LIC’s Profits Surge, Paytm’s Acquisition Plans, Biocon’s Turnaround

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is down by 36.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market.

Most Asia-Pacific markets will be partially or fully closed Friday as the region enters the Lunar New Year holiday period.

China, South Korea and Taiwan’s markets will be shut, while Singapore and Hong Kong will see a half day of trading.

The benchmark S&P 500 index managed to eke out a small gain on Thursday after briefly hitting the 5,000-point milestone, as investors reacted to earnings reports, a roughly in-line jobs report and remarks from policymakers on interest rate cuts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.97 points, or 0.13%, to 38,726.33, the S&P 500 gained 2.85 points, or 0.06%, to 4,997.91 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 37.07 points, or 0.24%, to 15,793.72

Stocks News: 

👉 LIC has recorded standalone profit of Rs 9,444.4 crore in the quarter ended December FY23, growing sharply by 49.1 percent over a year-ago period. Net premium income for the quarter was Rs 1,17,017 crore, increasing 4.7 percent compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal, and net commission grew by 3.2 percent YoY to Rs 6,520 crore for the quarter. LIC has declared an interim dividend of Rs. 4 per share.

👉 Paytm is putting the finishing touches on a deal to acquire Bitsila, an interoperable e-commerce startup, sources said. Bengaluru-based Bitsila is currently the third-largest seller-side platform by transactions on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), sources said. The deal is in advanced stages and will likely close in the coming week, according to two people in the know.

👉 Biocon recorded consolidated net profit of Rs 660 crore for the October–December period of FY24, against a loss of Rs 41.8 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. This was partly due to a low base, as there was an exceptional loss of Rs 271.4 crore in Q3 FY23.

👉 BHEL has received an order from HPGCL (Haryana Power Generation Corporation) for setting up the 1×800 MW ultra-critical expansion unit at DCRTPP Yamuna Nagar. The contract value is more than Rs 5,500 crore. BHEL will provide equipment (including a boiler, turbine, generator, and associated auxiliaries), erection and commissioning, and civil works.

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 4,933.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 5,512.32 crore worth of stocks on February 8, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Domestic and International Events

• RBI’s easy-going, accommodative policy laid no jolts on Dalal Street. The rates remained unchanged for the sixth consecutive time and there were no further surprises.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled a ‘white paper’ on the Indian Economy in the Lok Sabha on February 8, which blamed the erstwhile UPA government for the “mountain of bad loans” and “double-digit inflation” in the period before the Narendra Modi-led government took charge.

• Gold price (XAU/USD) falls sharply in the late European session on Thursday as uncertainty over the timing of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) deepens. In the monetary policy speeches this week, none of the Fed policymakers have provided any concrete timeline for rate cuts

• Crude oil futures prices rose for the fourth day in a row Thursday after the U.S. killed a militant commander in Iraq and Israel rejected a ceasefire proposal by Hamas.