Hike Messenger app to introduce Voice Calling soon

When Hike acquired Zip Phone, a US-based company which allows users make calls over Wi-Fi, it was apparent that the Indian cross-platform instant messaging service is aiming to introduce the voice-calling feature. The images of the said feature have made their way to the web.

Hike Messenger's voice-calling feature could be soon to the app, within the next few days. The service will be optimized for 2G networks in India as well as trying to ensure minimum bandwidth usage so that data costs don't go through the roof. 

Hike's voice-calling, which will need internet access, shall be more data efficient and thus work well even on networks where internet connectivity is poor. The service will be available globally. 

The voice-calling feature on messaging apps is something people may hear a lot in 2015. Facebook-owned WhatsApp had revealed plans to launch the feature last year but that didn't happen. 

It was reported that one of the reasons for the delay was because WhatsApp was finding ways to implement voice calling services in areas where internet connectivity is poor because 3G services and Wi-Fi access is restricted in many parts of the world and consequently 2G services are still more important. 

There are also rumors with respect to WhatsApp playback and call-recording feature. What is unclear is whether these features on the app will be paid or whether users will have to start paying for WhatsApp once the new features are rolled out. Another report claimed that WhatsApp will integrate 'Call via Skype' feature to its app. 

Hike managed to cross 35 million users since its launch in December 2012 which is quite impressive for a new brand in a highly-competitive market.

Insurance agents, brokers now under same ambit

In the recently promulgated insurance ordinance, the government has brought corporate agents within the definition of ‘’insurance intermediary’’ in line with brokers thereby opening up the debate on whether banks can now act as brokers and seek partnership with multiple insurers.

In the ordinance, approved by the government on December 24 and signed by the President on December 26, the Centre expanded the definition of “intermediary” by bringing corporate agents within its ambit. “Insurance intermediary includes insurance brokers, re-insurance brokers, insurance consultants, corporate agents, third party administrators, surveyors and loss assessors and such other entities as may be notified from time to time by the authority,” said the Insurance Ordinance in its definition of intermediary.

In the earlier definition, corporate agents were not defined as intermediary and the Insurance Act had mandated exclusive distribution arrangement only for agents including corporate agents.

The email and messages sent to the Irda chairman on Monday, asking the impact of the same, went unanswered until late Tuesday.

Former Irda chairman, J Hari Narayan, however, said that an agent is an agent and a broker is a broker, their roles are defined. “Going forward, Irda will have to come out with a regulation with regard to corporate agents and will have to specify their reporting mechanism,” said Hari Narayan.

Within the industry, while some feel that by bringing them under the common head of ‘intermediary’, the government intends banks to also act as brokers and sell products of various insurers in a bid to increase penetration, there are others who feel that they continue to be defined individually as brokers and agents and Irda will have to clarify the same.

A senior official with a private sector insurer said, “By bringing both under the definition of intermediary, the government set the ground for opening up Bancassurance that will allow banks to sell products of multiple insurers. The Irda will now have to come out with a guideline relating to the same. However there are some who do not entirely agree with this and say that they would wait for Irda’s guidelines.”

“We will have to wait for IRDA to define who will act as what. However, the change in ordinance as of now means that while earlier the insurer was answerable for the errors and omissions of corporate agents, now they themselves will be answerable for the same,”said the head of an insurance company who did not wish to be identified.

The CEO of another private sector general insurance company said, “The power now rests with the regulator and Irda will have to come out with a guideline clarifying the scope of brokers, corporate agents and agents.”

In August 2013, Irda had come out with a notification allowing banks to get licensed as insurance brokers making it possible for banks to migrate from a corporate agency structure to broking but despite the enabling regulations, no bank has till date migrated.

Sensex holds 28000 amid pressure; Sun TV, SpiceJet in focus

10:30am Piramal Enterprises in News

Piramal Enterprises (PEL) gained 2 percent today as the Piramal Group company has been considering the acquisition of UK-based company.

"Piramal Enterprises is in final stages of discussion with the University of Kentucky for the potential acquisition of Coldstream Laboratories for a total consideration of USD 30.65 million," said the company in its filing to the exchange.

Of the total amount, USD 5.65 million would be towards the Coldstream facility on the Research Park Campus of the University, while the rest would be towards purchase of the company’s shares, it added.

