National Stock Exchange building. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Sensex and Nifty are likely to open lower on Monday as the early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 — SGX Nifty Futures — was trading 0.32% down at 9,988.5 points on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The domestic markets will likely to be steered by earnings of IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as well as the key inflation and IIP data. The market participants are keenly awaiting the second quarter earnings to gauge the direction of equities from here. TCS is all set to announce its earnings for the July-September quarter on 12 October. The macroeconomic data such as Index of Industrial production (IIP) for August and inflation numbers for September are due on Thursday.
The third GST Council meeting since the implementation of Goods and Services Tax in India brought a spate of good news for exporters and small businesses, but also had something to offer to consumers as well, albeit less than what was widely expected. The GST Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, reviewed the rate of tax under GST on as many as 27 goods and services, mostly lowering the tax on these items of common use. However, the number of items discussed for a review of rates in Friday’s meeting in New Delhi was far lower than the 60 items under review, on which the government was expected to cut taxes.
These stocks will be in focus today
Reliance Industries: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries seeks to garner $126 Million by selling Reliance Marcellus assets to BKV Chelsea, an associate of Kalnin Ventures. Reliance Marcellus II, LLC, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries announced the signing of agreements to divest all of its interest in upstream assets in north-eastern and central Pennsylvania.
Axis Bank: The country’s third largest private sector lender Axis Bank has acquired payments wallet Freecharge for Rs 373 crore in an all-cash deal and appointed Sangram Singh as its CEO.
Punjab National Bank: State-owned Punjab National Bank has put assets of as many as 32 bad loans with outstanding loan exposure of Rs 1,176 crore on the block in an effort to bring down its NPAs, PTI reported.
SAIL: India’s largest steel producer SAIL announced the signing of a strategic pact with Posco for collaboration on technical services for its plant in West Bengal.
Zee Entertainment: Media conglomerate Zee Entertainment acquired 100 per cent stake in two media entities, 9X Media and INX Music, in a Rs 160-crore cash deal.
Jaiprakash Associates: Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) said its board had approved the transfer of certain assets and liabilities, including a debt of over Rs 11,834 crore, to its subsidiary Jaypee Infrastructure Development Ltd as part of its efforts to cut the overall borrowing of the company.
IDBI Bank: IDBI Bank said its promoter, the Government of India, has increased its stake in the company to 77.79 per cent by acquiring 3.81 per cent shares through preferential allotment.
PSU banks consolidation: India will have 10-15 public sector banks with government’s majority stake, down from 21 at present, as part of its plan to consolidate banks, PTI reported citing Finance Ministry’s principal economic advisor Sanjeev Sanyal.
Foreign Exchange Reserves: The country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by USD 2.590 billion to USD 399.656 billion in the week ended September 29 due to decline in foreign currency assets, RBI data showed.
Indian Rupee on Friday: The rupee today depreciated by another 24 paise to end at 65.38 against the US dollar.
Indian markets on Friday
Indian equities closed higher on Friday with the benchmark Sensex closing above 31,800 level after 9 trading sessions, the index advanced 530 points in this week as the ongoing GST council meeting brought back the optimism among investors. The broader Nifty 50 too fared in the closing bell, settling beyond 9,950-mark. BSE Sensex added 222 points to finish at 31,814.22 points while NSE Nifty rose as much as 91 points to end at 9,979.7 points.
US markets on Friday
Wall Street shares ended mixed on Friday with the S&P 500 ending a six-day run of record highs as the first monthly decline in US nonfarm jobs in seven years dampened sentiment while pharmacy shares fell on Amazon competition fears. The Nasdaq ended up for a ninth straight day, however, and set its sixth straight record high close, its longest such streak since seven records in February, Reuters reported. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.72 points, or 0.01 percent, to end at 22,773.67, the S&P 500 lost 2.74 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,549.33 and the Nasdaq Composite added 4.82 points, or 0.07 percent, to 6,590.18.
