Diwali Muhurat Trading session: Nifty to open on a strong note in special trading session

Diwali Muhurat Trading: Nifty 50 index is set to open on a strong note in Diwali's special one-hour Muhurat Trading session on Sunday as indicated by Nifty futures traded on GIFT Nifty. Nifty futures on GIFT Nifty surged 120 points or 0.61 per cent to 19,609 indicating that Nifty could stage a gap up opening.

US Markets ended higher on Friday on doubts that interest rates will go higher even after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that tighter monetary policy might be needed to tame inflation.

Powell's remarks on Thursday that the fight to restore price stability "had a long way to go" at first roiled markets. But a softer labour market as seen in last week's unemployment report and speculation that next week's consumer prices index (CPI) will show slower inflation spurred bulls into action.

Many investors embraced the notion that US rates have peaked after the Fed kept its overnight lending rate steady last week, a move that bolstered speculation the tightening cycle was over and spurred a rally in risky assets until Thursday.

MSCI's gauge of global equity performance closed up 0.76 per cent, while Wall Street's main indices surged 1 per cent or more. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.15 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 1.56 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite added 2.05 per cent, its biggest percentage jump since May.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.7 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 1.3 per cent and the Nasdaq advanced 2.4 per cent.

Back home, Sensex, Nifty rose for a second consecutive week on Friday, led by energy stocks as oil prices fell, even as hawkish US Federal Reserve remarks reignited rate worries and dragged Asian peers.

The NSE Nifty 50 index added 1.01 per cent for the week, while S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.84 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in Indian markets as they sold shares worth Rs 262 crore on Friday. They have so far this month sold shares worth Rs 5,806 crore, data from NSDL showed.

Stocks in focus

ONGC: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) reported a 20 per cent drop in September quarter next profit on decline in oil prices and lower output. The company reported a net profit of Rs 10,216 crore in July-September (second quarter of current 2023-24 fiscal year), compared to Rs 12,826 crore earning in the same period last year, a statement said.

Coal India: State-run Coal India on Friday reported a 12.5 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,799.77 crore for the September quarter on account of higher sales. The company's net profit stood at Rs 6,043.55 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a regulatory filing.

BSE: Leading stock exchange BSE has reported a four-fold jump in net profit at Rs 118.4 crore for the quarter ended in September 2023. In comparison, the exchange had posted a net profit of Rs 29.4 crore in the year-ago period, BSE said in a statement. The bourse's revenue rose 53 per cent to a record Rs 367 crore in the July-September quarter of the current financial year (FY24), from Rs 240 crore in the year-ago period.

SAIL: SAIL on Friday returned to black, posting a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,305.59 crore for September quarter 2023-24, as higher sales volumes led to increased income. It had incurred Rs 329.36 crore net loss during July-September period a year ago, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) said in a regulatory filing. Total income rose to Rs 29,858.19 crore from Rs 26,642.02 crore in the year- ago quarter.

Biocon: Biotechnology major Biocon on Friday said its consolidated net profit rose an over two-fold to Rs 173 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2023. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 82 crore for the July-September period of the last fiscal. Total income rose to Rs 3,620 crore for the second quarter as against Rs 2,384 crore in the year-ago period, Biocon Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Eicher Motors:  Royal Enfield motorcycles maker reported a larger-than-expected rise in second-quarter profit on Friday, helped by strong sales of its bikes. Eicher, which also makes buses and trucks, said its consolidated net profit rose 54.7 per cent to a record Rs 1,016 crore in the three months to September 30 from a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of Rs 929 crore, per LSEG data.

(With agency inputs)