Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 40.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.
Asia’s financial markets displayed a diverse performance in anticipation of significant economic data releases and central banks’ monetary policy decisions. Notably, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s announcement on Tuesday and the Reserve Bank of India’s decision on Thursday were closely monitored. The Nikkei 225 in Japan recorded a 0.66% increase, with the Topix also experiencing a gain of 0.51%. Conversely, South Korea’s Kospi witnessed a decline of 1.06%, and the Kosdaq dropped by 0.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures hinted at a potentially negative opening.
On Friday, the US stock market concluded on a positive note, witnessing the S&P 500 reaching a record closing high driven by robust earnings and a January employment report that surpassed expectations. All three primary US stock indexes secured their fourth consecutive week of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed by 0.35%, reaching 38,654.42, and the S&P 500 surged by 1.07%, closing the session at 4,958.61. Simultaneously, the Nasdaq experienced a significant jump of 1.74%, concluding at 15,628.95.
Stocks News:
👉 State Bank of India: India’s largest bank reported its Q3 standalone net profit at ₹9,164 crore on February 3, a decline of 35% in the December quarter. SBI’s net profit for Q3FY24 was weighed down by higher operating expenses, it said. Corporate advances crossed ₹10 trillion, while SME advances surpassed ₹4 trillion – showing expansion in both sectors. Gross Non-Performing Assets (NPA) also showed an improvement, standing at 2.42%, down 72 bps compared to the previous year. Net NPA also improved at 0.64%, down by 13 bps YoY.
👉 Tata Motors: The Tata Group company has recorded 137.5% on-year growth in consolidated profit at Rs 7,025 crore for the quarter ended December FY24, driven by strong operating numbers. Revenue from operations grew by 25% YoY to Rs 1,10,577 crore for the quarter, while EBITDA for the quarter surged 59% to Rs 15,333.3 crore and margin expanded 300 bps to 13.9% compared to the year-ago period, with all automotive verticals continuing their profitable growth trajectory.
👉 InterGlobe Aviation: India’s largest airline IndiGo clocked a profit after tax of ₹2,998.1 crore in the December quarter as air travel soared, against a net profit of ₹1,422.6 crore a year earlier, beating estimates from Prabhudas Lilladher. Total income rose 30.2% from a year earlier to ₹20,062.3 crore. IndiGo expects capacity growth of 12% in the March quarter as compared to the same period a year ago. For April-March 2024-25, the company’s management plans to induct at least an aircraft every week despite supply chain issues.
👉 JSW Infrastructure: The private-sector port operator said its consolidated net profit more than doubled year-on-year (YoY) to ₹250.66 crore in the December quarter, buoyed by increased cargo volumes and higher tariffs. The JSW Group company had reported ₹114.89 crore in net profit a year ago. India’s second-largest private port operator, JSW Infrastructure’s revenue from operations in Q3FY24 stood at ₹940.11 crore, rising 17.85% YoY. The new container segment accounted for around 2% of the total volumes during the quarter, it said in a statement.
👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 70.69 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 2,463.16 crore worth of stocks on February 2, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Domestic and International Events
- India increased its windfall tax on petroleum oil to Rs 3,200 per tonne from 1,700 rupees on Saturday, while keeping the windfall tax on diesel and aviation turbine fuel at zero, the government said late Friday. On January 16, the government reduced the windfall tax on petroleum crude from Rs 2,300 per tonne. From July 2022, India placed a windfall tax on crude oil producers and increased the charge on petrol, diesel and aviation fuel exports since private refiners preferred to sell fuel overseas to profit from high refining margins rather than selling locally. It adjusts the tax every two weeks.
- On Friday, the US dollar index surged as Treasury yields jumped on a strong jobs report, dispelling expectations of an imminent interest rate cut. The 10-year Treasury note yield surpassed 4%, and the dollar index reached 104.04, its highest since December 12.
- US nonfarm payrolls increased by 353,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said, almost double the 180,000 forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
- Oil prices stabilised in early Asian trading on Monday after sharp falls last week, amid continued attempts to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestinian conflict even as the U.S. planned new strikes on Iran-backed groups. Brent crude futures inched up 8 cents to $77.41 a barrel by 0131 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were flat at $72.28 a barrel.
Key Equity Indices
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 15,534 | (0.2) % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,730 | (1.5) % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 38,654 | 0.4 % |
| DAX | 16,918 | 0.4 % |
| FTSE 100 | 7,616 | (0.1) % |
| Nikkei | 36,158 | 0.4 % |
| Straits Times | 3,180 | 1.2 % |
