ICICI Securities profit up 66.6%, Adani Energy excels, L&T Technology sees 6.6% profit rise

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is down by 12.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Asia-Pacific markets extended declines on Wednesday ahead of Chinese economic data. The Reuters Tankan manufacturing index showed a dip in business sentiment among large Japanese companies for the first time in four months. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell marginally for the fourth day, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 rebounded by 1.24%. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.46%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a weaker open after leading losses on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, US stock market indices closed lower, primarily due to selling in banking stocks. Morgan Stanley shares fell 4.2% to a more than one-month low, while Goldman Sachs saw a 0.7% increase. Spirit Airlines shares slumped by 47%, and Apple’s share price dropped 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 0.62%, the S&P 500 fell by 0.37% and the Nasdaq ended 0.19% lower.

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday, with the Stoxx 600 index down 0.3%. Utilities led losses at 1.2%, and Hugo Boss saw a steep decline of 9% after missing earnings forecasts. The focus remained on updates from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Stocks News:

👉 ICICI Securities: The company reported 66.6% year-on-year growth in standalone profit at ₹465 crore for the December quarter, backed by a healthy topline and operating performance. Revenue from operations grew by 50.5%to ₹1,322.4 crore from a year ago.

👉 Adani Energy Solutions reported strong performance in Q3 FY24, maintaining a system availability of 99.67% in transmission and smart metering. The operational network expanded by 302 ckms to a total of 20,422 ckms. The segment secured contracts for 2 million smart meters, valued at Rs 2,300 crore, and has a pipeline of 21.1 million smart meters worth Rs 25,100 crore. In the distribution utility segment, distribution loss improved, standing at 5.46% in Q3 FY24 compared to 5.60% in Q3 FY23.

👉 L&T Technology Services: The company reported net profit of ₹336.2 crore for the December quarter, up 6.6% from a year ago. Revenue from operations rose 1.5% sequentially to ₹2,421.8 crore.

👉 ICICI Lombard: The company registered 22.4% year-on-year growth in net profit at ₹431 crore for the December quarter, while the gross direct premium income increased by 13.4% to ₹6,230 crore.

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 656.57 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Rs 369.29 crore worth of stocks on January 16, provisional data from the NSE showed.          

Domestic and International Events

• US Treasury yields rose on Tuesday after central bankers in Europe and the United States pushed back against market expectations of imminent interest rate cuts, Reuters reported. Benchmark 10-year yields rose to 4.064%, their highest in over a week, up from a 3.95% close last week. The 30-year yields were up at 4.305%, their highest in over a month. Two-year yields, which generally tend to more closely reflect monetary policy expectations, were at about 4.228%, up from 4.138% on Friday.

• Global ratings agency Fitch affirmed India’s long-term foreign currency issuer default ratings at ‘BBB-’ with a stable outlook. However, the rating agency also flagged that India’s weak public finances were the ‘largest constraint’ to the rating.

• On Tuesday, oil prices experienced volatility as investors considered the Middle East tensions, a stronger dollar, and tempered expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts. Brent crude futures rose by 0.2% to $78.31 a barrel, initially trading over $1 higher than Monday’s settlement. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 0.37% to $72.41 a barrel, with U.S. markets closed on Monday for a public holiday.

• Gold prices fell on Tuesday, pressured by a firmer dollar and higher US Treasury yields after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller’s hawkish remarks on interest rate cuts this year, but safe-haven buying limited bullion’s downside. Spot gold was down over 1 percent at $2,033.39 per ounce as of 11:39am ET (1639 GMT), after gaining in the previous three sessions. US gold futures fell 0.7 percent to $2,036.80.

Key Equity Indices

EMERGING	LATEST	% 1D
Hang Seng	15,866	(2.2) %
Shanghai Composite	2,894	0.3 %

DEVELOPED	LATEST	% 1D
Dow Jones	37,361	(0.6) %
DAX	16,572	(0.3) %
FTSE 100	7,558	(0.5) %
Nikkei	35,619	(0.8) %
Straits Times	3,185	(0.5) %