Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 37.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Monday ahead of a slew of economic data from the region, including inflation numbers from Malaysia and Singapore. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.95% to start the week, while the Topix was also 0.57% up. Japan will also release private surveys for its purchasing managers index in July. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.13%, after the country saw flash estimates for its composite PMI in July fall into a contraction territory for the first time since March. South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.44%, while the Kosdaq saw a 1.07% loss after reaching its highest level since April 2022 last week. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index looks set to start the week lower, with futures at 18,953 compared to the HSI’s last close of 19,560.57.
S&P 500 futures were little changed Sunday evening as investors awaited a batch of key earnings reports and a major policy decision from the Federal Reserve. Futures tied to the broad market index ticked lower by 0.07%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were lower by 37 points. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.03%. On Friday, the blue-chip Dow eked out a 2.51-point gain, finishing higher for the 10th day in a row and marking its longest rally since 2017. The S&P 500 finished the week up by 0.7% at 4,536.34, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6% in the same period to 14,032.81.
Stocks News:
👉Reliance Industries (RIL) announced its April-June quarter results for fiscal 2023-24 on July 21, reporting a net profit of ₹16,011 crore, down 10.8%, compared to ₹17,955 crore in the corresponding period last year. The gross revenue from operations during the first quarter of current fiscal came in at ₹231,132 crore, reporting a decline of 4.6%, compared to ₹242,529 crore in the year-ago period.
👉ICICI Bank: The country’s second largest private sector lender has reported a 39.7% on-year growth in standalone profit at Rs 9,648 crore for quarter ended June FY24 despite elevated provisions & contingencies. Net interest income increased by 38% on-year to Rs 18,227 crore with net interest margin expansion of 77 bps on-year at 4.78%, while loan growth was 18.1% and deposits grew by 17.9% YoY. Asset quality was stable with gross NPA falling 5 bps sequentially to 2.76% and net NPA flat at 0.48% for the quarter.
👉Kotak Mahindra Bank: The bank has reported standalone profit at Rs 3,452.3 crore for quarter ended June FY24, growing 66.7% over a year-ago period despite rise in provisions and contingencies, while operating profit surged 78% YoY to Rs 4,950 crore. Net interest income grew by 32.7% on-year to Rs 6,233.7 crore, with net interest margin at 5.57%, while advances increased by 19%. Asset quality was largely stable with gross NPA falling 1 basis point sequentially to 1.77%, and net NPA rising 3 bps to 0.40%.
👉AU Small Finance Bank: The small finance bank has registered a massive 44% on-year growth in profit at Rs 387 crore for quarter ended June FY24 and 39% increase in pre-provision operating profit at Rs 546 crore. Net interest income rose 28% year-on-year to Rs 1,246 crore with net interest margin declining 20 bps to 5.7%, while advances grew by 29% YoY to Rs 63,635 crore and deposits increased by 27% to Rs 69,315 crore. Asset quality weakened with gross NPA rising 10 bps QoQ to 1.76% and net NPA increasing 13 bps sequentially to 0.55% for the quarter.
👉Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 1,998.77 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth Rs 1,290.73 crore on July 21, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) shows.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s forex reserves see the biggest weekly jump in four months, as they went up by $12.74 billion to $609.02 billion, as per the Reserve Bank of India’s update on Friday. Previously, forex reserves had witnessed an uptick of $1.23 billion for the week ending on July 7.
- India’s decision to ban non-basmati white rice exports will spur traders to cancel contracts to sell around 2 million metric tons of the grain, worth $1 billion, on the world market, dealers said on Friday. India, which accounts for 40% of world rice exports, on Thursday ordered a halt to its largest rice export category to calm domestic prices, which climbed to multi-year highs in recent weeks as erratic weather threatens production.
- Oil prices rose more than a dollar per barrel on Friday, buoyed by growing evidence of supply shortages in the coming months and rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine that could further hit supplies. Brent crude futures rose $1.43, or 1.8 percent, to settle at $81.07 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.42, or 1.9%, to settle at $77.07 a barrel, the highest since April 25.
- Gold prices advanced to their highest in about two months on Thursday, driven by U.S. dollar’s weakness and growing expectations that the Federal Reserve would conclude its aggressive rate-hiking cycle at its meeting next week. Spot gold gained 0.2% to $1,980.59 per ounce, close to its highest since May 17 at $1,987.39. US gold futures also rose 0.2% to $1,984.10 per ounce.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 19,075 | 0.8 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,168 | (0.1) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 35,228 | 0.0 % |
| DAX | 16,177 | (0.2) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,664 | 0.2 % |
| Nikkei | 32,304 | (0.6) % |
| Straits Times | 3,278 | 0.1 % |
