Sensex, Nifty to rise as U.S. inflation cools; Eicher, CIL, Aurobindo Pharma, Bata shares eyed

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty are set to open with solid gains on Thursday, tracking strong cues from global equities as ease in U.S. inflation pushed stocks higher. Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading higher, barring Japan, while Wall Street rallied overnight after the U.S. Labor Department said the CPI slowed to 8.5% in July after hitting a four-decade high of 9.1% in June. Back home, the bullish trends on SGX Nifty also indicated a strong opening for the domestic bourses, with SGX Nifty futures trading 195 points, or 1.1%, higher at 17,740 levels on the Singapore Stock Exchange at 8:30 AM. Among individual stocks, Aurobindo Pharma, Bata India, Bharat Forge, and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise will be in focus ahead of their quarterly earnings.

On Wednesday, the domestic bourses ended flat with marginally losses amid soft cues from global peers. The profit booking in IT and realty shares was offset by gains in metal and oil & gas stocks. The BSE Sensex closed 36 points lower at 58,817 levels in choppy trade, with 17 of its components ending in the red while 13 settled in positive terrain. The broader NSE Nifty ended 10 points higher at 17,535. The top losers on the Sensex pack were Bajaj Finance, NTPC, HCL Tech, Wipro, Asian Paints, Ultra Cement, and SBI. On the flip side, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, L&T, and IndusInd Bank were among top performers.

Stocks to watch

Eicher Motors: The auto major, which manufactures Royal Enfield, reported a 157.5% year-on-year (YoY) growth in consolidated net profit at ₹610.66 crore during the Apr-Jun 2022 period. The consolidated revenue from operations surged 71.2% YoY to ₹3,325.8 crore in Q1 FY23.

Hindalco Industries: The Aditya Birla Group company reported a net profit of ₹4,119 crore during the quarter under review, as compared to ₹2,787 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Revenue from operations increased to ₹58,018 crore in the period from ₹41,358 crore, marking a rise of over 40% in the June quarter of FY23.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC): The ticketing arm of Indian Railways reported a 196% surge in net profit at ₹246 crore for the quarter ending June 30, 2022, versus ₹82.5 crore in the year-ago period. The revenue from operations jumped 251% to ₹853 crore in Q1FY23, from ₹243 crore in Q1FY22.

Coal India: The state-owned miner saw its consolidated net profit surging by 178% YoY to ₹8,834 crore for the first quarter of the 2022-23 on the back of higher sales. During the quarter under review, sales rose 39% to ₹32,498 crore, as against ₹23,293 crore in Q1 FY22.

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL): The steel major has posted an 80% fall in net profit at ₹776 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2022, compared with ₹3,850 crore in the year-ago period. The revenue from operations rose 16% to ₹24,029 crore in Q1FY23 as against ₹20,642 crore in the same period last year.

Indiabulls Housing Finance: The mortgage lender has reported 1.8% YoY rise in its net profit to ₹287 crore in first quarter of the current financial year, versus ₹282 crore in the same period last year. During the quarter under review, the company disbursed ₹2,260 crore of retail loans under the asset-light model.

Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL): The Tata Group company has posted a 38.2% growth in consolidated net profit at ₹276.72 crore for June quarter 2022-23, as against ₹200.24 crore in the corresponding period last year. The company, formerly known as Tata Global Beverages, reported 10.58% rise in revenue from operations at ₹3,326.83 crore during the quarter under review as against ₹3,008.46 crore in the year ago period.

Pidilite Industries: The company, which manufactures adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals, reported 64.27% YoY surge in consolidated net profit at ₹357.52 crore for June quarter 2022-23, led by strong sales and volume. Revenue from operations jumped 60.11% to ₹3,101.11 crore during the quarter under review as against ₹1,936.79 crore in the year-ago period.

Bank of Baroda: The PSU lender has announced that it would raise the marginal cost of fund-based lending rates (MCLR) by 5-20 basis points (bps) across tenors, with effect from August 12.

NHPC: The state-run company posted over 7% YoY rise in its consolidated net profit to ₹1,053.76 crore in the June quarter on the back of higher revenues. Total income rose to ₹2,990.86 crore, from ₹2,586.91 crore in the same period a year ago.

Max Healthcare: The healthcare company saw its consolidated net profit rising by 12% YoY to ₹229 crore for the June quarter on the back of annual price revision and normalisation of patient footfalls. Net revenue during the period under review rose to ₹1,393 crore as compared with ₹1,322 crore in the April-June quarter of the last fiscal.

Balrampur Chini Mills, Delta Corp: These two companies will be under NSE F&O ban for August 11.

Here are the key things investors should know before the market opens today:

Wall Street surges as inflation eases

In the overnight trade, U.S. stocks closed on a strong note as investors cheered the decline in the annual pace of headline inflation in July as compared to June, thanks to fall in crude prices. The Labor Department data on Wednesday showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was flat last month after rising 1.3% in June, which eased concerns about another aggressive rate hike by the Federal Reserve in September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.63% higher, the S&P 500 rallied 2.13%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 2.89%.

Asian shares follow Wall Street higher

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region were trading mostly higher in early trade on Thursday, following strong finish on Wall Street overnight after data showed that the U.S. inflation eased in the month of July. The market sentiment was also boosted by a sharp drop in China's factory-gate inflation, which eased to a 17-month low in July.

Regional heavyweight Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.6%, while South Korea’s Kospi rallied 1.3%, and the Straits Times in Singapore added 0.5%.

The Taiwan Weighted index was the best performer in the regional market with a 1.7% gain, while Australia’s ASX 200 and the Jakarta Composite in Indonesia rose 0.8% each.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong jumped 1%. Markets in mainland China were trading higher, with the Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component rising 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

FIIs remain net buyers, DIIs net sellers

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their gaining streak in the Indian equity market on August 10, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained net sellers. As per the exchange data, FIIs net purchased shares worth ₹1,061.88 crore, while DIIs net sold shares worth ₹768.45 crore.

Corporate results

The major companies that will release their June quarter earnings today include Aurobindo Pharma, Bata India, Bharat Forge, and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise. Among others, Aster DM Healthcare, Gujarat Ambuja Exports, Greaves Cotton, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Himadri Speciality Chemical, KNR Constructions, Page Industries, The Phoenix Mills, Puravankara, Quess Corp, Sapphire Foods India, Shilpa Medicare, Spencers Retail, Sunteck Realty, Trent, Vipul Organics, and Wonderla Holidays will also be in focus on August 11.