Share markets in India are presently trading marginally higher.
The BSE Sensex is trading up by 218 points, up 0.4%, at 61,039 levels.
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 39 points.
ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are among the top gainers today. Wipro and Divi's Lab are among the top losers today.
The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 1.5%.
The BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 1.6%.
On the sectoral front, stocks from the real estate sector are witnessing most of the selling pressure.
On the other hand, stocks from the banking sector are witnessing most of the buying interest.
US stock futures are trading mixed today.
Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 36 points (up 0.2%) while Dow Futures are trading down by 5 points (flat)
The rupee is trading at 75.03 against the US$.
Gold prices are trading up by 0.3% at Rs 47,921 per 10 grams.
Gold prices were steady in Indian markets today after cutting gains in the prior session on US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell's comment that inflation could ease next year and the central bank was on track to start tapering its stimulus.
On MCX, gold contracts were up 0.2% at Rs 47,898 per 10 grams.
Last week, gold and silver prices were up due to pressure seen in the dollar index. The trend is likely to continue this week as well.
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.
Moving on to stock-specific news...
Among the buzzing stocks, today is Federal Bank.
Shares of Federal Bank were up 2% on the exchanges after the bank reported a near 50% jump in net profit for the September 2021 quarter on lower provisions and improvement in asset quality.
The bank's net profit came in at Rs 4.6 bn compared to Rs 3.1 bn in the year-ago period. Provisions fell 54% YoY to Rs 2.5 bn which helped the net profit surge.
The bank's asset quality improved on a sequential basis as the gross non-performing assets ratio came in at 3.24% for the September quarter as compared to 3.50% a quarter ago.
Its net NPA ratio also improved marginally to 1.12% as against 1.23% earlier.
The lender's net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, rose about 7% at Rs 14.8 bn. Net interest margins also rose to 3.2% from 3.1%.
However, the total income of the bank fell about 3% year on year (YoY) to Rs 38.3 bn from Rs 39.4 bn in the September 2020 quarter.
How the bank performs in the next quarter remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.
At the time of writing, Federal Bank shares were trading up by 1% on the BSE.
Moving on to news from the smallcap space...
Minda Industries to Hike Stake In Strongsun Renewables
Minda Industries on Saturday announced that its investment committee has approved the second tranche of investment in Strongsun Renewables
The transaction is expected to be completed on or before 6 November 2021.
With this acquisition, Minda Industries will hold a 28.1% stake in the company.
The acquisition of the shares is for availing solar power for its manufacturing units situated in Maharashtra.
Minda Industries is a flagship Company of UNO MINDA Group, which manufactures automobile components for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
On a consolidated basis, the company reported a net profit of Rs 299 m in the June 2021 quarter. It had posted a net loss of Rs 1.4 bn in the same period last year.
We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.
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