Barometers rise for 6th day, Nifty ends at 17,576.30; Axis Bank soars over 9%

The equity benchmarks ended slightly higher on Friday, extending gains for the sixth trading session. The uptrend was supported by banks and financial stocks. However, metals, pharma and healthcare shares dragged.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 104.25 points or 0.18% to 59,307.15. The Nifty 50 index gained 12.35 points or 0.07% to 17,576.30. In six consecutive sessions, the Sensex has risen by 3.62% while the Nifty has advanced 3.3%.

After the initial uptick, the Nifty oscillated in a narrow range for major part of the session. The index briefly dropped in late trade, but bounced back and settled at 17,576.30 levels. Selling emerged in the second half due to weak European shares amid fears of tight monetary policy.

Meanwhile, domestic investors booked profits in anticipation of the truncated week. The domestic stock market will remain shut on Monday (24th October) and Wednesday (26th October) on account of Diwali. The special 1-hour Muhurat trading session will take place on Monday, 24 October 2022. The trading hour is scheduled in the evening from 06:15 pm to 07:15 pm.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.75% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.60%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,357 shares rose and 2,061 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged.

In the Nifty pack, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI Life Insurance and Hindustan Unilever rose by 1.99% to 9.46%.

Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Divis Labs, Adani Ports & SEZ and UPL fell by between 1.68% to 3.40%.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper jumped to 7.512 as compared with 7.476 at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 82.8500, compared with its close of 82.7950 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 December 2022 settlement declined 0.35% to Rs 49,970.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.46% to 113.40.

The United States 10-year bond yield jumped 0.88% to 4.263.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for December 2022 settlement rose 19 cents or 0.21% at $92.60 a barrel.

Global Markets:

The Dow Jones futures were down 110 points, indicating a negative opening in the US stock market today.

Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Friday as investors await inflation data from several economies.

US stocks ended the session lower on Thursday after investors weighed generally upbeat earnings against the prospect that the Federal Reserve could hold firm on its aggressive policy for longer than they had hoped.

A strong weekly jobless claims in the US and hawkish comments from the US Fed`s Philadelphia President Patrick Harker bolstered concerns about the central bank sticking to aggressively hiking the interest rates further, potentially pushing the American economy to recession.

Remarks from Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker suggested the central bank will "keep raising rates for a while".

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned Thursday, bringing to a close a brief 44-day tenure mired by "mini-budget" chaos, economic turmoil and political infighting. Truss said she will remain in place as caretaker prime minister until a successor is named, with a leadership contest expected to take place over the next week. Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and even former Prime Minister Boris Johnson are among the likely frontrunners to replace Truss.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Axis Bank surged 8.96% to Rs 900.25. It hit a record high of Rs 905 today. The private lender`s net profit surged 70% to Rs 5,329.77 crore on 20% increase in total income to Rs 24,180.08 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22. Net interest income (NII) increased by 31% YoY and 10% QoQ to Rs 10,360 crore. Net interest margin (NIM) for Q2 FY23 stood at 3.96%, up 57 basis points YoY and 36 basis points QoQ. The scrip hit an all time high at Rs 879.95 in intraday today.

ITC declined 1.19% after the company`s standalone net profit rose 20.8% to Rs 4,466 crore on 27.4% increase in net revenue to Rs 15,976 crore in Q2 September 2022 over Q2 September 2021.

Total FMCG segment revenue increased 22% YoY to Rs 11839 crore during the period under review. In the FMCG segment, cigarettes revenue rose by 23% YoY to Rs 6954 crore while the revenue from other FMCG segment improved by 21% YoY to Rs 4885 crore during the quarter. Hotel business revenue stood at Rs 536 crore (up 82% YoY), agri-business revenue was at Rs 3997 crore (up 44% YoY) and paperboards, paper & packaging revenues were at Rs 2288 crore (up 25% YoY) in the second quarter of FY23.

Bajaj Finserv fell 2.39%. The company reported 39% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,557 crore on a 16% increase in total income to Rs 20,803 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

Ambuja Cements shed 1.02%. The cement major`s standalone net profit slipped 68.7% to Rs 137.89 crore on 14% increase in net sales to Rs 3,631 crore in Q3 CY22 over Q3 CY21. The company`s sales volume grew by 12.3% YoY to 6.74 million tons and realizations stood at Rs 5,148 per ton in Q3 CY22 as against Rs 5,154 per ton in Q3 CY21.The growth in sales volume was driven by reduction in logistic costs, unleashing network synergy and various other cost efficiency measures.

Laurus Labs dropped 7.34%. The pharmaceutical company posted a 15% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 233 crore in Q2 FY23 from Rs 202 crore recorded in Q2 FY22. Revenue from operations in Q2 FY23 stood at Rs 1,576 crore as against Rs 1,203 crore posted in Q2 FY22, registering a growth of 31% year on year. The revenue growth was driven by strong CDMO-Synthesis and Other APIs more than compensated for overall drag in ARVs revenues.

Happiest Minds Technologies slipped 1.99%. The company reported 5.45% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 59.41 crore on a 8.08% increase in net sales to Rs 355.51 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q1 FY23.

Shriram Transport Finance Company declined 1.57%. The NBFC`s standalone net profit rose 38.3% to Rs 1,066.87 crore on 13.8% increase in total income to Rs 5,351.28 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.

Nazara Technologies slipped 2.80%. The company`s consolidated net profit shed 1.9% to Rs 10.20 crore in Q2 FY23 from Rs 10.40 crore recorded in Q2 FY22. Revenue from operations zoomed 103.5% to Rs 263.80 crore in quarter ended 30 September 2022 as against Rs 129.60 crore posted in the same period last year.

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