Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is up by 38.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.
Asian markets experienced declines, influenced by the mixed signals from Wall Street in the preceding night. Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw a 0.14% decrease, and the Topix recorded a marginal decline. South Korea’s Kospi witnessed a 0.42% drop, while the Kosdaq fell by 0.8%. Despite these trends, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures pointed towards a higher opening.
On Wednesday, the US stock market displayed a mixed performance, with the S&P 500 achieving its fourth consecutive record high close and the Nasdaq reaching its highest level since January 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a 0.26% decline, while the S&P 500 inched up by 0.08%, concluding the session at 4,868.55. The Nasdaq, on the other hand, finished 0.36% higher. In terms of individual stocks, Netflix shares surged by 10.7% to reach a two-year high following the release of the company’s Q4 results, which showed better-than-expected subscriber growth.
Stocks News:
👉 Tech Mahindra: The IT major reported a 61% year-on-year decline in its net profits, which plunged to ₹510.4 crore in the December 2023 quarter, from ₹1,296.6 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations came down 4% year-on-year from ₹13,734.6 crore in Q3FY23 to ₹13,101.3 crore during the period under review. The Q3 earnings for Tech Mahindra are in line with expectations. Sequentially, Tech Mahindra reported a 3% rise in net profits at ₹494 crore during the quarter ending September 2023. In terms of revenue, 2% quarter-on-quarter growth was reported from ₹12,864 crore in Q2FY24.
👉 Bajaj Auto: The company reported a rise of 37% in standalone net profit at ₹2,042 crore, beating estimates of a 33% YoY rise to ₹1,987 crore by leading brokerage firms. At ₹2,042 crore, Bajaj Auto’s net profit rose 37 per cent YoY compared to ₹1,491 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s revenue from operations jumped 30.1 per cent to ₹12,114 crore, compared to ₹9,315 crore in the corresponding period last year.
👉 Tata Steel: The company reported a consolidated net profit of ₹522 crore in Q3FY24, compared to a net loss of ₹2,501.95 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The company had also registered a net loss of ₹6,511.16 crore in Q2FY24, primarily attributed to impairment charges. Tata Steel’s year-on-year (YoY) comparison reveals a 3% decrease in revenue from operations, amounting to ₹55,312 crore. This marks a slight dip from the ₹57,084 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
👉 DLF Ltd: The realty major reported a 27% increase in consolidated net profit at ₹655.71 crore in the December quarter on higher income and less expenses. Its net profit stood at ₹517.94 crore in the year-ago period. Total consolidated income rose to ₹1,643.51 crore in the October-December quarter of the 2023-24 fiscal from ₹1,559.66 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. On a standalone basis, DLF’s net profit rose 57% to ₹463.66 crore Q3FY24 from ₹294.86 crore in the year-ago period. Total standalone income rose to ₹1,117.40 crore in the latest December quarter from ₹973.89 crore in the year-ago period, according to a regulatory filing.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) maintained selling pressure in the cash segment for six days in a row, offloading shares worth Rs 6,934.93 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 6,012.67 crore worth of stocks on January 24, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- Continued capex push, simplification of the tax regime, rationalisation of subsidies, promotion of R&D spending and steps towards fiscal consolidation top the budget wish-list of India Inc. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) on Wednesday asked the government to support growth by bumping up capex, continuing the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes and extending the benefits of concessional tax regime beyond beyond March 31, the industry bodies said in separate news releases.
- US Treasury yields rebounded on Wednesday after a strong reading of business activity before key data later this week and a US Federal Reserve meeting next week. The two-year Treasury yield, which reflects interest rate expectations, rose 3.2 basis points to 4.380%, while the benchmark 10-year’s yield added 4 basis points to 4.182%.
- Oil prices climbed about 1 percent to a four-week high on Wednesday on a bigger-than-expected US crude storage withdrawal, a drop in US crude output, Chinese economic stimulus, geopolitical tensions and a weaker US dollar. Brent futures rose $1.03, or 1.3 percent, to $80.58 a barrel by 12:03pm EST (1703 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.31, or 1.8 percent, to $75.68.
- Gold eased on Wednesday after data showed strong U.S. business activity, even as a weakened dollar limited loss, while investors looked ahead to more economic indicators to assess when the Federal Reserve might first cut interest rates. Spot gold was down 0.7 percent at $2,014.56 per ounce at 2:13 p.m. ET (1913 GMT), eyeing its worst session in a week. US gold futures settled 0.5 percent lower at $2,016.00.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 15,900 | 3.6 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,821 | 1.8 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 37,806 | (0.3) % |
| DAX | 16,890 | 1.6 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,528 | 0.6 % |
| Nikkei | 36,226 | (0.8) % |
| Straits Times | 3,153 | 0.6 % |
