Market Today
The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open lower on February 5 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a negative start for the broader index down 31 points.
The market posted solid gains on February 2, with the Nifty hitting a new high of 22,126.80 and the Sensex rallying more than 1,400 points. The benchmarks gave up some of the gains to close off the day’s high. The Sensex ended 440.33 points, or 0.61 percent, at 72,085.63, and the Nifty 156.30 points, or 0.72 percent, at 21,853.80.
The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty is likely to take immediate support at 21,806, followed by 21,730 and 21,607 levels, while on the higher side, it may see immediate resistance at 21,883, followed by 22,127 and 22,250 levels.
Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms, which could impact Indian as well as international markets.
GIFT Nifty
Trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a negative start for the broader index in India, with a loss of 31 points or 0.14 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around the 21,935.00 level.
Trade setup for today: Top 15 things to know before the opening bell
US Markets
US stocks ended sharply higher on Friday and the S&P 500 registered an all-time closing high as strong earnings and a blowout January employment report boosted confidence in the economy, even while lowering the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates any time soon.
The rally capped a tumultuous week filled with high profile earnings, a Fed rate decision, and renewed jitters over regional banking weakness.
Solid quarterly results from Meta Platforms, opens new tab and Amazon.com, opens new tab helped boost the S&P 500 index, opens new tab and the Nasdaq Composite Index, opens new tab over 1%, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average’s, opens new tab gain was more muted.
All three major US stock indexes notched their fourth consecutive weekly gains. The S&P 500 climbed 1.07 percent to end the session at 4,958.61 points. The Nasdaq gained 1.74 percent to 15,628.95 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.35 percent to 38,654.42 points.
Asian Markets
Asian markets kickstarted this holiday-shortened week mixed as investors awaited policy decisions from key central banks, including from the Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday and the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday.
On Monday, private surveys on service sector activity will be released from China and Hong Kong. Singapore will also release its retail sales figures for December, while Thailand will see its inflation numbers out for January.
India raises windfall tax on crude to Rs 3,200 a tonne
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.
RBI likely to hold rates until mid-year, first cut in Q3 2024: Reuters poll
The Reserve Bank of India will hold its key interest rate steady at 6.50 percent on February 8, according to economists polled by Reuters who expected the central bank to keep rates unchanged until at least July, longer than some developed market central banks.
After hiking its repo rate by a cumulative 250 basis points – much less than most of its major peers – the RBI has kept it untouched since February 2023 as inflation largely remained within the bank’s 2-6 percent target range.
A few weeks ago, RBI chief Shaktikanta Das expressed confidence current monetary policy could bring inflation back to its 4 percent medium-term target.
But with inflation close to the upper band of the target range and India holding onto its title of fastest-growing major economy, a rate cut is unlikely anytime soon.
SBI Q3 net profit plummets 35% to Rs 9,163 crore, asset quality healthy
The State Bank of India (SBI), on February 3, reported a net profit of Rs 9,163 crore for the October-December quarter of the financial year 2023-24, marking a 35 percent fall as compared to Rs 14,205 crore clocked in the year-ago period. The net profit missed an average of five brokerage estimates of Rs 13,525 crore.
The lender, in a press release said that they had an one-time exceptional item of Rs 7,100 crore.h
The net interest income (NII) of the country’s largest bank stood at Rs 39,815 crore, missing estimates of Rs 40,304 crore. Net interest margin of the lender stood at 3.22 percent.
The bank’s gross non-performing asset (NPA) stood at 2.42 percent, down from 3.14 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter last year. On the other hand, net NPA for the quarter stood at 0.64 percent compared to 0.77 percent last year.
Tata Motors Q3 consolidated net profit jumps 2x to Rs 7,025 crore
Tata Motors on February 2 reported a two-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 7,025 crore for the October-December quarter from Rs 2,957.71 crore year ago, helped by robust demand for passenger and commercial vehicles in India, sustained growth in Jaguar Land Rover models, easing raw material costs, price hikes and a superior product mix.
Revenue surged 24.9 percent on-year to Rs 110,577 crore as against Rs 88,489 crore in the same period last year, Tata Motors said in an exchange filing.
The results exceeded analysts’ expectations, which expected the Mumbai-based automaker’s net profit to grow 54 percent year-on-year (YOY) to Rs 4,547 crore in the October-December quarter. The estimates also suggested that revenue will shoot up by 22 percent on-year to Rs 1,08,169 crore.
The Tata Group company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) jumped by a sharp 42.5 percent YoY to Rs 15,333 crore, and operating margin expanded by 171 basis points to 13.94 percent.
IndiGo Q3 net profit soars 111%
InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, the parent company of India’s largest budget airline IndiGo, on February 2 posted an 111 percent jump in net profit in the December quarter, helped led by continued demand for air travel and a fuel surcharge introduced in October.
Net profit came in at Rs 2,998.12 crore against Rs 1,422.6 crore in the year-ago, the air carrier told exchanges.
Revenue surged 30 percent to Rs 19,452.15 crore.
IndiGo’s total income jumped to Rs 20,062.2 crore from Rs 15,410.2 crore in the year-ago period, the release said.
FII and DII data
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.
Stocks under F&O ban on NSE
The NSE has added Hindustan Copper to the F&O ban list for February 5, while retaining India Cements, Indus Towers, SAIL, and Zee Entertainment Enterprises to the said list.
With inputs from Reuters and other agencies
