Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Log Two-Day Gains As Infosys, HDFC Bank; Lead; FPIs Turn Net Sellers

Overseas investors turned net sellers of Indian equities on Monday.

Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 3,367.7 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers and mopped up equities worth Rs 2,563.5 crore, the NSE data showed.

Foreign institutions have been net buyers of Rs 1,38,324 crore worth of Indian equities so far in 2023, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd., updated till the previous trading day.

The yield on the 10-year bond closed 4 bps higher at 7.21% on Monday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The local currency weakened 3 paise to close at Rs 82.75 against the U.S dollar on Monday.

• It closed at 82.72 on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

India's benchmark stock indices opened higher and held on to steady gains through Monday. Indices advanced for the second day as Sensex closed above 65,600 level and Nifty rose beyond 19,500 mark.

Metals led, along with advances in PSU banks, I.T., realty, and media sectors. Consumer durables and fast moving consumer goods, on the other hand, were under pressure. Nifty IT scaled a fresh 16-month high, whereas Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal hit record highs, intraday.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed up 241 points, or 0.37%, at 65,628.14, while the NSE Nifty 50 was 94 points, or 0.48%, higher at 19,528.80.

European stocks climbed, bolstered by signs China’s stimulus measures are seeping through into the economy and wagers that global interest rates are approaching a peak.

The Stoxx 600 gauge rose 0.9%, halting three days of losses. Gains were led by resources shares, including mining giants Rio Tinto Plc, Glencore Plc and Anglo American Plc, as metals prices rallied. U.S. markets will be shut Monday for the Labor Day holiday but futures advanced after the S&P 500 Index posted its best week since June.

The Hang Seng index jumped more than 3% Monday before paring gains, while a Bloomberg gauge of Chinese developer shares jumped as much as 8.7%. Central banks in Australia and Canada are expected to keep interest rates unchanged this week.

Infosys Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., TCS Ltd., and Tata Steel Ltd. were positively adding to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Whereas, ITC Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., and Bajaj Finance Ltd. were negatively contributing to the change.

The broader market indices outperformed larger peers; the S&P BSE MidCap Index was up 0.96%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was also 0.84% higher.

Eighteen the 20 sectors compiled by BSE advanced, while S&P BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods and S&P BSE Consumer Durables declined. S&P BSE Metal, S&P BSE Commodities, S&P BSE Utilities rose the most.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers. About 2,303 stocks rose, 1,441 declined, while 197 remained unchanged on the BSE.

• Bags 2,880 MW hydropower orders for Dibang Multipurpose Project from NHPC.

Source: Exchange filing

• JSW Steel raises Hot Rolled Coil list prices by Rs 1,250 to Rs 58,250 per ton.

• JSW Steel raises Cold Rolled Coil list prices by Rs 1,250 to Rs 64,300 per ton.

Source: Steelmint

• Bags 9 MW solar project order from Gujarat Polyfilms Private.

Source: Exchange filing

• 12.1 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade.

• 0.06 % equity changed hands at Rs 800.90 apiece.

• Buyers and sellers not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

• Launch Card Soundbox for merchants to accept both mobile and card payments.

• Merchants can accept payments via Visa, Mastercard, American Express and RuPay networks.

Source: Exchange Filing

• 17.6 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade.

• 0.02 % equity changed hands at Rs 233.65 apiece.

• Buyers and sellers not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

• To source 23,000 MWh of renewable energy by Q4 FY24 for six Nxtra data centers.

• In pact to acquire stakes in renewable energy project companies.

• Projects to reduce emissions by 16,370 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

Source: Exchange Filing

• To incorporate wholly owned financial services unit.

• To invest up to Rs 30 crore in one or more tranches.

• Acquisition to be completed within three years.

• To finance aviation assets via guarantees of up to $ 996 million.

• Board also approved placing the order for 10 additional A320 neo aircraft.

• This order to be part of the original 300 aircraft order of 2019.

Source: Exchange Filing

• About 25 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade.

• 0.93% equity changed hands at Rs 182.20 apiece.

• Buyers and sellers not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

• 6.13 crore shares changed hands in multiple large trades.

• 0.5% Equity changed hands at price band of Rs 58.10 to Rs 66.90 apiece.

• Total value of multiple large trades at Rs 398.92 crore.

• Buyers and sellers not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

Re-appoints Munjal Shard Shah as Managing Director.

