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Benchmark equity indices closed lower as investors were worried over the economic slowdown in China, elevated inflation in India and probable interest rate hike by the Fed. For the week, the Sensex fell 0.57% to 64,948.66 and the Nifty 50 index dropped 0.61% to 19,310.15.
In broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 index slipped 0.05% on a weekly basis, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was down 0.55%.
Top gainers were Media [2.34%], PSU Bank [1.06%], Consumer Durables [0.46%], FMCG [0.22%], Auto [0.09%]. Top losers were Metal [-2.92%], Oil & Gas [-0.92%], Private Bank [-0.90%], IT [-0.7%], and Pharma [-0.55%].
In cash segment, FIIs were net seller for Rs 3379.3 crore and DIIs were net buyers for Rs 3892.3 crore during the week.
The Indian rupee rose by 4 paise to 83.10 against the US dollar on Friday.
Company News
Reliance Industries (RIL): Shares of the company advanced on Friday after the company confirmed that Jio Financial Services listing date is on August 21, 2023. The issued, subscribed and paid-up equity capital consists of 635 crore shares of face value Rs 10 each aggregating to Rs 6,353 crore.
ITC: The company said its consolidated revenue was down 6% at at Rs 18639.5 crore in Q1FY24 as against Rs 19831.3 crore in Q1FY23. Consolidated Ebitda was up 10% at Rs 6670.07 crore in Q1FY24 as against Rs 6077.13 crore in Q1FY23. Net profit rose 16% at Rs 5104.9 crore in Q1FY24 from Rs 4389.8 crore in Q1FY23.
Meanwhile, the company’s board has approved the demerger of its hotel business. Shareholders will get one share in ITC Hotels for every 10 shares held in the parent company. The indicative timeline for listing ITC Hotels is approximately 15 months. The hotel business will be given a licence to use the ‘ITC’ brand. The board has alos approved the acquisition of a 25% stake in Maharaja Heritage from Russell Credit and a 45.36% stake in International Travel House.
HDFC Bank: The private sector lender has launched its life insurance and AMC arms in GIFT City located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. HDFC Life International will offer US dollar-denominated life and health insurance solutions for NRIs as well as the global Indian diaspora. HDFC AMC International will offer fund management and advisory solutions.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC): The PSU said it plans to invest Rs 1 lakh crore by end of 2030 in low-carbon energy opportunities including renewable energy and green hydrogen. The state-owned company said it is in an advanced stage of crafting collaborations with leading players in the energy space on various low-carbon energy opportunities including renewables, green hydrogen, green ammonia and other derivatives of green hydrogen. It also said it is planning to set up two green-field oil to chemicals plants in India.
Vodafone Idea: The telecom company said its consolidated revenue was up 1.16% at Rs 10,655 crore in Q1FY24 as against Rs 10,532 crore in the preceding quarter. Its net loss stood at Rs 7,840 crore in Q1FY24 as against a net loss of Rs 6,419 crore in Q4FY23. Ebitda fell 1.26% to Rs 4,157 crore in Q1FY24 as against Rs 4,210.3 crore in Q4FY23.
Adani Energy Solutions (Adani Transmission): The company said in an exchange filing that it is not engaged in any discussion with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, known as TAQA, for investments up to $2.5 billion in Adani Group firms. Shares of three Adani Group stocks had risen after media reports said that TAQA showed interest in investing in Adani Group companies.
Adani Group: The stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) filed an application with the Supreme Court requesting for 15 more days to submit a report on the Adani-Hindenburg Case. SEBI told the apex court that it has completed investigating 17 out of the 24 transactions it had taken up for probe.
Adani Power: Investment firm GQG Partners and other investors bought about 8.1% stake in Adani Power for over Rs 9,000 crore ($1.1 billion). They bought 31.2 crore shares of Adani Power in a block deal as promoter, Adani family, which held 74.97% in the firm, sold 31.2 crore or an 8.1% stake at an average price of Rs 279.17 per share.
Route Mobile: The company said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Route Mobile (UK), has signed an agreement with Vodafone Idea (VIL) for VIL’s International A2P SMS traffic. Under the agreement, Route Mobile will provide comprehensive A2P monetization solutions to VIL by deploying its Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) driven analytical firewall solution, an SMS Hub on the VIL network, and aggregating international A2P SMS traffic on the VIL network.
InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo): Shares of the company fell 4% on Wednesday after Gangwal family sold IndiGo shares worth $450 million via a block deal, according to various media reports. Gangwal family has offered around 1.56 crore shares (4% stake) at a floor price of Rs 2,400 per share.
