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Business News/ Markets / Stock Markets/  Stock markets may continue to consolidate; Zee and Wipro shares in focus
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Stock markets may continue to consolidate; Zee and Wipro shares in focus

Wipro on Tuesday reported a 35.82% annual rise in consolidated net profit for the September quarter
  • Asian markets were mostly higher today
  • The IMF slashed its growth projection for India to to 6.1% for the current fiscalPremium
    The IMF slashed its growth projection for India to to 6.1% for the current fiscal

    Indian stock markets are expected to consolidate further tracking positive global cues. Asian shares took off on Wednesday and sterling held near six-month highs as Britain and the EU made headway on a Brexit deal ahead of a leaders' summit though it remained unclear if London could avoid postponing its scheduled departure on 31 October.

    Officials and diplomats involved in negotiations over the acrimonious divorce between the world's fifth-largest economy and its biggest trading bloc said differences over the terms of the split had narrowed significantly.

    The news lit a fire under European and US equities, which jumped about 1% on Tuesday. The British pound rocketed to $1.28, a level not seen since 21 May. It gave back some of those gains on Wednesday to be last at $1.2759.

    The positive sentiment extended on Wednesday with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.3%.

    Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.7%, while Australian shares added 0.9% and South Korea's KOSPI index climbed 0.7%.

    Stronger-than-expected earnings from major US banks - JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo - further boosted sentiment even as the International Monetary Fund downgraded its 2019 global growth forecast for a fifth time.

    EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michael Barnier had been demanding a legal text of any agreement by midnight UK time. However, the talks were still going on between UK Brexit negotiator David Frost and EU's executive European Commission past midnight in Brussels.

    The EU will determine whether a deal is fit to be put to Thursday's leaders' summit for consideration.

    The International Monetary Fund, while slashing its growth projection for the country to 6.1% for the current fiscal from its July forecast of 7% said on Tuesday India should opt for further monetary policy easing and broad-based structural reforms to reverse a cyclical demand slowdown.

    Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd are likely to be in focus. According to a Mint report, VTB Capital Plc, a unit of Russia’s state-controlled lender VTB Group, is in talks with two potential investors to sell a 10.71% stake in Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.

    Wipro on Tuesday reported a 35.82% annual rise in consolidated net profit at 2,561.30 crore for the September quarter compared with 1,885.70 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. On a sequential basis, the profit was up 6.2%. It has guided for IT services revenue of $2,065 million to $2,106 million for the December quarter.

    Meanwhile, news on the US-China trade front has been less encouraging. Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that China will struggle to buy $50 billion of US farm goods annually unless it removes retaliatory tariffs on American products, which would require reciprocal action by US President Donald Trump.

    In currencies, the Japanese yen was at the lowest in 2.5 months against the greenback as investors flocked to riskier assets. It was last at 109.82 per dollar.

    The dollar was under pressure against a basket of six major currencies with its index hovering near three-week lows at 98.288. The euro was flat at $1.1369.

    In commodities, Brent crude added 21 cents to $58.94 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 20 cents to $53.01 after falling in the previous session over fears the unrelenting US-China trade war would keep squeezing global economy.

    Spot gold was largely unchanged at $1,481.48 an ounce. (Reuters contributed to the story)

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    Published: 16 Oct 2019, 08:15 AM IST
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