Power Grid Corp, Coal India, ONGC, Dr Reddy’s Lab, and Shriram Finance are the top gainers on NSE Nifty 5o index whereas the top laggards include Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Hero Moto Corp, State Bank Of India, and Bajaj Finserv.

Escorts Kubota reported its Q1 results, with net profit rising 2.4% to Rs 289.5 crore from Rs 283 crore year-on-year. Revenue declined by 1.5%, reaching Rs 2,292.5 crore compared to Rs 2,327.7 crore in the same period last year. EBITDA remained flat at Rs 327 crore year-on-year, while margins improved slightly to 14.3% from 14% year-on-year.

Dabur India reported an 8% increase in consolidated net profit for the first quarter of 2024-25, reaching Rs 500 crore compared to Rs 464 crore in the same period last year. The company’s consolidated revenue grew by 7%, totaling Rs 3,349 crore. Dabur’s India FMCG business achieved a volume growth of 5.2% for the quarter.

Coal India stock surged 3.18% on the NSE, trading at Rs 538.80. after the company reported coal production of 55 MMT in July 2024, compared to 53.7 MMT in the same period last year.

Commenting on the dollar and rupee outlook Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said that We expect Rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on recovery in crude oil prices and selling pressure from foreign investors. However, positive tone in the domestic markets may support the Rupee at lower levels.

Choudhary also added that any fresh intervention by RBI may also support the Rupee. Traders may take cues from weekly unemployment claims and ISM manufacturing PMI data from the US. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 83.50 to Rs 84.

Sun Pharmaceutical reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,835.6 crore for the quarter ended June 2024, up from Rs 2,022.5 crore in the same period last year. Despite the strong earnings, the stock was trading at Rs 1,714.85 on the NSE, marking a decline of 0.26%.

Shares of Omaxe fell by 5% on Thursday after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposed a two-year restriction on the real estate firm, its Chairman, Managing Director, and three other individuals from participating in the securities market. The action was taken in response to misrepresentation of the company’s financials.

Aditya Birla Capital reported a PAT of Rs 745 crore for the quarter ended June 2024, up from Rs 648.76 crore in the same period last year. Despite the positive earnings report, the stock is trading at Rs 225.80 on the NSE, down by 0.48%.

Commenting on the Technical outlook of Kunal Kamble Sr. Technical Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio, said the banking index is still showing indecisiveness and has been underperforming compared to other indices. The 51,750 level is acting as strong resistance for the banking index. If the market can surpass this level, an upward move can be expected. Until then, any rise is likely to be viewed as a selling opportunity for the index.

Jefferies has reiterated its ‘Buy’ recommendation for Tata Steel, setting a target price of Rs 195 per share. According to Jefferies’ report, Tata Steel’s Q1 EBITDA increased by 29% year-on-year and 1% quarter-on-quarter, surpassing estimates by 7%. 

The growth in EBITDA was driven by better-than-expected performance from non-TSE subsidiaries. In Europe, the Netherlands operations reported a positive EBITDA for the first time in six quarters, while the UK business continued to experience EBITDA losses.

Commenting on the Nifty crossing 25,000 mark Raj Vyas, Vice President – Research, Teji Mandi said that Fed Chair Jerome Powell in the post FOMC meeting conference gave a clear indication about a likely possibility of a rate cut in its September meeting though the decision to cut will be data dependent and not data-point dependent. Following this, the US-10 year bond yields have fallen by close to 4.03% vs 4.14% earlier and this has resulted to be positive for metal stocks back home as falling bond yields are positive for them.

Vyas also added that The event thus had a positive impact on global markets including the Indian market, which touched the psychological 25000 mark on Nifty which is also backed by good quarterly earnings, falling fiscal deficit and cooler inflation.

“Indian equities started the first day of August by making a record high. Nifty crossed the 25k level for the first time, making a silver jubilee on the charts. The index took 24 trading sessions to complete a 1000-point rally, the third-fastest in the index’s history. Nifty has gained around 11% in the last 3 months. This rally is driven by healthy GDP growth, control inflation, strong domestic liquidity both from retail as well as institutional participants, and a progressive monsoon,” said Ajay Menon, MD & CEO of Broking & Distribution at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. “Global cues have been supportive after the US Fed indicated a possible rate cut in September. We expect this positive momentum to continue going forward driven by healthy macros, India’s strong position globally, and steady corporate earnings.”

Shares of Adani Ports and SEZ rose 2.2% to an intraday high of Rs 1,604.95 after the company’s net profit in Q1 grew 47% on year to Rs 3,113 crore in comparison to Rs 2,119 crore in Q1 of FY25.

“A possible rate cut hinted during September is expected to have a cooling effect on the gold prices. However, the situation depends on which way the inflation trendline is heading. The potential rate cut by the US Fed will go a long way in bringing back the sheen to the Indian jewellery exports,” said Colin Shah, MD of Kama Jewelry. The price of yellow metal is currently hovering at an attractive level post the announcement of a customs duty cut in the union budget. Consumers have already started making the most out of this period of attractive gold rates and with festive as well as wedding season in sight, the sentiment is leaning on the positive for this quarter, concluded Shah.

Adani Ports & SEZ reported a jump of 47% on year in its net profit of Rs 3,113 crore in Q1 of FY25 in comparison to Rs 2,119 crore posted in the same period a year ago. The company’s revenue rose 21% on year to Rs 7,559 crore in Q1 from Rs 6,247 in the corresponding period a year ago.

