Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 370.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market
Asian markets extended the sell-off on Monday following a slump in the US stock market last week. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei shed another 6.4% to hit seven-month lows. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix plunged around 7% each. South Korea’s Kospi declined 3.9%, while the Kosdaq dropped 3.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening.
The US stock market ended lower for a second consecutive session on Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite confirming it was in correction territory amid fears of an oncoming recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 610.71 points, or 1.51%, to 39,737.26, while the S&P 500 slumped 100.12 points, or 1.84%, to 5,346.56. The Nasdaq Composite ended 417.98 points, or 2.43%, lower at 16,776.16.
Stocks News:
👉 State Bank of India (SBI) reported an approximate 1 percent increase in its net profit, reaching Rs 17,035.16 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year. However, on a sequential basis, net profit fell by 17.7 percent. The bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio stood at 2.21 percent as of June 30, compared to 2.24 percent as of March 31, and 2.76 percent on June 30, 2023.
👉 Jeweller and watchmaker Titan Ltd reported that its standalone net profit fell by 1 percent to Rs 770 crore in the June quarter, compared to Rs 777 crore in the same period last year. The decline was attributed to higher gold prices, which deterred demand.
👉 On August 3, pharma giant Divis Labs announced a 21 percent year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 430 crore for the first quarter of FY25. Revenue from operations grew by 19 percent to Rs 2,118 crore, up from Rs 1,778 crore. The company’s net profit in the same quarter last year was Rs 356 crore.
👉 Indian biscuit maker Britannia Industries reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 524 crore for the June quarter, marking a 14.5 percent growth from Rs 458 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year.
👉 The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3310 crore on August 2, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 2965 crore on the same day.
Domestic and International Events
- India’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $3.4 billion, reaching $667.39 billion as of July 26, according to the Reserve Bank of India. This comes after a rise to a record high of $670.86 billion the previous week. The RBI intervenes in the market to manage liquidity and prevent excessive volatility in rupee value.
- The US unemployment rate jumped to a near three-year high of 4.3% in July, up from 4.1% in June. This marks the fourth consecutive monthly increase, amid a significant slowdown in hiring.
- Japan’s service-sector activity returned to growth in July. The final au Jibun Bank Service purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 53.7 last month, from 49.4 in June.
- Crude oil prices hovered at eight-month lows on Monday. Brent crude futures declined 0.29% to $76.59 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.42% to $73.21 a barrel.
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 16,946 | (2.1) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,905 | (0.9) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 39,737 | (1.5) % |
| DAX | 17,661 | (2.3) % |
| FTSE 100 | 8,175 | (1.3) % |
| Nikkei | 35,910 | (5.8) % |
| Straits Times | 3,381 | (1.1) % |