• Re-appoints Shilpa Amit Mahajan as Whole-Time Director

• Source: Exchange Filing

• About 10.2 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade.

• 0.04% equity changed hands at Rs 260.70 apiece.

• Buyers and sellers not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

Rates as of 12:14 p.m.

• Caplin Steriles receives EIR from U.S. FDA.

• EIR for injectable and ophthalmic manufacturing unit located near Chennai.

• EIR to help in receiving continued ANDA approvals for this unit.

• Alert: Caplin Steriles is a subsidiary of Caplin Point Laboratories.

Source: Exchange filing

India's benchmark stock indices opened higher and held on to slim gains through midday on Monday. Metals led, along with advances in PSU banks, realty, media and I.T. Auto and fast moving consumer goods, on the other hand, were under pressure.

Nifty IT scaled a fresh 16-month high, whereas Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal hit record highs, inttraday.

As of 12:05 p.m., the S&P BSE Sensex was up 113 points, or 0.17%, at 65,499.67, while the NSE Nifty 50 was 52 points, or 0.27%, higher at 19,487.50.

HDFC Bank Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., UltraTech Cement Ltd., TCS Ltd., and Coal India Ltd. were positively adding to the change in the Nifty 50 Index.

Whereas, ICICI Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., and Asian Paints Ltd. were negatively contributing to the change.

The broader market indices outperformed larger peers; the S&P BSE MidCap Index was up 0.75%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was also 0.87% higher.

Fourteen the 20 sectors compiled by BSE advanced, while six declined. S&P BSE Metal, S&P BSE Commodities, S&P BSE Utilities and S&P BSE Realty rose the most.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers. About 2,328 stocks rose, 1,268 declined, while 191 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Shares of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Ltd. advanced on Monday after ICICI Bank Ltd. announced that it has received a nod from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India for increasing its stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. by 4%, which would make it a subsidiary.

ICICI Bank currently owns 48.02% stake in ICICI Lombard, as on March 31, 2023, the company said in an exchange filing.

The additional stake acquisition of 4% is through purchase of shares from the market.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance rose as much as 4.29% to Rs 1,398.9 per share, the stock rose the most May 29 before paring gains to trade at 0.67% higher as of 11:26 a.m. In comparison with 0.19% advance in the NSE Nifty 50.

The stock has risen 9.8% on a year-to-date basis .The total traded volume stood at 2.4 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 52.96.

Of the 27 analysts tracking the company, 18 maintains 'buy', six suggests 'hold' and three recommends 'sell', the Bloomberg data showed. The return potential of the stock implies an upside of 6.3%.

• Received patent for high starting torque direct line operated energy efficient motor.

• Patent to be valid for 20 years from the date of filing.

Source: Exchange Filing

Shares of IDBI Bank Ltd. rose after the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management invited bids for asset valuers for the bank.

The bids are expected to be submitted by Oct. 9. The asset valuer will work closely with the transaction adviser and legal adviser. The government is looking to sell 30.48%, while Life Insurance Corp. of India is looking to offload 30.24% of its stake in IDBI Bank, along with the transfer of management control.

The scrip rose 6.74% to Rs 64.1 apiece as of 11:36 a.m., as compared to a 0.14% advance in the NSE Nifty 50. The stock rose as much as 9.08% intra-day at Rs 65.5 per share, highest level since Aug. 11, 2023.

It has risen 18.1% on a year-to-date basis. The total traded volume stood at 4.9 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 63.

One analyst tracking the company suggests to sell the stock, according to Bloomberg data.

• 14.5 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade

• 0.1 % equity changed hands at Rs 51.65 apiece

• Buyers and sellers not known immediately

Source: Bloomberg

• Construction of 1500 tonnes per day commences at processing plant in Andhra Pradesh.

• Construction of processing plant is expected to be completed by end of 2024.

• Invests first-tranche of Rs 15 crore into Geomysore Services India Private.

• To invest further amount of Rs 13.50 crore into Geomysore Services India Private by Sept. 10.

• Geomysore Services India Private to complete share allotment by mid-September.

Source: Exchange Filing

Shares of Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd. hit an all-time high in trade on Monday after the successful launch of Aditya-L1 by ISRO on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. The company had contributed to the solar mission through the supply of Specialized Metals and Alloys, as per an exchange filing.

