Most Asian stocks rose on Friday, with technology-heavy indexes leading gains after strength in their US counterparts spurred record-high closes on Wall Street.

The Nikkei index was trading 0.7% higher, while Hang Seng was trading 0.6% higher. Meanwhile, the Shanghai index is trading 0.7% lower.

US stocks closed higher Thursday, notching a fresh record closing high as the Federal Reserve-led selloff from a day earlier attracted dip-buying in tech stocks ahead of the all-important monthly jobs report due Friday.

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

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 690 points higher and NSE Nifty is trading 225 points higher.

Adani Ports, BPCL, and Hero MotoCorp are among the top gainers today.

Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, and Axis Bank on the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading higher. The BSE Mid Cap and the BSE Small Cap index are trading 0.8% higher.

Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note, with socks in the oil & gas sector, energy sector, and realty sector witnessing the most buying.

The rupee is trading at Rs 82.84 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading flat at Rs 62,885 per 10 grams today.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading flat at Rs 72,151 per 1 kg.
 

RITES Q3 Results

RITES on Thursday reported a 12.5% drop in consolidated profit at Rs 1.3 bn for the quarter ended 31 December 2023.

The company had posted a profit of Rs 1.5 bn for the year-ago period. Income dropped to Rs 6.9 bn from Rs 703.38 crore in the year-ago period.

The sequential progress is in line with the direction that the company had strategized at the beginning of the FY, having received an export order after a long gap, sustained growth in its project consultancy revenue, and steady growth in its EBITDA.

RITES Ltd, an enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, is a multidisciplinary engineering and consultancy organization, providing a comprehensive range of services from concept to commissioning in all facets of transport infrastructure and related technologies.

Shares of the company hit their 52-week high recently. 
 

Hero MotoCorp January Sales Growth

Hero MotoCorp, the global leader in the production of scooters and motorcycles, reported a significant sales milestone for January. The company sold 433,598 units during the last month, reflecting a 22% growth compared to the same month in 2023, where sales stood at 356,690 units.

The company's domestic sales came in at 420,934 units, while the exports stood at 12,664 units, a significant improvement compared to the 7,253 units sold in January 2023. For FY23, the company achieved an overall sales figure of 4,662,630 units, consisting of 4,516,018 units in the domestic market and 146,612 units in exports.

During the second edition of Hero World, held at the state-of-the-art R&D hub of Hero, the Centre for Innovation and Technology (CIT), the company announced key focus areas for future growth.

These include the strong expansion in the premium bike segment, strengthening its EV portfolio, upscaling its dealer network, and increasing the use of digital technologies in business.

Further, the company launched a new 440cc motorcycle, Mavrick-440, marking its foray into the premium middle-weight segment under its label. The Maverick 440 is fitted with an air-cooled, 2V single-cylinder 440cc 'TorqX' engine with electronic fuel injection.

This long-stroke engine delivers 27 bhp @ 6000 rpm and a torque of 36 Nm @ 4000 rpm.

Additionally, the event featured ground-breaking concepts like the Vida V1 Coupe and two EV concepts, Lynx and Acro, highlighting Hero's dedication to emerging and green mobility.

The company also exhibited production-ready vehicles: the Xoom 125, Xoom 160, and the trailblazing Concept 2.5R XTunt.

Hero MotoCorp, one of the top companies in the EV sector could be prime beneficiaries as Nifty heads towards 40,000.

More By This Author: