Reliance and Jio are in talks with lenders to raise up to $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion

Opening Bell:

SGX Nifty is down by 281 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Asian markets were slipped after a surprise drop in US unemployment. The Japanese Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi will be closed today on public holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down by 2.0 percent in the early morning trades.

Geopolitical tensions added to uncertainty as investors awaited how Russa will respond to the blast that hit only connecting bridge to Crimea from Russia.

Markets across the globe will be dominated by the FOMC’s minutes that will be released this week. While global investors will keenly monitor inflation figures in the US and China, Indian CPI print will be a key domestic factor to watch out for.

S&P 500 futures led the early action with a drop of 0.5%, while Nasdaq futures fell 0.6% as U.S. earnings season kicks off later this week.

Stocks News:

?Out of 4 listed AMC stocks in India, UTI AMC remains a top pick as per ICICI Securities. UTI is likely to outperform in terms of EBITDA with a CAGR of 6.2% for UTI AMC vs 1% for HDFC and Nippon India Asset Management between FY22-24E.

?Star Health reports 12% YoY growth in gross direct premium for Q2FY23. The company clocked (provisional) gross direct premium of Rs 5,655.1 crore for the quarter ended September, 12% growth over a year-ago period, with health-retail segment registering 21% YoY growth to Rs 4,306.4 crore.

?Government invites expressions of interest for stake sale in IDBI Bank. The government of India has engaged KPMG India as the transaction advisor and Link Legal as the legal advisor for providing advisory services and managing the transaction of stake sale in IDBI Bank. The government and LIC of India intend to sell a little more than 30% stake each in IDBI Bank. The government holds 45.48% and LIC 49.24% of the bank. The government has invited expressions of interest from bidders.

?Power Grid Corporation of India: Power Grid Corporation of India arm successfully commissions transmission system in Madhya Pradesh. The subsidiary had secured a project to establish transmission system for intra-state transmission work associated with construction of 400kV substation near Guna & 220kV substation near Bhind on build, own, operate and maintain (BOOM) basis.

?Reliance Industries and Reliance Jio are in talks with lenders to raise up to $1.5 billion (about ₹12,400 crore) and around $2.5 billion (about ₹20,600 crore), respectively, in foreign loans.

Domestic and International Events

• The US Federal Reserve will release its minutes of meeting for the last meeting on Wednesday, when it announced a rate hike of 75 basis points. Markets will be looking at the commentary from the Fed members in order to tame the rising inflationary pressure.
• The tensions between Russia and Ukraine have sparked up once again after a car bomb has broken out on a key road and rail bridge linking Crimea to Russia. This attack is likely to re-ignite the geopolitical concerns between the two countries once again.
• India Inc will officially kick off the earnings season for the quarter ended on September 30, 2022 as IT major Tata Consultancy Services will announce its results on Monday, October 10. Other blue chips including HCL Tech, Wipro, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Shree Cement and HDFC Bank will also announce their quarterly earnings.
• The latest rise in crude oil is hurting the sentiments for an import-oriented economy like India, who is highly dependent on overseas crude for its energy needs. The big orders of crude take off a big chunk of India’s forex reserve.
• Global investors have not decided the direction of their flows. After a sharp selling in September, they have turned net buyers in October. FII’s sold equity to the tune of Rs 7,623 crores in September mainly on account of dollar appreciation, whereas they turned into buyers in October to the tune of Rs 2,440 crore.

Key Equity Indices