Leading credit ratings agencies on Tuesday highlighted the sustained strengthening of India Inc's credit quality, reflecting resilient domestic growth supported by the government's continued policy support.

Crisil Ratings upgraded 506 companies in the first half of the current fiscal compared to 184 downgrades, which is an upgrade-to-downgrade ratio of 2.75 from 1.79 times in the second half of last fiscal.

The annualised upgrade rate of 14.5 per cent outpaced the average of 11 per cent for the past decade, while the downgrade rate of 5.3 per cent was lower than the 10-year average of 6.5 per cent. Notably, the rating reaffirmation rate continued to be stable at 80 per cent.

“Rating upgrades continued to surpass downgrades, reflecting resilient domestic growth, supported by the government’s continued policy support towards infrastructure build, the revival of rural consumption demand and leaner corporate balance sheets,” said Subodh Rai, Managing Director, CRISIL Ratings.

Leading online brokerage Zerodha said on Tuesday it will not charge users after the revised exchange transaction charges (ETC) and securities transaction tax (STT) came into effect from Tuesday. The company, however, said this is a substantial change that will have a significant impact on the financials of all brokers.

Zerodha’s Co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath said equity delivery will continue to be free at Zerodha. “As of now, we are not making any changes to our brokerage,” he added.

Zerodha earns 10 per cent of its revenue from rebates that would cease to exist with SEBI’s “true-to-label” circular.

For options, STT increases to 0.1 per cent from 0.0625 per cent, and transaction charge decreases to 0.035 per cent from 0.0495 per cent.

The Indian stock exchanges on Tuesday revised their transaction fees for cash and futures and options trading, as other changes related to TDS and government bonds came into effect.

According to the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the transaction fee for the cash market will now be Rs 2.97 per lakh of traded value.

For equity futures, the fee will be Rs 1.73 per lakh of traded value. As per the exchange, the fee for equity options will be Rs 35.03 per lakh of premium value. In the currency derivatives segment, futures will incur a fee of Rs 0.35 per lakh of traded value. Also, options which include interest rate options, will have a fee of Rs 31.10 per lakh of premium value.

In the Union Budget, the government had announced to increase the securities transaction tax (STT) on Futures and Options of securities to 0.02 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively.

Automaker Kia India on Tuesday said it registered sales of 66,553 units In the second quarter this fiscal (July-September period), marking almost 10 per cent growth over the April-June period this year.

For the month of September, the company posted 23,523-unit sales, over 17 per cent growth (year-on-year) compared to 20,022 units sold in the same month last year.

Sonet continued as best-selling model, with 10,335 units sold, followed by the Seltos and Carens, with 6,959 and 6,217 units, respectively, the company said in a statement.

“This success is a testament to the unparalleled customer experience our team consistently delivers. We have also prioritised expanding our touchpoints, ensuring that our best-in-class mobility solutions are accessible to all our customers across the country,” said Hardeep Singh Brar, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Marketing, Kia India.

The Central government has announced that the interest rate on the various small saving schemes like PPF and SSY will remain unchanged for the third quarter (October 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024) of the financial year (FY) 2024-25.

After this decision, the interest rates available on small savings schemes during the period from July to September 2024 will continue.

"The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the third quarter of FY 2024-25, starting from October 1, 2024, and ending on December 31, 2024, shall remain unchanged from those notified for the second quarter (July 1, 2024, to September 30, 2024) of FY 2024-25," a Finance Ministry notification said.

The Finance Ministry reviews small saving schemes' interest rates every quarter. The small savings schemes comprise the Public Provident Fund (PPF), the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS), the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY), the National Savings Certificate (NSC), the Post Office Time Deposit (POTD), the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate (MSSC), and the Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS).

As rising cloud and AI adoption trigger demand for more data centres, the United States currently leads with 5,388 data centres globally, 10 times more than China and most European countries, data showed on Tuesday, as India gears up for a data centre boom.

As per data presented by Stocklytics.com, the US constitutes 70 per cent more than the next 10 largest data centre markets combined.

Germany at second spot has 520 data centres and the UK is third with 512 such facilities. China is the fourth player in the global data centre landscape with 449 listed data centres.

Canada, France, and Australia follow with 336, 315, and 307 data centres, respectively.

As per Cloudscene data, Japan is the last country on the top 10 list, with 219 operational data centres.

Qatar Airways has reached a deal to buy a minority stake in Australia's second-largest airline, Virgin Australia.

Virgin Australia announced on Tuesday that Qatar Airways will acquire a 25 per cent equity stake in the airline from its owner, Bain Capital, pending approval by the government's Foreign Investment Review Board.

Under the proposed deal, Virgin Australia plans to launch flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Doha, reports news agency.

Jayne Hrdlicka, chief executive of Virgin Australia, said that the proposed long-haul services would generate an economic benefit of $2.07 billion to the Australian economy through incremental visitor flows over the next five years.

The representation of women in the Indian workforce has plateaued at 26 per cent, with just 16 per cent of the fairer sex seen in the executive or C-level positions, according to a report on Tuesday.

The report by Great Place To Work, a workplace assessment and recognition organisation, showed that there remains an 11 per cent gap in women's representation from mid-level managers to CEOs in India.

The report also highlighted a pivotal factor for women’s success in the workplace -- a strong sense of belonging. It showed that women who feel a sense of belonging are 6.2 times more likely to experience a great workplace and 3.1 times more likely to have career growth opportunities.

India’s diamond imports saw a 54 per cent decline in August compared to the same month last year, as the country remains a dominant player in the global diamond industry, responsible for producing 95 per cent of the world’s polished diamonds, a report showed on Tuesday.

As per preliminary data from the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), India imported 5.6 million carats of diamonds during this period, underscoring the ongoing global shifts within the diamond market.

India’s imports of lab-grown rough diamonds, which are increasingly significant in the global market, were valued at $119 million in August, down 12 per cent from the previous year.

In terms of value, however, the narrative differs, with the imports for August 2024 estimated at $672 million.

This figure marks a 49 per cent increase in value compared to August 2023, reflecting adjustments in pricing and demand for higher-value stones, as well as global supply chain shifts affecting both natural and synthetic diamonds, according to the data.

Automaker Mahindra & Mahindra on Tuesday said its overall auto sales for September stood at 87,839 vehicles, including exports, which is a 16 per cent growth (year-on-year).

In the utility vehicles segment, Mahindra sold 51,062 vehicles in the domestic market, a growth of 24 per cent. The domestic sales for commercial vehicles stood at 23,706, according to a company statement.

In the month of September, the automaker exported 3,027 vehicles, a 25 per cent YoY growth from 2,419 vehicles last year . For year-to-date, the company exported 14,727 vehicles, a 3 per cent growth for the same period last year.

Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd said they sold 51,062 SUVs in September, a growth of 24 per cent and 87,839 total vehicles, a growth of 16 per cent.

“This month, we launched the all-new VEERO in the LCV<3.5 tonne segment, based on India’s first multi-energy modular CV platform,” he said.