FinTech start-up Slice becomes India’s newest unicorn
FinTech start-up Slice became India’s newest unicorn after raising $220 million in a Series B round led by investors Tiger Global and New York-based global private equity and venture capital Insight Partners.
The company valued at over $1 billion, intends to use the funding to expand and strengthen its presence in the payments space, hire talent and expand its product offerings. Its slice super card, a prepaid visa card with a credit line allows users to enjoy credit card-like benefits.
Rupee sees high volatility
The Indian rupee opened higher against the U.S. dollar but pared gains in late morning deals amid high volatility. The domestic unit opened at 74.84, up 5 paise against the greenback and advanced to 74.82. Later, rupee was trading down by 9 paise at 74.98.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.19%to 96.27.
Paytm shares fall after Q2 results
Shares of One97 Communications Ltd, Paytm's parent company, fell as much as 4.6% after the firm’s net loss for its second quarter widened due to a rise in expenses.
In its first earnings report since going public earlier this month, the company said expenses rose 37.1% to 15.99 billion rupees and consolidated net loss surged to 4.74 billion rupees from 4.37 billion rupees a year ago.
While the stock has recovered some of the losses suffered during the debut, it still remained nearly 21% below its IPO offer price of ₹2,150.
Oil prices rebound
Oil prices rebounded today, after falling on Friday. Brent crude rose 4.3%, to $75.83 a barrel, while U.S. crude surged 5.1%, at $71.62 per barrel.
Oil prices plunged more than 10% on Friday, their biggest one-day drop since April 2020, as the new variant spooked investors across financial markets.
Indian indices drop amid weak global cues
Indian indices opened flat amid weak global cues but dropped in early trade. At 9:20 A.M., the Sensex was down 585.22 points or 1.02% to 56,521.93, while Nifty fell to 16,835.05, down 191.40 points or 1.12%.
On Friday, the 30-share index ended 1,687.94 points or 2.87% lower at 57,107.15. Similarly, the NSE Nifty plunged 509.80 points or 2.91% to 17,026.45.
Stock markets this week will be driven mostly by updates related to the new coronavirus variant that sent equities tumbling globally on Friday, according to analysts.
Asian shares fall in early trade
Major Asian stock indices opened in red and dipped in early trade as investors tried to assess the extent of damage the Omicron variant could cause to economic recoveries.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.1%. In Japan, Nikkei fell 0.02% and Topix dropped 0.39%. South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.42%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.92%.
In U.S., S&P 500 futures added 0.8% and Nasdaq futures 0.9%. Both indices suffered their sharpest fall in months on Friday.
---- Edited by John Xavier
(With inputs from Reuters, PTI and other news agencies.)