Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is up by 6.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets rose on Friday after inflation in the US came in lower than expected, raising hopes markets could see a ‘soft landing’ in the inflation fight. July consumer prices gained 3.2% on an annual basis, less than the 3.3% consensus from economists polled by Dow Jones. On a month-to-month basis, inflation increased 0.2%, in-line with estimates. The report also said real average weekly earnings were unchanged last month in another positive sign. In Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was marginally above the flatline, while South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.34% and the Kosdaq gained 0.11%. Japan’s markets are closed for a public holiday. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 19,292, pointing to a stronger open compared to compared to the HSI’s close of 19,248.26.
US stock futures inched up on Thursday night as traders mulled over the July consumer inflation report and looked ahead to wholesale prices data. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 38 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. During Thursday’s main trading session, the major averages notched small gains, but were far off the session’s highs. The Dow added 52.79 points, or 0.15%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.12%. The S&P 500 ticked up just 0.03%.
Stocks News:
👉Hero MotoCorp: The country’s largest two-wheeler maker has recorded standalone profit at Rs 824.72 crore for quarter ended June FY24, rising 32% over a year-ago period despite expenses towards VRS of Rs 160 crore, driven by strong other income and higher operating numbers. Revenue grew by 4.5% to Rs 8,767.3 crore, but sales volume dropped 2.6% to 13.53 lakh units in this period.
👉Life Insurance Corporation of India: The life insurance major has announced huge profit of Rs 9,543.7 crore for the quarter ended June FY24 including Rs 7,491.53 crore pertaining to the accretion on the available solvency margin, transferred from non-par fund to shareholders account. Profit in Q1FY23 was at Rs 682.88 crore wherein the amount of Rs 4,149 crore pertaining to the accretion on the available solvency margin was not included as this amount was transferred from non-par fund to shareholders account on September 30, 2022. Net premium was flat at Rs 98,362.8 crore against Rs 98,351.8 crore during the same period. On an annualised premium equivalent (APE) basis, the total premium was Rs 9,532 crore for the quarter.
👉Apollo Tyres: The tyre maker has registered consolidated profit at Rs 396.9 crore for quarter ended June FY24, rising sharply by 124% over a year-ago period as lower input cost boosted operating performance. Higher other income also supported profitability. Revenue grew by 5% YoY to Rs 6,244.6 crore during the same period.
👉Torrent Power: The Torrent Group company has recorded consolidated profit at Rs 532.3 crore for quarter ended June FY24, rising 6% over a year-ago period, driven by increase in contribution from merchant power sales in gas-based power plants, and licensed distribution businesses, but profit was limited due to lower net gain from trading of LNG, lower contribution from renewable business, and increase in finance cost & depreciation expenses. Revenue increased by 12.55% YoY to Rs 7,327.6 crore in Q1FY24.
👉Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 331.22 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased Rs 703.72 crore worth of stocks on August 10, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
Domestic and International Events
- The Reserve Bank of India held its key lending rate steady on Thursday as expected but moved to reduce the amount of cash in banking system as inflation concerns resurfaced following higher-than-usual seasonal spikes in food prices in recent weeks. The monetary policy committee (MPC), which has three members from the central bank and three external members, kept the repo rate (INREPO=ECI) unchanged at 6.50% in an unanimous decision. It was the third consecutive time that the committee decided to maintain rates. The central bank raised its inflation forecast for the current financial year to 5.4% from 5.1% earlier, citing pressures from food prices. In the July-September quarter, it now sees inflation at 6.2%, significantly higher than the 5.2% earlier forecast.
- The RBI proposed to facilitate offline transactions using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology on UPI-Lite. This feature will not only enable retail digital payments in situations where internet and telecom connectivity is weak or not available, it will also ensure speed, with minimal transaction declines.
- Oil prices fell slightly on Thursday, with Brent crude holding close to January highs, as speculation about another US interest rate hike faded following inflation data and OPEC remained positive on the oil demand outlook. Both benchmarks have been on a sustained rally since June, with WTI trading at its highest this year on Thursday and Brent hitting its highest price since January. Brent crude fell 72 cents to $83.68 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was down 46 cents at $87.09, after falling by $1 earlier in the session.
- Gold prices rose on Thursday after data showed U.S. consumer prices increased moderately in July, cementing expectations the Federal Reserve is at the end of its rate hike cycle. Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,919.49 per ounce after rising as much as 0.8 percent following the release of the US data. US gold futures edged up 0.1 percent to $1,952.10.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 19,248 | 0.0 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,255 | 0.3 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 35,176 | 0.2 % |
| DAX | 15,997 | 0.9 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,619 | 0.4 % |
| Nikkei | 32,474 | 0.8 % |
| Straits Times | 3,323 | 0.3 % |