Aditya-L1's launcher vehicle PSLV-C57 was built with several materials supplied by the company. “India’s first Solar Mission Aditya-L1 successfully launched by ISRO brings more laurels to our nation and Atmanirbharta in space projects," said Dr. S. K. Jha, CMD, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd.

The scrip rose 3.25% to Rs 424.6 apiece as of 10:42 a.m., as compared to a 0.02% advance in the NSE Nifty 50. The stock rose as much as 5.98% intra-day, to hit a record high at Rs 435.85 per share.

It has risen 95.8% on a year-to-date basis. The total traded volume stood at 1.7 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 73, implying that the stock maybe overbought.

Of the three analysts tracking the company, two maintain a buy rating, one recommends a hold and none suggest to sell the stock, according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies a potential downside of 49.2%.

Nazara Technologies Ltd. shares rose over 8% and hit a 52-week high after the gaming company approves raising Rs 100 crore via preferential allotment of equity share.

The company is proposing to issue 14,00,560 equity shares of face value of Rs. 4 each at a price of Rs. 714 per equity share aggregating to Rs 999,999,840 proportionately to Kamath Associates and NKSquared, according to the exchange filing on Monday.

The online gaming company said, this infusion of fresh funds will be utilized to invest in funding requirements and growth objectives of the company including for making strategic acquisitions and investments in various companies, body corporates, entities, meeting growth and funding requirements based on the business opportunities across the subsidiaries, associates, joint venture of the company, as applicable, through investment in subsidiaries, associates, joint venture of the company.

The scrip rose as much as 8.29% to Rs 822.5 per share as of 10:13 a.m., in comparison with 0.11% advance in the NSE Nifty 50. It rose as much as 8.86% to hit a 52-week high of Rs 825 per share.

The stock has risen 40.9% on a year-to-date basis .The total traded volume stood at 7.4times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 73, indicating stock may be overbought.

Of the 12 analysts tracking the company, nine maintains 'buy', three suggests 'hold' and one recommends 'sell', the Bloomberg data showed. The return potential of the stock implies downside of 5%.

• Shares of metal companies surged in trade on Monday as the index crosses 7,000 mark to hit a record high, as of 10:17 a.m.

• NALCO, SAIL, Tata Steel, NMDC, APL Apollo Tubes hit an 52 week high, intraday.

Shares of GMR Power and Urban Infra Ltd. jumped over 19% on Monday, after the company's step-down subsidiary, GMR Smart Electricity Distribution Pvt., received a Letter of Award from Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd.

The project comprises installation, integration and maintenance of 50.17 lakh smart meters in Varanasi and Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.

The company laid out the implementation timeline around 27 months from the date of execution of the contact, and expects to operate the project for 93 months. The total contract value of the project is split as Rs 2,386.72 crore for the Prayagraj, Mirzapur zone and Rs 2,736.65 crore for Varanasi, Azamgarh zone.

The company also expects a similar LoA from Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd., for the Agra and Aligarh zone, for 25.52 meters. 

Shares of GMR Power & Urban Infra rose 19.86%, before paring gains to trade 19.16% higher at 9:52 a.m. This compares to a 0.28% rise in the NSE Nifty 50.

Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 38 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 84, implying that the stock may be overbought.

• Nifty Metal advanced 2.80% intraday to a record high at 7,042.55 points.

• Nifty Auto gained 0.70% intraday to an all-time high at 16,040.40 points.

• Nifty IT pared gains after jumping 0.57% intraday to an 16-month high at 31,694 points.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd. hit a record high after 1.36 crore shares change hands in multiple large trades, as per the Bloomberg data. Equity changed hands at price band of Rs 62.15 to Rs 62.40 apiece. The buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

The scrip rose as much as 14.53% to Rs 63.85 per share as of 9:36 a.m., in comparison with 0.28% advance in the NSE Nifty 50. It rose as much as 15.70% to hit a record high of Rs 64.5 per share.

The stock has risen 95.6% on a year-to-date basis and 145% since listing on Jan. 28, 2021. The shares are up 29% in the past five days and rose 40% in the past 30 days. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at five times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 87, implying that the stock maybe overbought.

One analysts tracking the company, maintain a ‘hold’ on the stock, according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an downside of 48.1%.

• To raise nearly Rs 100 crore via preferential issue of 14 lakh shares.

• Shares to be issued at Rs 714 apiece.

• Will issue shares to investors Kamath Associates and NKSquared.

