Market Commentary - Mid-Session
Nifty below 24,400; European mkt opens higher; HUL tumbles over 6% As on : 24-Oct-24  13:34

The key equity benchmarks traded with minor losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 24,400 level after hitting the day's high of 24,480.65 in early trade. PSU bank, bank and financial services shares advanced while FMCG, realty and media shares declined. Trading could be volatile due to weekly F&O series expiry today.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, shed 32.37 points or 0.04% to 80,049.48. The Nifty 50 index lost 39.10 points or 0.16% to 24,396.40.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.04% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.28%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,620 shares rose and 2,151 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's private sector economy continued to showcase robust growth in October, according to the latest HSBC 'flash' PMI survey compiled by S&P Global.

The HSBC Flash India Composite Output Index ' a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India's manufacturing and service sectors stood at 58.6 in October 2024 as compared with 58.3 in September 2024. Manufacturers outperformed service providers regarding rates of expansion for output and sales, and also recorded faster increases in input costs and selling charges.

The HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI ' a single-figure snapshot of factory business conditions calculated from measures of new orders, output, employment, supplier delivery times and stocks of purchases ' recovered from September's eight-month low of 56.5 to 57.4 in October.

Gainers & Losers:

UltraTech Cement (up 2.64%), Shriram Finance (up 1.53%), Grasim Industries (up 1.48%), HDFC Bank (up 1.30%) and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (up 1.03%) were major Nifty gainers.

Hindustan Unilever (down 6.39%), SBI Life Insurance Company (down 4.91%), Nestle India (down 4.52%), Hindalco Industries (down 3.85%) and Bajaj Auto (down 2.63%) were major Nifty losers.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) tumbled 6.39% after the company reported 3.86% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 2,612 crore on 1.94% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 15,319 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.

Meanwhile, the company's board declared an interim dividend of Rs 19 per share for FY25. It has also declared a special dividend of Rs 10 per share.

SBI Life Insurance Company slipped 4.91%. The company reported 39.25% increase in net profit to Rs 529.42 crore on 40.06% rise in total income to Rs 40,015.04 crore in Q2 FY25 over Q2 FY24.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ashok Leyland added 1.32%. The company announced that its subsidiary OHM Global Mobility has bagged an order for 500 12-m ultra-low floor electric buses from the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Chennai.

TVS Motor Company slipped 2.11%. The company reported 23.49% increase in standalone net profit to Rs 662.62 crore in Q2 FY25 as compared to Rs 536.55 crore posted in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations rose 13.30% YoY to Rs 9,228.24 crore in the September 2024 quarter.

MAS Financial Services declined 1.75%. The company's standalone net profit jumped 27.59% to Rs 76.57 crore in Q2 FY25 as against Rs 60.01 crore posted in Q2 FY24. Total revenue from operations was at Rs 365.05 in Q2 FY25, up 24.09% as against Rs 294.18 crore recorded in same quarter last year.

Piramal Pharma surged 17.26% after the pharmaceutical company's consolidated net profit zoomed 350% to Rs 22.59 crore in Q2 FY25 as against Rs 5.02 crore posted in Q2 FY24. Revenue from operations grew by 17.28% year on year (YoY) to Rs 2,241.75 crore during the quarter, primarily driven by robust growth in CDMO business.

AU Small Finance Bank (SFB) shed 0.97%. The bank's net profit jumped 42.15% to Rs 571.21 crore in Q2 FY25 as compared with Rs 401.83 crore in Q2 FY24. Net interest income (NII) stood at Rs 1,974 crore in second quarter of FY25, up 58.05% YoY.

Global Markets:

European shares advanced as traders reviewed another batch of earnings reports, and as U.S. market declines weighed on global sentiment.

Most Asian shares declined on Thursday. South Korea's GDP expanded 0.1% in the third quarter from the previous one, narrowly avoiding a technical recession, following a 0.2% contraction in the second quarter. On a year-on-year basis, South Korea's economy grew 1.5%.

Japanese business activity shrank in October. The au jibun bank flash manufacturing PMI fell to 49.0 in October from 49.7 in September. A reading below 50 indicates contraction, with the sector shrinking for a third consecutive month. The au jibun bank flash services PMI slid to 49.3 in October from 53.1 in the prior month, falling into contraction for the first time since June. The fall in services activity saw the composite PMI for October drop to 49.4 from 52.0 in the prior month.

US stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its worst day in more than a month, as higher Treasury yields weighed on market sentiment.

The S&P 500 lost 0.92%. The 30-stock Dow plunged 0.96%, ending the day's session at 42,514.95. It was the worst day since early September for the blue-chip index. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.6%. Both the Dow and S&P 500 notched their third straight losing session.

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