More sector should be added to current PLI scheme says expert.

A proposal to extend PLI scheme benefits to different sectors such as toys and leather is at advanced stages of finalisation and there is a likelihood that it may figure in the Budget, expert says.

The 14 sectors are mobile manufacturing, manufacturing of medical devices, automobiles and auto components, pharmaceuticals, drugs, specialty steel, telecom & networking products, electronic products, white goods (ACs and LEDs), food products, textile products, solar PV modules, advanced chemistry cell (ACC) battery, and drones and drone components.

The key objective of the PLI schemes is to make domestic manufacturing globally competitive by boosting existing capacities in manufacturing for sunrise (new businesses) and strategic sectors, creating global champions in manufacturing and curbing cheaper imports, while also reducing import bills, enhancing export capacity and generating employment.

Stock market highlights. Will it crash?

Benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty extended their losses for the second straight session on 27th January amid heavy selling in index heavyweights including Reliance Industries, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports among others. The 30-share index Sensex traded over 1,800 points down at 59,108  against the 60,978.75 mark on January 24, 2023. Likewise, the 50-share NSE Nifty index retreated more than 550 points to 17,566 from 18,118 during the same period.

Selloff in Adani Group companies’ stocks, that was triggered by the Hindenburg Research report, which disclosed that the company was short on Adani Group companies could be factor behind the market crash. Sentiments came under pressure after the United Nations on 25th January cut down India’s growth forecast by 20 basis points to 5.8 per cent for the ongoing calendar year due to higher interest rates and risks of recession in the developed world weighing on investment and exports.

If you wish to learn more about stock market, then explore wiki-360.com

What is options trading?

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An investor’s portfolio consists of various financial instruments like stocks, exchange traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds and bonds. However, the Options are altogether different. Options are used in different ways depending upon investors’ goals and how they plan to use them. Investors often use options to reduce the risk associated with the stock they have in their portfolio. Similarly, others may use options to earn additional income. Most importantly, options provide an opportunity to traders or investors to benefit from the price movement without paying the full price of a security or taking delivery.

In India, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) launched index options on 4 June 2001, and stock options were launched on 4 July 2001. In the year 2020, NSE also surpassed America’s Chicago Mercantile Exchange to become the world’s largest derivatives market exchange by volume.

What are options?

Options are defined as derivatives instruments that enable the buyer (holder or owner) of the instrument to buy or sell the underlying asset. The right to buy or sell is without any obligation. The seller of the option is, however, obligated to buy or sell, should the buyer exercise his or her right. 

Simply put, option trading includes: 

  • A right to buy or sell, but not an obligation
  • Buy or sell at predetermined price
  • Buy or sell on or before predetermined date

Types of options

There are two types of options: Call and Put. A call option gives the buyer the right to “buy” the underlying security but not the obligation to do so at a predetermined price and date. A put option gives the buyer the right to “sell” the underlying security but not the obligation to do so at a predetermined price and date.

How does options trading work?

Before we come to the options trading guide, a beginner must understand the two essential derivativesconcepts — long and short. When a trader goes long on an index or a stock, it means he or she believes that the price of the underlying will increase. On the contrary, if the trader goes short on any index or a stock, it means he or she believes that the price of the underlying will fall.

Adani Enterprises files India's largest FPO.

Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group, said it would raise ₹20,000 crore in follow-on public offering of new shares, which is being touted as the country’s biggest FPO.

The Adani Group’s flagship company has filed papers with capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for the FPO.

An FPO is the issuance of shares to investors by a publicly listed entity. Its name comes from the fact that it follows an initial public offering (IPO). 

Over the past five years, Adani’s fortune has skyrocketed. In the past year, the share prices of his many publicly traded firms have soared by more than fivefold. Four of the six companies have increased investor worth by more than ₹1 lakh-crore. In five years, shares of his flagship company, Adani Enterprises, have increased by almost 2,500 per cent.