Source: Exchange Filing

The broader market indices outperformed larger peers; the S&P BSE MidCap Index was up 0.58%, whereas S&P BSE SmallCap Index was also 0.94% higher.

All the 20 sectors compiled by BSE advanced. S&P BSE Metal, and S&P BSE Commodities rose the most.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers. About 2,084 stocks rose, 526 declined, while 133 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Source: BSE

• About 20.2 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade.

• Buyers and sellers not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

India's benchmark stock indices opened higher on Monday after snapping five weeks to losing streak to advance on Friday.

At pre-open, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 138 points, or 0.21%, at 65,525.47, while the NSE Nifty 50 was 90 points, or 0.46%, higher at 19,525.05.

Asian stocks rose on optimism in China’s property sector and on expectations the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Hong Kong benchmark indexes outperformed the region as investors resumed trading after a closure on Friday. Property stocks extended their advance, with China’s property shares gauge rising above 3% on the government’s fresh measures in the sector. Stocks also gained in Japan and Australia. A regional equity benchmark advanced for a sixth day to the highest close since mid-August.

On Friday, he S&P 500 finished with a small advance ahead of Monday’s U.S. holiday, while notching its best week since June. Tesla Inc. dropped over 5%, while energy shares rallied as oil topped $85 a barrel. The jobs report showed a labour market undergoing a controlled cooling.

Bloomberg also cited some traders highlighting the remarks from Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester, who said inflation remains too high and the labour market is still strong.

• At pre-open, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 138 points, or 0.21%, at 65,525.47, while the NSE Nifty 50 was 90 points, or 0.46%, higher at 19,525.05.

Source: Bloomberg

• JSW Steel increases rebar prices by Rs 2,500 per ton.

• Vedanta's ESL Steel raises long steel prices by Rs 2,000 per ton.

Source: Steelmint

• The yield on the 10-year bond opened 2 bps higher at 7.19% on Monday.

• It closed at 7.17% on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The local currency strengthened 4 paise to open at Rs 82.68 against the U.S dollar on Monday.

• It closed at 82.72 on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Recorded bumper cargo volumes of 34.2 million tonne, up 17% YoY.

• Cargo volumes increased on 27.6% growth in containers and 69% in liquids & gas.

• Mundra Port recorded its highest-ever monthly cargo volume of 15.32 million tonne.

• Mundra Port handled highest-ever count of 1776 trains, including 1532 container trains.

• Handled 169.6 million tonne total cargo, up 12% year-on-year in April-August.

• Logistics business records significant growth with volumes of 231,689 TEUs, up 24% year-on-year.

Source: Exchange Filing

• U.S. Dollar Index at 104.2

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 4.18%

• Brent crude down 0.01% at $88.54 per barrel

• Nymex crude up 0.11% at $85.64 per barrel

• GIFT Nifty up 13.5 points or 0.07% at 19,561 as of 8:20 a.m.

• Bitcoin down 0.56% at $25,900

• Price Band Revised From 10% To 5%: Rattanindia Power.

• Price Band Revised From 20% To 10%: India Pesticides, Railtel Corporation of India.

• Price Band Revised From 5% To 20%: Jio Financial Services.

• Ex-date Dividend: Electrosteel Castings, Universal Cables, Gravita India, TVS Srichakra, Vindhya Telelinks, Jai Corp, Radiant Cash Management Services, Nirlon

• Ex-date AGM: Electrosteel Castings, Universal Cables, Power Finance Corporation, Gravita India, TVS Srichakra, Vindhya Telelinks, Jai Corp.

• Record-date Dividend: Gravita India, Radiant Cash Management Services.

• Move Into Short-Term ASM Framework: Sharda Motor Industries.

• Move Out Of Short-Term ASM Framework: Atul Auto, Mukand, Dredging Corporation of India, PTC India Financial Services, Lancer Container Lines, Media Matrix Worldwide.

Zuari Agro Chemicals: Promoter Zuari Agro Chemicals created and revoked a pledge of 2.5 lakh shares on Aug. 29.

• DB Realty: Promoter Shravan Kumar Bali sold 10,000 shares on Aug. 30.

• Pidilite Industries: Promoter Rashmikant Himatlal Parekh sold 2,000 shares on Aug. 30.

• Shoppers Stop: Promoters Cape Trading sold 53,167 shares between Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 and Anbee Constructions sold 50,000 shares on Sept. 1.

