After starting the session on a firm note, Indian share markets witnessed volatility on expiry day as the session progressed.

Indian benchmark indices traded higher, strengthened by metal stocks and other Asian markets, as sentiment improved on growing expectations that major central banks may tone down their aggressive stance on rate hikes.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 213 points (up 0.4%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 81 points (up 0.5%).

JSW Steel, Hindalco, and Tata Steel were among the top gainers today.

Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, and Asian Paints, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,803, up by 65 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Midcap index and the BSE SmallCap index ended higher by 0.4%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the power sector, energy sector, and oil & gas sector witnessing most of the buying.

On the other hand, stocks from the IT sector witnessed selling pressure.

Among the best IT stocks, Tech Mahindra and Mphasis ended lower.

Laurus Labs' share price was falling, but it bucked the trend today and ended over 1% higher today.

Shares of VST Industries, Blue Star, and Bharti Airtel hit their 52-week high today.

Outside the home ground, Asian share markets ended on a mixed note.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei ended down by 0.3%, while the Hang Seng ended higher by 0.7%. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.5% lower.

US stock futures are trading on a positive note with Dow futures trading higher by 0.4%.

The rupee is trading at 82.5 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading higher by 0.2% at Rs 50,687 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.3% at Rs 58,166 per kg.

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With a response from 850 participants, the answer is right in front of you. The majority of investors are looking to buy stocks. These investors could be of the view that the current momentum in the stock market could continue.

While many are also taking exposure to safe havens of gold and silver.
 

JSW Steel's US Arm Raises Long-Term Finances

In the news from the steel sector, shares of JSW Steel jumped 5% today.

JSW Steel's US subsidiary raised US$182 m from two Italian banking institutions, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Banco BPM. This long-term fund is for modernizing its plate mill facility in Baytown, US.

The company's US arms own and operates one of the largest plate mills in America. It has an installed capacity of more than 1.2 m tons per annum.

The total cost of the modernization stands at US$260 m. Out of this, US$70 m is covered under the SACE guarantee, US$112 m will be raised as a term loan, and the remaining through the internal accruals of the company.

The financing was structured by SACE's Export Finance Division. The SACE guarantee is provided to promote Italian exports.

Intesa Sanpaolo acted as the SACE Agent and coordinator of the commercial tranche. Both acted as book-runners and mandated lead arrangers of the two facilities.

The project also includes supplies from Sideridraulic for water treatment and cooling systems. The total value of these suppliers is over US$100 m.

JSW Steel is the flagship business of JSW Group.

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Q2 Results

Moving on to the news from the banking sector, the share price of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank jumped 7% today.

The bank on Thursday reported a net profit rise of 37.2% YoY to Rs 2.6 bn in the quarter that ended September 2022. It was on the back of improvement in the net interest income.

The bank reported a net profit of Rs 1.9 bn in the same quarter last year.

The net interest income surged 15.6% to Rs 70 bn from Rs 53.3 bn in the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, the assets under the management grew by 31% YoY to Rs 5.1 bn during the quarter. However, the lender's non-interest income dipped to Rs 1.4 bn from Rs 1.5 bn a year ago.

The asset quality of the company saw an improvement on a YoY basis. The gross non-performing assets came in at 1.7% compared to 3.3% in the year-ago period.

The bank's loan book grew 10.4% YoY. The deposits also grew by 5.2% YoY to Rs 431 bn at the end of the September quarter of 2022.
 

Chennai Petroleum Q2 Profit slumps 57%

Moving on to the news from the energy sector, shares of Chennai Petroleum fall 11% post-Q2 earnings.

Chennai Petroleum reported a net profit down by 57.4% YoY to Rs 278 m for the quarter that ended September 2022. the company reported a profit of Rs 654.5 m in the same quarter last year.

This lower profitability for the quarter was on the back of export duties levied from 1 July 2022. This has resulted in reduced transfer pricing, lowering the revenue.

However, the net sales of the company zoomed 120.3% to Rs 195.1 bn from Rs 88.6 bn in the corresponding quarter previous year.

The total expense of the company spiked 75.8% YoY to Rs 228.7 bn in the September quarter. The cost of raw materials consumed soared 132.4% YoY to Rs 188.4 bn.

The average gross refining margin (GRM) for the September quarter stood at US$4.4 per barrel as against US$5.8 per barrel posted in the corresponding period a year ago, down 23.8% on a YoY basis.

Chennai Petroleum Corporation is one of the leading group companies of the Indian Oil corporation.

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