PremiumIndian indices may witness a positive start on Friday. The indices, on Thursday, fell over 1.2% snapping a three-day three sessions of gains. In the US, the Wall Street too ended a four-day winning on run Thursday as Facebook-owner Meta's stock tumbled 26.4%, wiping out over $200 billion. All the three key US benchmark indices ended lower. In Asia, shares in South Korea and Hong Kong advanced, while Japan and Australia saw a decline in their positions.
Diversified entity ITC Ltd reported a 15% increase in consolidated net profit to ₹4,056 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021 as compared to ₹3,526 crore. The cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate's revenue from operations surged 30% to ₹18,365 crore from ₹14,124 crore in the year-ago quarter.
The dollar index was heading for its worst week in nearly two years on Friday as the euro held firm at a three-week high and sterling gained after hawkish shifts from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
The index, which measures the greenback against six major peers was at a three-week low of 95.271, having tumbled 2% this week - its biggest such fall since March 2020.
That follows sharp gains for the dollar last week as traders rejigged positions preparing for faster Federal Reserve rate hikes than had been previously expected, with about five hikes this year now being factored in.
Oil prices climbed on Friday, extending sharp gains in the previous session as frigid weather swept across large swathes of the United States, threatening to further disrupt oil supplies.
Brent crude rose 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $91.45 a barrel by 0206 GMT, after rising $1.16 on Thursday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 46 cents, or 0.5%, to $90.73 a barrel, having gained $2.01 cents the previous day to settle above $90 for the first time since Oct. 6, 2014.
Both benchmarks are headed for their seventh straight weekly gain.
Diversified entity ITC Ltd on Thursday reported a 15 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to ₹4,118.8 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2021, on the back of robust demand across business verticals.
The company had posted a consolidated net profit of ₹3,587.2 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, ITC Ltd said in a regulatory filing.
Its consolidated total income stood at ₹18,787.72 crore as against ₹14,670.17 crore in the year-ago quarter, it added.
Mark Zuckerberg lost $29 billion in net worth on Thursday as Meta Platforms Inc's stock marked a record one-day plunge, while fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos was set to add $20 billion to his personal valuation after Amazon's blockbuster earnings.
Meta's stock fell 26%, erasing more than $200 billion in the biggest ever single-day market value wipeout for a U.S. company. That pulled down founder and Chief Executive Officer Zuckerberg's net worth to $85 billion, according to Forbes.
Zuckerberg owns about 12.8% of the tech behemoth formerly known as Facebook.
Bezos, the founder and chairman of e-commerce retailer Amazon, owns about 9.9% of the company, according to Refinitiv data. He is also the world's third richest man, according to Forbes.
Amazon.com Inc on Thursday said it was raising the price of its annual U.S. Prime subscriptions by 17%, as it looks to offset higher costs for shipping and wages that it expects to persist this year.
Shares rose as much as 17% in extended trade as Amazon also beat profit expectations for the holiday season. If shares increase on Friday by that much, it would be the stock's biggest percentage gain since October 2009 and grow founder Jeff Bezos' wealth by about $20 billion.
Amazon.com Inc. is giving the market back what Meta Platforms Inc. just took away -- or at least some of it.
The e-commerce giant is poised to add nearly $200 billion in market value if the stock’s 14% gain in after-hours trading following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report holds to Friday’s close. That what would be the biggest single-day gain in U.S. stock market history coming just a day after Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. entered the other end of the record book with a $251 billion wipeout.
Amazon pulled the veil off its sprawling advertising business for the first time on Thursday, revealing a business larger than that of Google's YouTube.
Amazon reported ad revenue of $9.7 billion for the fourth quarter, up 32% from last year, and $31 billion for the year.
YouTube posted $28.8 billion in ad revenue for 2021.
Analyst Benedict Evans on Twitter said that made Amazon's ad revenue similar in size to the entire global newspaper industry, and Statista put global newspaper annual ad spending at $29.5 billion.
Amazon, known for e-commerce, has a lucrative cloud business, AWS, and the ad business is seen as extremely profitable, although Amazon did not break out those profit numbers.
-U.S. payrolls report for January, Friday
-Winter Olympics kick off in China, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin due to attend opening ceremony, Friday
U.S. equity futures rose Friday as Amazon.com Inc. earnings soothed nerves, while a climb in Hong Kong shares aided Asia. Bonds fell on an ever-louder hawkish chorus from key central banks.
Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 were up about 1.5% after e-commerce titan Amazon and Snap Inc. soared in late trading on strong earnings. A tech index advanced in Hong Kong -- which reopened from a prolonged holiday -- helping to steady MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific gauge. Japanese equities dipped.
The Nasdaq 100 fell the most since 2020 on Thursday, hurt by a historic $251 billion wipeout for Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. But Amazon could add nearly $200 billion in market value if the stock’s 14% gain in after-hours trading holds to Friday’s Wall Street close.
Pinterest Inc delivered its first annual net income on Thursday as strong advertising revenue drove its fourth-quarter results past Wall Street expectations and softened the blow from a shrinking user base.
The image-sharing firm's shares surged up to 20% in extended trading, bouncing back from a dismal Thursday session in which tech stocks were rattled by Meta Platforms Inc's disappointing earnings outlook and weak user numbers.
Amazon reported Thursday that its profits nearly doubled in the final three months of last year, even as it contended with surging costs tied to a snarled supply chain and labor shortages.
The Seattle-based online behemoth also said it is raising its annual prime membership fee in the U.S. to $139 per year from $119. It's the first price hike for the Prime membership since 2018.
Shares of Amazon jumped nearly 15% in after-market trading.
Wall Street snapped a four-session winning streak on Thursday, with all three benchmarks ending lower after Facebook-owner Meta Platforms' dour forecast sent its stock plummeting and halted a nascent recovery built on upbeat earnings from other big tech.
Meta shares sank 26.4%, wiping around more than $200 billion off its market value, according to Reuters calculations, as it blamed Apple's privacy changes and increased competition from rivals such as TikTok for its disappointing outlook.
The decline in market capitalization was the largest ever recorded by a U.S. company in a single session, eclipsing when Apple Inc shed $180 billion on Sept. 3, 2020.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 518.17 points, or 1.45%, to 35,111.16, the S&P 500 lost 111.94 points, or 2.44%, to 4,477.44 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 538.73 points, or 3.74%, to 13,878.82.
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