This potential transaction is subject to corporate approvals and is expected to be completed by the end of this week. However, the transaction is not subject to any regulatory approvals. No related party of PEL has any interest in Coldstream, said the Piramal Group company.

10:00am Market Check

Equity benchmarks entered into consolidation mode after the yesterday's rally priced in all events like surprise rate cut by RBI, fall in trade deficit etc. The frontline indices were marginally in red on profit booking.

The Sensex fell 42.23 points to 28033.32 and the Nifty declined 12.15 points to 8482. However, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks marginally with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.2-0.5 percent.

About 1073 shares have advanced, 786 shares declined, and 276 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

“With sharply lower commodity prices, favourable macro indicators like inflation, CAD & fiscal deficit and now rate cuts, we believe conditions are ripe for economic recovery to take shape,” says Rakesh Arora, Macquarie.

According to him, the government sustaining its policy momentum and delivering on reforms would be key. “Markets will closely watch the upcoming Budget session in late February.  In our view, any market weakness should be seen as an opportunity to buy,” says Arora.

TCS fell nearly 2 percent on reporting lackluster results. Dollar revenue growth was flat and constant currency growth at 2.5 percent was lower than that of Infosys. CLSA lowered FY16/17 earnings per share by 2/3 percent due to deeper cross-currencies and lower than expected revenue acceleration and cut target price to Rs 3100/share.

Bharti Airtel dropped nearly 3 percent. Media report suggested that Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications and Vodafone may collectively bid Rs 74,000 crore as per HSBC report.

Shares of ICICI Bank, SBI, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp and GAIL fell 0.6-1.3 percent while HDFC Bank, HUL, Cipla, Coal India and Sesa Sterlite bucked the trend, up 1.5-2 percent.

Shares of SpiceJet jumped 10 percent as investors queued up for buying shares of the low-cost carrier after Ajay Singh decided to take complete control of the company which has been struggling with financial problems. Sun TV Network gained 9 percent as brokerages believe the SpiceJet deal removed a major overhang on the stock.

Live Market Updates: Bulls on rampage: Nifty hits 8500, Sensex soars 780 pts

3:30 pm Market close: The market ended with some very strong gains. The Sensex was up 728.73 points or 2.7 percent at 28075.55, and the Nifty ended up 216.60 points or 2.6 percent at 8494.15.  About 1693 shares advanced, 1206 shares declined and 322 shares were unchanged.

3:10 pm Acche din aa gaye? Confident that RBI's decision to cut interest rates would give a major fillip to the economy, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian today said it signals a shift in the policy stance and direction going forward. "It will provide a fillip to the economy, both directly and indirectly," he said, adding that directly it will increase spending by private sector - both consumers and firms- and indirectly it should help by improving both balance sheets of private sector and banks. It's a really welcome move and consistent with the strong ongoing disinflationary pressures in the economy."

It is a significant move because it signals a shift in the stance and direction of policy going forward," Subramanian added. The Chief Economic Advisor said that the RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had earlier said he does not want to cut rates and therefore this rate cut is consistent with strong disinflationary pressures. However, any further rate cut will be depend on aggregate demand on economy, he added.

2:50 pm MF exposure to banks:  The mutual fund industry is betting big on banking stocks as its equity exposure to the sector climbed to an all-time high of nearly Rs 73,000 crore in December. This also marks the third consecutive rise in MF industry's exposure to banking stocks. MFs collect funds from various investors for investing in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar assets.

Their investments in banking stocks stood at Rs 72,835 crore as on December 31, 2014, accounting for 21.88 per cent of their total equity assets under management (AUM) of Rs 3.33 lakh crore, according to data available with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The previous high was November this year when investment in the sector surged to Rs 70,575 crore. MFs had been raising their exposure to banking shares since January but their investment level in the sector dropped in September.

2:40 pm Market outlook: Hailing the Reserve Bank’s move to pare repo rate by 25 basis points , Raamdeo Agrawal, joint managing director, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, says the cut was imminent for the Indian market due to global deflation and fall in inflation. In an interview t Agrawal says the rate cut will give a momentum to the economy and he sees more rate cuts in the upcoming days. “But don’t try to time the market,” advises Agrawal who believes that retail investor participation will now increase significantly. “Though we may not get very large foreign instituitional investor (FII) flows, if we get USD 15 billion from FIIs and a similar figure from domestic instituitional investor (DIIs), then we’ll still be very comfortable,” he adds.

