Boosted by dual global macro events: a) US Fed cutting rates by 50 bps and b) People’s Bank of China announcing 50 bps cut in the repo rate and a 20 basis point reduction in lending rates to support the economy has turned out to be positive for the global markets.
On the back of this, the equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty achieved significant milestones, closing above the 85,000 and 26,000 levels for the first time, marking another record-breaking day, reflecting the market's resilience and investor optimism.
With Asian Markets approaching a two-year high, a record close in the US market, and China's stimulus measures, the overall outlook remains positive.
As we end the month of September, the next month will be significant as domestic companies prepare to report their quarterly results, coinciding with the US Presidential Election scheduled on 5th November 2024.
With this, let me present to you our weekly portfolio review.
How Did the Markets Fare Last Week?
On a weekly basis ended on Friday, the Indian benchmark indices ended in green. Sensex and Nifty were up between 1.2-1.5% each, while Midcaps were up 0.7%.
What Might Keep the Markets Busy Into the Next Week?
Post US Fed cutting interest rates by 50 bps last week, investors focus on the key macroeconomic indicators to gauge the overall health of the economy. In this regard, investors will monitor the crucial Core Personal Consumption Expenditures, Fed’s Bowman speech, Fed’s Chair Powell speech, ISM Manufacturing PMI, JOLTS Job Openings, Initial Jobless Claims and ISM Services PMI, among other Fed official speeches lined up.
On the domestic front, Indian listed companies will start announcing their Q2FY25 business updates that will give us the overall idea of how the company will be able to fare when it announces results. We will also have auto companies announcing their monthly auto sales numbers for September. Along with this, we have other data points like Trade Deficit, Current Account Balance, FX Reserves, Infrastructure Output, HSBC Manufacturing PMI, etc., that will keep investors busy.
Crude and FII Flows
Brent Crude Oil Prices extended a sharp two-day drop, putting prices on course for a substantial weekly decline, on prospects of more supply from OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Libya. Brent Crude was trading at $71/bbl. On the other hand, FIIs were net buyers for the week.
Sector in Focus
Metal, auto and realty remained in focus during the week.
National Stock Exchange (NSE) | File/ Representative image
Stocks that made headlines during the week
Sugar Stocks:
Food Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the government is considering increasing the ethanol price for 2024-25 season as well as minimum selling price of sugar. Government is "considering a proposal to increase the minimum selling price of sugar", which remains unchanged at Rs 31 per kg, a rate established in February 2019.
IT Stocks:
Positive momentum is expected for domestic IT stocks after Nasdaq listed domestic IT player Accenture reported better than expected Q4 results and rising FY25 earning guidance.
Auto Stocks:
According to media reports, Karnataka government may offer tax incentives for electric vehicle makers. Report says that the government is working on policy to boost clean mobility and may offer “significant incentives” for customers and manufacturers.
Metals Stocks
Metal stocks remained in focus following China’s cuts to the CRR and lending rates aimed at stimulating its economy. The People Bank of China cut CRR by 50bps and Repo rate by 20bps.
Infosys:
Infosys announced its strategic collaboration with Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (SBH), an American international specialty beauty retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies. Driving enterprise-scale IT transformation, Infosys will implement best practices in IT operations to bring efficiencies through the optimization of IT service delivery.
RVNL:
RVNL has signed MoU with M/s Engineers India Limited (EIL) to explore business avenues identify projects across the globe complementing each other in partnership resulting in increased capability for bidding and carrying out Infrastructure and other Projects of mutual interests, share relevant information with the aim of identifying market needs and dovetailing it with capabilities of Parties.
Indigo:
The Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Mr Isidro Pablo Porqueras Orea as Chief Operating Officer of the Company with effect from 1st November 2024. Mr Porqueras will succeed Mr Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, who has been successfully leading the operations at IndiGo for past 7 years (since 2018) and will be retiring later this year.
Mr. Porqueras has 25+ years of experience leading high-performance teams in competitive environments in different areas such as operations, commercial, strategy and finance. Mr Porqueras joined IndiGo in April, 2024 as Chief of Transformation and has been engaged in several operations related projects over these past months.
Railtel:
RailTel Corporation has received the work order from Rural Development Department, Mantralaya, Maharashtra for operationalization of ASSK-GP project in Konkan, Pune, Nashik Regions amounting to Rs 155 crore.
Bharat Electronics & Trent:
The stocks were in focus as they prepared to enter the benchmark Nifty 50 Index following their inclusion, which was announced in August.
Piramal Enterprises:
The company said that its wholly-owned subsidiary Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd (PCHFL) has sold its immovable property located in Santacruz East, Mumbai, to Shoquba Realty Private Ltd for a total consideration of Rs 187 crore.
UNO Minda:
Minda Onkyo India Private Limited, subsidiary of UNO Minda has entered into a Technical License Agreement (“TLA”) with Hyundai Mobis Co. Ltd., Korea on for manufacturing of Licensed products i.e. Speakers.
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