Bharti Airtel net profit & ARPU surge, HDFC Bank approval on stake increase in IndusInd Bank, TATA Chemicals net profit and more

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is down by 20 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Most Asian markets fell Tuesday, tracking declines in Wall Street overnight, while investors also awaited the interest rate decision from the Reserve Bank of Australia later in the day.

Wall Street’s main indexes closed lower on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pushed back firmly against speculation that rate cuts would be imminent, while investors assessed a mixed bag of U.S. earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 274.30 points, or 0.71 percent, to 38,380.12, the S&P 500 lost 15.80 points, or 0.32 percent, to 4,942.81 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 31.28 points, or 0.20 percent, to 15,597.68.

Stocks News:

👉 Bharti Airtel on February 5 reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,442.2 crore for the October-December quarter, growing 54 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Its revenue came in at Rs 38,339 crore, up 6.3 percent from Rs 36,062 crore in the year-ago period, Bharti Airtel said in an exchange filing. The company said its mobile average revenue per user per month (ARPU) was at Rs 208 – better than estimates – and up nearly 8 percent against Rs 193 in the same quarter last year.

👉 IndusInd Bank late on Monday evening informed stock exchanges that the RBI has allowed HDFC Bank to acquire an “aggregate holding of up to 9.50 percent of the paid-up share capital or voting rights” in the lender. IndusInd Bank said the RBI approval followed the application made by HDFC Bank to the regulator. The approval is valid for one year and if HDFC Bank fails to acquire the shareholding within that period, the approval stands cancelled.

👉 One97 Communications, the parent entity of Paytm, on February 5 dismissed reports that claimed that the company is facing a regulatory probe to ascertain if it violated foreign exchange norms. The company denied flouting rules that govern forex, while also clarifying that the Enforcement Directorate has not launched a probe against Paytm or its banking arm Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) for the alleged violations.

👉 TATA Chemicals reported consolidated profit of Rs 158 crore for the quarter ended December FY24, falling sharply by 60 percent compared to the year-ago period, impacted by a lower topline as well as disappointing operating numbers. Power, fuel, and input costs remained lower YoY. Revenue from operations fell 10 percent YoY to Rs 3,730 crore for the quarter.

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 518.88 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold Rs 1,188.68 crore worth of stocks on February 5, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Domestic and International Events

• Global cues are turning negative as news flow from two largest markets — the US and China — weigh on investor sentiment. The US markets were jittery overnight on news on strong economic data which signalled that the interest rate cuts may not come any time soon.

• The US Fed’s tone from the December FOMC meeting to the latest one has sent out a clear message that only fewer rate cuts will materialise this year, and that too only in the second half of the year. On the other hand, China markets’ rout continues unabated with the government trying to stem the fall with restrictions that may not help.

• India’s monetary policy announcement is scheduled for February 8, which will keep investors watchful. Traders said it will be important to watch the tone of the upcoming policy as inflation has been inching up and the global cues are negative as well.

• Oil prices were little moved in early trading on Tuesday, as market participants assessed a visit to the Middle East by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss a ceasefire offer in the region. Blinken met Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler on Monday. Palestinians hope the visit will clinch a truce before a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah, a border city where about half the Gaza Strip population is sheltering.

Key Equity Indices

EMERGING	LATEST	% 1D
Hang Seng	15,510	(0.2) %
Shanghai Composite	2,702	(1.0) %

DEVELOPED	LATEST	% 1D
Dow Jones	38,380	(0.7) %
DAX	16,904	(0.1) %
FTSE 100	7,613	(0.0) %
Nikkei	36,354	0.5 %
Straits Times	3,134	(1.4) %

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