Indian equity benchmark indices declined for the second straight session on Wednesday amid selling in metal, power, auto, and banking stocks, and persistent foreign fund outflows. Investors remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
The BSE Sensex fell 283.60 points or 0.44 per cent to close at 63,591.33. The NSE Nifty lost 90.45 points or 0.47 to end at 18,989.15.
Federal Reserve kept the interest rates unchanged as expected at 5.25-5.50 per cent, a 22-year high for the second time in a row.
“Domestic equities stumbled after India’s manufacturing activity fell at 8 month low to 55.5 in Oct. Nifty traded in negative territory to close near the day’s low with a loss of 90 points at 18989 levels. Sectorally it was a mixed bag with buying seen in Pharma, Realty, Oil & Gas, and PSU Banks. ended in red,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd
“Markets on Thursday would react to the US Fed’s interest rate decision and economic data to be release during the day. Also, investors would watch out for BOE’s interest rate decision to be announced on Thursday,” he added.
Top Stocks To Watch On November 2:
Hero Motocorp
The automobile major reported a net profit of Rs 1,054 crore in the Julu-September quarter of fiscal 2023-24, up 47 per cent from Rs 716 crore reported in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations grew 4.1 per cent to Rs 9,445 crore compared to Rs 9,075 crore in the year-ago period. EBITDA came in at Rs 1,328.3 crore in the reported quarter, a jump of 27.9 per cent as against Rs 1,038 crore in the year-ago period. EBITDA margin rose to 14.1 per cent.
Godrej Consumer Products
The FMCG major recorded a 20.59 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 432.77 crore compared to Rs 358.86 crore in the year-ago period. Total revenue jumped by 6.19 per cent to Rs 3,601.95 crore in the second quarter of FY24 against Rs 3,391.92 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The company announced an interim dividend of Rs 5 per share. EBITDA margin stood at 19.6 percent in the reported quarter.
Jet Airways
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 1 that it had attached properties worth Rs 538.05 crore of embattled Jet Airways and individuals including founder chairman Naresh Goyal, and others. The properties have been attached under the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2022, in a money laundering case against the chairman.
JK Tyre
The tyre manufacturer reported a growth of 371 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 242 crore, compared to Rs 51.31 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations in the second quarter stood at Rs 3,897.53 crore, a rise of 3.8 per cent compared to Rs 3,756.52 crore in the corresponding quarter for the previous fiscal. EBITDA during the September quarter came in at Rs 589 crore.
LIC Housing Finance
The housing finance subsidiary of LIC reported a nearly four-fold rise in net profit to Rs 1,188 crore for the September quarter compared to Rs 305 crore in the year-ago quarter. Total revenue increased to Rs 6,753 crore from Rs 5,086 crore in the year-ago period. Net interest income increased to Rs 2,107 crore compared to Rs 1,150 crore in the year-ago period.
