Shares in Asia were broadly flat before a monthly U.S. payrolls report that will help define the path forward for Federal Reserve interest rates.
Australian equities edged higher, shares in Japan and Hong Kong equity futures held to tight ranges. Futures contracts for the two U.S. benchmarks were little changed in early Asian trading. China markets remain shut for a weeklong holiday.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1% Thursday while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.4%, though both were well off their lows for the day.
Meanwhile, Brent Crude prices were trading below $85 a barrel, and WTI Crude was below $83-mark. The yield on the 10-year U.S. bond was trading at 4.73% and Bitcoin was above 27,000-level.
At 6:28 a.m., the GIFT Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index's performance in India was up 55 points or up 0.28% at 19,610.5.
India's benchmark stock indices snapped two days of losses to end higher on Thursday, led by advances in Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and ICICI Bank Ltd. Media, information technology, and consumer durables rose, while public sector banks fell.
Overseas investors remained net sellers of Indian equities for the 12th consecutive session on Thursday. While foreign portfolio investors sold stocks worth Rs 1,864.2 crore, domestic institutional investors mopped up equities worth Rs 521.4 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.
The local currency weakened two paise to close at Rs 83.26 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday.
Stocks To Watch: TCS, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, L&T, Sun Pharma, Vedanta In Focus
TCS: The IT major completed the acquisition of Kaleyra Inc. and its merger with TC Delaware Technologies, making the merged entity a direct subsidiary of TCS. Kaleyra will apply for delisting on the New York Stock Exchange.
Tata Motors: Retail sales for JLR grew 21% year-on-year to 1,06,561 units, while wholesales were at 96,817 units, up 29% year-on-year. JLR's order book stands at 1.68 lakh units and states an expectation of becoming free cash flow positive with £300 million in Q2 FY24.
Bajaj Finance: The company will raise an aggregate of Rs 10,000 crore through a combination of preferential issues and qualified institutional placements. The company's board approved raising Rs 8,800 crore via QIP, along with approval to raise Rs 1,200 crore via preferential issue of warrants.
L&T: The company announced the voluntary liquidation of its joint venture L&T Hydrocarbon Caspian (Azerbaijan), which has been approved by the Azerbaijani government. Consequently, L&T Hydrocarbon Caspian has ceased to be a JV.
Sun Pharma: The drugmaker will acquire a 37.76% stake in Ezerx Health Tech for Rs 28.69 crore and a 4.04% stake in Agatsa Software for Rs 4.5 crore.
Tata Steel/TCIL: Tinplate Company of India, a listed subsidiary of Tata Steel, received a penalty of Rs 39.87 crore for non-payment of an earlier tax demand order of Rs 13.31 crore for FY17. The demand order is presently pending appeal before the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes.
Vedanta: CRISIL updated its rating to CRISIL AA/Watch Negative/CRISIL A1+ from earlier CRISIL AA/Negative/CRISIL A1+.
Godrej Consumer: The company estimated double-digit growth in organic sales in the September quarter despite facing challenges in a tough macroeconomic environment. It reported mid-single-digit growth in the home care segment and consolidated volumes. Consolidated sales grew in the low single digits.
Adani Wilmar: Edible oil volumes grew 5% year-on-year during the second quarter of FY24. Food and FMCG volumes grew 18% YoY, and industry essentials volumes grew 25% YoY. However, standalone sales value growth fell 13% over the previous year, reflecting the price cuts taken on account of the sharp fall in global edible oil prices.
BHEL: The company received two awards in arbitration proceedings against Jaiprakash Power Ventures in two separate cases.
Lupin: The drugmaker received tentative approval from the USFDA for Tolvaptan tablets to be manufactured at its Nagpur facility. The Tolvaptan tablets had estimated annual sales of $287 million in the U.S.
Mankind Pharma: The company faced disruptions at the Berimok, Sikkim facility due to disturbances in power/utility supply because of flash floods in the river Teesta. No major disruptions in the supply chain are expected, it said.
SJVN: The government will offer up to 1,81,000 shares with a face value of Rs 10 each to eligible employees at Rs 70.10 per share via offer-for-sale. The offer shall remain open from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10.
Manappuram Finance: Unit Asirvad Micro Finance filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for a fresh issue of equity shares amounting to Rs 1,500 crore. The company also plans to raise up to Rs 300 crore in a pre-IPO round. If such placement is completed, the fresh issue size will be reduced.
