Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 11.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets opened higher as investors awaited the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision. The Fed was expected to keep interest rates unchanged. Manufacturing data for October was anticipated from major economies, including China, India, and South Korea. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index opened 2% higher, while the Topix gained 1.95%. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.76% and the Kosdaq 1.27% at the open. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 17,113, pointing to a marginally higher open compared with the HSI’s close of 17,112.48. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.22% higher.
Tuesday saw gains on Wall Street for the second straight session as they overlooked early weakness ahead of a Federal Reserve announcement. According to media reports, analysts expect the Fed to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.4% at 33,052.87. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7% to 4,193.80, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5% to 12,851.24.
Stocks News:
👉 L&T: Larsen & Toubro reported a net profit of ₹3,222 crore in the September 2023 quarter, higher by 45% as against ₹2,229 crore reported in the year-ago period, as per the results declared by the company on October 31. The company’s revenue from operations during Q2FY24 came in ₹51,024 crore, marking a jump of 19% from ₹42,762 crore reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
👉 Bharti Airtel: Telecom major Bharti Airtel recorded a net profit of ₹1,341 crore in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023-24 (Q2FY24), which is 37% lower than the year ago. Airtel’s average revenue per user (ARPU) improved to ₹203 during the quarter under review, as against ₹190 in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. The company clocked a revenue of ₹34,527 crore in the September 2023 quarter, 7% higher than ₹37,044 crore in the year-ago period.
👉 Tata Consumer Products: Tata Consumer Products reported a net profit of ₹359.18 crore for the September quarter of the current financial year. The company’s net revenue increased by 11% YoY to ₹3,734 crore. Its revenue for six months, increased 12% to ₹7,475 Crores. Its consolidated EBITDA for the September quarter stood at ₹569 crore. The revenue of its packaged beverages business increased by 5% and the coffee segment witnessed a 17% YoY rise in revenue.
👉 Jindal Steel and Power: Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) on Tuesday reported a 534% year-on-year surge in its consolidated net profit to ₹1,390 crore in the September quarter due to lower tax liabilities and a fall in other expenses during the quarter. The Naveen Jindal-led company’s consolidated net revenue, however, fell 9.2% to ₹12,282 crore in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for Q2FY24 stood at ₹2,213 crore, a rise of 19% YoY.
👉 Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 696.02 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 340.25 crore worth of stocks on October 31, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s fiscal deficit stood at ₹7.02 lakh crore in the first half of FY24. The fiscal deficit was 39.3% of the estimate for the whole year. Output of eight core infrastructure sectors, which accounts for two-fifths of India’s industrial output, expanded at a healthy 8.1% in September, official data released on Tuesday showed. However, this was its slowest pace in four months, as seven of the sectors, barring the fertilizer industry, saw slowing output growth.
- The Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) grew 8.1% year-on-year in September, following a 12.1% growth in August. Over the April to September 2023-24 period, the ICI showed a cumulative growth of 7.8%. Positive growth was observed in coal, steel, electricity, natural gas, refinery products, cement, and fertilizers, government data showed.
- India on October 31 hiked windfall tax on petroleum crude to Rs 9,800/ton from Rs 9,050/ton with effect from November 1, according to a government notification. The windfall tax on aviation turbine fuel has been cut to nil from 1 rupee per litre and diesel reduced to Rs 2/litre from Rs 4/litre, the notification added. Crude oil prices are trading around $85 per barrel on account of supply tightness and geopolitical tensions. In the last fortnightly review on October 17, the government had cut special additional excise duty (SAED) on crude petroleum to Rs 9,050/ton with effect from October 18.
- Oil prices rose on Tuesday due to reduced expectations of higher European Central Bank interest rates, despite increased OPEC and U.S. supply. Brent crude for December delivery was up 0.4% at $87.76, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery increased by 0.3% to $82.55.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 17,112 | (1.7) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,019 | (0.1) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 33,053 | 0.4 % |
| DAX | 14,810 | 0.6 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,322 | (0.1) % |
| Nikkei | 30,859 | 0.5 % |
| Straits Times | 3,068 | 0.1 % |