Gold hits all time high.

Indian gold futures hit a record high on Friday, tracking gains in overseas market, but the price rise dampened demand in the world’s second biggest consumer of the precious metal, dealers said.

Local gold futures rose to 56,245 rupees ($691.45) per 10 grams, surpassing the previous record of 56,191 rupees hit in August 2020.

Fears of recession and rising interest rates led to a fall in stock prices in the developed world. At the same time, the fall of cryptocurrencies prompted investors to move toward safe haven. That spurred the demand for gold.

Benguluru tops among all Indian cities for startup funding in 2022.

Bengaluru topped the startup funding chart in India with $10.8 billion in 2022, followed by Mumbai at $3.9 billion, and Gurugram at a distant $2.6 billion.

Startups based in Delhi and Chennai registered $1.2 billion each in funding, followed by Pune at $1 billion, according to data provided by Tracxn, a leading global market intelligence platform.

In 2021, Bengaluru-based startups had raised $20.8 billion in funding and Mumbai-based startups had pocketed $5.2 billion in the same year, showing the impact of the deepening funding winter last year.

There were 22 unicorns in 2022, compared to 46 in 2021, and average funding before the unicorn round was around $160 million.

It is now taking an average of 5.1 years from Series A funding to the Unicorn round for the Indian startups.

Top Reasons to hoard bitcoins right now

 As per bitcoin’s history in the past years, it provided a 59% return in the year of 2020, a 60% return in the year of 2021, and then in 2022, there was a decline of 67%. Still, a question occurs in the crypto investors’ minds the bitcoin worth it to hoard or not? Learn more profit edge Application click here

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Some experts still insist on hoarding bitcoin because huge profits await investors in the upcoming years. Let’s dive into it. Does bitcoin still have the ability to give good returns or not? 

Rising Trend of Bitcoin

Major tech and non-tech firms are rapidly increasing the usage of bitcoin in their expenses, such as bonuses to the employee or allowing customers to pay in bitcoins. For example, in recent times, Tesla founder Elon Musk created a sensation in the bitcoin price when he announced, “Tesla would accept the bitcoin as the payment of its electric vehicle.”

On the other hand, all over the world, people are considering using bitcoin as a trading currency like the dollar, euro, or any other trading currency presently. Some e-Commerce portals allow the customer to pay via bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency.   

With time, bitcoin will hold its presence worldwide like the usual trading currency. Sooner we are going to witness the situation when bitcoin and cryptocurrency would trade like the usual currency. After that, holding bitcoin will undoubtedly provide some amazing returns in the upcoming years.

The safest asset

As everyone is aware, no centralized enterprise or authority manages bitcoin. So it is one of the safest assets for people. In the world, no government can seize this asset from any of the holders. If an individual holds the assets, no one can seize or still the asset, and exceptions are always there, such as theft of the key or loss of a hot wallet. And one of the best things no one will know is how much an individual possesses. For a bitcoin trade, an investor can use CRYPTOSoft, one of the best of its own. 

Instead of holding the assets in a bank or vault. In any situation, if something happens, then the assets are seized by the holder’s authority or the government. Bitcoin allows the investor to be the authorized person to use the currency whenever required without nobody’s intervention. 

Furthermore, there is a major advantage of keeping some bitcoin in reserve. Why wouldn’t it hold the currency that anyone in any circumstances can seize?

Is it the best time to Buy?

The current rate of the bitcoin is $16987.80 per bitcoin, according to the 6th of December 2022, and in June 2022, it was $31,148.30 per bitcoin. Why not buy bitcoin? Compared to June 2022 and December 2022, an individual gets one bitcoin at almost half price. 

And if an individual considers himself one of those investors who would buy the bitcoin at the bottom price, then this is something like I would drive my car when every signal is green. This is an amazing time to buy bitcoin. 

