Listen In: Is it time to start buying steel stocks once again?

Hi there, Good Morning. Welcome to ETMarkets Morning, the show about money, business and markets. I am Nikhil Agarwal. Let’s start with the headlines first.

– Expect a big surge in Covid cases, next 2 weeks critical, say experts
– Covid 3.0 may dent Q4 growth by up to 30 bps
– Airtel scraps corporate rejig plan

Now lemme give you a quick glance on the state of the markets.

Most Asian markets opened on a weak note on Wednesday as investors prepared for the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December policy meeting and jobs data later in the week that could play a major role in determining the bank’s plans.

Elsewhere, the yield on 10-year Treasuries held at 1.65%. The US dollar index, which tracks the movement of dollar against a basket of six major world currencies, was rangebound in Wednesday’s trade.

That said, here’s what is making news.

The stocks of select express logistics companies are expected to fare better in the near to medium term given the market opportunity, improving profitability and a possible uptick in valuations led by the upcoming IPO of Delhivery. The top five listed logistics companies – TCI Express, Blue Dart Express, Gati, VRL Logistics and Mahindra Logistics – have a combined market capitalisation of ₹35,000 crore, which is lower than the estimated valuation of Delhivery at around ₹40,000 crore.

Production cuts in China, reduction in leverage, increasing profitability and a sharp correction in stock prices in the past three months make Indian steel stocks a good buy, according to analysts who recommend stocks such as Jindal Steel, JSW Steel, SAIL, Tata Steel and NMDC for a decent return in the mid- to long- term.

The Reserve Bank may delay rate hikes beyond its February policy as risks to growth emerge from the recent surge in Omicron infections and the resultant restrictions on activity as growth is priority over inflation. But the RBI may indicate policy normalisation through its other liquidity management tools.

LASTLY,

Fresh trouble could be brewing for the cryptocurrency exchanges as the income tax department is now contemplating investigating them over the tax applicable to their total income. This comes after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department conducted searches in the past week on the crypto exchanges. The direct tax department could look into the quantum of corporate tax payable for the cryptocurrency exchanges, ET reported.

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NOW Before I go, here is a look at some of the stocks buzzing this morning…

Bharti Airtel has scrapped the corporate restructuring plan it had
announced in April saying the existing structure is best suited to tap into potential growth that could be unleashed due to the government’s reform package.

Vodafone Idea (Vi) has made timely payment of principal and interest to holders of its nonconvertible debentures (NCDs), the telecom operator said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

The standoff between distributors and packaged consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever over pricing parity between traditional distributors and organised business-to-business (B2B) platforms has been resolved for now, with distributors withdrawing their protest against HUL.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories on Tuesday said it will launch its Covid-19 antiviral molnupiravir capsules under its brand name Molflu across
India at a price matching its rival Mankind Pharma’s offer.

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Do also check out over two dozen stock recommendations for today’s trade from top analysts on ETMarkets.com.

That’s it for now. Stay with us for all the market news through the day. Happy investing!