Sensex opens marginally lower; Tata Steel and Coal India top losers

Market participants will track shares of Havells India, Jubilant Foodworks, Tata Communications, and Just Dial as these companies will announce their September quarter results today. (ANI)
Market participants will track shares of Havells India, Jubilant Foodworks, Tata Communications, and Just Dial as these companies will announce their September quarter results today. (ANI)

Summary

  • Indian share markets open marginally lower. The BSE Sensex opened down by 180 points, while the Nifty is trading lower by 85 points

Asian share markets are trading mixed today as US stocks rallied overnight buoyant by corporate earnings.

The Hang Seng and the Nikkei are trading up by 1.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite is trading on a flat note.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices closed higher on Tuesday with the biggest boost coming from the technology and healthcare sectors, as investors appeared to bet on solid quarterly reports even as some worried that it was too early to celebrate.

The Dow Jones ended higher by 0.6% while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.7%.

Back home, Indian share markets have opened on a negative note.

Market participants will track shares of Havells India, Jubilant Foodworks, Tata Communications, and Just Dial as these companies will announce their September quarter results today.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 180 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 85 points.

Nestle India is among the top gainers today. Tata Steel and Asian Paints, on the other hand, are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index has opened down by 0.5%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading lower by 0.7%.

Sectoral indices are trading on a mixed note with stocks in the metal sector and power sector witnessing selling pressure.

IT and capital goods stocks, on the other hand, are trading in green.

Shares of Sonata Software and Infosys hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at 75.14 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.3% at ₹47,422 per 10 grams.

Gold demand is likely to be more subdued than expected in 2021, following India's prolonged battle with covid-19, said the World Gold Council (WGC).

In news from the FMCG sector, Nestle India is among the top buzzing stocks today.

FMCG major Nestle on Tuesday reported a 5.2% rise in its net profit to ₹6.2 billion for the third quarter ended September, driven largely by a high single-digit volume growth in the domestic market.

The company, which follows the January-December financial year, had posted a profit of ₹5.9 billion in the same period a year ago.

Topline rose 9.6% to ₹38.6 billion as against ₹35.3 billion a year ago.

Nestle’s total expenses increased 10.5% to ₹30.8 billion as compared to ₹27.9 billion in the year-ago period.

The company’s chairman and managing director Suresh Narayanan said, “This quarter has once again seen the Company deliver 'double-digit broad-based value growth' in domestic sales across categories."

Nestle India's domestic sales were up 10.1% to ₹36.9 billion as against ₹33.5 billion in the year-ago period.

During the quarter, Nestle introduced Maggi noodles and Polo in the Middle East market, while Crunch Wafers have been launched in Asean markets.

The company’s export sales rose 1.30% to ₹1.8 billion.

Nestle also declared an interim dividend of ₹110 per share.

Nestle India share price has opened the day up by 0.6%.

Speaking of the FMCG sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the performance of BSE Sensex and BSE FMCG index since 2009.

Source: ACE Equity.
View Full Image
Source: ACE Equity.

While the Sensex has offered more than 393% returns since 2009, the BSE FMCG index has gone up a staggering 532% returns over the same period.

Richa Agarwal, senior research analyst at Equitymaster, and editor of the smallcap service, Hidden Treasure, believes this outperformance could continue for many years.

With a rising population and standards of living, Indian's consumption demand for FMCG products will skyrocket over the coming years.

Moving on to news from the energy space, Adani group will invest over $50 billion to $70 billion in renewable energy value chain over the next decade.

The group firms have committed 70% of planned capex until 2030 to the energy transition, the group’s billionaire chairman Gautam Adani said on Tuesday.

Adani said he made a plea for equitable and pragmatic policies in the battle against climate change and recommended setting practical goals and agendas.

He added that hydrogen is a game-changer and the group's green energy portfolio will expand to become one of the world's largest green hydrogen producers.

He also suggested that a collaborative approach was needed wherein developed nations, which have emitted more greenhouse gases over time, shoulder greater responsibility and propose policies and targets that fairly address the needs of the developing world.

Adani Ports has committed to the 1.5-degree pathway through SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative) and so has Adani Green Energy.

Adani Green Energy will also triple its renewable power generation capacity over the next four years.

Adani Transmission has also made the same commitment and the other portfolio companies are working towards committing to the 1.5-degree pathway.

How the above developments pan out remains to be seen.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com

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