As it is obvious, no one can control the bitcoin rates. However, an individual can prevent the loss. Hence, before buying bitcoin at this time, keep the below-mentioned things in mind: 

  • Only invest the amount which cannot affect life in the situation of loss. 
  • What’s the storage device? Such as a “hot wallet” or “cold wallet”? 

Accessible to move

Let’s look at it this way, suppose an individual is hoarding gold and silver. It would take effort and time. Or maybe it can be theft in the middle of the moving process. But this doesn’t hold true with Bitcoin.

Bitcoin transactions between accounts may be completed in a matter of seconds. A sender needs the receiver’s wallet address, internet connection, smartphone, laptop, or desktop. With one click, the bitcoin would be in another account. 

Conclusion

Hoarding bitcoin at this time is going to provide some huge financial benefits. Due to this, it has declined a lot since June. As per the cryptocurrency expert, it is going to be upward soon. Before bitcoin starts to trend upward, invest something into it. Even many governments from all over the world also hoard bitcoin in their treasures to deal with inflation.

Indian rupees was worst performing asian currencies in 2022.

The Indian rupee ended 2022 as the worst-performing Asian currency with a fall of 10.14%, its biggest annual decline since 2013, as the dollar rocketed on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy stance to tame inflation.

The rupee finished the year at 82.72 to the U.S. currency, down from 74.33 at the end of 2021, while the dollar index was headed for its biggest yearly gain since 2015.

A rise in oil prices brought on by the crisis between Russia and Ukraine also hurt the rupee and resulted in India’s current account deficit reaching an absolute record high in the third quarter of that year.

Market participants anticipate that the rupee will trade with an appreciation bias in 2023.finding comfort in declining commodity prices and holding out hope that foreign investors will continue to purchase Indian stocks.

Heading into 2023, market participants believe the rupee would trade with an appreciation bias, finding relief from easing commodity prices and hopeful of foreign investors continuing to buy Indian equities.

RBI emerges as the top buyer of gold among its global counterparts.

With 132.34 metric tonnes (MT) of gold purchase, RBI emerged as the largest buyer of the yellow metal among central banks between April 2020 and September 2022. Also, RBI was the top gold buyer among its peers in 2020 while it stood third in 2021. In 2020, it bought 41.68 MT of gold while in 2021 and 2022 (till September end) it bought 77.5 MT and 31.25 MT respectively.

In 2021 the huge gold buying by RBI occurred in the backdrop of falling yellow metal price in the global bullion market but War in Europe proved beneficial for gold as the price crossed $2,000 per ounce in the first week of March 2022. But, the yellow metal lost its gains in the middle of March as consistent rate hikes by the Federal Reserve strengthened Dollar Index and bonds emerged as attractive investment options for Institutions and retail investors.

 Every major central bank keeps a portion of its reserves in gold as it plays a fine hedging instrument in the time of uncertainty and economic turmoil. During the balance of payment crisis in 1990-91, Indian government pledged 67 MT of gold to the Bank of England and Union Bank of Switzerland. During uncertain economic conditions, gold price takes upward trajectory and it was evident in 2020 when Covid induced economic turmoil made gold price touch an all time high of $2,067 per ounce. Since then GDP across the globe has picked up. Demand for yellow metal reduced with economic stability and prices declined consistently in 2021.

What is 'Vostro' account, initiated by RBI to facilitate smoother trade.

Vostro accounts are accounts a bank holds on behalf of another, often foreign bank, and this forms a key part of correspondent banking.’

In July 2022, the Reserve Bank of India introduced a new mechanism for international trade settlements in rupees, aiming to promote exports and facilitate imports.

Rupee Vostro Accounts keep a foreign entity’s holdings in the Indian bank, in Indian rupees. When an Indian importer wants to make a payment to a foreign trader in rupees, the amount will be credited to this Vostro account, and when an Indian exporter needs to be paid for supplying goods or services, this Vostro account will be deducted, and the amount will be credited to the exporter’s account.