KPI Green Energy: The company received new orders aggregating to 12.10 MW for executing solar power projects, out of which 3.10 MW capacity was undertaken by KPI Green Energy and 9 MW capacity by unit Sun Drops Energia.
REC: CARE Ratings upgraded the long-term perpetual bond rating to CARE AAA; stable from earlier AA+; stable
Lemon Tree Hotels: The company opened a 669-room hotel in Mumbai, India's largest by number of rooms, under the Aurika Hotels & Resorts brand.
Laxmi Organic Industries: The board approved the floor price for QIP at Rs 283.27 per share. The issue price will be determined by the company in consultation with the book-running lead managers appointed for the issue.
Redtape: The company will seek approval from the central government for the appointment of Rashid Ahmed Mirza as executive chairman for a period of five years.
Archean Chemicals: The company incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary, Idealis Chemicals.
Rate-sensitive sectors: The RBI will announce the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee on Friday. Rate-sensitive stocks like real estate, auto, banks, and financial services will be in focus.
Mining companies: The auction of critical mineral blocks will take place in the next few weeks, Mines Additional Secretary Sanjay Lohiya said. The periodicity of the auction will depend on the availability of mines and demand, he said.
New Listing
Valiant Laboratories: The shares will debut on stock exchanges on Friday at an issue price of Rs 140 apiece. The Rs 152.46 crore IPO was subscribed 29.76 times on its final day, led by non-institutional investors (73.64 times), institutional investors (20.83 times), and retail investors (16.06 times).
Block Deals
Infibeam Avenues: Abhishek Mayur Desai bought 60 lakh shares (0.22%), and Mayur Desai sold 60 lakh shares (0.22%) at Rs 17.4 apiece.
Bulk Deals
Infibeam Avenues: Citadel Securities India Markets bought 1.46 crore shares (0.54%) at Rs 18.52 apiece.
Insider Trades
CESC: Promoter Saregama India sold 1.54 crore shares on Sept. 25.
RPSG Ventures: Promoter Saregama India sold 3.08 lakh shares on Sept. 25.
Ion Exchange: Promoters Bimal Jain sold 1.07 lakh shares and Mahabir Prasad Patni sold 95,144 shares between Sept. 20 and 28.
Pledge Share Details
Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals: Promoter Zuari Industries created a pledge of 10.77 lakh shares on Sept. 29.
Who's Meeting Whom
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank: To meet investors on Oct. 5 and 19.
TD Power Systems: To meet analysts and investors on Oct. 11.
Anand Rathi Wealth: To meet analysts and investors on Oct. 13
Pyramid Technoplast: To meet analysts and investors on Oct. 10.
Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services: To meet analysts and investors on Oct. 10.
Persistent Systems: To meet analysts and investors on Oct. 19.
Trading Tweaks
Ex/Record-date Stock Split: Surya Roshni.
Ex/Record-date Dividend: Accelya Solutions India.
Move Into Short Term ASM Framework: Edelweiss Financial Services.
Move Out Of Short Term ASM Framework: Transindia Real Estate, Surya Roshni, Jayaswal Neco Industries.
F&O Cues
Nifty October futures ended at 19,565, a premium of 95.75 points.
Nifty October futures rose 6.27%, with 13,068 shares in open interest.
Nifty Bank October futures ended at 44,402.5, a premium of 188.35 points.
Nifty Bank October futures fell 4.51%, with 7,995 shares in open interest.
Securities in the ban period: Delta Corp., India Bulls Housing Finance, Punjab National Bank, and Manappuram Finance
Money Market Update
The Indian Rupee weakened 2 paise to close at Rs 83.26 against the U.S dollar on Thursday.
Research Reports
Carysil - Demand To Improve From Hereon, Maintain 'Buy': Yes Securities
Mahindra Finance - Strong Disbursements Ahead Of Festive Season: Nirmal Bang
Westlife Foodworld - Near-Term Demand Pressures, Long-Term Story Intact: Prabhudas Lilladher
Century Plyboards - Weak Near-Term Prospects; Outlook Healthy: HDFC Securities
Retail Sector Check - Looking Beyond The Near-Term Sluggishness Gives A Positive Outlook: Systematix
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