Bulls & Bear Hfund of India

Buying cars and two-wheelers will be a much cheaper affair from tomorrow as Goods and Services Tax (GST) will ring in a lower tax than all the taxes applied before. Prices of all small cars in the same bracket as Alto, Swift, Dzire, i20 Elite, to name a few, will see a minimum drop of Rs 6,500 going up to at least 15,000. This is because after July 1, the GST rate will be 29 percent from the current 31.4 percent slapped on such cars. Mid-size cars will be even cheaper as their rates from tomorrow will be down by 3.6 percent. Sedans like Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Ciaz and Volkswagen Vento will see a minimum price cut of Rs 30,000. The biggest beneficiary of the GST roll-out will be luxury cars. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover have announced price cuts in the Rs 1.25 lakh going up to Rs 7 lakh as the rate reduction on them is a whopping 8.8 percent. Sports utility vehicles, the most sought-after personal vehicles, will see the biggest drop in prices. Un...

India's re-monetisation exercise appears to be entering its final lap, with the central bank beginning to print bills of 200 rupees – perhaps for the first time – to help ease consumer transactions.  The notes of Rs 200 denomination are being printed in one of the government-owned facilities after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed an order a few weeks ago for the bills, two people familiar with the matter told ET.  An email sent to the RBI seeking its comments could not elicit any response until the publication of this report.  "For day-to-day transaction purposes, the introduction of 200 rupee notes will add to the ease of operations," said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economist at the SBI Group.  The introduction of the Rs-200 currency notes predates the federal government’s decision to overnight withdraw bills of higher denomination in November as part of a broader exercise to stop counterfeiting and curbing untaxed cash in Asia’s third-biggest economy...

Goods and services tax (GST) comes into effect from 1 July. ET Wealth analyses the impact on some basic expenses in the household consumption basket.  AUTOMOBILES   The price difference will be bigger for SUVs (55% to 43%) compared to small cars (30% to 29%).  Base price : Rs 4.75 lakh  Total taxes now* : Rs 1.43 lakh  Under GST : Rs 1.38 lakh  DURABLES  : Refrigerators and washing machines  For most white goods, there won't be much difference in price as new rates will be close to earlier ones.  Base price : Rs 20,000  Total taxes now* : Rs 5,300  Under GST : Rs 5,600  LIFE INSURANCE   While premium of term plans and non-life policies are taxed, only charges (mortality and AMC charges, etc) in other life policies attract GST.  Base price : Rs 15,000  Total taxes now* : Rs 2,250  Under GST : Rs 2,700  GOLD ORNAMENTS  : Making charges Rs 10,000  The yellow metal will become dearer as there wil...

The Indian rupee appreciated more than 3 percent against US Dollar so far in the year to Rs 65.45/USD which was closer to a 17-month high of 65.36, a level which was last seen on October 30, 2015. The rupee retreated from the lows of Rs 68/USD last seen in the year 2016 to claim the tag of Asia’s third-best performing currency in the first three months of the year 2017. The Indian rupee appreciated more than 3 percent against US Dollar so far in the year to Rs 65.45/USD which was closer to a 17-month high of 65.36, a level which was last seen on October 30, 2015. Korean Won appreciated more than 7 per cent against the dollar followed by Taiwan Dollar and Japanese Yen which appreciated by 5 per cent each. The appreciation of the rupee is likely to continue in near term as the rupee is reasonably well placed on inflation differential, current account deficit, and foreign direct investment (FDI) flow. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) neutral stance on policy rates has signall...

The official stance of RBI's Policy remains ‘neutral’ with no official change in the policy rate. But the undertone is cautiously dovish. Celebration time? Not yet, as the Central bank feels that without repairing the health of the banking sector, any policy rate cut would not have any meaningful transmission effect.  But to soothe nerves frayed by the soft GDP print, an attempt has been made to ease flow of credit to housing – the sector with the highest linkage. Markets may now have to wait longer for the official ‘rate cut’ as falling inflation alone wouldn’t satisfy the central bankers; resolution of stressed assets also has to gather steam. The bank underscored the importance of reviving private investment, restoring banking sector health and removing infrastructural bottlenecks before decisively loosening its purse strings. RBI has nevertheless taken decisive note of falling prices in its policy While resolving to keep headline inflation close to 4 percent on a dura...

Gold trended weaker on Wednesday in Asia as investors braced for a big day on Thursday with the European Central Bank, testimony by fired FBI chief  James Comey  and the  U.K. election . Gold futures  for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 0.24% to $1,294.37 a troy ounce. Overnight, gold rose to seven-week highs on Tuesday, as safe-haven demand soared, ahead of risk events that could rattle markets while the dollar fell to its lowest level since November as investors questioned the strength of the U.S. economy amid weak economic data. Investors piled to into safe havens, such as U.S. treasuries, the yen, and gold, ahead of a flurry of risk events on Thursday that could spark turmoil in markets. On Thursday, investors will contend with Britain’s general election, the European Central Bank’s policy meeting and former FBI chief James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Gold had achieved its ...

Three years ago, I took a risk and voted for BJP for the first time. And today I ask myself, was it a risk worth taking? At the time, I had been worried that India had a narrow window of opportunity called the 'demographic dividend'. If we elected the right candidate, prosperity would enter crores of lives, and in course of time India might become a middle-class country. Our opportunity came from being uniquely young; if those in the productive age got jobs, there would be gains in prosperity fa r outweighing the burden of supporting the old and the very young. This window would close in a dozen or so years as India would also begin to age. As I evaluated the candidates, I concluded that Narendra Modi offered the best chance of harvesting the demographic dividend.   I was aware of the risks -Modi was polarising, sectarian and authoritarian. But I felt the risk in not voting for him was greater. If India failed to create enough jobs, we would sacrifice another generation. I ...