L&T Finance merges subsidiaries, SBI issues $250M Green Notes, Dabur expects growth

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is up by 17.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.

Asia-Pacific markets struggled early on Friday after two days of mostly falling performances in the new year. Key economic data from Southeast Asia, including inflation in Thailand and the Philippines and retail sales in Singapore, is awaited. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 started positively but ended just 0.05% higher after two consecutive days of losses. Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased by 0.11%, while South Korea’s Kospi dipped by 0.08% at open. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures pointed to a weaker start at 16,590 compared to the previous close of 16,645.98.

The US stock market indices ended mixed on Thursday with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closing lower dragged by selling in technology stocks amid rise in Treasury yields. The S&P 500 lost 0.34%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.56%, The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.03%, higher.

European stocks closed higher Thursday following two downbeat sessions amid uncertainty over the trajectory for central bank rate cuts. The Stoxx 600 index closed up 0.7%, coming off the back of a nearly 1% decline over the first two sessions of the year. In sector moves, banking stocks climbed 1.8% while technology fell 0.4%.

Stocks News:

👉 L&T Finance Holdings: Has completed the merger of subsidiaries, L&T Finance, L&T Infra Credit, and L&T Mutual Fund Trustee, with itself. With this merger, all the lending businesses will be housed under one entity i.e., L&T Finance Holdings. Separately, the company reported estimated retail disbursements at ₹14,500 crore for Q3FY24, a growth of 25% on YoY, while the retail loan book at the end of Q3FY24 is pegged at ₹74,750 crore, growing 31% YoY.

👉 State Bank of India: The country’s largest lender has announced the conclusion of successful placement of $250 million senior unsecured Green floating rate notes, referred to as “The Green Notes.” This issuance, maturing on 29 December 2028, is part of SBI’s $10 billion medium-term note programme and was conducted through a private placement facilitated by its London branch. The Green Notes rated BBB- by S&P, were issued on a floating rate basis of 1.20% above SOFR and has been listed on the India International Exchange.

👉 Dabur India: Demand trends witnessed “sequential improvement” in the December quarter, although rural growth continued to lag urban growth, homegrown FMCG major Dabur India said in a business update. The company expects to register “mid to high single-digit growth during Q3 FY24” in its revenue. International business is expected to register double-digit growth in constant currency terms, led by good momentum in the MENA region.

👉 RBL Bank: The private sector lender has registered a 13% YoY growth in total deposits at ₹92,743 crore for the quarter ended December, with retail LCR deposits growing 16% YoY to ₹41,209 crore. Gross advances grew 20% YoY to ₹81,870 crore, with retail advances rising 32% YoY and wholesale advances 6% YoY during the quarter.

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,513.41 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Rs 1,387.36 crore worth of stocks on January 4, provisional data from the NSE showed.       

Domestic and International Events

• India is likely to project higher economic growth estimates of around 7% for the 2023/24 fiscal year ending in March, compared with earlier government forecasts when the National Statistical Office releases its first advance GDP estimates on Friday. An increased estimate of annual gross domestic product is widely expected after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revised its own growth forecast last month to 7% for the current fiscal year, from an earlier estimate of 6.5%. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s infrastructure investments aim to invigorate the economy, with analysts foreseeing a potential third-term win due to this strategy.

• US private employers hired more workers than expected in December, pointing to persistent strength in the labour market. Private payrolls increased by 164,000 jobs last month, the ADP National Employment Report showed, the largest monthly increase since August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private payrolls rising 115,000.

• Oil prices fell 2% on Thursday, largely unwinding an earlier rally, as massive weekly gasoline and distillate stock builds overshadowed a larger-than-expected crude stock draw. Brent crude fell by $1.57, or 2%, to $79.01 a barrel by 11:23 a.m. EDT, after earlier rising over $1. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell $1.47, or 2%, to $73.57.

• Gold bounced from a two-week low as the dollar eased, nudging spot prices to $2,041.59 per ounce. US gold futures rose to $2,049.3. Stronger-than-expected December hiring, especially in the private sector according to ADP, and a drop in initial jobless claims highlighted the labour market’s resilience.

Key Equity Indices

EMERGING	LATEST	% 1D
Hang Seng	16,646	0.0 %
Shanghai Composite	2,954	(0.4) %

DEVELOPED	LATEST	% 1D
Dow Jones	37,440	0.0 %
DAX	16,617	0.5 %
FTSE 100	7,723	0.5 %
Nikkei	33,288	(0.5) %
Straits Times	3,174	(0.8) %