Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is up by 22.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market
Asian markets showed mixed performance on Monday as investors awaited key economic data from the region this week. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up by 0.2%. Japan’s markets were closed for a holiday, with Nikkei futures trading at 35,370, higher than the cash close of 35,025. South Korea’s Kospi opened strong, gaining 1.20%, while the Kosdaq rose by 1.42%. Meanwhile, futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pointed to a slightly lower opening.
The US stock market closed higher on Friday, recouping much of the losses incurred during the earlier week’s sell-off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 51.05 points, or 0.13%, to finish at 39,497.54. The S&P 500 increased by 0.47% to close at 5,344.16, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.51% to 16,745.30. However, for the week, the Dow and Nasdaq posted declines of 0.6% and 0.18%, respectively.
Stocks News:
👉 Aurobindo Pharma reported a strong performance in Q1, with consolidated profit surging by 61.2% year-on-year to ₹918.2 crore, compared to ₹569.7 crore in the same period last year. Revenue also saw a healthy increase of 10.5%, reaching ₹7,567 crore, up from ₹6,850.5 crore. Additionally, other income nearly doubled to ₹220.9 crore from ₹116.3 crore. Notably, the company reported no exceptional items this quarter, unlike the previous year’s loss of ₹69.75 crore.
👉 General Insurance Corporation of India reported strong Q1 results, with profit soaring by 41.6% year-on-year to ₹1,036.4 crore, up from ₹731.8 crore. The company’s gross premium written increased by 39.1% to ₹12,405.7 crore, while net premium written jumped 40.2% to ₹11,538.5 crore. Additionally, net premium earned grew by 16.6% to ₹10,063.6 crore. The net commission also saw a rise of 19.3%, reaching ₹2,196.8 crore.
👉 Balkrishna Industries reported a robust Q1 performance, with consolidated profit surging by 47.3% year-on-year to ₹489 crore, compared to ₹331.9 crore in the previous year. Revenue also saw significant growth, increasing by 25.7% to ₹2,714.5 crore from ₹2,159.4 crore. Additionally, the board has announced an interim dividend of ₹4 per share.
👉 The company has secured approval from the Government of India to infuse up to ₹10,501 crore in additional equity capital into ONGC Petro Additions (OPaL). This includes the conversion of backstopped Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) amounting to ₹7,778 crore and a balance payment of ₹86 crore related to share warrants, totaling ₹18,365 crore. As a result, OPaL will become a subsidiary of ONGC with a 95.69% equity stake.
👉 The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 406.72 crore on August 9, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3979.59 crore on the same day.
Domestic and International Events
- PM Narendra Modi launched 109 varieties of high-yielding, climate-resilient crops at the India Agricultural Research Institute. This included 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops. Modi discussed the importance of these varieties for improving agriculture and encouraged krishi vigyan kendras to inform farmers about the benefits of using these new seeds.
- In its latest investigative report, US-based short seller Hindenburg Research has alleged that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch held a stake in obscure offshore entities involved in Adani’s alleged ‘money siphoning scandal.’ The Adani Group has rejected the allegations, labeling them as “malicious,” “mischievous,” and “manipulative.” SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch also condemned the Hindenburg report, calling it “baseless,” “devoid of any truth,” and an attempt at “character assassination.
- China’s consumer prices rose slightly more than expected in July, influenced by weather-related disruptions to food supplies, while producer deflation continued. This ongoing weakness in the consumer sector poses a challenge for policymakers as they navigate the world’s second-largest economy, which is also grappling with shrinking manufacturing activity. The consumer price index (CPI) increased to a five-month high of 0.5% year-on-year in July, up from 0.2% in June and exceeding the 0.3% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
- Crude oil prices remained relatively stable on Monday, retaining the bulk of last week’s over 3% gains. Brent crude futures edged down 0.09% to $79.59 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures inched up 0.03% to $76.86.
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 17,090 | 1.2 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,862 | (0.3) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 39,498 | 0.1 % |
| DAX | 17,723 | 0.2 % |
| FTSE 100 | 8,168 | 0.3 % |
| Nikkei | 35,025 | 0.6 % |
| Straits Times | 3,262 | 0.4 % |
