ECONOMY, P2 BACK PAGE, P22 INTERNATIONAL, P7 COMPLIANCE LAPSES EDUCATION SURVEY 2023 PAUSE SET TO LAST LONGER Auditors must display professional scepticism, says NFRA chairperson More than half of rural kids in 14-18 age group can’t do Class 3 math Fed rate-cut wagers for March may lean heavily on history CHANDIGARH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2024 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL XXIII NO. 224, 30 PAGES, `12.00 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 71,500.76 ▼ 1628.01 NIFTY: 21,571.95 ▼ 460.35 NIKKEI 225: 35,477.75 ▼ 141.43 HANG SENG: 15,276.90 ▼ 589.02 `/$: 83.14 ▼ 0.06 `/€: 90.44 < > 0.0 BRENT: $76.78 ▼ $1.51 GOLD: `62,009 ▼ `325 — ASIAN PAINTS ON Wednesday reported a 35% y-o-y rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December to `1,448 crore, reports Viveat Susan Pinto. ■ PAGE 4 GQG HIKES STAKE IN FIVE ADANI GROUP COMPANIES GQG PARTNERS HAS increased its stake in five Adani Group companies during the December quarter, report Rajesh Kurup & Kishor Kadam. ■ PAGE 5 EXPLAINER How AI will affect employment globally ■ PAGE 9 MARKET MOMENTUM CAME to a halt onWednesday,with the Indian benchmarks registering their worst single-day showing since February 24, 2022 Hawkish US Fed commentary, escalatingtensionsinWestAsiaand a spike in bond yields sent the indices into a free fall,said analysts, leading to a carnage in financials. On Tuesday, the US Fed indicated that rate cuts may happen at a slower rate than anticipated. The 30-share Sensex nosedived 1,628 points or2.2% to 71,500.76, while the broader Nifty lost 460.35 points or 2.1%. HDFC Bank tumbled 8.46% to `1,536.90 on the BSE — the biggest fall in more than threeyears — after its Q3 results showed heightened levelsofcredit/depositratiobeyond the RBI’s comfort level. Its market cap nosedived `1.08 trillion on Wednesday. The stock alone accounted for 944 points (58%) of the benchmark’s decline. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank,Axis Bank, and Kotak Bank together accounted for1,294points(80%)ofthecrashin theSensex.Foreigninvestorspressed the exit button selling to the tune of `10,578 crore net ($1.27 billion), a record single-dayselling bythe FPIs. Continued on Page 10 D-STREET TURNS SEA OF RED `10.5K cr HDFC Bank's market capitalisation declines by Jan 16, 2023 `4.6 trillion, reaching `370 trillion TOPSECTORALLOSERS 73,128 (%) -4.02 -3.76 -2.86 -2.31 -1.94 Bank Financial services Metal Commodities Telecom IT TECK Consumer durables NIFTY (%) 0.54 0.22 0.04 SENSEX MAJOR GLOBAL MARKETS* (%) Hong Kong HANG SENG -3.71 South Korea SECTORSTHATBUCKEDTHETREND KOSPI -2.47 India Sensex 71,500 Jan 17 (close) -2.23 China SSE Comp -2.09 UK Jan 16, 2023 22,032 *on January 17 at 5 pm IST. Source: Bloomberg 21,571 Jan 17 (close) INTERIM BUDGET RAILWAYS CAPEX (` trillion) Total Budgetary support 2024-25 Investorwealth erodes by `1.08 trillion Record single-day selling by foreign portfolio investors RUN-UP TO THE FTSE 100 -1.66 3 PRASANTA SAHU New Delhi, January 17 THE INTERIM BUDGET 2024-25 will likely allocate `2.8-3 trillion for the railways to keep its capex momentum intact, compared with `2.4 trillion provided in the 2023-24 (Budget estimate). This would mean that the transporter, which makes little operational surplus, would not have to resort to market borrowings for the third year in a row. Continued on Page 10 2 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 BE Likely Das in Davos: India Apple ups India economy likely to play with 15-floor grow 7% in FY25 office in Bengaluru INDIAN ECONOMY should record a growth rate of 7% in the next fiscal and inflation is likely to ease further,RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said in Davos on Wednesday, reports PTI. The RBI governor said the real GDP growth in India is expected at 7.2% this year. ■ Page 2 IPHONE MAKER Apple has further enhanced its presence in India by opening a 15-floor new office at Minsk Square in Bengaluru, the company said on Wednesday. The new office will house 1,200 people and features dedicated lab space, areas for collaboration and wellness, and Caffe Macs. ■ Page 4 Har roz apne passion par kam karna hai zindagi ki SIP Zindagi ke liye SIP Adhik jaankari ke liye apne MFD/RIA se sampark karein ya scan karein SIP ke fayde Market ki timing se azadi 2.8-3 SIDDHANT MISHRA Mumbai, January 17 FOR 58% OF SENSEX FALL 2.6 2.4 IN POINTS IN TWO YEARS 1.6 ASIAN PAINTS PROFIT RISES 35%, REVENUE MISSES ESTIMATES ● HDFC BANK ACCOUNTS 1.9 THE NATIONAL HIGHWAYS Authority of India has identified 53 highway projects worth `2.1 trillion to be developed through Built Operate Transfer (BoT) model, reports Mukesh Jagota. ■ PAGE 2 ● BIGGEST SINGLE-DAY DECLINE 1.2 NHAI GETS BACK TO BOT, READIES `2.1-TRN PIPELINE CRASH COURSE 1.6 NEWS Railways may get outlay of `3 trn 0.3 IN THE Nivesh raashi chunne ki azadi An Investor Education and Awareness Initiative SIP - Systematic Investment Plan. Visit https://www.hdfcfund.com/information/key-know-how to know more about the process to complete a one-time Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement to invest in Mutual Funds. Investors should only deal with registered Mutual Funds, details of which can be verified on the SEBI website (www.sebi.gov.in/intermediaries.html). For any queries, complaints & grievance redressal, investors may reach out to the AMCs and / or Investor Relations Officers. Additionally, investors may also lodge complaints directly with the AMCs, if they are unsatisfied with the resolutions given by AMCs they may raise complaint through the SCORES portal on https://scores.gov.in. SCORES portal facilitates investors to lodge complaint online with SEBI and subsequently view its status. In case the investor is not satisfied with the resolution of the complaints raised directly with the AMCs or through the SCORES portal, they may file any complaint on the Smart ODR on https://smartodr.in/login. Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully. Chandigarh