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Benchmark equity indices closed at lifetime highs, led by strong gains in technology-related stocks and renewed hopes that the Fed would pause rate hikes. Further, strong inflows from foreign institutional investors supported the rally. For the week, the Sensex jumped 780.45 points or 1.2% to settle at 66,060.90 and the broader Nifty 50 index jumped 232.7 points or 1.2% to close at 19,564.50.
In broader markets, the BSE Midcap index climbed 1.36% to close at 29,393, while the BSE Smallcap index soared 1.73% to 33,701.90.
Top gainers among Nifty sectoral indices were IT [4.69%], Metal [3.03%], Media [1.68%], Realty [1.58%], and Pharma [1.28%]. Top losers were PSU Bank [-1.54%] and Consumer Durables [-0.49%]. Nifty Energy index ended flat.
In cash segment, FIIs were net buyers for Rs 5,417.8 crore and DIIs were net sellers Rs 1,251.2 crore.
Indian rupee fell by 8 paise to 82.16 against the US dollar on Friday.
Company News
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): The company’s net profit was up 16.8% YoY at Rs 11,074 crore and revenue rose 13% YoY at Rs 59,381 crore. In dollar terms, the revenue grew by 4% as against the previous quarter to $7,226 million, the company said in a release. The growth was attributed to strong growth in total contract value (TCV) deal wins despite a tough business environment. The company’s order book at the end of Q1FY24 stood at $10.2 billion, and the book-to-bill ratio stood at 1.4.
State Bank of India (SBI): The lender has raised Rs 3,101 crore capital via additional tier I bonds (AT1) at a coupon of 8.1%, which is 15 basis points lower than the pricing for its previous AT1 bond issued at 8.25% in March 2023. The base issue size for AT1 bonds was Rs 3,000 crore, with green shoe of Rs 7,000 crore. Rating agency CRISIL has assigned an “AA+” rating to AT1 bonds (Under Basel III regulations).
HCLTech: The IT services company posted 7.6% YoY growth in net profit in the first quarter of fiscal 2024. Sequentially, however, net profit was down by 11.2% due to ramp-downs in deals and verticals like hi-tech and telecom. Net profit for Q1FY24 stood at Rs 3,534 crore, which was lower than analyst estimates. Consolidated revenue for the quarter grew 12% YoY at Rs 26,296 crore, and in constant currency terms, revenue slipped 1.3% QoQ. HCLTech’s board of directors declared an interim dividend of Rs 10 per equity share for the financial year 2023-24.
Wipro: The software services provider recorded a 6.6% sequential decline in consolidated profit at Rs 2,870 crore for quarter ended June 2023. Its revenue fell by 1.8% QoQ to Rs 22,755 crore, while revenue in dollar terms at $2,778.5 million. The order book stood at $1.2 billion during the quarter against $1.1 billion in previous quarter.
Larsen and Toubro (L&T): The company’s Kattupalli Shipyard near Chennai has qualified for the Master Shipyard Repair Agreement (MSRA) after elaborate assessment by the US Navy and the Military Sealift Command. “The agreement marks yet another step in the growing relationship between the biggest and the oldest democracies of the world, further strengthening the strategic partnership between them in the defence sector”, the company said in a press release.
Ultratech Cement: The company announced the commissioning of 1.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) brownfield cement capacity at Sonar Bangla in West Bengal, taking the Unit’s capacity to 3.3 mtpa. With this, the cement maker said that it has completed the first phase of expansion in the Eastern region. The company has commissioned cement capacity of 10.3 mtpa in the region over the last two years, catering to the rapidly growing cement demand in the region.
Wipro: The IT major said in an exchange filing that it has launched Wipro ai360, a comprehensive AI-first innovation ecosystem, with the goal of integrating AI into every platform, every tool, and every solution used internally and offered to clients. It also plans to invest $1 billion in advancing AI capabilities over the next three years.
Federal Bank: The private lender posted a standalone net profit of Rs 854 crore for the quarter ended June 2023, rising 42% compared to Rs 601 crorein Q1FY23. The net interest income (NII) for the first quarter rose nearly 20% to Rs 1,919 crore. It was Rs 1,605 crore in the same period last year. The total income for the first quarter came in at Rs 5,756 crore, up 41%, compared with Rs 4,081 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. Operating profit for the quarter under review stood at Rs 1,302 crore, up 34% from a year ago. The lender’s provisions fell 7% to Rs 155 crore during the June quarter, compared with Rs 167 crore in the year-ago period and its net NPAs improved to 0.69% from 0.94% a year ago.
Adani Enterprises: The company raised Rs 1,250 crore through allotment of 1,25,000 secured, unrated, unlisted, redeemable, non-convertible debentures of a face value of Rs 1,00,000 each on private placement.
Jubilant Foodworks: The company plans to invest Rs 750 crore towards capital expenditure this fiscal to be spent for opening around 220 outlets and others. Sameer Khetarpal, MD and CEO of Jubilant FoodWorks, said the company plans to open 30 to 35 Popeyes restaurants in the current financial year to take the store count to 50 from the present 18 restaurants.
