Published on: January 7, 2025
Indian equity indices bounced back from previous session losses, closing higher on January 7 amid broad-based sectoral gains, excluding the IT sector. The Sensex rose 234.12 points (0.30%) to 78,199.11, while the Nifty added 91.85 points (0.39%) to settle at 23,707.90.
Key gainers included ONGC, SBI Life, Tata Motors, and HDFC Life, while HCL Tech, TCS, and Eicher Motors were among the top losers. The market was supported by advances in oil & gas, realty, energy, and bank sectors.
Broader indices also showed strong performance, with midcaps and smallcaps outperforming the benchmark. Despite the recovery, analysts caution that the market remains under selling pressure, and recommend focusing on stock-specific opportunities during the ongoing earnings season.
Published on: January 7, 2025
Nippon Steel, Japan’s leading steel producer, is focusing on expanding its operations in the U.S. and India as it seeks growth opportunities and protection from the impact of cheap Chinese steel exports.
After its $14.9 billion bid for U.S. Steel was blocked by the White House due to national security concerns, Nippon Steel is exploring other strategies to secure its position in global markets.
Analysts suggest the company’s future plans depend on overcoming challenges posed by China’s export boom, driven by domestic economic struggles. In response, Nippon Steel is investing more in raw materials and production facilities outside Japan to diversify and strengthen its market presence.
Published on: January 7, 2025
Wipro Ltd. has announced that its board of directors will meet on January 17, 2025, to approve the company's financial results for the October-December quarter of FY25.
The Bengaluru-based software giant, with a market capitalization of around Rs 3,07,000 crore, is also expected to declare an interim dividend for its shareholders. Over the past week, Wipro's shares have seen a decline of 3.18%, and a drop of 4.29% in the last month, although the stock has gained 8.31% in the past year.
In the previous quarter (Q2 FY25), Wipro reported a 6.2% sequential rise in net profit to Rs 3,227 crore, surpassing analysts' expectations. The company’s revenue also rose 1.5% to Rs 22,302 crore.
Published on: January 7, 2025
Equity benchmarks recovered from Monday’s sharp fall, driven by oil and gas stocks after CLSA upgraded ONGC to “high conviction outperform.” The BSE Sensex rose by 234.12 points to 78,199.11, while the NSE Nifty climbed 91.85 points to 23,707.90.
ONGC surged 3.79% and was the top gainer, supported by BPCL's approval of the Maharashtra Natural Gas listing. On the downside, IT stocks like HCL Tech, TCS, and Tech Mahindra faced selling pressure. The broader market outperformed, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices posting strong gains.
Despite a cautious outlook due to growth concerns, global cues remained positive, and key resistance levels were identified for further market direction. Investors are awaiting the upcoming earnings season for clearer insights.
Published on: January 7, 2025
On Tuesday, the Nifty IT index saw a mixed performance, with L&T Technology Services, LTIMindtree, and Persistent Systems leading the gains, while major players like Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, and Tech Mahindra faced declines.
The Nifty50 index was up by 105.5 points, closing at 23,721.55, with 39 out of its 50 stocks trading in the green. Shares of Vodafone Idea, Zomato, and ONGC emerged as the most traded on the NSE.
Meanwhile, Goldiam Intnl, Zota Healthcare, and Cantabil Retail hit fresh 52-week highs, while stocks such as PVR and Spacenet Enterprise recorded new 52-week lows.
Published on: January 7, 2025
On Tuesday's session, top traded securities on the National Stock Exchange included Mobikwik Systems, Zomato, Aegis Logistics, and ONGC, among others. Despite a positive close for the Nifty and Sensex, the market is facing pressures, with some stocks like HCL Technologies and TCS showing losses.
A deeper analysis reveals that market sentiment is highly fickle, as demonstrated by the contrasting performance of the Bajaj Housing Finance IPO and Swiggy’s IPO. Experts argue that while valuations and narratives impact stock prices, it's important to focus on the long-term growth potential of a business.
Published on: January 7, 2025
HCLTech has partially rolled out wage hikes for its junior employees in the October-December quarter, offering modest increases of 1-2% for most, with top performers receiving 3-4% raises. However, the company has not yet provided increments for mid to senior-level employees, with many in the E3 band and above awaiting pay reviews for up to two years.
This comes in contrast to the company’s earlier guidance of 7% average pay hikes and 12-15% raises for top performers. In FY25, several leading IT firms, including Infosys, LTIMindtree, and L&T Tech Services, have delayed wage hikes to manage costs and protect margins amidst a challenging demand environment.
Despite these setbacks, HCL Tech posted strong performance in Q2, surpassing its Tier-1 peers in revenue growth and EBIT margin. The company’s December quarter earnings are expected to show margin growth, even with the impact of wage hikes and furloughs.
Published on: January 7, 2025
HDFC Bank has announced a reduction in its marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) by up to 5 basis points on select tenures, effective from January 7, 2025. After the revision, MCLR will range between 9.15% and 9.45%.
The MCLR system, introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2016, sets the minimum lending rates for banks, affecting borrowers’ loan EMIs.
In addition to the MCLR change, the bank has revised its interest rates for bulk fixed deposits of ₹3 crore to ₹5 crore, with rates now ranging from 4.75% to 7.40% for the general public and 5.25% to 7.90% for senior citizens. Furthermore, HDFC Bank's benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) was recently set at 17.95%.
Published on: January 7, 2025
Indian banks are expected to face continued earnings pressure in the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, primarily due to subdued credit growth, rising funding costs, and ongoing net interest margin (NIM) compression.
While loan growth has slowed to 11.5%, private sector banks like HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are expected to outperform their public sector counterparts, benefiting from stronger asset quality, higher fee income, and more effective management of margin pressure.
