Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is up by 49.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.
Asian markets traded mixed tracking overnight losses on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve signaled that it was unlikely to cut interest rates in March. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.5%, while the Topix rose 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.5% and the Kosdaq was flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a stronger opening.
The US stock market indices ended sharply lower on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 recording its steepest daily loss since September 21, after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged while dashing hopes for rate cut as soon as March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 317.01 points, or 0.82%, to 38,150.30, while the S&P 500 dropped 79.32 points, or 1.61%, to close at 4,845.65. The Nasdaq Composite ended 345.88 points, or 2.23%, lower at 15,164.01.
Stocks News:
👉 One 97 Communications: The RBI has taken action against Paytm Payments Bank, saying no further deposits or credit transactions or top-ups will be allowed in any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTags, NCMC cards and so on after 29 February. On 11 March, 2022, the RBI had directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop onboarding of new customers immediately.
👉 Mankind Pharma: Revenue was up 25% to ₹2,606.9 crore, while Ebitda rose 39% to ₹606.5 crore in Q3. Ebitda margin up to 23.3% from 20.9% a year ago. Net profit rose 55% to ₹459.8 crore from ₹295.7 crore a year ago. Domestic revenue up 20% to ₹2,400 crore. Export revenue up 118% to ₹207 crore.
👉 Shree Cement: Recorded 165% growth in standalone net profit at ₹734 crore for the December quarter, with improved realisation and cost reduction amid robust demand growth. Revenue from operations grew 20% to ₹4,901 crore.
👉 Godrej Consumer Products: Posted 6.4% growth in consolidated profit at ₹581 crore for the December quarter, with healthy operating numbers. Consolidated revenue from operations increased 1.7% to ₹3,660 crore from a year ago.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 1,660.72 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 2,542.93 crore worth of stocks on January 31, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- The gross GST revenue collected in the month of January 2024, is ₹172,129 crore, which shows a 10.4% year-on-year (YoY) growth over the revenue of ₹155,922 crore collected in January 2023, Finance Ministry said.
- On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve opted to maintain the current interest rates for the fourth consecutive meeting. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) unanimously agreed to retain the policy rate at the 23-year peak, within the range of 5.25% – 5.50%. In their statement, the FOMC expressed the view that it “does not anticipate a suitable reduction in the target range until there is a higher level of confidence that inflation is consistently progressing toward 2%.” This stance disappointed investors who were anticipating a swift shift to a more dovish position.
- On Wednesday, oil prices dropped due to reduced economic activity in major crude importer China and an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude for March closed at $81.71 per barrel (down 1.4%), while the April contract settled at $80.55 (down 2.3%). US West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $75.85 (down 2.5%), with both benchmarks experiencing earlier declines of over $2 per barrel.
- Gold prices retreated on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opposed expectations of a U.S. rate cut by March. Spot gold dipped 0.1% to $2,034.37 per ounce after an earlier 1% increase. Despite a 1.3% decline this month, gold has maintained its position above the psychological level of $2,000 per ounce this year. Meanwhile, U.S. gold futures settled 0.8% higher at $2067.4.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 15,485 | (1.4) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,789 | (1.5) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 38,150 | (0.8) % |
| DAX | 16,904 | (0.4) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,631 | (0.5) % |
| Nikkei | 36,287 | 0.6 % |
| Straits Times | 3,153 | 0.1 % |
