Good Morning! Keeping up with the pressure of SIP week can be hard sometimes, so "here's something to lift up your spirits".

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MARKET DATA

• BSE SENSEX : ₹56,598.28 (-0.89%)

• NIFTY 50 : ₹16,858.60 (-0.87%)

• NIFTY BANK : ₹37,759.85 (-1.56%)

• USD/INR : ₹81.55 (-0.37%)

• BRENTOIL : $87.56 (+3.18%)

• MCXGOLD : ₹49,700.00 (+0.77%)

• FII Net Cashflow : - ₹2772 crores

• DII Net Cashflow : + ₹2544 crores

(Market Data as of 11:00 PM on 28/09/2022)

ECONOMY:

India has large reserves to tide over currency turmoil: Economic affairs secretary

The Story:

A key government official dismissed worries over the loss of foreign exchange reserves by claiming that India has sizable reserves to weather the upheaval in the currency markets.

As inflows decreased and the trade imbalance increased, there was a depletion. India has sizable reserves to get through this circumstance, so I don't think it's a big deal, said economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth on Tuesday.

The majority of the world's currencies are under pressure, he continued, and appropriate action will be taken as soon as possible.

MANUFACTURING

Saab to set up a manufacturing unit in India to build rocket launchers

Key Facts:

• The Swedish defense company plans to set up a manufacturing facility in India by 2024.

• A part of Make in India initiative to bolster indigenous defense manufacturing

• Saab is looking at the 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) route

The Story:

Saab FFV India, will make the latest rocket launchers locally for the Indian armed forces along with components for users of the weapon system around the world, the company said.

The Carl-Gustaf weapon system has been in service with the Indian Army since 1976, and its earlier M2 and M3 variants have been produced under licence in India by now-corporatised Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).

Saab said it will continue its partnership with Munitions India Limited (MIL) and Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWEIL) (two of the seven firms carved out of the erstwhile OFB) to manufacture the earlier M3 variant of the Carl-Gustaf weapon and ammunition.

RETAIL

Relaxo hopes to gain market share over the next 3 - 4 months; it expects its Sparx, rubber Hawaii portfolio to become Rs 1,000 cr brand each soon

Key Facts:

• The retailer is present across 50,000 multi-brand outlets and 394 exclusive brand stores, and key e-commerce platforms.

• Relaxo has a total of 8 manufacturing units situated across Bahadurgarh, Bhiwadi, and Haridwar.

• The company's total revenue was Rs 2,653 crore for FY 2021-22.

• The company reported a 34.2 percent increase in net sales to Rs 667.15 crore in the quarter that ended June 2022.

• The company's net profit and EBITDA stood at Rs 38.67 crore and Rs 90.29 crore, respectively, for the last quarter.

The Story:

As raw material prices stabilize, mass premium footwear retailer Relaxo expects to gain market share over the next 3 to 4 months, said Gaurav Dua, Director of sales and marketing.

Dua shared that the footwear market saw consumer resistance as they shifted towards cheaper products due to inflation, high raw material prices, and an increase in GST to 12 percent for footwear under Rs 1,000. More than 85 percent of Relaxo’s portfolio falls under the Rs 1,000 category.

From January 2021 onwards, the footwear industry started feeling the impact of inflation. He added that raw materials prices increased by 50 to 60 percent. Dua highlighted the price of a particular raw material - Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), supplemented three times in nine months.

He believes that the softening of raw material prices over the last few months and price corrections taken by the brand will help it gain market share, especially for its open footwear portfolio

TECH

Corporations test their cyber mettle

Key Facts:

• Cyber exercises within industries have been held for years, but most have been organized either by the government or by public institutions, such as the Bank of England.

• All players worked from the same tool-set and on MasterCard's “cyber range,” which simulates IT networks for cyber exercises.

The Story:

Corporations in energy, finance and telecommunications got together last week to square off on their cyber-defense skills, a match that participants claimed was the first tri-industry exercise organized entirely by the private sector.

Power companies Southern Co. and Southern California Edison, telecoms operators AT&T Inc. and Lumen Technologies Inc., and Mastercard Inc. and Morgan Stanley participated in the two-day cyber defense exercise, or CDX, hosted by AT&T at its Dallas headquarters.

Rather than a typical “tabletop” exercise, where executives role-play a crisis scenario, the event set teams of cyber specialists at each company against each other in a no-holds-barred clash of cyber skills, said Ron Green, chief security officer at Mastercard.

Each company brought two teams to the CDX: a blue team, specialized in securing digital barricades, and a red team, set loose to hunt for gaps in those defenses and break in.

All players worked from the same toolset and on Mastercard’s “cyber range,” which simulates IT networks for cyber exercises.

The teams were then scored on their performance; Mr. Green declined to say who the top-ranked players were—or the lowest.

The U.S. government has urged companies to do more to enhance their cybersecurity, including tests such as the CDX to improve defenses, following a spate of cyberattacks and data breaches at firms of all sizes in recent years.

Critical infrastructure owners, in particular, are under pressure to improve defenses, after government warnings that Russia’s war in Ukraine, among other geopolitical eruptions, could lead to cyber-attacks on key U.S. companies.

Want More Bits?

Russia reacts to Europe's accusations of Nord Stream Pipe Explosion

The Story

European authorities claimed that deliberate actions were to blame for the damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, but they suppressed further information regarding the results of any conceivable investigations.

Both the interim prime minister of Sweden, Magdalena Andersson, and the prime minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, said they shouldn't rule out sabotage

The Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, rejected the idea that his administration may have planned the incident near Denmark. Giving voice to these kinds of narratives, according to him, is "stupid and absurd," as is quite predictable. It needed to be investigated, according to Mr. Peskov, who also said it wasn't obvious when the broken pipelines would need to be fixed.

The Russian official highlighted that whether or not there was an explosion, it would be prudent to wait for an investigation into these ruptures before casting any accusations. His comments come after Ukraine described the gas leaks as a "terrorist attack" by Moscow.

A presidential adviser named Mykhaylo Podolyak referred to the damage to the pipes as an act of aggression against the EU.

Swedish economist Anders Aslund backed up his accusation as well.