Prestige Estates: The company has registered sales of Rs 3,914.7 crore, up 30% annually, in the quarter ended June 30, the company said in a regulatory filing. The collections from the sales stood at Rs 2,740.8 crore, up by 28% year on year (YoY). The sales during this period touched 3.83 million square feet (msf) of development with an average realisation of Rs 10,244 per square foot for apartments, villas and commercial. The average realisation for plots stood at Rs 5,007 per sq ft. The company sold 2,276 units in Q1 FY24 and launched one new project of 3.12 msf. The total completions during the quarter stood at 5.90 msf.
Adani Green Energy: The company reported a 70% YoY jump in energy sales at 6,023 million units in Q1FY24, as against the sale of 3,550 million units in Q1FY23. The operational capacity increased by 43% YoY to 8,316 MW in the reported quarter with the addition of 1,750 MW solar–wind hybrid, 212 MW solar and 554 MW wind power plants, the company said. The solar portfolio CUF (Capacity Utilisation Factor) stood at 26.9% with 40 bps improvement on a YoY basis, backed by 99.7% plant availability. Its wind portfolio CUF stood at 38.7% with 830 bps reduction on a yearly basis. The reduction is primarily due to relatively lower wind speed, which was higher last year.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M): The automaker said that the total production in June 2023 was 64,063 units, up by 19.10% from 53,788 units produced in the same period last year. The auto major’s total sales rose 16.77% to 59,924 units in June 2023 as against 51,319 units sold in the same period a year ago. On the other hand, exports for the period under review declined 9.79% YoY to 2,505 units.
Elgi Equipments: Shares of the company surged over 14% in intraday trade after securing a 10-year supply order from Siemens. As part of the order, the company will supply and maintain air generation and treatment units and aux compressors. The order is required to provide 35 years of maintenance from the date of supply.
Delta Corp: The company shares plummeted 28.8% in intraday trading on the NSE, after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council decided to levy 28% GST on online gaming, horse racing and casinos on full value of the bets.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M): The company is in advanced talks with British International Investment (BII) and some other global investors to raise up to Rs 5,000 crore ($605 million) for its electric vehicles (EV) unit, The Economic Times reported citing sources. The company has outlined a capital expenditure of close to Rs 10,000 crore in its EV subsidiaries between FY22 and FY27.
JBM Auto: The company said it has won orders for supplying about 5000 electric buses to various STUs in the states of Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Telangana, Orissa among others, multiple Fortune 500 companies and leading corporates of the country. Different applications such as city bus, staff bus, tarmac coach, etc. in both, 9 meters and 12 meters categories will be delivered for these orders, the company said in an exchange filing.
Economy News
India’s retail inflation grew 4.81% in June, after four months of decline, as food prices surged, showed government data. Inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 4.31% (revised upward from 4.25%) in May and 7% in June 2022.
India’s industrial production rose to 5.2% in May from 4.5% in April 2023, mainly due to good performance by the manufacturing and mining sectors, according to the official data released on Wednesday. The factory output growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) stood at 19.7% in May 2022.
The wholesale price-based inflation rate declined to (-) 4.12% in June on easing prices of food, fuel and manufactured items. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation in May was (-) 3.48%. In June last year, it was 16.23%. Inflation in food articles declined to (-) 1.24% in June as against (-) 1.59% in May, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said. Fuel and power basket inflation eased to (-) 12.63% in June from (-) 9.17% in May.
India’s merchandise trade deficit in June fell to $20.13 billion from $22.1 billion in May, the government data showed. Merchandise exports stood at $32.97 billion, while imports were $53.10 billion in June. In the previous month, merchandise exports were $34.98 billion, while imports stood at $57.10 billion. Meanwhile, Services exports in June stood at $27.12 billion, while imports were at $15.88 billion. In May, services exports were $25.30 billion and imports were $13.53 billion.
Global Markets
The US markets ended higher as data showed easing of inflation in the US economy and boosted speculation that the Federal Reserve is closer to ending its tight monetary policy. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 2.29%, the S&P 500 index surged 2.42% and the Nasdaq soared 3.32%.
On the economic front, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the consumer price index increased by 3% annually in June, down from 4% in May. Meanwhile, core CPI, which excludes volatile items like food and energy, cooled to 4.8% on yearly basis and 0.2% on monthly basis.
The US producer price index rose in June less than anticipated, climbing 0.1% on a yearly basis, while core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, climbed 0.1%, which was also lower than expectations. Core producer prices rose 2.4% over a 12-month period. Further, weekly jobless claims fell to 2,37,000, from 2,48,000 on the preceding week.
Chinese equities rallied after fresh hopes of further Chinese stimulus and gains in technology stocks. The Shanghai Stock Exchange index rose 1.29%, while the CSI 300 added 1.92%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index soared 5.71%.
Meanwhile, China’s CPI remained unchanged in June from a year earlier. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, fell to 0.4% in June from the previous month’s 0.6%. The PPI slipped to a lower-than-expected rate of 5.4%.
Japanese equities ended lower, with the Nikkei 225 index closing flat, and the broader Topix index falling 0.7%. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen appreciated to JPY 138 against the US dollar, as against JPY 142 in the previous week. Further, the yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) rose to 0.47%, from a prior 0.44%.