Stocks that have been making some significant gains over the last few trading sessions are witnessing some profit-booking today.

Join us as we follow the top business news through the day.

Siemens Gamesa to make ‘next-gen’ wind turbines

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy will start manufacturing the ‘next generation’ wind turbine SG 3.4-145 at its Mamandur facility, near Chennai, from the third quarter of calendar year 2020, said a top official.

“It is a Made-in-India product for the Indian market. We will start exporting them, if there are orders. The turbine was showcased to Indian customers on Thursday. We will start manufacturing them by the third quarter of CY2020 and supplies would begin a year later,” Navin Dewaji, India CEO, Siemens Gamesa told The Hindu. Enrique Pedrosa, onshore chief regions officer, Siemens Gamesa, said: “the prototype was commissioned recently at the Alaiz wind farm of Spain. The turbine is designed to adapt to India’s extreme and varying weather conditions, supported by an advanced monitoring and cooling system.

“This will ensure efficient thermal conditioning and performance at high-temperature sites,” he added.

Financial sector will need to be recapitalised, says Kotak

One of the Indian bank chiefs hit by the coronavirus crisis weighs in on recapitalisation issues facing banks.

PTI reports: "The financial sector needs recapitalisation as it will witness erosion of capital due to increase in bad loans caused by the COVID-19 crisis, Kotak Mahindra Bank MD Uday Kotak said.

He further said there will be costs that cannot be borne by businesses or the government, and these will be borne by the financial sector.

“The banking sector’s loan book is about Rs 100 lakh crore and the total capital of all banks in India is about Rs 11 to 12 lakh crore. So, if 4-5 per cent of loans turn bad due to COVID, the capital position of the banking sector will get impacted by about 40 per cent,” Kotak said in the company’s latest Annual Report.

“There will be some mark-to-market gains as bond yields have dropped. Still, the financial sector will need to be recapitalised,” he added.

The bank raised Rs 7,400 crore through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) in May.

“This additional capital will support the bank in dealing with contingencies or financing business opportunities (organic and / or inorganic),” he said.

Kotak also said the government has announced a set of reform oriented and supply side packages and the Reserve Bank has been proactive with its actions.

Considering the stimulus measures announced so far, he said India’s consolidated Centre plus state fiscal deficit could reach 11-12 per cent of GDP.

“One question that foxes everyone is why the capital markets are buoyant globally even as we see a slowdown across geographies. First, there has been a significant monetary expansion by central banks worldwide,” he said.

Besides, investors and analysts have already discounted earnings downside for FY 2021 and are looking at earnings of FY 2022 and FY 2023."

Sensex down over 173 points in early trade; financial stocks drag

Stocks have opened the day with minor losses after experiencing gains for most of the last one week.

PTI reports: "Equity benchmark Sensex dropped over 173 points in early trade on Friday, dragged by losses in financial stocks amid negative cues from global markets.

After touching a low of 36,526.22 at open, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 173.77 points, or 0.47 per cent, lower at 36,563.92. The NSE Nifty was down 39.05 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 10,774.40.

IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, HDFC, Titan, Axis Bank, M&M, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Reliance Industries, HUL, Bajaj Auto and Infosys were among the gainers.

In the previous session, the BSE barometer ended 408.68 points, or 1.12 per cent, higher at 36,737.69, and the Nifty jumped 107.70 points, or 1.01 per cent, to finish at 10,813.45.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Thursday, purchasing equities worth Rs 212.77 crore, provisional exchange data showed.

According to traders, domestic benchmarks followed negative trend in global equities as concerns over fresh spike in the number of COVID-19 cases and its impact on economic recovery weighed on investor sentiment."

Tata Steel sales slump 22.8% as pandemic hits demand, output

Tata Steel Ltd. (TSL) on Thursday said its consolidated sales fell 22.8% to 5.28 million tonnes (MT) during the April-June quarter, from consolidated sales of 6.84 MT in the year-earlier period, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted operations.

Consolidated production during the quarter also fell 28.5% to 5.52 MT from 7.72 MT in the first quarter of 2019-20, TSL said in a regulatory filing. In the just concluded quarter, TSL’s India sales were at 2.92 MT, down from 3.96 MT in the year-earlier period, while the production volume fell to 2.99 MT from 4.5 MT.

Sales in Europe fell to 1.94 MT, from 2.26 MT a year earlier, while output fell to 2.14 MT from 2.65 MT.

TSL said overall in the first quarter of 2020-21, production and sales volumes were lower as the outbreak of COVID-19 and ensuing mobility restrictions impacted industrial activity and consumer sentiment across all geographies. “In India, capacity utilisation of our upstream facilities was adjusted to about 50% level in April, while our downstream units were closed,” TSL added.