Asia shares get 2024 to steady start with busy data calendar in focus January 2nd, 2024 08:30
Risk appetite was strong after global shares ended 2023 with their biggest annual rise in four years, driven by the prospect that major central banks globally could begin easing rates this year in a major boost for consumers and businesses shackled by high borrowing costs.

Dhanlaxmi Bank reports growth at 12% yoy; deposits up by 10.6% January 2nd, 2024 07:30
Dhanlaxmi Bank, a private sector bank, reported a 12% year-on-year growth in its advances, with deposit mobilization showing a slightly slower increase of around 11%. As of the end of December, the bank's gross advances reached Rs 10,347 crore. The bank shared the business update after the market hours. Its share price rose 0.75% to Rs 30.95 on BSE.

Nearly 97.38% Rs 2,000 notes returned to banking system; Rs 9,330 cr still with public: RBI January 2nd, 2024 07:30
Public and entities holding such notes were initially asked to either exchange or deposit them in bank accounts by September 30. The deadline was later extended to October 7. Deposit and exchange services at bank branches were discontinued on October 7.

Higher RBI scrutiny on co-op banks reflects sector concerns January 2nd, 2024 07:30
After 2014, a total of 60 cooperative banks -- both urban and rural -- were closed due to failure while three banks were revived including the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank, which was merged with Unity Small Finance Bank. In 2022, a total of 12 cooperative banks shut shop.

RBI simplifies reactivation of dormant accounts; tightens norms to curb frauds January 2nd, 2024 07:30
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed the process for reactivating dormant accounts and increased norms to limit fraud in inoperative accounts. Activation can be done through KYC details or video-customer identification processes. Banks are not allowed to charge fees for inoperative account activation or penalize non-maintenance of minimum balances.

Ashok Vaswani assumes charge as Kotak Bank's MD and CEO January 2nd, 2024 07:30
Vaswani, a seasoned banker with experience at Barclays and Citigroup, is known for his role as a 'digital evangelist' at Barclays, where he pioneered digital banking, contributing to the bank's recovery after the 2008 financial crisis. As a chartered accountant and company secretary, Vaswani played a key role in reshaping Barclays' retail strategy after the global financial crisis. He is also associated with introducing Europe to digital banking through the innovative 'Pingit' mobile payments service.

A home to stay, a car to ride: Indians use savings to buy January 2nd, 2024 07:30
Official data on household net financial savings indicates that it fell to 5.1% of GDP in FY23 from 11.5% in 2020-21, well below its long-run annual average of 7.0-7.5%. The fall was driven by a rapid rise in financial liabilities (household borrowings - from 3.8% of GDP in FY22 to 5.8% in FY23.

Most sectors now overvalued, some stocks hold promise: Kotak Institutional Equities January 2nd, 2024 07:30
"The risk of de-rating is on the lower side for banks, while it seems very high for most other sectors," said Kotak's analysts including Sanjeev Prasad, Anindya Bhowmik and Sunita Baldawa in a note to clients.

Many high flyers on D-Street could log over 30% gains January 2nd, 2024 07:30
According to analyst consensus estimates available on Bloomberg, 15 stocks, tracked by over 10 brokerage houses, could return between 17% and 34% in 2024.

Rate cuts in US, volatile equities to make gold attractive January 2nd, 2024 07:30
While an easing interest rate environment is seen propping up prices of the yellow metal, double-digit returns like those in 2022 and 2023 are unlikely, especially at the current levels, they said, advising investors to stagger purchases.