Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is up by 5.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.
Asian markets are experiencing a predominantly mixed trend today, influenced by the US stock market’s flat and range-bound closure on January 13. The mixed performance in bank earnings, coupled with the somewhat cooler-than-expected inflation data, has fostered optimism regarding potential interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Notably, Japanese markets have shown strength, surpassing their counterparts, with both the Nikkei 225 and Topix indices reaching their highest levels since 1990 on Friday. On January 15, the Nikkei gained 0.54%, and Topix saw a rise of 0.83%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.08% and Kosdaq declined 0.97%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures pointed to a positive start.
The Dow Jones industrial Average slipped Friday as traders parsed through the first batch of fourth-quarter earnings and digested the second in a pair of closely watched inflation reports this week. The 30-stock Dow lost 0.31%, The S&P 500 ended the day 0.08% higher, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed just above flat, gaining 0.02%.
European markets end the week on a positive note, with the Stoxx 600 index closing 0.77% higher despite a largely negative week. Investors react to U.K. economic data and a decline in U.S. wholesale inflation. Retail stocks rise 1.46%, but Burberry issues a profit warning, impacting luxury brands.
Stocks News:
👉 Avenue Supermarts: The D-Mart operator has recorded 17% on-year growth in consolidated profit at Rs 690 crore for the quarter ended December FY24. Revenue from operations during the same period increased by 17.3% to Rs 13,572 crore, and EBITDA grew by 16% to Rs 1,120 crore, but the margin remained flat at 8.3% year-on-year.
👉 Tata Consumer Products: The company has signed agreements to acquire a 100% stake in Capital Foods for ₹5,100 crore and Organic India for ₹1,900 crore.
👉 HCL Technologies: The technology company has registered a 13.5% QoQ growth in profit at Rs 4,350 crore for the quarter ended December FY24, beating analysts’ expectations. Revenue during the quarter grew by 6.7% sequentially to Rs 28,446 crore and constant currency revenue growth at 6%, while EBIT increased by 13.8% QoQ to Rs 5,615 crore with a margin expansion of 130 bps at 19.8% for the quarter. HCL Tech sees full-year revenue growth in constant currency in the range of 5% to 5.5% and an EBIT margin of 18–19%.
👉 Adani Enterprises: Adani New Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary, has won a contract from Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to set up electrolyser-manufacturing capacity of 198.5 MW a year under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Scheme (Tranche-I).
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 340.05 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 2,911.19 crore worth of stocks on January 12, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s retail inflation hit 4-month high of 5.69% in December 2023, the data released by National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) informed on Friday. The CPI-inflation surged from 5.5% in November and continue to remain close to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tolerance range of 2-6%.
- India’s industrial production increased by 2.4% annually in November, compared to an 11.7% increase in October, according to government figures released on Friday. As of November 2022, the index of industrial output (IIP) had increased by 7.6%.
- Oil prices surged over 4% after military strikes in Houthi-controlled Yemen by the UK and US heightened tensions in the Red Sea. West Texas Intermediate and Brent futures hit their highest levels since December 27, reaching $75.25 and $80.75, respectively. However, they retreated later, with U.S. crude settling at $72.68 and Brent at $78.29 per barrel.
- Gold prices hit a one-week high on Friday due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, prompting safe-haven buying. Additionally, softer U.S. producer price inflation increased speculation about a potential earlier interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. At 2:24 p.m. ET, spot gold rose 1% to $2,048.21 per ounce, settling 1.6% higher for U.S. gold futures at $2,051.60. Gold remained mostly flat on the week but sustained its month-long position above the $2,000 mark.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,245 | (0.4) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,882 | (0.2) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,593 | (0.3) % |
| DAX | 16,705 | 1.0 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,625 | 0.6 % |
| Nikkei | 35,577 | 1.5 % |
| Straits Times | 3,192 | (0.3) % |