“The banks are acting in a fiduciary relationship and they share a principal-agent relationship. The correspondent foreign bank is a financial intermediary in the transactions that they are involved in. The foreign bank acts as an agent that provides services such as executing wire transfers, performing foreign exchange, enabling deposits, enabling withdrawals, expediting international trade on behalf of the domestic bank. It is most used in settlement of foreign exchanges or foreign trade. No interest will be paid on the vostro account maintained, as per the directives that have been issued by the RBI in India. An overdraft facility can only be availed if it is specifically sanctioned,” explained tax experts at Clear.

“In order to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of global trading community in INR, it has been decided to put in place an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports / imports in INR,” the RBI had said in a statement.

India doubled its steel production capacity in the past 8 years, to become world 2nd largest steel producing country.

India’s steel production has reached a historic level of 120 million tonnes per year making it the world’s second-largest producer of Steel, the government informed the Rajya Sabha.

Steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said India intends to double its steel production to 300 million tonnes per annum by 2030.

“There has been a doubling in the last eight years of steel production in the country, which has been historic and which is why we have become the second largest steel producer in the world today,” he informed the Rajya Sabha during question hour.

The minister informed that steel production in the country has increased at a historic level. In 2013-14, we had only close to about 60 million tonnes per annum production of steel, we are today at 120 million tonnes,” he said.

After Russia, Sri Lanka to use Indian rupee(INR) for internation trade.

India’s rupee trade settlement mechanism, which was set up by the Reserve Bank of India in July 2022, is attracting interest from more countries apart from Russia.

The mechanism is a means of using rupees instead of dollars and other big currencies for international transactions in order to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of global trading community in the rupee.

Dollar-strapped Sri Lanka and sanctions-hit Russia will be the first countries to use the Indian rupee trade settlement mechanism.

Sri Lanka has agreed to use Indian rupee (INR) for international trade. It comes days after the Government of India said it is looking at ways to bring countries that are particularly short of dollars into the ambit of Indian rupee trade settlement mechanism. Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said it is waiting for RBI’s (Reserve Bank of India) approval to designate Indian rupee as foreign currency of Sri Lanka.

Tajikistan, Cuba, Luxembourg and Sudan have begun talking to India about using the mechanism, reported Reuters, quoting two sources and an official document. It has already been used by Russia following the imposition of sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war.

Factors influencing the rise of Bitcoin’s market price

 Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that was created in 2009 gained its reputation in the year 2020 as it marked an alleged rise in value before the start of the pandemic. Bitcoin was at its lowest limit during the Covid period raking in $4,000 in value and reaching a stupendous amount of $30,000 at the end of the fiscal year. Within a few days, the value reached a peak of $40,000 and in 2021 it skyrocketed to over $65,000 for Bitcoin investors to sell them as assets and earned even billions and millions. Thus, it is essential to check the different factors involved before buying a cryptocurrency for trading purposes. Learn More

Over 18,000 different cryptocurrencies are in the existence among them Bitcoin stands tall. With the increase in the value of Bitcoins, other cryptocurrencies are also increasing in value over the longer term. However, there are several reasons why bitcoin shows such volatility and those reasons have marked the growth in the rates of Bitcoin cryptocurrency. A few of the essential factors are demonstrated below.

Factors influencing the rise of rates and values of Bitcoin cryptocurrency:

According to News reports, Bitcoin has staggered its way up from $0 in 2016 and now in 2022, it is around $20,600 as of November. Many factors are responsible for the increase in the values and rates of Bitcoin cryptocurrency. 

  1. Increase in Bitcoin investors:

The major reason for an increase in Bitcoin value and rates is because of the high increase in Bitcoin investors. Many organizations and service providers have staked in hefty amounts for buying Bitcoins for trading purposes. According to news sources-

  • companies like J.P. Morgan have invested quite heavily in cryptocurrencies. 
  • Companies like PayPal have introduced services for purchasing, selling, and trading purposes using Bitcoins. 
  • Visa has also been favorable to Bitcoins by introducing debit and credit cards for the trading platform Coinbase.
  • Many other mammoth organizations are accepting bitcoins as a payment method and also utilizing services for trading purposes. 