Public sector banks, particularly SBI, are likely to see modest earnings growth, supported by stable asset quality and recovery momentum. Analysts suggest that despite short-term challenges, investors should look to larger, well-capitalized banks, such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and SBI, for long-term prospects.
Published on: January 6, 2025
Despite market volatility in the first week of 2025, auto stocks have shown resilience, particularly passenger vehicles (PVs), which saw strong sales growth in December. Maruti Suzuki led the charge with double-digit growth in both the entry-level and UV segments, driving investor confidence and boosting the Nifty Auto Index by 5.12% over the last three sessions.
Eicher Motors saw the biggest gain at 10%, while Maruti, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, and other key players also reported gains between 3% and 9.3%.
While the two-wheeler (2W) sector faced challenges due to inventory correction, strong export growth partially offset the decline. Analysts remain optimistic about the PV sector and the electric two-wheeler (E2W) segment.
The Commercial Vehicle (CV) segment saw steady growth, with fleet operators benefiting from infrastructure development. Positive sentiment is expected to continue, especially with new launches and strong demand for emission-friendly vehicles.
Published on: January 6, 2025
This week promises to be eventful for global markets with key data releases, including US jobs data on Friday and the minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting on Wednesday, potentially influencing expectations for future rate cuts.
Asian markets are off to a mixed start, with the Nikkei down 0.8%, and Treasury yields near an eight-month high, strengthening the US dollar. In India, the Nifty 50 and Sensex posted gains last week, with sectors like PSU Banks, Media, and Pharma showing positive momentum.
Attention will be on ITC, as the demerger with ITC Hotels takes effect today, impacting the share price adjustment. Several prominent companies will report their Q3 updates, including Dabur India, Marico, HDFC Bank, and IndusInd Bank, with mixed growth projections.
Additionally, three mainboard IPOs are scheduled, with notable listings including Standard Glass Lining and Quadrant Future Tek. Follow the latest developments and stock movements on NDTV Profit for updates.
Published on: January 6, 2025
The Indian government has reallocated natural gas supplies, cutting the amount used for LPG production and redirecting it to city gas retailers, including Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) and Adani-Total Gas Ltd, to help meet their CNG and piped cooking gas needs.
This decision follows a reduction of up to 40% in gas supplies from older fields like Mumbai High and Bassein in October and November 2024, which led to CNG price hikes.
To address this, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas ordered a diversion of 1.27 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) of gas to city gas entities for the January-March quarter.
State-owned GAIL and ONGC, previously responsible for LPG production, will now use higher-priced gas or LNG to compensate for the lost volumes. The changes are expected to increase gas supplies to city gas retailers by mid-January.
Despite the price hikes, the government continues to subsidize LPG for domestic use, with the financial impact expected to be borne by the government. This shift in allocation comes as the supply of legacy APM gas from older fields continues to decline, affecting the availability of fuel for CNG production.
Published on: January 6, 2025
Indian benchmark equity indices, the BSE Sensex and Nifty50, dropped over 1.5% on Monday after opening higher, pressured by declines in both private and state-owned banks as well as consumer stocks.
The market slump was triggered by lackluster quarterly updates from key companies, along with the detection of three Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases in India. The BSE Sensex fell more than 1,400 points, trading below the 77,900 level, while the Nifty50 dropped over 400 points, falling below 23,600.
The market capitalization of all listed companies on the BSE fell by Rs 11.85 lakh crore to Rs 437.93 lakh crore. The Nifty PSU Bank index declined by 3.4%, led by Union Bank of India’s 7% drop.
Consumer stocks also took a hit, with Dabur India falling by 4% following a weak sales growth estimate.
Experts suggest that ongoing FII selling, combined with the rising US dollar index and bond yields, will continue to weigh on the market, though domestic resilience could provide support on declines. Global markets also had a mixed opening, with oil prices rising slightly amid colder weather in the Northern Hemisphere.
Published on: January 6, 2025
Infosys, India’s second-largest IT services firm, has postponed its annual wage hikes to the fourth quarter of the current financial year (Q4FY25), a shift from its usual schedule.
This delay highlights broader uncertainties in the global IT services market, particularly due to weak discretionary spending, delayed client budgets, and ongoing macroeconomic challenges.
The company had last implemented salary hikes in November 2023 and had planned to introduce them in a phased manner in Q4, with some part effective in January and the remainder in April. Infosys’ rivals, such as HCLTech, LTIMindtree, and L&T Tech Services, also skipped wage increments earlier this year to control costs and maintain profitability.
Despite this, analysts predict that margins for Infosys could be impacted in the December quarter due to furloughs and fewer working days, though these factors will be balanced by pricing gains and cost optimizations under Project Maximus, a margin improvement plan.
The stagnant job market has given IT companies confidence that withholding wage hikes won’t lead to resignations, although some teams continue to offer selective raises to top performers, particularly in high-demand areas like artificial intelligence.
Published on: January 6, 2025
Fertilizer stocks faced significant declines in Monday’s session, with major names like Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd. (-6.88%) and National Fertilizers Ltd. (-6.29%) among the top losers.
Madras Fertilizers Ltd. (-6.15%) and Zuari Agro Chemicals Ltd. (-5.70%) also saw steep losses. On the positive side, Bohra Industries Ltd. (+4.98%) and Madhya Bharat Agro Products Ltd. (+2.68%) emerged as key gainers in the sector.
The broader market also struggled, with the NSE Nifty50 dropping by 388.71 points to 23,616.05 and the BSE Sensex falling by 1,258.12 points to 77,964.99.
While sectors like healthcare, consumer products, and technology saw some gains, the overall market sentiment was negative, as stocks such as ITC Ltd. (-8.09%) and Tata Steel Ltd. (-4.47%) contributed to the decline.