Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 23.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Thursday as China’s factory activity contracted for a fifth straight month in August. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid 0.55% in its final hour of trade, paring earlier gains. Mainland Chinese stocks were also in negative territory, with the CSI 300 index down 0.61% and closing at 3,765.27. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.88% and notched a four-day winning streak, closing at 32,619.34 and the Topix was up 0.8% to end at 2,332. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 extended gains, rising 0.1% and marking four straight days of gains this week. However, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.19% to 2,556.27 as industrial production slid 8% year-on-year in July, marking its 10th straight month of contraction. The Kosdaq was 0.5% higher and finished at 928.4.
Stock futures were near the flat line Thursday night as investors came off a mixed trading session and closed out a month that saw losses for all three stock indexes. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 22 points, or 0.06%. S&P 500 futures hovered just above flat, while Nasdaq 100 futures inched down by 0.04%. Despite a recent string of positive sessions that helped stock indexes trim their monthly losses, the S&P 500 lost 1.77%, while the Nasdaq shed 2.17%. The 30-stock Dow dropped 2.36% in August.
Stocks News:
👉Jio Financial Services: Jio Financial Services Ltd’s shares will be removed from all S&P BSE indices, including Sensex, before trading opens on 1 September, according to a circular by the BSE on Thursday. Initially, JFSL was set to be excluded from the indices after 23 August after its listing on 21 August, following its spin-off from its parent, Reliance Industries Ltd. However, as the stock was locked in lower circuits for several days, the exclusion was postponed. Over the past three days, the stock has reached upper circuits.
👉Reliance Industries: Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, a unit of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), secured the media rights for all bilateral cricket matches to be played in India during the next five years for ₹5,963 crore through the e-auction conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday. The RIL-run broadcaster outbid Sony Pictures Networks India across digital and television, while the third bidder, Disney Star, placed just a couple of bids, according to two people familiar with the development.
👉Torrent Pharma, Cipla: Ahmedabad-based Torrent Pharmaceuticals has likely submitted a non-binding bid to acquire the stake of promoters of pharma major Cipla, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources. Torrent Pharma may decide on a binding offer in the coming weeks. According to the news report, the company is also holding talks with three to four private equity companies and foreign institutions as it considers several funding options for the offer.
👉Five Star Business Finance: According to CNBC-TV18, private equity investors are considering the possibility of selling approximately 8.8% of their stake in Five Star Business Finance through block deals. Notably, Matrix Partners, TPG Asia, and Norwest Ventures are among the potential entities looking to divest some of their holdings in the NBFC. The anticipated floor price for the block deals involving Five Star Business Finance shares is expected to be set at ₹724 per share which is a discount of approximately 6.25%.
👉Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 2,973.10 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased Rs 4,382.76 crore worth of stocks on August 31, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
Domestic and International Events
- The Indian government’s fiscal deficit widened to Rs 6.06 lakh crore in April-July from Rs 4.51 lakh crore in April-June, data released by the Controller General of Accounts on August 31 showed. At Rs 6.06 lakh crore, the fiscal deficit for the first four months of the current financial year accounts for 33.9 percent of the full-year target of Rs 17.87 lakh crore. The fiscal deficit for April-July 2022 was 20.5 percent of the target for 2022-23. In July, the Centre’s finances weakened after it posted a monthly fiscal deficit of Rs 1.54 lakh crore. In contrast, in the same month last year, the government recorded a fiscal surplus of Rs 11,040 crore. The reversal of fortunes meant the fiscal deficit for April-July 2023 was a massive 77.7 percent higher compared to the first four months of 2022-23.
- India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate hit a four-quarter high in April-June, rising to 7.8 percent, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said on August 31. At 7.8 percent, the latest quarterly growth number is slightly above expectations. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had forecast a growth rate of 8 percent. The Indian economy had expanded by 6.1 percent in January-March and 13.1 percent in April-June 2022.
- Oil prices retreated from highs hit earlier on Thursday as data showed rises in production in OPEC+ countries despite a planned production cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd). Brent crude futures rose 82 cents to $86.69 a barrel, up 0.97%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures was up $1.04, or 1.27%, at $82.67 a barrel.
- Gold steadied on Thursday, hovering near its one-month peak, after as-expected U.S. inflation and weaker jobs numbers reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold this year. Spot gold was flat at $1,941.49 per ounce, close to its highest since Aug. 2, at $1,948.79, hit on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures dipped 0.2% to $1,968.1 per ounce.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 18,382 | (0.6) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,120 | (0.6) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 34,722 | 0.5 % |
| DAX | 15,947 | 0.4 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,439 | (0.5) % |
| Nikkei | 32,619 | 0.9 % |
| Straits Times | 3,233 | 0.4 % |
