Adani Group plans to prepay a $500 million bank loan

Opening Bell:

SGX Nifty is up by 7 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific traded lower on Thursday, as investors assessed further risks of more rate hikes to come. A number of Federal Reserve speakers reiterated the central bank is yet to be finished with its hiking cycle, including Fed Governor Christopher Waller. The Japanese Nikkei is down by 0.45 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up by 0.52 percent and South Korea’s Kospi is up by 3.66 percent in early morning deals.

US stocks ended down on Wednesday, paring most of the previous session’s strong gains, with tech-focused shares leading the way lower. The S&P 500 lost 1.11 percent and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.7 percent respectively.

Stocks News:

?The Adani Group plans to prepay a $500 million loan due next month to a group of banks as the Indian conglomerate looks to bolster its finances following a short seller attack.

?Adani Power recorded consolidated profit at Rs 8.77 crore for quarter ended December FY23, down 96 percent compared to year-ago period impacted by significantly higher fuel cost, though profit was supported by higher other income.

?Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Larsen & Toubro for the procurement of 41 indigenous modular bridges, worth over Rs 2,585 crore, for the Corps of Engineers of Indian Army. A modular bridge is fabricated in modules that can be installed quickly in the field.

?Cummins has recorded better than expected earnings on all fronts for Q3FY23 as profit grew by 49 percent YoY to Rs 360.14 crore and revenue increased by 25.7 percent to Rs 2,181 crore for the quarter. At the operating level, EBITDA jumped 52.4 percent YoY to Rs 412.2 crore with margin expansion of 331 bps compared to year-ago period. The company announced an interim dividend of Rs 12 per share for FY23.

?Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 736.82 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth Rs 941.16 crore on February 8, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Domestic and International Events

• Rating agency Fitch has revised its forecast for China’s economic growth in 2023 to 5.0% from 4.1% previously as consumption and broader activity are recovering faster than initially anticipated after the end of the “zero-COVID” regime.
• Fitch said the recovery will be primarily led by consumption, noting that many high-frequency indicators have recently rebounded though still remain below pre-pandemic. Despite the forecast upgrade, the rating agency expected the economic rebound this year to be less vigorous than that in 2021, when the economy posted GDP growth of 8.4%
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on February 8 proposed a strengthened protocol for monitoring related party transactions by High-Value Debt Listed Entity (HVDLEs), which will incorporate objections from debenture holders in select cases.
• Oil rose for a third straight day on Wednesday as investors felt more comfortable with risk a day after the Federal Reserve chair’s remarks eased concerns about future interest rate hikes.

Key Equity Indices