With the increase in investors, the Bitcoin applications such as bitcoin-prime.nl have become quite easy to login into accounts and trade over different cryptocurrencies. Digital wallets and private keys need to be kept safe from any unwanted intrusion into the Bitcoin account.

  • Inflation due to the Covid-19 pandemic:

Another increase in the value of Bitcoins is due to Covid 19 pandemic issues. This has evolved into banks printing more money and the government imposing extensive packages by driving up inflation. In the last financial year, the government of the United States deducted a 2% rise in the initial economic showdown. 

Therefore, keeping Bitcoins seems to be wiser for people. Possessing Bitcoins shortly can help investors in getting increased rates over the same. According to News agencies, the utilization of Bitcoin would go up in several folds and individuals would stick to Bitcoins for transactional purposes. Bitcoin is kept at a margin of 21 million units whereas around 18 million units of Bitcoins are been utilized to date by individuals.

  • Safe and secure cryptocurrency with strong policies:

Another important aspect of the rising values and rates of Bitcoins is that they are safe and secured cryptocurrencies utilized by many financial companies worldwide. The policy is also updated over stringent approvals where individuals have fewer chances of losing assets.

  • Some companies like Tesla and Expedia utilize Bitcoins for buying cars and booking hotels and flights. 
  • Companies like PayPal, Microsoft, and Shopify utilize Bitcoins for shopping purposes and individuals can purchase software, add-ons, mods, and even products to buy from such portals. 
  • Easily available cryptos for trading:

Another important aspect of the growing utilization of Bitcoins is that it is available to the general public easily. Bitcoins are quite volatile and prices may increase or decrease depending on the utilization of the cryptocurrency for trading purposes. Bitcoins have a really good store value and individuals can convert their cash to the bitcoin value and store it for prospects. Some even tend to buy assets utilizing bitcoins and store them for reselling purposes soon.

Bottom-line:

Thus, the above-mentioned points prove that saving Bitcoins can help with numerous advantages over the period. It is also essential to check with the different trading platforms for utilizing it in buying Bitcoins. Some trading platforms provide utilization of a decentralized process for storing bitcoins using a secure blockchain methodology. It is also advisable to check the different policies involved before buying Bitcoins for personal purposes.

Top companies with the maximum Bitcoin holdings this year

 Investing in Bitcoin has become quite well-known in many parts of the world right now. Every investor dreams of investing at least a small portion of their savings in this popular cryptocurrency individually. However, you will come across many companies that have invested significantly in Bitcoin these days. Bitcoin is largely being welcomed by them globally. Here, we will take a look at the companies with the maximum Bitcoin holdings this year. For more detail about Bitcoin the create an account and open account.

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  1. MicroStrategy:

According to many individuals, this particular company happens to be the leading public company that has invested in Bitcoin. This company was one of the first ones to enter the Bitcoin market and it has already made a significant profit from its investment in Bitcoin. Michael Saylor, the CEO, supports the usage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies since he’s of the notion that Bitcoin is vital for diversification. 

MicroStrategy has the distinction of holding as many as 114,041 bitcoin which happens to be the biggest holding of any public company at present. They have also invested a total amount of $3.1 billion whose worth is now $5.4 billion. It represents approximately 0.54% of the entire supply of Bitcoin.

  • Coinbase:

Coinbase happens to be the first crypto company that has gone public and other crypto companies have also followed it when it comes to going public. The public listing of this company had been a significant highlight of the crypto market last year. Right now, this particular exchange holds approximately 4,500 Bitcoin only which is smaller compared to most of the other companies mentioned on this list. However, it is nonetheless quite significant. Although the price of this purchase is not certain, the present value happens to be $214 million.