• Ultramarine & Pigments: Promoters Ultramarine & Pigments bought 3,000 shares and S Narayan sold 5,752 on Aug. 31.

Triveni Turbine: Rati Sawhney sold 14 lakh shares (0.4%) and Subhadra Trade and Finance bought 14 lakh shares (0.4%) at Rs 395 apiece.

• IDFC First Bank: Cloverdell Investment sold 27.86 crore shares (4.2%) while Goldman Sachs-GQG Partners Intl Opportunities Fund bought 10.77 crore shares (1.63%) and GQG Partners Emerging Markets Equity Fund bought (0.96%) at Rs 89 apiece.

• RattanIndia Power: ABARC-AST-002-Trust sold 2.98 crore shares (0.55%) at Rs 7.04 apiece.

• Five-Star Business Finance: HDFC Mutual Fund bought 41.2 lakh shares (1.4%) at Rs 730 apiece while TPG ASIA VII SF PTE sold 90.57 lakh shares (3.1%) at Rs 730.62 apiece, Matrix Partners India Investment Holdings II sold 89 lakh shares (3%) at Rs 730.12 apiece and Norwest Venture Partners X - Mauritius sold 75.43 lakh shares (2.6%) at an average price of Rs 730.03 apiece.

• Bharat Electronics: The company is in a pact with Israel Aerospace Industries to collaborate on short-range air defence systems.

• IDBI Bank: The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management has invited bids for asset valuers for the bank. The bids are expected to be submitted by Oct. 9. The asset valuer will work closely with the transaction adviser and legal adviser. The government is looking to sell 30.48%, while Life Insurance Corp. of India is looking to offload 30.24% of its stake in IDBI Bank, along with the transfer of management control.

• ONGC: The board has approved the capital restructuring of ONGC Petro Additions (OPAL). It includes the buyback of convertible debentures worth Rs 7,778 crore by ONGC and an investment of Rs 7,000 crore in equity or quasi-equity securities of OPaL.

• Coal India: The state-run miner's production rose 13.2% year-on-year to 52.3 million tonne in August. Comparative production for the month surged ahead by 6.1 million tonne. Total coal supplies to all consuming sectors shot up by 15.3% to 59 million tonne in August 2023. Supplies were up nearly 8 million tonne in a single month.

• Hero MotoCorp: The company's sales rose 5.4% year-on-year to 4.89 lakh units in August. Domestic sales rose 4.7% to 4.73 lakh units, while exports rose 24.7% to 15,770 units.

• Eicher Motors: The company's total motorcycle sales rose 11% year-on-year to 77,583 units, helped by new launches such as the Hunter 350. Exports were up by 13% to 8,190 units.

• Infosys: The IT major completed the acquisition of Danske Bank’s IT centre in India. Danske Bank selected Infosys as a strategic partner to accelerate digital transformation initiatives with speed and scale.

• Hindalco Industries: The company has entered into a shareholder’s agreement and power purchase agreement with Seven Renewable Power for the acquisition of a 26% stake in SRPPL for Rs 32.5 lakh. It plans to develop and operate a captive power plant to supply 100 MW round-the-clock renewable energy to its smelter located in Odisha.

• C.E. Info System: The company acquired 35,000 CCPS at Rs 2,571 apiece, constituting 18.62% on a fully diluted basis of Kogo Tech Labs aggregating to around Rs 9 crore. The total shareholding shall be 39.89% on a fully diluted basis.

• Tata Power: The company's unit, Tata Power Renewable Energy, signed a power delivery agreement for a group captive project of 6 MW AC with Chalet Hotels. The plant will generate 13.75 million units of clean energy from renewable sources under this arrangement.

• Chalet Hotels: The company will acquire a 26% stake in TP Agastaya and set up a group captive solar power plant in Maharashtra.

• Lemon Tree Hotels: The company has signed a licence agreement for an 80-room property in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, under the brand "Lemon Tree Premier". The hotel is expected to be operational by Q3 of FY25.

• Delta Corp: The company approved the voluntary strike-off of subsidiary Delta Offshore Developers, Mauritius. The striking-off process will be undertaken as per the laws of Mauritius. It also approved the incorporation of the Deltin Foundation, along with Highstreet Cruises and Entertainment.

• Lupin: The drugmaker completed the acquisition of French pharma firm Medisol following regulatory approval.