The stock of Coal India rose as much as 3.7% to hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 541.50 a day after the company released its Q1 numbers. The state-run firm reported a net profit of Rs 10,959 crore in Q1 of FY25, up 4% on year. Its revenue from operations grew to Rs 36,465 crore in Q1 FY25 against Rs 35,983 crore it posted in the corresponding period of last year.

WTI crude futures surged by 4% yesterday, driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East after Iran reportedly ordered a retaliatory strike on Israel following the assassination of a Hamas leader on Iranian soil. “Today, WTI crude oil prices extended gains and are trading near a week high of $78.70/bbl. This was fueled by the geopolitical risk premium following the twin strikes in Iran and Lebanon, along with a fifth consecutive U.S. inventory draw. However, any significant upside may be limited ahead of the OPEC+ meeting today, where no changes to output policy are expected,” said Kaynat Chainwala, Assistant Vice President of Commodity Research at Kotak Securities.

Power Grid Corp, NTPC, and Bharti Airtel were the top three stocks contributing to the index.

Courtesy: BSE

The stock of Phoenix Mills fell almost 3% to an intraday low of Rs 3,499.80 after the company’s net profit declined 3.3% on year to Rs 232.54 crore in Q1 of FY25 against Rs 240.50 crore it posted in the same period a year ago. However, the company’s sales rose 11.54% on year to Rs 904.14 crore in the quarter ended June 2024 in comparison to Rs 810.63 crore during the previous quarter ended June 2023.

The NSE Nifty 50 was up 49 points or 0.20% at 25,000, while the BSE Sensex was up 82 points or 0.10% at 81,824.

In today’s trading, Maruti Suzuki led the gainers with a 3.21% rise, followed by Hindalco at 2.43%, Coal India at 2.42%, JSW Steel at 2.10%, and Power Grid at 1.94%. On the flip side, the top losers included M&M, which fell by 1.65%, BPCL down 1.29%, Hero MotoCorp decreasing by 1.09%, Sun Pharma slipping 0.79%, and Eicher Motors declining 0.69%.

Bajaj Auto shares traded higher at Rs 9,664 following the company’s report of strong sales performance for June 2024. The automaker recorded total sales of 354,169 units in June 2024, compared to 319,747 units in June 2023.

The subscription period for Akums Drugs and Pharmaceuticals’ IPO, which closes on August 1, has seen strong investor interest. The issue has been oversubscribed by 4.46 times overall. The retail investor segment has been booked 9 times over, while the non-institutional investor (NII) category has been subscribed 8.5 times.

Also Read: Akums Drugs IPO last day; Here are 8 things to know before you subscribe

Ceigall India Limited’s initial public offering (IPO) has commenced today, with the issue open for subscription until August 5, 2024. The infrastructure construction company has set the price band for its shares between Rs 380 and Rs 401.

The IPO, which is being book-built, aims to raise Rs 1,252.66 crore through its listing on the BSE and NSE. Of this amount, Rs 684.25 crore is expected to be raised through the issuance of fresh shares, while Rs 568.41 crore will come from the offer for sale (OFS) route.

Ahead of the subscription opening, Ceigall India shares have begun trading in the grey market at a premium of Rs 70, according to stock market observers.

JPMorgan has reiterated an ‘Overweight’ rating on Tata Steel, setting a price target of Rs 190 per share. The brokerage firm found no negatives in Tata Steel’s Q1 results.

However, the company’s net debt increased by 6% quarter-on-quarter, making the management’s plans for debt reduction critical. JPMorgan also noted that they do not expect significant changes to consensus estimates.

Shares of Tata Steel gained up to 2% on Thursday, August 1, following the company’s first-quarter results that surpassed expectations. Tata Steel reported a consolidated EBITDA of Rs 6,694.4 crore, exceeding the street’s estimate of Rs 6,320 crore.

Maruti Suzuki’s share price soared nearly 4% to reach a record high on Thursday, following the company’s strong Q1 performance. The stock rallied as much as 3.85%, hitting Rs 13,675.00 on the BSE.

The largest passenger car manufacturer in India reported a significant 47% year-on-year increase in net profit for the first quarter of FY25, reaching Rs 3,650 crore. Additionally, the company’s revenue for Q1FY25 rose by 9.9% year-on-year, totaling Rs 35,531.4 crore.

The IPO is set to open on August 6, with anchor bidding commencing on August 5, and will close on August 8. Allotment details will be finalized on August 9, with refunds and shares credited to accounts on August 12. The company is scheduled to list on August 13.

The IPO includes a fresh issue of Rs 1,666 crore. At the upper price band, the offer for sale (OFS) is valued at Rs 2,527.72 crore, bringing the total issue size to Rs 4,187.72 crore. The company’s market capitalization will be approximately Rs 22,475 crore (around $2.68 billion).

Commenting on the gold and silver outlook Renisha Chainani, Head Research – Augmont – Gold For All said Gold prices have reached new highs above $2500 in international markets as investors are fleeing to safety as tensions between Iran and Israel escalate. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered an immediate strike on Israel after Hamas chief Haniyeh was killed. Bank of Japan also surprised markets by hiking interest rates by 15-basis points yesterday, which triggered a huge sell-off in the USD/JPY pair and supporting gold prices.

Chainani also said that the Fed ended its meeting yesterday with the fed funds rate remaining between 5.25% and 5.5%. Fed Powell acknowledged that inflation is still somewhat elevated despite the easing and the interest rate path ahead will depend on the way how the economy evolves. We are likely to see some profit booking towards $2460 (~Rs 69000) before prices move ahead.