returns compared to just 48 percent of regular mutual funds. The study also shows that PMS approaches have outperformed across all time frames and market capitalisation categories, except for the thematic category in the 3-year period.

Indian banks have requested for relaxed norms in valuing additional tier-1 bonds due to difficulty in raising funds after stricter valuation rules were introduced following Yes Bank crisis. The current 100-year valuation creates pricing volatility, and banks have suggested using yield-to-call option or market traded price instead. These bonds have no maturity date and can be written off by banks.

RBI has taken action against popular wallet Paytm and its banking arm for money laundering concerns and questionable dealings of hundreds of crores of rupees. The central bank has ordered Paytm Payments Bank to halt most of its business and address deficiencies in KYC and AML compliance. The company's shares have slumped 40% in two days.

The S&P 500 index closed at a record high of 4,958.61 on February 2, with a gain of 1.1 percent. This was only the second time in 62 years that the index jumped more than 1 percent on a day when there were two losers for every winner on the NYSE exchange, the first being after the 'Black Monday' crash in 1987. IT stocks dominated the gains, contributing to around 70 percent of the index.

SBI, the country's largest lender, has made a provision of Rs 240 crore on its investment in AIFs. The central bank has released guidelines preventing banks and other lenders from investing in AIFs that have lent money to borrowers. Other lenders like HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Axis Bank have also made provisions for their investments in AIFs.