Asian stocks tracked Wall Street higher on Tuesday ahead of a chorus of Federal Reserve officials due to speak later in the day, while the Australian dollar held steady and domestic shares rose ahead of the country's interest rate decision.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7%, helped by an overnight rally on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq scored record closing highs on Monday as technology shares rallied on enthusiasm over artificial intelligence ahead of this week's economic data and Federal Reserve officials' speeches that could shed light on monetary policy.

Here's a table showing how US stocks performed on Monday:

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 249 points higher and NSE Nifty is trading 84 points higher.

Wipro, Titan and Adani enterprises are among the top gainers today.

Maruti Suzuki, Apollo Hospital and Kotak Mahindra the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Midcap index is trading 0.25 higher and the BSE Smallcap index is trading 0.5% higher.

Barring the healthcare sector, all other sectoral indices are trading higher today, with stocks in the realty sector and the telecom sector witnessing buying.

The rupee is trading at Rs 83.47 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading 0.3% higher at Rs 71,670 per 10 grams today.
 

HAL Secures Helicopter Procurement

In a bid to push aatmanirbharta in the defence sector, Hindustan Aeronautics on Monday announced that the Defence Ministry has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for 156 Light Combat Helicopters.

Of the 156 LCH requested by the Defence Ministry, 90 are being procured for the Indian Army (IA), while the remaining 66 are for the Indian Air Force (IAF), according to HAL's official statement. The tender is expected to be worth over Rs 450 bn, with helicopters to be acquired by the Indian Air Force and Indian Army.

Earlier, Defence Ministry Rajnath Singh after assuming charge again for the second straight time announced that the aim will be to further strengthen the security apparatus of the country, with a focus on achieving self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

The LCH, also known as Prachand, has similarities with the Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv. It has several stealth features, armoured protection systems, night attack capability and crash-worthy landing gear for better survivability.

The LCH is equipped with requisite agility, manoeuvrability, extended range, high altitude performance and all-weather combat capability to perform a range of roles, including combat search and rescue (CSAR), destruction of enemy air defence (DEAD) and counter-insurgency (CI) operations.

Zomato to Acquire Paytm's Movie

Food delivery major Zomato is in advanced talks to acquire fintech player Paytm's movie and event ticketing business, a potential deal that is pegged in the range of Rs 16-20 bn.

The talks are taking place at a time when Paytm is focusing on its payments and financial services business.

Once finalised, this will be the food delivery major's second biggest purchase since acquiring Blinkit in 2022 for US$ 569 million (m) in an all-stock deal.

Attempts to connect with Paytm and Zomato were not successful till the time of the press.

In a recent regulatory filing, food delivery aggregator Zomato said that it will be investing Rs 1 bn in its entertainment business, which is into live events and ticketing.

The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led firm is trying to regain the lost ground by doubling down its focus on payments and adopting a distribution-first approach for financial services. As such, the company is focusing on its larger businesses that can grow and become profitable at scale.

With this deal, the company now does not have any non-core businesses.

Paytm said it will steer away from non-core operations and focus on trimming its employee costs.

To achieve this, the firm is reviewing its decision to continue non-core operations such as cross-border business and software as a service (SaaS) to banks, among others.
 

Wipro partners GBST

Wipro on Tuesday, 18 June, said it has entered a strategic partnership with GBST, a global provider of wealth management and advice solutions technology for the financial services industry, to deliver end-to-end administration services for superannuation, wealth and pensions companies from legacy IT environments.

It said the collaboration addresses a critical need within the industry, where organisations often face challenges in managing legacy IT systems and multiple service providers simultaneously.

Chris Smith, the CEO of Australia and New Zealand, of Wipro, said the collaboration with GBST will drive innovation and transformation in the superannuation and wealth management space. Together, we will enable organisations to modernise their operations, leverage advanced technologies like Generative AI, and deliver superior outcomes for their members.

Robert DeDominicis, the global CEO of GBST, said the announcement is a significant milestone for the financial services industry.

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