Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 29.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets largely fell on Monday as investors look toward key data from Japan and China this week. Japan’s gross domestic product for the second quarter will be out on Tuesday, as well as its inflation print for Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% to start the week, but the Topix was up 0.12%. South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.3%, and the Kosdaq saw a larger loss of 0.85%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.37% lower. China will release industrial production and retail sales for July, as well as house prices on Tuesday. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,857, pointing to a weaker open compared to compared to the HSI’s close of 19.075.19. This would be the first time in almost a month that the HSI went lower than the 19,000 mark.
Stock futures gained slightly on Sunday evening as Wall Street looked to shake off a rough start to August. Futures tied to the S&P 500 ticked up 0.2%. Those for the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.3%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 0.1%. The moves come after stocks have struggled to sustain their rally in the late summer. Last week, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 0.31% and 1.90%. It was the Nasdaq Composite’s first two-week losing streak of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, gained 0.62% for its fourth positive week in five. The earnings reports are coming after a mixed batch of inflation reports last week, which show that price increased have eased from their post-pandemic peak but are still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
Stocks News:
👉Oil and Natural Gas Corporation: The state-owned oil and gas exploration company has reported a standalone profit of Rs 10,015 crore for the June FY24 quarter, falling 34.1% over the last year. Gross revenue for the quarter at Rs 33,814 crore declined 20.1% from the last fiscal, with the crude oil price (nominated) net realisation at $76.49 a barrel, down 29.5% compared to $108.55 a barrel and crude oil price (joint venture) net realisation declining 35.5% to $70.64 a barrel.
👉JK Cement: The cement manufacturer has recorded a 29.5% year-on-year decline in consolidated profit at Rs 114.66 crore for quarter ended June FY24, dented by subdued operating margin with higher input cost, finance cost, and power & fuel and freight & forwarding expenses. Revenue from operations grew by 21.6% YoY to Rs 2,762.6 crore during the quarter.
👉NMDC: The state-run iron ore company has recorded profit at Rs 1,650 crore for first quarter of FY24, rising 12% over corresponding period previous fiscal. Revenue from operations during the quarter grew by 13% YoY to Rs 5,395 crore, but average sales realisation fell by 20% to Rs 4,850 per tonne during the same period.
👉Muthoot Finance: The gold loan financing company has reported standalone profit at Rs 975 crore for the first quarter of financial year 2023-24, growing 22% over same period last fiscal. Total income grew by 21% YoY to Rs 3,026 crore during the same period. The company has received board approval for infusion of Rs 400 crore in subsidiary Muthoot Money.
👉Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 3,073.28 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased Rs 500.35 crore worth of stocks on August 11, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $2.41 billion to $601.453 billion for the week ending August 4, latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed on Friday. Previously, forex reserves fell by $3.2 billion to $603.87 billion for the week ended on July 28. According to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI, Foreign currency assets (FCAs) dropped by $1.94 billion to $533.4 billion. Expressed in dollar terms, the FCAs include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
- This truncated week is going to see a lot of action in the primary market, as four IPOs will be opening for subscription and five new firms will be added on the bourses. Polymer-based molded products maker Pyramid Technoplast is the only IPO in the mainboard, for which the bidding will start on August 18, with a price band of Rs 151-166 per share. The anchor book will be opened for a day on August 17. The company is planning to mobilise Rs 153.05 crore via the maiden public issue, which comprises a fresh issuance of shares worth Rs 91.3 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 61.75 crore by promoter Credence Financial Consultancy LLP.
- Oil prices edged higher on Friday after the International Energy Agency forecast record global demand and tightening supplies, propelling prices to the seventh straight week of gains, the longest such streak since 2022. Brent crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.22 percent, to settle $86.59 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 22 cents, or 0.27 percent, to settle at $83.05.
- Gold prices on Friday were on track for their worst week in seven, hurt by an overall stronger dollar and elevated bond yields as investors digested the latest US inflation numbers and awaited for more economic data later in the day. Spot gold rose just 0.05 percent to $1,912.9246 per ounce by 4:40 pm ET, after touching its lowest level since July 7 earlier.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 19,075 | (0.9) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,189 | (2.0) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 35,281 | 0.3 % |
| DAX | 15,832 | (1.0) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,524 | (1.2) % |
| Nikkei | 32,474 | 0.8 % |
| Straits Times | 3,294 | (0.9) % |
