Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 4.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets fell ahead of Australia’s central bank’s rate decision, as well as inflation and business activity readings from across the region. The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to hold its benchmark policy rate at 4.1% for the third straight month, according to a Reuters poll of economists. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.45%. Elsewhere, South Korea’s inflation rate for August came in higher than expected at 3.4%. Thailand and the Philippines are also expected to release inflation data Tuesday. Investors will also be monitoring purchasing managers index readings from China, India and Hong Kong. South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.19%, while the Kosdaq hovered slightly below the flatline. Both Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix were also just below the flatline. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 18,719, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI’s close of 18,844.16.
Stock futures are mixed Monday night as the market looks to maintain momentum in the holiday-shortened week. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 37 points, or 0.11%. S&P 500 futures were lower by 2.25 points, or 0.05%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 6.25 points, or 0.04%. The moves follow an upbeat week for Wall Street, with the Dow and the Nasdaq notching their best performances since July. The 30-stock Dow and the Nasdaq added 1.4% and about 3.3% for the week. The S&P 500 gained 2.5% to register its best week since June.
Stocks News:
👉Cipla: Subsidiary Cipla South Africa has signed a binding term sheet with Actor Holdings (Pty) to acquire 100% stake in Actor, which is going to strengthen its over-the-counter product portfolio. Founded in 2009, Actor is the 5th largest OTC player in the South African private market. The transaction is expected to be completed within 4 months from the date of signing of the share purchase agreement.
👉SpiceJet: Low-cost carrier SpiceJet has announced the allotment of 4.81 crore of equity shares on a preferential basis to nine of its aircraft lessors to clear outstanding ₹231 crore dues, the company announced through a statement filed with BSE today. Reportedly, the allotment committee of the board of directors of the company at its meeting passed several resolutions, including a ₹2,500 crore fundraiser and a preferential issue of shares to lessors at an issue price of ₹48 each to clear its outstanding dues.
👉Hero MotoCorp: The world’s largest two-wheeler maker has received approval from the board of directors for investment of up to Rs 550 crore in the Rights issue of associate company Ather Energy. Post the investment, its shareholding in Ather will increase. Currently, Hero holds 33.1% shareholding in Ather.
👉Bharti Airtel: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Monday said that it will purchase 23,000 MWh of renewable energy by the March quarter of this fiscal for its data centre firm Nxtra. As part of its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, Airtel will acquire stakes in the renewable energy project companies established by Continuum Green India Pvt Ltd and Vibrant Energy Holdings Pte. Ltd. to power six of Nxtra’s Edge data centre facilities.
👉Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 3,367.67 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought Rs 2,563.48 crore worth of stocks on September 4, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
Domestic and International Events
- Power consumption in the country increased by more than 16% in August compared to the same month last year, reaching 151.66 billion units. The rise in usage of cooling appliances during hot weather was the main driver behind the increase. Peak power demand also rose to 236.59 GW in August, up from 195.22 GW in 2022.
- In August, the consumption of diesel decreased by 2.9% compared to the previous year, while petrol consumption increased by 0.4%, according to data from state oil companies. Demand for aviation turbine fuel (ATF) rose by 9.5% year-on-year, and demand for LPG increased by 4.4%. Compared to August 2019, ATF sales were still 3.2% lower, while petrol and diesel sales increased by 21.2% and 8.4% respectively.
- Oil prices ticked up in Asian morning trade on Monday, as market sentiment was buoyed by positive China and US economic data, as well as expectations of ongoing crude supply cuts from major producers. Brent crude was up 17 cents, or 0.2%, at $88.72 a barrel at 0015 GMT. The US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 25 cents, roughly 0.3%, to $85.80.
- Gold prices climbed on Monday towards a one-month peak scaled in the previous session, supported by a slight pullback in the dollar and prospects that the U.S. Federal Reserve would take a pause from interest rate hikes this year. Spot gold gained 0.3% to $1,945.40 per ounce by 0334 GMT, after climbing to as high as $1,952.79 on Friday. The US gold futures added 0.2% to $1,971.70.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 18,844 | 2.5 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,177 | 1.4 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 34,838 | 0.3 % |
| DAX | 15,825 | (0.1) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,453 | (0.2) % |
| Nikkei | 32,939 | 0.7 % |
| Straits Times | 3,239 | 0.2 % |
