242: Top News Podcast: M&M likely to hike tractor prices again, Jefferies on Nifty ‘worst-case’, Zerodha’s warning on ESOP and more

Mahindra and Mahindra’s (M&M) president of the farm equipment sector Hemant Sikka told CNBC-TV18 on Tuesday that the automaker may increase the prices of tractors again in 2-3 months after it took a 2-2.5 percent price hike in April.

In this edition of the Top News Podcast, CNBCTV18.com’s Kanishka Sarkar shares the latest on the auto sector, FMCG companies, stock markets, Cyclone Asani, the Sri Lanka crisis, and more.

In the market, Sensex and Nifty failed to hold on to the green in volatile trade and extended losses to the third session in a row. Oil & gas, metal and IT shares pulled the indices lower while select financial and FMCG shares lent some support.

On the FMCG front, Malaysia, the world's second-largest palm oil producer, is considering cutting palm oil export tax to 4-6 percent from 8 percent, according to a Reuters report.

The development has been taken positively by companies like Hindustan Unilever and Godrej Consumers, who use palm oil to make a variety of products from lipstick to noodles. Malaysia opening its export door slightly more will mean relief for the supply-hit fast-moving consumer goods companies.

On the global front, protesters swarmed the entrance to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo for the 32nd day to demand that he follow in his brother’s footsteps and quit.

Sri Lankan Parliament Speaker, on the other hand, has requested embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to reconvene the House this week to discuss the current situation amid unprecedented violence and widespread protest against the government over the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

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