Vodafone Idea Narrows Loss, NMDC, HUDCO, and IRFC Show Profit Growth

Opening Bell:             

Gift Nifty is down by 14.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market                                  

Asian markets showed mixed results on Tuesday, with Japanese stocks leading the gains. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index surged 2.53%, crossing the 36,000 mark for the first time since August 2. The Topix index also saw a strong performance, rising 2.16%. In South Korea, markets were less upbeat, with the Kospi down 0.2% and the Kosdaq dropping 1.57%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a positive start to the trading day.

The U.S. stock market closed with mixed results on Monday as investors awaited key economic data due later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 140.53 points, or 0.36%, to close at 39,357.01. In contrast, the S&P 500 saw a slight increase, gaining 0.23 points to end at 5,344.39. The Nasdaq Composite edged up by 35.31 points, or 0.21%, finishing at 16,780.61.

Stocks News:

👉 Vodafone Idea reported a narrowing of its loss to ₹6,432.1 crore in Q1, compared to a loss of ₹7,675 crore in the previous quarter. Revenue saw a slight decline of 0.9%, falling to ₹10,508.3 crore from ₹10,606.8 crore. EBITDA decreased by 3%, amounting to ₹4,204.7 crore, down from ₹4,335.8 crore. Consequently, the EBITDA margin dropped to 40% from 40.9%. The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) remained flat at ₹146, unchanged from the previous quarter.

👉 NMDC reported an 18.2% year-on-year increase in consolidated profit for Q1, rising to ₹1,963.6 crore from ₹1,661.2 crore in the same quarter last year. Revenue saw a slight increase of 0.4%, reaching ₹5,414.2 crore compared to ₹5,394.7 crore in the previous year.

👉 Housing & Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) reported a 25.2% year-on-year increase in consolidated profit for Q1, rising to ₹557.8 crore from ₹445.7 crore. Net interest income also grew by 11.2%, reaching ₹724.7 crore compared to ₹651.6 crore in the same quarter last year.

👉 Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) reported a 1.6% year-on-year increase in profit for Q1, rising to ₹1,576.8 crore from ₹1,551.3 crore. Revenue also saw a 1.4% increase, reaching ₹6,765.6 crore compared to ₹6,673.9 crore in the same quarter last year.

👉 The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 4680 crore on August 12, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 4477 crore on the same day.

Domestic and International Events

• India’s retail inflation dropped to a 59-month low of 3.5% year-on-year (YoY) in July, according to government data, largely due to the high base effect. This marks the first time in nearly five years that the inflation rate has fallen below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) medium-term target of 4%. Meanwhile, India’s factory output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew by 4.2% in June on an annual basis, compared to a 6.2% increase in May. In June 2023, the IIP growth was recorded at 4.0%.

• Japan’s producer prices, a key measure of input costs for businesses, accelerated in July for the sixth consecutive month. According to the Bank of Japan (BOJ), producer prices increased by 3.0% year-on-year, slightly above economists’ expectations of a 3.1% rise. On a month-on-month basis, prices rose by 0.3%, aligning with the consensus estimate.

• Crude oil prices declined, snapping a five-day streak of gains. Global benchmark Brent crude futures fell by 0.5% to $81.89 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures also decreased by 0.5%, settling at $79.63 per barrel. This follows a strong performance on Monday, where Brent had surged over 3% and U.S. crude futures had climbed more than 4%.

EMERGING	LATEST	% 1D
Hang Seng	17,112	0.1 %
Shanghai Composite	2,858	(0.1) %

DEVELOPED	LATEST	% 1D
Dow Jones	39,357	(0.4) %
DAX	17,726	0.0 %
FTSE 100	8,210	0.5 %
Nikkei	35,025	0.6 %
Straits Times	3,235	(0.8) %