Tata Steel and UK Government Partner for £1.25 Billion Green Steel Project at Port Talbot

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is up by 20.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market.

Asia-Pacific markets slid as investors brace for a week of central bank decisions. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s announcement is expected Thursday in Asia, On Friday, the Bank of Japan will wrap up its policy meeting, with traders seeking clarity on a policy shift. China’s People’s Bank is also set to announce loan prime rates on Friday. In market moves, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.13%, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.32%, and the Kosdaq slumped 0.42%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng futures at 18,067 signaled a weaker start compared to the previous close of 18,182.89, while Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

U.S. stock futures edged up as investors await the Federal Reserve’s next policy decision. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 17 points (0.05%), while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures inched up 0.03% and 0.02%, respectively. Additionally, futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 32 points (0.1%), with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also ticking up by 0.1%. The previous week saw losses for the broad market index and the Nasdaq for the second consecutive week, while the Dow managed a modest 0.1% gain. Investors are eagerly anticipating the Fed’s likely decision to keep interest rates steady, but they will closely monitor the central bank’s stance on inflation.

Stocks News:

👉 Tata Steel: The Tata Group company and the UK government announced a joint agreement to invest 1.25 billion pound in electric arc furnace steelmaking at the Port Talbot site. This included a grant from the UK Government of up to 500 million pound. The Port Talbot project will reduce direct emissions by 50 million tonnes over 10 years. Further, the project would also involve Tata Steel’s balance sheet being restructured with potential elimination of the current cash losses in the UK operations and non-cash impairment of legacy investments.

👉 Hindustan Aeronautics: India’s defence ministry had cleared nine procurement proposals of around ₹45,000 crore, including ones to acquire 12 Su-30 MKI fighter jets, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The ₹11,000 crores project would include the aircraft and related ground systems, defence officials have said. “These would be the most modern Su-30 MKI aircraft of the Indian Air Force equipped with multiple Indian weapons and sensors”, officials said.

👉 Bharat Electronics: The state-owned defence company has received an order of Rs 2,118.57 crore from Cochin Shipyard for supply of various equipment consisting of sensors, weapon equipment, fire control systems and communication equipment for six numbers of Next Generation Missile Vessels (NGMV), class of anti-surface warfare corvettes for Indian Navy. Further, it also received additional orders worth Rs 886 crore for upgradation of AFNET SATCOM N/W & Akash missiles with RF Seeker, and inertial navigation system and other equipment’s with accessories and spares. With this it has received orders worth Rs 14,384 Crore till now in FY24.

👉 Vodafone Idea: Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea has paid Rs 1,700 crore to the government which includes the dues for the 5G spectrum and other spectrum acquired previously. “We wish to inform that the Company has today, i.e. 16th September 2023, made the requisite payment of ~ Rs. 1,701 crores (including interest) to the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, towards 2022 Spectrum Auction Instalment,” Vi said in the regulatory filing.

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 164.42 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased Rs 1,938.57 crore worth of stocks on September 15, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.           

Domestic and International Events

• In August, India’s imports reached $58.64 billion, while exports hit a three-month high at $34.48 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $24.16 billion, higher than economists’ expectations of $21 billion. Experts are predicting a challenging global trade outlook for 2023 due to factors including the conflict in Ukraine, elevated inflation, tightening monetary policies, and financial uncertainties.

• Advance tax collections in the first half of the fiscal year 2023-24 have increased by 20% compared to the previous year, reaching ₹3.54 lakh crore. These collections are expected to further increase as more information is received from banks. Robust advance tax numbers indicate a strong economy and healthy corporate performance. The government is likely to release official data next week.

• Oil prices hit a 10-month high on Friday and posted a third weekly gain as supply tightness spearheaded by Saudi Arabian production cuts combined with optimism around Chinese demand to lift crude. Brent crude futures rose 0.3%, to settle at $93.93 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures was up 0.7%, to close at $90.77 a barrel. Both contracts traded at 10-month highs on Tuesday for the fifth consecutive session and gained about 4% on a weekly basis.
• Gold jumped 1% on Friday, helped by a weaker dollar and safe-haven buying after United Auto Workers union kicked of strikes at three automakers in Detroit, while hopes around a likely pause in U.S. interest-rate hikes lent further support. Spot gold was up 0.9% at $1,927.79 per ounce. Bullion has risen 0.6% so far this week. US gold futures gained 0.9% to $1,949.70. 

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