2:36 pm Market check: The Nifty has hit 8500, up 230.30 points or 2.8 percent at 8507.85. The Sensex is up 781.86 points or 2.9 percent at 28128.68. About 1718 shares have advanced, 1069 shares declined, and 320 shares are unchanged.

HDFC is up 6 percent while SBI and ICICI Bank are up 5 percent each.

02:15pm More rate cut possible? Brokerage house Morgan Stanley says a big rate cut cycle is underway, and it sees the RBI cutting interest rates by 125 basis points over the next 12 months.

It sees the RBI cutting the repo rate by 25 basis points more at its monetary policy review on February 3.

“We expect the RBI to front load the rate cuts by potentially taking up a 50bps rate cut in one of the monetary policy meetings after February 3,” said the Morgan Stanley note to clients, penned by Chetan Ahya and Upasana Chachra.

“Our rate cut forecasts is predicated on our view that CPI inflation will stay at closer to 5% in most of the calendar year 2015, as the reduction in fiscal deficit, sustained deceleration in rural wages and lower global commodity prices will mean that inflationary pressures in the economy will be contained,” said the note.

02:00pm Market Check

Bulls are in complete control of the street today as the frontline indices rallied 2.5 percent each and the rupee touched two-month high in afternoon trade after the Reserve Bank of India surprised the market with rate cut.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 693.94 points at 28040.76 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rallied 206.05 points to 8483.60 while the broader markets underperformed benchmarks. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices climbed 1.5 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

About 1627 shares have advanced, 1095 shares declined, and 327 shares are unchanged on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The Reserve Bank of India slashed repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.75 percent and left cash reserve ratio unchanged at 4 percent ahead of its February policy meeting.

BSE Realty Index topped the buying list among sectoral indices, up 8 percent followed by Bankex with 3.5 percent upside. HDFC, ICICI Bank, L&T, SBI and M&M rallied 4-6 percent.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee jumped to 61.48 a dollar, the highest level since November 2013. The currency appreciated by 65 paise to 61.52 a dollar.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has rejected Department of Telecommunications' proposal for higher 3G price of Rs 3,899 crore and reiterated its old stance on 3G spectrum price. Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular gained more than a percent while Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices climbed nearly 4 percent.

In the broader space, Atul surged 7 percent as US FDA has approved its Dapsone manufacturing facility in Valsad, Gujarat.

Google Chooses Puerto Rico as a Testing Ground for Its Modular Phone

Google’s much-anticipated modular smartphone will make its way to consumers this year. A pilot project which will use food truck-style vans to get the devices into users’ hands so they can try before they buy is set to debut in Puerto Rico before the end of 2015.

The announcement about the market pilot was made at the Project Ara  developers conference in Mountain View, California. Regina Dugan, the Googler in charge of the ambitious attempt to design and market a fully modular, part-swappable Android phone made the announcement. Claro and Open Mobile, two cell networks on the U.S.-governed island territory, are partners in the pilot. Google also said it would have over 20 modules available for people to use when customizing their phones by the time the pilot launches.

The video shown at the launch announcement is embedded above. It also shows how Ara’s modules will work.

This pilot will give developers, manufacturers and the Ara team a better understanding of the commercial realities and consumer demands surrounding modular phones. It will also provide answers to vital questions before Ara hits larger markets. For example: Which common problems will users encounter? How can customer support teams help? Which modules or types of modules will go over well and which will fall flat? How will consumers use the modules to customize the mobile experience?

Though endeavors like Project Ara are often fraught with such uncertainties, if there’s one absolute truth embedded in the frame of this modular phone, it’s that the commercial success of Project Ara could dramatically alter the relationship users have with their mobile devices. Namely, the way they carry them and customize them, their decisions about when to upgrade, and how they go about replacing broken or unsatisfactory components.

It could be more than just a chance to explore new device designs. It could point to a major transformation in mobile computing where it’s no longer just the software of the device—the apps that run on the phone—that’s open to customization by the user, but the entire functionality and build of the phone itself.

A similar event for Asian developers will be held next week, January 21, in Singapore.