Tejas Networks: The company has received a purchase order worth Rs 7,492 crore for equipment from Tata Consultancy Services. The purchase order is for the supply, support and annual maintenance services of its Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment for BSNL’s pan-India 4G/5G network with TCS. Tejas would supply the equipment for one lakh sites that is to be executed during calendar years 2023 and 2024.
Infosys: The IT major and Liberty Global have expanded their collaboration to evolve and scale Liberty Global’s cutting-edge digital entertainment and connectivity platforms. The deal is for an an initial period of five years with an option to extend to 8 years.
Apollo Hospitals: The healthcare chain said its consolidated net profit dropped 47.48% to Rs 166.6 crore in Q1FY24 as compared to Rs 317.2 crore in Q1FY23. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 4,417.8 crore during the quarter, up 16.39% from Rs 3,795.6 crore recorded in the same period last fiscal. During the quarter, the company’s revenue from Healthcare Services was Rs 2,310.7 crore (up 13.71% YoY) and revenue from Digital Health & Pharmacy Distribution was Rs 1,805.4 crore (up 22.05% YoY) and the revenue from Retail Health & Diagnostics stood at Rs 318.7 crore (up 8.77% YoY).
One 97 Communications (Paytm): Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba Group firm Antfin has offloaded 6.53 crore equity shares or a 10.3% stake in the payment app Paytm operator, in an off-market transactions. As a result, Antfin’s stake in Paytm has been reduced to 13.49% from 23.79%. Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma was the buyer in the off-market transaction.
Economy News
India’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation in July 2023 rose to 7.44% from 4.87% (revised) in June 2023, due to high food and vegetable prices. The CPI-based inflation was above RBI’s upper tolerance level of 6%. The core inflation, which excludes food & beverages and fuel & light, fell to 4.9% in July 2023 from 5.1% in June 2023.
The wholesale price-based inflation continued to be in the negative territory for the fourth straight month in July at (-) 1.36% on easing prices of fuel, despite food items becoming expensive. The WPI-based inflation rate in June stood at (-) 4.12% and in July 2022 stood at 14.07%. Inflation in food articles surged to 14.25% in July 2023 from 1.32% in June 2023.
India’s Merchandise exports declined for the sixth month in a row in July with outbound shipments down 15.88% YoY, while imports declined sharply by 17% YoY.
India’s Service exports rose to $27.17 billion in July 2023 from $24.26 billion in July 2022. Services imports rose to $14.85 billion in July 2023 from $14.06 billion in July 2022. Trade deficit narrowed to $8.35billion in July 2023 from $15.24 billion in July 2022.
India’s imports from Russia doubled to $20.45 billion during the April-July 2023 quarter due to increasing inbound shipments of crude oil and fertiliser, data from the commerce ministry showed.
Global Markets
The US markets closed lower as investors were worried over rising long-term bond yields and likelihood of higher interest rate. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.21%, the Nasdaq plunged 2.6% and the S&P 500 index dropped 2.11%. The Federal Reserve released the minutes of the recently concluded FOMC meeting and the minutes showed that central bankers believe the interest rated must be increased to tame elevated inflation.
The US retail sales rose 0.7% month-on-month in July as against 0.2% in the preceding month, according to the Commerce Department. Excluding the volatile auto segment, retail sales rose 1% MoM, and jumped 3.2% YoY.
Chinese equities markets closed lower due to pessimism over the country’s flagging economic recovery. The country’s statistics agency revealed that China’s economic activity weakened as industrial output and retail sales grew at a slower-than-expected pace in July compared to the year-ago period. The Shanghai Stock Exchange index tanked 1.80%, the CSI 300 plummeted 2.58%, and the Hang Seng index tanked 5.89%.
Meanwhile, Chinese real estate giant Evergrande has filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court. According to various media reports, the total estimated debt was more than $ 300 billion, making it the heavily leveraged real estate developer.
Japan’s stock markets ended lower with the Nikkei 225 index falling 3.2% and the Topix dropping 2.9%. On the economic front, Japan’s core inflation for July fell to 3.1% from 3.3% in June. Japan’s economy grew by an annualized 6% QoQ in the three months ended June 2023, driven by external demand, with net export growth coming in above forecasts.
The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) rose to 0.64% during the week from 0.58% at the end of the previous week. The Japanese Yen weakened to about JPY 145.5 against the US dollar, from JPY 144.9 in the prior week.