Opening Bell:
Gift Nifty is down by 44.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market
Asian markets traded lower as investors awaited China’s industrial profits data for July. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped by 0.35%, while the Topix remained flat. South Korea’s Kospi decreased by 0.42%, and the Kosdaq fell by 1.14%. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index pointed to a lower opening.
The U.S. stock market ended mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching a record close. The Dow Jones rose 0.16% to finish at 41,240.52 points, while the S&P 500 fell 0.32% to close at 5,616.84. The Nasdaq declined 0.85%, ending the session at 17,725.77.
Stocks News:
👉 UltraTech Cement has successfully secured a $500 million sustainability-linked loan, with participation from six banks. This move highlights the company’s strong commitment to sustainable practices.
👉 Vedanta, led by Anil Agarwal, has raised ₹30,000 crore through a QIP, OFS, and dividends to focus on deleveraging, improving its capital structure, and pursuing growth opportunities. In Q1, Vedanta’s profit after tax jumped 54% year-on-year to ₹5,095 crore, with record alumina production at Lanjigarh and a 20% reduction in production costs. As of June 30, the company’s debt stood at ₹6,130 crore.
👉 Medi Assist Healthcare’s subsidiary, Medi Assist Insurance TPA, has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% of Paramount Health Services & Insurance TPA from Fairfax Asia and the Shah family. This acquisition will boost Medi Assist’s market share to 36.6% in the group segment and 23.6% of the health insurance industry by premiums managed.
👉 HCL Technologies has extended its strategic partnership with Xerox, emphasizing AI-driven engineering services and digital process operations. HCLTech will support Xerox’s newly formed Global Business Services organization in achieving key business metrics.
👉 The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying as they bought equities worth Rs 483 crore on August 26, while domestic institutional investors also bought equities worth Rs 1870 crore on the same day.
Domestic and International Events
- The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) technology platform, the Unified Lending Interface (ULI), which facilitates seamless credit access, will be launched nationwide in due course, announced RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday. “Last year, we initiated a pilot of a technology platform designed to enable frictionless credit. It remains in the pilot phase, but from now on, we will refer to it as the Unified Lending Interface (ULI),” Das stated.
- In the first half of 2024, India achieved record solar installations, adding approximately 15 GW as developers hurried to finish delayed projects, according to Mercom Capital. This marked a significant milestone, surpassing previous records and representing a 282% increase over 2023’s figures. By June 2024, solar energy accounted for 19.5% of India’s installed power capacity.
- Gold prices remained steady near record highs, driven by safe-haven demand amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and growing expectations of a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September. Spot gold held flat at $2,515.83 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures dipped 0.2% to $2,551.20.
- Crude oil prices traded lower after surging over 3% in the previous session, following an announcement by Libya’s eastern government to halt exports. Brent crude dropped 0.22% to $81.25 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures decreased 0.32% to $77.17.
| EMERGING | LATEST | % 1D |
| Hang Seng | 17,799 | 1.1 % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,856 | 0.0 % |
| DEVELOPED | LATEST | % 1D |
| Dow Jones | 41,241 | 0.2 % |
| DAX | 18,617 | (0.1) % |
| FTSE 100 | 8,328 | 0.5 % |
| Nikkei | 38,110 | (0.7) % |
| Straits Times | 3,396 | 0.2 % |
