Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 7.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on Tuesday as investors await the release of minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s July policy meeting. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 opened down 0.25%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.81% and the Topix 0.76% as the local market braced for key economic data later this week, including trade balance and consumer price index. South Korea’s Kospi slipped marginally, but the Kosdaq was up 0.76% as the country holds its first Nuclear Consultative Group meeting with the US today.
US stocks traded in the green on Monday on expectations that corporate earnings will exceed forecasts, but global shares and the dollar traded little changed after data showed the Chinese economy grew slower than anticipated. On the Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.22 percent, the S&P 500 was up 0.39%and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.93 percent.
Stocks News:
👉LTIMindtree on July 17 declared a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,151.5 crore in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023-24, which marks a jump of 4% as compared to 1,106 crore reported in the year-ago period. The revenue from operations in Q1FY24 climbed by 14% on-year to Rs 8,702 crore, as per a regulatory filing. It was, however, marginally lower by 0.5% as compared to the CNBC TV-18 poll estimate of Rs 1,458 crore. On the operating front, EBIT increased by 2.1% sequentially to Rs 1,450.8 crore with margin expansion of 32 bps for the quarter.
👉Tata Elxsi: The design-led technology services provider has registered a 2.2% year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 188.85 crore for quarter ended June FY24, impacted by weak operating margin. Revenue from operations grew by 17.1% to Rs 850.3 crore compared to year-ago period. At the operating level, EBIT increased by 4.1% year-on-year to Rs 230.1 crore, but margin fell 340 bps to 27.1% for the quarter.
👉Sheela Foam: The polyurethane foam manufacturer has received approval from the board for the acquisition of foam and coir-based home comfort products maker Kurlon Enterprise, and furniture company House of Kieraya (Furlenco). Sheela Foam will acquire 94.66% stake in Kurlon Enterprise for Rs 2,150 crore and the said acquisition is expected to be completed by or before November 30, 2023, while it will buy 35% stake in Furlenco for Rs 300 crore.
👉Reliance Industries: Jio Financial Services will be included in total 19 NSE indices with effect from July 20, after the demerger of Reliance Industries’ financial services business into Reliance Strategic Investments. Reliance Strategic Investments will be renamed as Jio Financial Services. NSE indices included Nifty50, Nifty 100, Nifty 200, Nifty 500, Nifty Oil & Gas, Nifty Energy, Nifty Commodities, and Nifty Infrastructure.
👉Foreign institutional investors (FII) net bought shares worth Rs 73 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) net purchased shares worth Rs 64.34 crore on July 17, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) shows.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s battle against inflation isn’t over yet, according to a report by the Reserve Bank of India. An uptick in food prices during June, led by tomatoes, was attributed to the onset of the monsoon season and corroborates the monetary policy committee’s decision not to abandon inflation fighting measures. India needs to focus on supply side management to contain overall inflation volatility, the report noted.
- China’s economy grew at a frail pace in the second quarter as demand weakened at home and abroad, with the post-Covid momentum faltering rapidly and raising pressure on policymakers to deliver more stimulus to shore up activity. Gross domestic product grew just 0.8% in April-June from the previous quarter, on a seasonally adjusted basis, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday, versus analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.5% increase and compared with a 2.2% expansion in the first quarter. On a year-on-year basis, GDP expanded 6.3% in the second quarter, accelerating from 4.5% in the first three months of the year, but the rate was well below the forecast for growth of 7.3%.
- Oil prices edged higher in early trade on Tuesday after sinking in the previous session on weaker-than-expected Chinese economic growth, as investors eyed a possible tightening of U.S. crude supplies. Brent crude gained 11 cents to $78.61 a barrel by 0017 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 15 cents to $74.30 a barrel.
- Gold prices were little changed on Monday, with bullion traders still doubtful about whether the Federal Reserve may soon signal an end to its monetary tightening path. Spot gold was steady at $1,953.91 per ounce at 1:42pm EDT (1742 GMT). US gold futures settled 0.4 percent lower at $1,956.40.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 19,414 | 0.3 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,210 | (0.9) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 34,585 | 0.2 % |
| DAX | 16,065 | (0.3) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,406 | (0.4) % |
| Nikkei | 32,391 | (0.1) % |
| Straits Times | 3,254 | 0.2 % |
