Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 45.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia-Pacific markets largely fell as investors look ahead to China’s inflation figures and trade balance later this week. China will release its trade balance for Tuesday and inflation data on Wednesday, which will give clues on the country’s recovery trajectory. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed marginally, but mainland Chinese markets were also all in negative territory. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.59% to finish at 3,268.83, while the Shenzhen Component was down 0.83%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.19%, erasing earlier losses in the day, and the Topix was up 0.41%. In its summary of opinions for its July 28 meeting, the Bank of Japan said it still has a “significantly long way to go” before revising its stance on its negative interest rate policy. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.22%. South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.85%, marking its fourth straight day of losses, while the Kosdaq saw a larger loss and tumbled 2.2%.
Stock futures were roughly flat Monday night. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked higher by 0.02%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures oscillated near the flat line. During Monday’s regular session, the 30-stock Dow surged more than nearly 1.2%, for its best day since June 15. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%, and S&P 500 closed higher by 0.9%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the broad-market index broke four-straight sessions of losses. The corporate earnings season has so far been better-than-expected. Roughly 85% of S&P 500 stocks have reported quarterly results, and nearly 80% of them have beaten Wall Street’s expectations, according to FactSet.
Stocks News:
👉Godrej Consumer Products: The FMCG company has recorded a consolidated profit of Rs 318.8 crore for the quarter ended June FY24, falling 7.6% compared to year-ago period as there was an exceptional loss of Rs 81.78 crore related to acquisition of Raymond Consumer Care Business and other restructuring costs. Revenue from operations grew by 10.4% to Rs 3,449 crore compared to year-ago period, with underlying volume growth of 10%, while EBITDA jumped 23.4% YoY to Rs 643 crore with margin expansion of 190 bps during the same period. The company has received board approval for a capital expenditure of Rs 900 crore for new manufacturing units at Tamil Nadu and Madya Pradesh.
👉Tata Chemicals: The Tata Group company has registered a consolidated profit of Rs 523 crore for the quarter ended June FY24, falling 11.8% over the corresponding period last fiscal, dented by lower operating margin. Revenue from operations grew by 5.6% year-on-year to Rs 4,218 crore, while EBITDA increased by 2.8% to Rs 1,043 crore, but margin fell 70 bps in Q1FY24.
👉PB Fintech: The Policybazaar operator has reported loss of Rs 12 crore for quarter ended June FY24, narrowing from loss of Rs 204 crore in same period last year on strong topline and operating performance. Revenue from operations at Rs 666 crore for the quarter increased by 32% over a year-ago period. Adjusted EBITDA stood at Rs 23 crore for the quarter against loss of Rs 66 crore and margin came in at 3% against (-13%) during the same period.
👉Torrent Pharmaceuticals: The pharma company has reported a consolidated profit of Rs 378 crore for June FY24 quarter, rising 6.8% over the year-ago period, driven by topline and operating numbers. Revenue from operations grew by 10.4% YoY to Rs 2,591 crore during the quarter, with India business rising 15% YoY to Rs 1,426 crore, but US business dropped 2% to Rs 293 crore during the same period. On the operating front, EBITDA in Q1FY24 grew by 11.1% to Rs 791 crore and margin expanded by 20 bps to 30.5% compared to year-ago period.
👉Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 1,892.77 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought Rs 1,080.80 crore worth of stocks on August 7, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India may be on the path to recapturing the second spot on the MSCI Emerging Markets (EM) Index from Taiwan if the current trend persists. Following the rebound in domestic equities from the year’s low late in March, the weight of Indian stocks in the MSCI EM index has risen from 12.97% at the end of January to 14.21% currently, the highest rise among peers in the basket.
- The Central government’s debt profile remains safe and the share of its external debt in the country’s gross domestic product dropped to 2.7% in FY23 from 3.3% in FY14 at the current exchange rate, the finance ministry told the Lok Sabha on Monday. In a written reply, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said: “The risk profile of Central government’s debt stands out as safe and prudent in terms of accepted parameters of indicator-based approach for debt sustainability. The government debt is held predominantly in domestic currency.”
- Oil prices eased from four-month highs as crude’s summer rally takes a breather. Global benchmark Brent futures traded lower by 0.9% at $85.44 a barrel after reaching their highest level since April. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dipped 1% to $82.02 per barrel. Despite those losses, WTI is up 1% for August, on pace for its third straight monthly gain. In July it rallied more than 15%.
- Gold prices were on the backfoot on Monday after Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman indicated that additional interest rate hikes will likely be needed to rein in inflation. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,935.39 per ounce by 09:56 a.m. EDT (1356 GMT). U.S. gold futures eased 0.3% to $1,970.60.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 19,538 | (0.0) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 3,269 | (0.6) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 35,473 | 1.2 % |
| DAX | 15,951 | (0.0) % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,554 | (0.1) % |
| Nikkei | 32,255 | 0.2 % |
| Straits Times | 3,310 | 0.5 % |
