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Sensex Trades 209 Points Lower; Dow Futures Down by 147 Points
Wed, 28 Oct 12:30 pm

Share markets in India are presently trading on a negative note.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 209 points, down 0.5%, at 40,312 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 49 points.

Bharti Airtel and Tata Motors are among the top gainers today . HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.2%.

The BSE Small Cap index is trading flat.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the telecom 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 indices.

Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 31 points (down 0.3%), while Dow Futures are trading down by 147 points (down 0.5%).

The rupee is trading at 73.75 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading flat at Rs 50,972 per 10 grams.

In global markets, gold prices were marginally lower today amid ebbing hopes of a US stimulus before the elections. Gold prices in the domestic market also continued to struggle as the precious metal slipped in global markets.

Note that gold prices are up about 30% so far this year in Indian markets. Most of these gains are seen as gold is seen as an inflation hedge amid unprecedented pandemic-driven stimulus across the world.

Speaking of the precious yellow metal, how lucrative has gold been as a long-term investment in India?

The chart below shows the annual returns on gold over the last 15 years...


As you can see, barring just two years - 2013 and 2015, gold has delivered positive returns in 13 of the last 15 years.

The recent price volatility in the bullion market has rattled many traders. Even with the recent volatility in prices, gold remains among the best performing commodities this year to combat the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

To know more about gold, visit our YouTube Playlist on gold investing.

Moving on to stock specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks today is Bharti Airtel.

On October 27, Bharti Airtel, the country's second-largest telecom operator, reported its highest ever quarterly consolidated revenue on the back of a rise in data usage and higher realizations, helping it narrow losses for the quarter ended September.

The company's consolidated revenue rose 22% to Rs 257.8 billion during the September quarter while net loss narrowed to Rs 7.6 billion. This was bolstered by an all-round growth across the portfolio and rise in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) as well as strong 4G additions.

4G data customers increased by 48% to 152.7 million compared to the previous year.

The company said that with respect to engagement parameters, it continues to be "best in industry" with average data usage per data subscriber at 16 GB per month and voice usage at 1,005 mins/subscriber/month.

The company's losses were significantly lower than the year-ago period after the company made provisions of Rs 284.5 billion in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling on statutory dues.

Note that sector analysts have predicted that revenues for mobile operators will improve sequentially in the September quarter as factors such as increased recharges, reverse migration, and easing of lockdown curbs would help overcome what is otherwise a seasonally-weak quarter.

Airtel is the first of the three private telecom operators to announce its quarterly results this earnings season. Vodafone Idea's second quarter numbers are scheduled on October 29 while Reliance Jio will announce its September quarter results on October 30.

We will keep you updated on all the news from this space. Stay tuned.

At the time of writing, Bharti Airtel share price was trading up by 5.5% on the BSE.

Speaking of the stock markets, India's #1 trader Vijay Bhambwani, talks about a great profit opportunity in PSU stocks in latest video for Fast Profits Daily.

In this video below, Vijay shares how you could have made up to Rs 300,000 in just three trading sessions from the recent sharp move in these stocks.

Tune in here to find out more:

Moving on to news from the insurance sector...

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Q2FY21 Results: Profit Marginally Up by Rs 10 million

In a regulatory filing on October 27, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reported a marginal rise in net profit of Rs 10 million for the quarter ended September.

The company's total income jumped to Rs 168.3 billion during the quarter as against Rs 82 billion in the year-ago period. Net premium income grew 6.2% year-on-year (YoY) while new business premium rose 1.1% YoY to Rs 29 billion during the quarter under review.

ICICI Prudential said the recovery in new business premium helped it offset some of the decline seen in the June quarter due to the impact of the pandemic. Retail renewal premium was up 6.3% YoY whereas Value to new business (VNB), a measure of the profitability of new business in a period, was up 0.3% YoY.

The solvency ratio was 205% as on September 30, well above the regulatory requirement of 150%. Assets under management stood at Rs 1815 billion at the end of the second quarter, showing a growth of 18.6% YoY.

The company's CEO, N S Kannan said that with the economy gradually opening up post lockdown, the company is starting to see positive trends. On the back of risk-averse behaviour of customers, the company saw a considerable interest in traditional long-term savings products.

As far as Coronavirus claims is concerned, while Kannan did not disclose the exact numbers, he added that the numbers are as per their projections.

He also added that the company is on course to double the VNB in the next three to four years.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

Read the latest Market Commentary


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