Sensex marginally higher, Dow futures down 122 points

The BSE Sensex is up by 91 points or 0.2% at 52,744 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is up by 33 points.

Tech Mahindra and Adani Ports are among the top gainers today. SBI Life and Bajaj Finserv are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.7%.

The BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.8%.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the automobile sector are witnessing most of the buying interest.

On the other hand, stocks from the banking sector are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

US stock futures are trading lower today, indicating a negative opening for Wall Street.

Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 194 points (down 1.3%) while Dow Futures are trading down by 122 points (down 0.4%).

The rupee is trading at 74.38 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down 0.2% at ₹48,170 per 10 grams.

In domestic markets, gold prices were trading flat in early trade today tracking a muted trend in the international spot prices. On MCX, gold futures were trading 0.1% lower at ₹48,254 per 10 grams.

In international markets, spot gold was steady at US$ 1,827.3 per ounce, having hit its highest since July 15 at US$ 1,832.4 on 29 July 2021.

Speaking of the stock markets, India’s #1 trader, Vijay Bhambwani, shares how you can profit from the weakness in NBFC stocks, in his latest video for Fast Profits Daily.

Tune in here to find out more.

Moving on to stock-specific news…

Among the buzzing stocks today is Tech Mahindra.

Shares of Tech Mahindra surged 8.5% on the BSE in the intraday trade today after the IT major reported a 39.2% year on year (YoY) jump in consolidated net profit at ₹13.5 bn for the June 2021 quarter.

The consolidated revenue from operations of the company grew 12% YoY at ₹102 bn. The company had posted revenue of ₹91.1 bn in the same period a year ago.

The dollar revenue for the quarter stood at US$ 1,384 m, up 14.6% YoY. In constant currency terms. Meanwhile, the order book increased to US$ 815 m from US$ 290 m in the June 2020 quarter.

The company beat profit expectations by a wide margin as analysts had projected the figure to rise between 16-23% YoY.

On the revenue front too, the figure was marginally higher than analysts' estimates.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.

At the time of writing, Tech Mahindra shares were trading up by 8.4% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the automobile sector…

Maruti Suzuki plans ₹45 bn capex in 2022

Maruti Suzuki, in its latest quarterly update said that the company plans to raise the capital expenditure for the financial year 2022 by 67% to ₹45 bn as it prepares to defend its enviable market share amid increasing competition.

The automaker had lined up a capex of ₹27 bn for the financial year 2021 which was its lowest since 2016 and nearly 17% lower than the ₹32.5 bn capex of 2020.

Note that India’s number three carmaker, Tata Motors has lined up ₹30-35 bn in capital expenditure for the financial year 2022 for its India business following a sustained multi-quarter rise in sales.

Maruti Suzuki’s domestic passenger vehicle market share in the June 2021 quarter stood at 45.3% as per data shared by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. By the end of the financial year 2021, the company had a better share of 47.7%.

Maruti Suzuki officials also acknowledged the continued pressure on margins due to increase in raw material prices but refused to explicitly mention if the company was looking at passing on the hike to consumers.

Since January 2021, Maruti Suzuki has undertaken three increases in prices to offset the impact of the rising commodity prices. Its competitors including Tata Motors, Renault and Mahindra & Mahindra have also undertaken price hikes in recent months.

How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.

Speaking of stocks, here is an illustration of the four phases that a stock goes through during its life cycle. The cycle repeats itself after the stock goes through all these for stages.

This cycle defines everything in markets. If you can master this cycle, then nothing can stop you from making huge profits.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com