SIP registrations rising, so are closures

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Here are the top personal finance news of the day..

The number of systematic investment plan accounts being discontinued rose 7.4 per cent month-on-month to 14.19 lakh in May. At the same time, the number of new SIP registration rose to 24.7 lakh last month from 19.56 lakh in April, implying fresh registration of over 5 lakh. The higher number of SIP registration than discontinuation shows investors’ continued confidence in the route. Investors continued to park their money in mutual funds, with contributions in SIPs reaching a new high of Rs 14,749 crore last month. This robust inflow has led to assets under management of SIP rising by five per cent to Rs 7.53 lakh crore last month from Rs 7.17 lakh crore in April

Bombay HC stays RBI’s ‘fraud’ ruling

The Bombay High Court has stayed the RBI order that permits banks to declare any account as a fraud account without a hearing. When a bank decides to classify the account as fraud, it is obligated to report the fraud to RBI within 21 days and report the case to any investigating agency. The petitions against the order claimed that the banks were neither giving the opportunity to borrowers to be heard nor giving them copies of material relied upon by the bank before taking the action.

New SGB series opens

The new series of Sovereign Gold Bonds has been launched from Monday. If you also want to invest in this series of SGB, you can do so till June 23. That means investors have an opportunity to buy cheaper gold . The price of SGB has been fixed at Rs 5,926 per gramme. If you buy online, then you can get a discount of Rs 50 per gramme, ie Rs 5876. The deposit will also attract an interest of 2.5% per annum. These bonds can be bought from all banks.

FIIs continue to buy equities in CY24

FPIs have been net buyers of India ‘s equity markets so far in current calendar year . They have bought shares worth 45,600 crore rupees till June 16, 2023. They have been net buyers of equities for last three consecutive months running up to June, 2023 . According to experts, FIIs have been net buyers because of country’s strong economic rebound and positive growth outlook. According to experts, FPIs are picking up stocks in financials, auto stocks, capital goods, and construction-related stocks. They have sold mostly in IT, metals, power, and textiles stocks. Geojit Financial Services, VK Vijayakumar, said, benchmark indices are near record levels and valuations are rich, so, profit booking can be expected in the near term.

Coal India stock available at over Re 1 discount

Stocks of country’s largest coal producer, Coal India, will be available at over one rupee discount in the upcoming OFS. the government has launched yet another Offer For Sale of shares of Coal India from Wednesday, June 21, 2023. On Monday, the scrip closed at 227 rupees apiece on the BSE. Government has set the OFS issue price at 226 rupees. The share sale would fetch around Rs 20,000 crore to the government. Earlier, in the year, the government had mopped up more than 4,100 crore rupees from another OFS of Coal India. The upcoming OFS is reserved for employees of the company.

E2W sales plunge 62% after price hike

After electric two wheeler companies jacked up prices, sales have taken a hit in the month of June on expected lines. According to the VAHAN portal of government of India, daily average electric two wheeler sale has dipped 62% in June as compared to that in May. Electric two wheeler companies jacked up prices from June 1, 2023, as the government stopped giving subsidy to customers on purchase of green mobility. This again made electric two wheelers costlier. The government has not met even 50% targets of electric two wheeler sale set under the FAME-II scheme. And it looks, the government fail to meet its target this year as well.

Mukka Proteins refiles IPO papers

Mukka Proteins has refiled its IPO papers with Sebi. The company had dropped IPO plans back in 2022. According to the fresh draft red herring prospectus, the IPO is entirely a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to 200 crore rupees. Mukka Proteins is one of the key players of the fish protein industry. It manufactures fish meal and fish oil which is used in production of soap, and paint industry. In 9 months period in run up to December 2022, the company had clocked revenue of 756 crore rupees and net profit of 25 crore rupees.

SBI’s new locker rent goes up to Rs 12K+ GST

Country’s largest public sector bank, the State Bank of India has revised locker rent charges. The charges vary from branch location to locker size. SBI will levy locker rent charges in the range of 1,500 rupees to 12,000 rupees excluding GST. Apart from locker rent charges, account holders will also have to pay various other charges like locker visit charges, safe custody charges, registration charges, visit charges and numerous other similar charges. The SBI also tweeted and said customers availing locker facilities from the bank are requested to contract their locker holding branch and execute revised locker agreement as applicable. RBI has directed banks to sign fresh locker agreements with each of the customers. The deadline for which is December 31, 2023.

India’s pharma Cos to benefit from US drug shortage

Country’s pharma sector stands to benefit from acute drug shortage in the US. The economic superpower is witnessing worst drug shortage issue in history. US FDA has clamped down on many local pharmacy companies due to irregularities. As US imports drugs from China and India in huge numbers, pharma companies of both these countries have the opportunity to tap US drug market. In such a scenario, those who have invested in pharma stocks could see soaring share prices in coming times.