• Mahindra & Mahindra: The company entered into an asset transfer agreement and a business transfer agreement with unit Mahindra Last Mile Mobility for the transfer of identified assets and business pertaining to the Last Mile Mobility business to MLMML.

• Deepak Fertilisers: The company has signed two gas purchase agreements with GAIL (India) for the next three years, with a gas basket consisting of a combination of Brent, HH, and domestic linked.

• Kotak Mahindra Bank: Uday Kotak resigned as MD and CEO effective Sept. 1, four months ahead of his retirement. Dipak Gupta, joint managing director of the private lender, will conduct the duties of MD and CEO until Dec. 31, when a new CEO will be appointed.

• Biocon: Subsidiary Biocon Generics has acquired Eywa Pharma's oral solid dosage manufacturing facility in New Jersey, U.S. for $7.7 million (around Rs 64 crore). The facility has a potential for capacity expansion up to two billion tablets or capsules per year.

• JSW Steel: The steelmaker surrendered its Jajang iron ore block located in Keonjhar, Odisha, citing uneconomic operations. The surrender is subject to the government’s approval. The company had four iron ore mining leases in Odisha acquired through auction in 2020.

• Rail Vikas Nigam: The company won a Rs 322 crore order from Madhya Gujarat Vij (MGVCL) for a full turnkey contract (design, supply, and installation) for the development of distribution infrastructure work for loss reduction at Dahod. The duration of the contract is 31 months.

• ICICI Bank and ICICI Lombard General Insurance: ICICI Bank received an IRDAI nod for increasing its stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance by 4%, thus making it a subsidiary of the company. The lender will have to increase its stake in the insurance company in one or more tranches by Aug. 31, 2024.

• Mindspace Business Parks REIT: The company has acquired 0.24 million square feet of leasable office space at Commerzone Porur in Chennai for Rs 181.6 crore as part of its expansion plan. Mindspace REIT, through its asset special purpose vehicle, now owns 100% of the project, which has a total leasable area of about 1.1 million square feet.

• Mishra Dhatu Nigam: The company said that it supplied specialised metals and alloys used in the Aditya-L1 launcher vehicle.

Rishabh Instruments: The IPO was subscribed 31.65 times on its third and final day. The bids were led by institutional investors, subscribed 72.54 times; non-institutional investors, subscribed 31.29 times; and retail investors, subscribed 8.43 times. The IPO was subscribed 73% on the first day and 2.46 times on its second day.

Asian stocks edged higher as traders mulled U.S. job data supported optimism that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Stocks rose at the open in South Korea and Australia while holding on to small gains in Japan. Futures for Hong Kong equities were little changed, while those for the U.S. steadied. China traders will look to see if equities there can build on last week’s advance. Elsewhere, key rate decisions for central banks are scheduled in Australia and Malaysia with rates expected to remain on hold.

On Friday, the S&P 500 finished with a small advance ahead of Monday’s U.S. holiday while notching its best week since June. Tesla Inc. dropped over 5%, while energy shares rallied as oil topped $85 a barrel. The jobs report showed the labour market undergoing a controlled cooling.

Bloomberg also cited some traders highlighting the remarks from Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester, who said inflation remains too high and the labour market is still strong.

Meanwhile, Brent crude was trading above $88 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate was above the $85 mark. The yield on the 10-year U.S. bond was trading at 4.18%, and Bitcoin was below the $26,000 level.

At 8:20 a.m., the GIFT Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, was up 13.5 points, or 0.07%, at 19,561.

India's benchmark stock indices opened higher and steadily advanced on Friday after snapping three days of gains on Thursday. The indices advanced after snapping five weeks of losses.

The Sensex ended Friday above the 65,300 level, whereas the Nifty surpassed the 19,400 mark. Intraday, the Sensex jumped 0.99%, the most since July 13, and the Nifty rose 1.06%, the most since June 30. Metals, energy, automotive, and banking sectors rose in trade, whereas healthcare and pharmaceutical shares were under pressure.

Overseas investors turned net buyers of Indian equities on Friday after two sessions of selling. Foreign portfolio investors bought stocks worth Rs 487.94 crore, and domestic institutional investors remained net buyers and mopped up equities worth Rs 2,294.93 crore.

The local currency strengthened 7 paise to close at Rs 82.72 against the U.S. dollar on Friday.