RBL Bank Share Transactions, Bajaj Finance Performance, Tech Mahindra Earnings, and DLF’s Profit Growth in Focus

Opening Bell:             

Gift Nifty is up by 34.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market                            

Asian markets rebounded Friday, after Thursday’s sell-off saw some indexes in the region hit their lowest level in months.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended a fickle session weaker on Thursday, failing to regain ground lost in the previous day’s tech-triggered sell-off as investors grappled with the likely direction of megacaps.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hung onto early gains to close higher on stronger-than-expected U.S. gross domestic product data.

The S&P 500 lost 27.91 points, or 0.51%, at 5,399.22 points, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 160.69 points, or 0.93%, to 17,181.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 81.20 points, or 0.20%, to 39,935.07.

Stocks News:

👉 Foreign investors Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore Pte and Societe Generale bought a 3.2% stake in the RBL bank at an average price of Rs 228 per share. However, foreign portfolio investor Maple II B V exited RBL by selling its entire shareholding of 7.89% at an average price of Rs 228.08 per share.

👉 Bajaj Finance Ltd’s impressive growth track record continues to instill confidence among analysts, despite regulatory crackdowns and a broader slowdown in unsecured lending. The lender’s ability to grow its book during the challenging pandemic year of FY21 reinforces this faith. However, some performance metrics for April-June this year fell short, with Bajaj Finance reporting a year-on-year contraction of 60 basis points in its net interest margin, which stood at 9.8 percent.

👉 Tech Mahindra’s Q1 consolidated profit grew by 28.8% to Rs 851.5 crore, with revenue increasing by 1% to Rs 13,005.5 crore. EBIT saw a significant jump of 16.5% to Rs 1,102.3 crore, and margins expanded to 8.5% from 7.4%. Revenue in dollar terms rose by 0.7% to $1,559 million. There was no impairment of goodwill and non-current assets, compared to Rs 308.7 crore previously.

👉 DLF’s Q1 consolidated profit increased by 22.5% to Rs 644.7 crore, while revenue declined by 4.3% to Rs 1,362.4 crore. Other income saw a significant rise to Rs 367.5 crore compared to Rs 98.5 crore in the previous year.

👉 The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling as they sold equities worth Rs 2605 crore on July 25, while domestic institutional investors extended their buying as they bought equities worth Rs 2431 crore on same day.

Domestic and International Events

• A marginal increase in long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on listed equity, which is a “passive income”, is justified in view of the salary, business and rental income being taxed at a much higher rate, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said. Defending the removal of indexation benefits from LTCG on real estate, he said other asset classes, including incomes from shares, interest and fixed deposits do not enjoy the same benefit, and the move should be seen as a simplification measure.

• Alphabet’s shares fell for a second straight day, dipping 3.1% to its lowest close since May 6, but Tesla rose. Lackluster earnings from the Google parent and the electric vehicle maker had pummeled the so-called Magnificent Seven group of tech stocks on Wednesday, prompting the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to log their worst day since 2022.

• Gold and Silver prices were trading marginally lower in the early trade on Friday.

• Oil prices were up slightly on Friday on stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data that raised investor expectations for increasing crude oil demand from the world’s largest energy consumer.