Helping You Build Wealth With Honest Research
Since 1996. Try Now

MEMBER'S LOGINX

     
Invalid Username / Password
   
     
   
     
 
Invalid Captcha
   
 
 
 
(Please do not use this option on a public machine)
 
     
 
 
 
  Sign Up | Forgot Password?  


India's Gold Demand, September Quarter Results, and Top Buzzing Stocks Today
Fri, 30 Oct Pre-Open

On Thursday, Indian share markets witnessed selling pressure throughout the day and ended marginally lower.

Benchmark indices edged lower as results from Maruti Suzuki and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) fell short of expectations, with new lockdowns in Europe's biggest economies also hitting sentiment.

At the closing bell yesterday, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 173 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty ended down by 59 points.

L&T and Titan Company were among the top losers.

On the sectoral front, FMCG stocks and capital goods stocks witnessed selling pressure.

Energy stocks, on the other hand witnessed buying interest.

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:

Top Stocks in Focus Today

Pidilite Industries share price will be among the top buzzing stocks today.

The company has entered into a definitive agreement with Huntsman Group (USA) to acquire 100% stake in one of its subsidiaries in India, Huntsman Advanced Materials Solutions Private (HAMSPL).

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) share price will also be in focus today as the company has signed a Rs 4-billion contract with Tech Mahindra for implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to support its 'Project Parivartan'.

Tech Mahindra will transform the distributed application to a centralized application for all of HAL's 22 divisions based on a business transformation engineering process, which includes implementation of supplier relationship management (SRM) and customer relationship management (CRM).

Market participants will also track DLF share price and IndusInd Bank share price as these companies are scheduled to announce their September quarter results later today.

India's Gold Demand Drops 30% in July-September Quarter

Gold demand in India dropped by 30% during the July-September quarter to 86.6 tonnes compared to the same period last year due to Covid-19 related disruptions and record high prices, World Gold Council (WGC) said in a report.

The overall demand stood at 123.9 tonnes during the third quarter of 2019.

Jewellery demand improved from the Q2 record low, the combination of continued social restrictions, economic slowdown and a strong gold price continued to impact demand from jewellery buyers.

Gold jewellery demand during the period under review stood at 333 tonnes.

The third quarter of 2020 also saw continued inflows into gold-backed exchange traded funds (ETF), although at a slower pace than in the first half.

The WGC said that India's gold demand in the fourth quarter is expected to recover after falling 30% in the previous quarter as festivals are expected to strengthen retail jewellery purchases.

It further added that demand would still be lower than the 194.3 tonnes recorded last year as consumers are struggling to adjust to near record high prices.

Demand for gold globally dropped 19% during the July-September quarter to 892.3 tonnes, largely due to weak consumer demand amid the pandemic.

So far in 2020, the demand stood at 2,972.1 tonnes, around 10% below the same period of 2019.

In other news, central banks became gold sellers for the first time since 2010 as some producing nations exploited near-record prices to soften the blow from the coronavirus pandemic.

Net sales totaled 12.1 tons of bullion in the third quarter, compared with purchases of 141.9 tons a year earlier. Selling was driven by Uzbekistan and Turkey, while Russia's central bank also posted its first quarterly sale in 13 years.

Gold prices rallied to a record highs during the quarter, even as overall bullion demand fell 19% year-on-year to the lowest since 2009.

Results Corner

Auto major Maruti Suzuki on Thursday reported a net profit of Rs 13.7 billion in the July-September period, marking a gain of nearly 1% compared to the corresponding period a year ago.

The country's largest carmaker said its total revenue from operations rose 10.4% to Rs 187.4 billion in Q2FY21, compared to Rs 169.9 billion in the year-ago period.

Its sales volume increased 16.2% to 3,93,130 vehicles during the quarter.

Domestic sales increased 18.6% to 370,619 vehicles, while exports fell 12.7% to 22,511 vehicles.

Axis Bank reported a net profit of Rs 16.8 billion for the quarter ended September, as against a loss of Rs 1.1 billion in the same period last year, owing to lower tax outgo.

The private lender's net interest income (NII), the difference between interest earned and interest expended, increased 20% year-on-year (YoY) and its net interest margin (NIM), a key measure of profitability, stood at 3.6%, an increase of 7 basis points (bps) from the same period last year.

The other income, which includes fees, trading profit and miscellaneous income, fell 2% YoY to Rs 38 billion in the September quarter.

The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio - bad loans as a percentage of gross advances, were at 4.2% in Q2FY21, down 85 bps YoY and down 54 bps sequentially. Total provisions and contingencies stood at Rs 48.5 billion, up 30% on a YoY basis.

Interglobe Aviation (IndiGo) reported its steepest quarterly loss as pandemic-related travel restrictions continued to dent its operations.

The company's second-quarter net loss came in at Rs 12 billion, compared with a loss of Rs 10.7 billion in the same period last year.

The company said its total debt as of September stood at Rs 254,194 million, up 28% from last year.

Revenue from operations plunged 66% to Rs 27.1 billion.

Earlier this year in June, IndiGo had said it would cut up to Rs 40 billion in costs and speed up the return of older planes to leasing companies in an attempt to cope with the pandemic-incurred hit to business.

Crude Oil Prices Continue Downtrend

Crude oil prices fell 4% on Thursday to their lowest since mid-June, extending the previous day's sharp decline on the potential impact renewed coronavirus lockdowns will have on oil demand.

December Brent crude futures declined by US$ 1.52, or 3.9%, to US$ 37.60. January contract lost US$ 1.48 a barrel to US$ 38.16.

Note that both contracts had plunged by more than 5% on Wednesday.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space. Stay tuned.

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


Equitymaster requests your view! Post a comment on "India's Gold Demand, September Quarter Results, and Top Buzzing Stocks Today". Click here!