  • Voyager Digital LTD:

Voyager Digital LTD, a well-known crypto brokerage, holds approximately 12,260 Bitcoin whose worth is approximately $267 million at present prices. This company intends to offer a one-stop outlet for trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Quarterly revenue of approximately $60 million was reported in the month of May last year. 

This company turned out to be amongst the most notable casualties of the crypto crash that took place in the year 2022. Nevertheless, it revealed an exposure of approximately $660 million in Bitcoin because of the existing market conditions to Three Arrows Capital, a struggling crypto investment company. Subsequently, Voyager Digital ended up filing for bankruptcy.

  • Square:

We are all aware of this payments company known as Square that has made significant investments in Bitcoin. Having about 8,000 Bitcoin in its coffers, this company holds Bitcoin whose worth is approximately $382 million right now. Incidentally, it was purchased by Square at only $220 million.

According to some experts, this company is perhaps the largest supporter of Bitcoin since it wants to make this cryptocurrency an integral part of its business. The Cash app of Square happens to be a convenient way to purchase Bitcoin right now.

5. Tesla

Although the aforementioned Microstrategy is considered to be the premier public company investing in Bitcoin, Tesla is perhaps the most well-known. Tesla came into the limelight when it announced that it will purchase Bitcoin in the long run. This particular decision made by this company took the world by surprise and a lot of attention was given to cryptocurrency.

This company has Bitcoin holdings of approximately 44,000 which happen to be $1.5 billion in purchase costs. This has turned out to be the second most lucrative Bitcoin investment done by a public company. 10% of its cryptocurrency holdings were sold by Tesla in 2021.

Galaxy Digital Holdings

This one is a merchant bank that emphasizes the usage of cryptocurrency and happens to be the biggest institutional Bitcoin holder that is involved with the cryptocurrency industry directly. Right now, Galaxy Digital can boast of holding 16,400 Bitcoin which is worth more than $357 million at present prices.

Galaxy Digital has partnered with Block.one and other crypto firms and it was established by Michael Novogratz in the year 2018. It is not surprising that Novogratz happens to be a patron of Bitcoin as well.

Conclusion:

It appears that companies can make use of cryptocurrency for diversifying their portfolio. However, one cannot deny that the number of companies investing in Bitcoin and other digital currencies is quite impressive in the long run. It can be rightly expected that more companies will be investing in this cryptocurrency in the upcoming days. For this context, you can also buy the currency and trade Bitcoin in a convenient manner using BitQT, an app that has become quite famous across the globe at present.

UPI payments remains favourite mode for Indians.

UPI has once again emerged as the most favoured mode of payment in India. The UPI transactions volume and value has almost doubled since last year and recorded about an 88 per cent increase in volume and over 71 per cent increase in value in the third quarter of the current fiscal as compared to the same quarter last year, according to Worldline India’s ‘Digital Payments Report’ for the third quarter.

UPI clocked over 19.65 billion transactions in volume and Rs 32.5 lakh crore in terms of value in the third quarter this year. The top three UPI apps in terms of volume and value were PhonePe, GooglePay and Paytm Payments Bank App.

UPI, Debit and Credit cards, Prepaid Payment Instruments like Mobile Wallets, and Prepaid Cards executed a total of 23.06 billion transactions amounting Rs 38.32 trillion. 

India's first gold ATM launched in Hyderabad.

India’s first Gold ATM began its operations in Hyderabad and now users can purchase pure gold coins from the ATM using their debit and credit cards. According to the sources, the first Gold ATM was inaugurated at Raghupathi Chambers in Begumpet, Hyderabad. Telangana women commission chairperson Sunitha Lakshmareddy inaugurated the gold ATM centre.

Users can purchase gold coins from 0.5 grams to 100 grams and the customers will also get a certificate stating their purity and weight. Gold ATMs will be available for 24 hours. It is said that the officials will set the Gold ATMs at Guljar House, Secunderabad and Abids in Hyderabad and Peddapalli, Karimnagar and Warangal.