The Indian debt market could attract higher interest from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday easing investment norms through the voluntary retention route (VRR), rolled out since March 2019.

The RBI waived off the requirement for FPIs to invest a minimum 25% of the committed portfolio size (CPS) within one month of allotment. It introduced an additional category, VRR combined, which allows investors to invest in both corporate and sovereign bonds.

New Delhi: NIIT Ltd on Saturday said its consolidated net profit rose 18 per cent to Rs 23.2 crore in the March quarter, helped by increased productivity and turnaround in its skills and careers (SNC) business.

The skill development and talent development firm had posted a net profit of Rs 19.7 crore in the year-ago period.

DLF’s net sales bookings stood at `650 crore in Q4 – ahead of expectation for `600 crore. The mManagement guided for conservative 10% growth in pre-sales in FY20 mainly due to subdued NCR market and very low inventory in Crest project which contributed significantly to sales in FY19. Management guided for exit rentals of `37.5-40 bn at DCCDL (`27 bn currently), driven by addition of `4.5 bn of rentals from commencement of Cyberpark and Rs 4.25 bn of rentals from transfer of assets from DLF.

Q4 was broadly an in-line quarter led by modest performance in core cigarette business (8% volume growth/2-year CAGR at 2.5% and 10% Ebit growth), sustained profitability enhancement in FMCG and broad-based robust growth in other businesses. Punitive taxation notwithstanding, we believe, improving volume trajectory and pricing action in core cigarette business remain key catalysts. Inexpensive valuations (our reverse math suggests core cigarette business adjusted for other parts in our SoTP valuation trades at 21x Mar-21e earnings) and undemanding expectations lend additional comfort.

Bajaj auto’s Q4FY19 Ebitda at Rs 11.6 bn was in line with estimates (Nomura: `11.6 bn, Consensus: Rs 11.8 bn). While revenues were 2% higher than our estimate, Ebitda margin at 15.7% was a bit below our estimate of 16%. Management refrained from giving any volume guidance for FY20 given tough market conditions in India. It said 3W demand is likely to remain tepid in the near term due to a slowdown in India and Egypt. 2W exports are doing well in Africa but stagnant in LatAm and declining in the Middle East.

Nepal police on Friday arrested underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's associate Yunus Miya Ansari along with three Pakistani and two Nepalese citizens possessing counterfeit Indian currency amounting to over Rs 7.5 crores, from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.

As per the police, Ansari along with others was arrested at 9:30 AM on Friday from the airport when they came to receive the counterfeit Indian Bank Notes.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Friday ordered a fire safety audit of schools, colleges and coaching centres following a massive blaze which engulfed a four-storey commercial complex in Sarthana here, killing at least 20 teenage students, many of whom jumped and fell to their deaths while some were suffocated.

Equity benchmark Sensex Friday shot up over 623 points to close at a record high of 39,434.72 as investors felt assured of policy stability after a decisive mandate for the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the general elections. The NSE Nifty also surged over 187 points to close at a fresh lifetime high of 11,844.10. During the week, which remained abuzz with news revolving around the Lok Sabha poll results, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose over 1,503 points and the broader Nifty gained 437 points.

The country's largest lender State Bank of India will conduct a customer outreach programme next week to address their queries and seek suggestions to improve services.

The 'Mega Customer Meet', to be held on Tuesday, is expected to engage with 100,000 customers across 500 locations through 17 local head offices across the country. SBI customers of Delhi, NCR and Uttarakhand can attend this programme in 41 locations, the bank said.

A Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)-constituted committee has proposed wide-ranging changes to the foreign portfolio investment (FPI) regime, aimed at boosting capital flows into the country by improving ease to doing business, especially for large and well-regulated global institutions.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.