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Equities snap 3-day losses, bargain hunting lifts sentiments (Roundup)

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Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) Bargain hunting by investors lifted the key Indian equity indices on Wednesday — a day ahead of futures and options (F&O) expiry, snapping a three-day losing streak.

According to market observers, healthy buying in IT, Teck (technology, media and entertainment) and banking stocks added to the upward trajectory of the benchmark indices.

The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 37.05 points or 0.36 per cent to close at 10,397.45 points.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed at 33,844.86 points — up 141.27 points or 0.42 per cent — from its previous session’s close.

However, the BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,624 declines and 1,112 advances.

“Markets bounced back on Wednesday to end with gains after three sessions of losses. The gains came on the back of bargain hunting by investors post 1.30 p.m.,” Deepak Jasani, Head – Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.

“IT stocks gained after Nasscom (National Association of Software and Services Companies) gave a cautiously optimistic outlook for the Indian IT sector,” Jasani added.

Nasscom on Tuesday said it expects India’s IT exports to grow at 7-9 per cent to $135-$137 billion in 2018-19, projecting exports during the current financial year to be $126 billion — a growth of 7.8 per cent over the previous year.

The apex IT industry body said the domestic revenues, excluding hardware, is expected to grow by 10-12 per cent at $28-29 billion in the next financial year against $26 billion likely in FY2018.

On Wednesday, the Indian rupee strengthened by three paise to close at 64.76 against the US dollar from its previous close at 64.79.

In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 1,214.18 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 1,375.48 crore.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: “After a consecutive down trend, today (Wednesday) the market managed to close on a positive note due to the outperformance of IT index and rebound in PSU banks.”

Sectorwise, the S&P BSE IT index surged by 265.73 points, followed by Teck index by 117.15 points and banking index by 81.33 points.

On the other hand, the S&P BSE metal index slipped by 191.85 points, healthcare index by 168.40 points and consumer durables index by 121.85 points.

Major Sensex gainers on Wednesday were: Tata Consultancy Services, up 3.33 per cent at Rs 3,043.05; ITC, up 2 per cent at Rs 268.05; ONGC, up 1.66 per cent at Rs 190.10; State Bank of India, up 1.28 per cent at Rs 273.10; and Infosys, up 1.23 per cent at Rs 1,148.70.

Major Sensex losers were: Sun Pharma, down 6.19 per cent at Rs 524.75; IndusInd Bank, down 2.01 per cent at Rs 1,595.30; Tata Steel, down 1.57 per cent at Rs 640.55; Bajaj Auto, down 1.36 per cent at Rs 3,008.25; and Tata Motors, down 1.23 per cent at Rs 364.35.

–IANS
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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.

Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.

The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.

Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile

The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.

CasinoDays India

The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.

“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.

Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings

Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.

 

CasinoDays India

Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).

Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.

The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.

Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.

Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities

The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.

On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.

Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.

“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.

The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.

 

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