Top 10 biz headlines: Stock market bloodbath, FMCG slowdown and more

From indices hitting 6-month low to IMF poser on India's tax revenue estimate, here are the top business headlines for Friday

IMF raises doubts about India's tax revenue estimates, GDP growth target

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has posed questions for policymakers in India over steep tax revenue collection estimates for 2019-20 and the bottlenecks in the goods and services tax (GST) regime.

Working on the country’s annual economic surveillance or assessment report, the Washington-based multilateral institution has asked India to explain how it is confident of meeting its revenue estimates for the year. Read more

Indices hit 6-month low as stimulus hope fades

The equity markets fell sharply on Thursday, with the broader market indices closing at three-year lows, as investors dumped shares after comments by top government officials dashed hopes of a big-bang stimulus to revive growth.

The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices dropped 1.6 per cent, while the index of smallcap companies plunged about 3 per cent. Read more 

Amazon buys 49% stake in Kishore Biyani's Future Coupons

After almost a year of negotiations, global e-commerce and technology giant Amazon.com is acquiring a 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons, the promoter entity of Future Retail. According to sources in the know, the size of the deal is between Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 2,000 crore.

Through this transaction, Amazon has managed to acquire around a 3.6 per cent stake in the Future group. Read more

Biscuits to soaps, slowdown pain for FMCG companies comes in small packs

Some of India Inc’s biggest names point to a deeper malaise in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, led by a sustained slowdown in consumption. In the absence of triggers to boost confidence, they say, consumers are dramatically cutting back on spends, hitting sales of entry-level packs.

According to the Nielsen data sourced from the industry, the volume growth of categories where the contribution of small packs (Rs 5 and Rs 10 each) is high, such as foods, soaps and toothpastes, has declined year to date compared with the same period last year. Read more

Falling share prices likely to hit Centre's disinvestment target

The Centre’s disinvestment target of raising Rs 1.05 trillion for 2019-20 may take a hit as the stocks of several public sector undertakings (PSUs) hit all-time lows on Thursday. Some of these are trading at multi-decade lows. The BSE PSU index is down 22 per cent in the trailing 52 weeks and 16 per cent since January. Read more

Unprecedented financial sector crisis in 70 years, says NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar

Government think tank NITI Aayog on Thursday described the current stress in the financial sector as “unprecedented in the last 70 years”, saying nobody is trusting anyone else in the sector. It made a case for extraordinary steps to deal with the crisis that has resulted in an economic slowdown.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar also said there was no business of the government to hold back payments to companies. Read more

Domestic air passenger traffic growth hits a five-year low: DGCA report

Domestic air passenger traffic in July, however, increased by 3.01 per cent against July 2018, according to the data released by DGCA on Thursday. 

In January-July it grew 3.15% y-o-y. Air traffic grew in single digits for first time in four years in January.

Fuel supply to Air India stopped at six airports due to non-payment

Oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Thursday afternoon stopped the supply of fuel to Air India at six airports due to non-payment of dues, said a senior airline official.

However, he said the flight operations of the airline are currently normal and unaffected. Read more https://mybs.in/2X8QTDh

DHFL lenders set to declare 65% of its debt as unsustainable: Report

Lenders of DHFL are set to declare 65 per cent of loans outstanding to the lender as unsustainable, according to a Livemint report.

Sources told the business daily that of the total Rs 24,700 crore of unsustainable debt, Rs 760 crore will be converted into equity, while Rs 8,740 crore will be recast into unsecured debt.

Can NHAI be just an asset management company? PMO asks highway ministry

The Union government is considering transforming National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) into an asset management company, according to a Times of India report.

The prime minister's office has asked the road transport and highways ministry for suggestions on the plan.