Stock Market Today: Top 10 things to know before the market opens on 1st August
The market is likely to open flat with the GIFT Nifty opening with a gain of 15 points.
On July 31, the BSE Sensex gained 367 points to close at 66,527, while the Nifty50 gained 107 points to close at 19,753, in line with a bullish trend in global peers.
The gain was led by banking and financial services, auto, FMCG, oil and gas, and select IT stocks.
The pivot point calculator suggests that the Nifty may get support at 19,641, followed by 19,600 and 19,533.
In case of an upside, 19,775 could be the key resistance, followed by 19,816 and 19,883.
Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the currency and equity markets today.
We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms, which could impact Indian as well as international markets.
GIFT Nifty
The GIFT Nifty indicates a flat start for the broader index with a gain of 0.03 percent on Tuesday.
The futures stood at 19,892 points.
US Markets
US stock futures traded near the flatline on Monday as investors awaited a flood of corporate earnings reports.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 7 points, or 0.02 percent.
Futures linked to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures inched higher by 0.04 percent each.
All major indices ended Monday’s main trading session modestly higher.
The Dow edged up 0.28 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.15 percent and 0.21 percent, respectively.
In July, the S&P 500 and the Dow each gained more than 3 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced about 4.1 percent.
European Markets
European markets turned higher Monday as investors digested a dip in euro zone inflation and looked ahead to a key policy decision from the Bank of England.
The Stoxx 600 closed 0.2 percent higher after preliminary data showed headline inflation in the euro zone fell to 5.3 percent in July.
New Euro Zone growth figures also showed economic activity picking up in the second quarter of this year.
The benchmark index gained 1.9 percent in July, according to Eikon data. Most sectors were in positive territory on Monday, with healthcare stocks gaining 1.1 percent and oil and gas up by 1.3 percent. Food and beverage stocks weighed on the other end, down 1.2 percent. FTSE closed 0.07 percent higher at 7,699 points. DAX closed 0.14 percent lower at 16,446 points.
Asian Markets
Asia-Pacific markets rose on Monday as China’s factory activity for July remained in contraction territory for the fourth straight month.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 49.3, higher than June’s figure of 49.0, according to the national bureau of statistics.
The PMI for non-manufacturing activity came in at 51.5, a slower rate of expansion, compared to the 53.2 in June.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.83 percent in its final hour of trade, while the Hang Seng Tech index saw a larger climb of 1.87 percent. At the current levels, this would be the first time that the HSI breached the 20,000-mark in over a month.
Mainland Chinese markets were all higher as well but pared earlier gains, with the Shanghai Composite up 0.46 percent to finish at 3,291.04 and the Shenzhen Component 0.75 percent higher to end at 11,183.91.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.26 percent to close at 33,172, while the Topix saw a larger rise of 1.39 percent to end the day at 2,322.56, setting a new 33-year record.
The country’s industrial output for June came in lower than expected, registering a 2 percent growth month-on-month, compared to the 2.4 percent rise expected by economists.
South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.93 percent to end at 2,632.58 and recorded a third straight day of gains.
The Kosdaq climbed 2.25 percent to close at 935.97, near its 16-month high.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed marginally and closed at 7,410.4, as investors prepare for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate decision on Tuesday.
Economists polled by Reuters were expecting a 25 basis points hike in its benchmark policy rate to 4.35 percent.
Maruti Suzuki’s Q1 net profit more than doubles to Rs 2,485 crore on robust volumes, price hikes; revenue up 22%
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) on Monday reported a 145.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,485.1 crore during the first quarter of FY24.
The company claimed that the steep rise in profits during the quarter was on account of larger sales volume, improved realisation, cost reduction efforts, and higher non-operating income.
The country’s largest passenger vehicle maker’s revenue for the quarter rose 22 percent YoY to Rs 32,326.94 crore.
Industry analysts reckon that the company’s robust Q1 FY24 financials were buoyed by healthy volume growth, price hikes and a richer product mix.
MSIL’s PAT for Q1 FY23 stood at Rs 1,012.80 crore and net revenue from operations at Rs 26,499.8 crore.
Navin Fluorine Q1 net profit declines 17.3% to Rs 61.5 crore
Chemicals manufacturer Navin Fluorine International Ltd posted a net profit of Rs 61.50 crore for the April-June period, down 17.3 percent from Rs 74 crore recorded last fiscal.
An estimate by CNBC-TV18 had pegged the company’s net profit at Rs 110 crore for the quarter under review.
Revenue for the company however, recorded a 23.5 percent year-on-year rise to Rs 491.1 crore from Rs 397 crore.
A poll of brokerages by CNBC-TV18 had estimated revenue for Navin Fluorine at Rs 625 crore.
The company also struggled with high-cost inventory destocking, and subdued export demand, which dragged its bottom-line as well as its operational performance.
The company’s operating profit margin also contracted to 23 percent from 24.9 percent seen in the same quarter last fiscal.
A steep rise in finance cost, which jumped to Rs 19.4 crore in April-June from Rs 30 lakh in the base quarter also weighed on the chemical maker’s operational performance.
UPL Q1 Results: Net profit plunges 81% to Rs 166 crore, misses expectations
Agrochemical company UPL Ltd posted a net profit of Rs 166 crore for the April-June quarter, sharply down 81.1 percent from Rs 877 crore at the same period in the previous fiscal.
The net profit also lagged the Street’s expectation of Rs 262 crore.
Revenue also recorded a 17.2 percent year-on-year decline to Rs 8,963 crore as against Rs 10,821 crore clocked in the base quarter.
A poll of brokerages has estimated revenue for UPL at Rs 9,790 crore.
The company attributed an industry-wide slow down as the reason behind the weak quarterly earnings.
Oil Prices
Oil prices rallied to a fresh three-month high on Monday and recorded their steepest monthly gains since January 2022, supported by signs of tightening global supply and rising demand through the rest of this year.
More actively traded October Brent crude futures rose $1.02, or 1.2 percent, to settle at $85.43 a barrel.
The September Brent contract, which expired at settlement on Monday, rose 0.7 percent to close at $85.56 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rallied $1.22, or 1.5 percent, to $81.80 a barrel.
Both Brent and WTI hit their highest since late April for a third consecutive session on Monday, after notching their fifth straight weekly gains on Friday.
Saudi Arabia is expected to extend a voluntary oil output cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for another month to include September.
Saudi output fell by 860,000 barrels per day (bpd) in July, while total production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was 840,000 bpd lower, a Reuters survey found on Monday.
Dollar Index
The Dollar index traded 0.08 percent higher in futures at 101.93, whereas the value of one dollar hovered near Rs 82.26
Gold Prices
Gold prices rose on Monday, putting them on track for their best month in four as an overall weaker dollar and expectations that major global central banks are nearing a peak with interest rate hikes boosted investor sentiment.
Spot gold gained 0.6 percent to $1,971.27 per ounce.
Bullion is up 2.5 percent so far this month.
US gold futures climbed 0.5 percent to $1,971.10.
FIIs and DIIs
Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 701.17 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought Rs 2,488.07 crore worth of stocks on July 31, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) shows.
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