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Indian equity indices ended with major gains on Friday. After opening at 19,258.15, the Nifty 50 index marched higher as the session progressed to settle above the 17,400 level. Metal, auto and PSU bank stocks witnessed buying demand while healthcare and pharma shares declined.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rallied 555.75 points or 0.86% to 65,387.16. The Nifty 50 index added 181.50 points or 0.94% to 19,435.30.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.75%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,177 shares rose and 1,488 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, jumped 5.78% to 11.37.
Economy:
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 58.6 in August from 57.7 in July, indicating second-best improvement in the health of the sector for nearly three years.
Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: The PMI results for India painted a vibrant picture of the nation's manufacturing landscape in August. Robust and accelerated increases in new orders and production suggest that the sector looks set to provide a strong contribution to second quarter (fiscal) economic growth.?
Meanwhile, India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 7.8% in the April-June quarter of current fiscal (2023-2024), compared to a growth of 6.1% in the previous January-March quarter of fiscal 2022-23, according to official data shared by the National Statistical Office.
Output of eight key infrastructure sectors, known as the core sector, marginally slowed to 8% in July from 8.3% in June. This is due to a low base effect and positive growth in all the eight sectors during the month. In July last year, the core sector had grown by 4.8%. The print for June 2023 was also revised slightly upwards to 8.3% from 8.2% estimated earlier.
IPO Update:
The initial public offer (IPO) of Rishabh Instruments received bids for 21.66 crore shares as against 77.90 lakh shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:30 IST on Friday (1 September 2023). The issue was subscribed 27.81 times.
The issue opened for bidding on Wednesday (30 August 2023) and it will close on Friday (1 September 2023). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 418-441 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 34 equity shares and in multiples thereof.
August Auto Sales Impact:
Tata Motors rose 1.56%. The auto major's domestic and international sales for August 2023 stood at 78,010 vehicles, down 1.06% compared to 78,843 units sold in August 2022.
Mahindra & Mahindra added 0.76%. The car manufacturer said that its overall auto sales for the month of August 2023 stood at 70,350 vehicles, registering a growth of 19.14% as against 59,049 vehicles sold in August 2022. Further, M&M's total tractor sales (domestic + exports) rose 1% YoY to 21,676 units in August 2023 from 21,520 units sold in August 2022.
Bajaj Auto gained 1.19% said that its total sales declined 15% to 3,41,648 units in August 2023 as compared with 4,01,595 units sold in same quarter last year.
TVS Motor Company advanced 2.48% after the company registered a sales growth of 4% increasing from 3,33,787 units in August 2022 to 3,45,848 units in August 2023.
Eicher Motors added 1.88% after the auto maker's unlisted subsidiary, VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV) reported 29.4% year on year jump in commercial vehicles (CV) sales to 6,476 units in August 2023.
Maruti Suzuki India rallied 3.25% after its total sales in the month of August 2023 grew 14.48% to 189,082 units as compared with 165,173 units sold in the same period last year.
Ashok Leyland added 0.16%. The company announced that total vehicle sales jumped by 10% to 15,576 units in August 2023 from 14,121 units in August 2022.
Escorts Kubota fell 0.87%. The company's Agri Machinery segment sold 5,593 tractors in August 2023, up 8.5% as compared with 6,111 tractors sold in August 2022.
VST Tillers Tractors declined 1.50%. The tractor manufacturer's total sales increased 12.08% to 4,037 units in August 2023 from 3,602 units sold in August 2022.
Steel Strips Wheels shed 1.89% after the company announced that it has achieved net turnover of Rs 389.77 crore in August 2023, recording a growth of 10.44% on YoY basis.
Stocks in Spotlight:
HCL Technologies rose 1.12%. The company had completed the acquisition effective 31 August 2023 of 100% stake in ASAP Group, an automotive engineering services provider headquartered in Germany.
ITD Cementation India jumped 7.59% after the company announced that it has secured a marine contract worth approximately Rs 3,290 crore.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation rallied 3.93% after Fitch Ratings affirmed the company's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) at 'BBB-' with 'stable' outlook.
NCC shed 0.41% after the company received 4 new orders aggregating to Rs 8,398 crore in the month of August 2023 relating to Electrical Division.
Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) gained 2.48% after the company informed the appointment of Sanjay Swarup as chairman & managing director of CONCOR from the date of his assumption of charge of the post on or after 1 October 2023.
Balaji Amines fell 0.58%. The company announced that its consolidated net profit declined 57.1% to Rs 52.73 crore in Q1 FY24 from Rs 122 crore posted in Q1 FY23. Revenue from operations slumped 30.8% to Rs 463.67 crore in Q1 FY24 as compared with Rs 670.17 crore in Q1 FY23.
Aeroflex Industries added 0.89% after the company announced that it has repaid the entire outstanding Kotak Mahindra Bank loan amounting to Rs. 32.49 crore from the proceeds of initial public offer and internal accruals.
Global Markets:
The Dow Jones futures were up 123 points, indicating a positive opening in the US stock market today.
Markets in Europe and Asia edged higher on Friday as investors await a key U.S. jobs report with the intent to gauge the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.
China's official manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 49.7, representing a softer rate of contraction compared to July's figure of 49.3.
Meanwhile, China's central bank announced first reserve ratio cut in 2023 to counter Yuan depreciation. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would cut the foreign exchange reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 200 basis points (bps) to 4% from 6% beginning September 15, as per reports.
US stocks ended mixed on Thursday after inflation and weekly jobless data. Investors are keenly awaiting employment data due on Friday for clues on the Fed's monetary policy outlook.