Asian shares markets crept to two-week highs, helped by hints of progress toward avoiding a US default and by resilience in Japan's economy, with industrial sector surveys in Europe and the United States in focus later in the day.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan touched its highest since 9 May 2023. The Nikkei extended its winning streak into a ninth session and rose 0.6%.

While both the Hang Seng index and the Shanghai Composite are down 0.6%

Wall Street indices finished mixed on Monday, with the Nasdaq helped by gains in Alphabet and Meta Platforms, while the S&P 500 ended near flat as investors refrained from big bets ahead of a fresh round of talks about raising the US debt ceiling.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.4% lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended 0.3% higher.

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

Source: Equitymaster

Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a positive note following the trend on SGX Nifty.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading higher by 210 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading up by 80 points.

IndusInd Bank and Infosys are among the top gainers today.

M&M and Kotak Mahindra Bank on the other hand are among the top losers today.

Check out the NSE Nifty heatmap to get the complete list of gainers and losers.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. Both the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading 0.4% higher.

Sectoral indices are trading on a positive note with the exception of the consumer durables sector and the realty sector. Stocks in the power sector, and oil and gas sector witness buying.

Shares of Cera Sanitary and UltraTech Cement hit their 52-week high today.

The rupee is trading at Rs 81.82 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading lower by 296 to Rs 59,945 per 10 grams today.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading lower by 0.5% at Rs 72,360 per 1 kg.
 

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Q4 results

Apparel retailer Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail on Monday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,870 million (m) for the March 2023 quarter. It is compared to a profit of Rs 436 m, in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

The company has posted its first quarterly loss in nearly 2 years, due to surging expenses outweighed demand for its apparel and lifestyle products.

The revenue from operations of ABFRL was up by 26% to Rs 28.8 billion (bn) for the quarter under review from Rs 22.8 bn in the year-ago period of last year despite a challenging consumption environment.

The Aditya Birla group company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) stood at Rs 1.9 bn, down 48% from Rs 3.7 bn year-on-year.

Business growth continued to be led by aggressive offline expansion. ABFRL has also further strengthened its digital and omnichannel play as e-com sales in Q4 grew 77% YoY driven by effective B2B partnerships and brand.com.

Speaking of Aditya Birla Fashions, earlier this month it completed the acquisition of TCNS clothing. TCNS Clothing is one of India's leading women's branded apparel companies.

The company was founded in 2002 and has since grown to become a well-known brand in the Indian fashion industry.

Post-acquisition TCNS share price took a sharp hit on the bourses.

JSW Steel to acquire National Steel and Agro

JSW Steel on Monday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, JSW Steel Coated Products will complete the acquisition of National Steel and Agro Industries (NSAIL) for a total consideration of Rs 6.1 bn.

JSW Steel Coated Products, a wholly-owned subsidiary, got approval in respect to the corporate insolvency resolution process of NSAIL.

As per the approved plan, JSW Steel Coated Products proposes to pay Rs 6.1 bn to the financial creditor of NSAIL, towards the assignment of the financial debt owed by NSAIL to such financial creditor.

The steel company will infuse another Rs 85.2 m by way of a loan (in one or more tranches) towards the full and final discharge and settlement of unpaid insolvency resolution process costs, payment towards operational creditors (including workmen and employees), and other mandatory payments.

NSAIL shall be delisted pursuant to the resolution plan without any exit price being paid to the shareholders.
 

ITI's order win

Central public sector undertaking, ITI on Monday bagged an advance purchase order (APO) worth a whopping Rs 38.9 bn from state-owned telecom services provider, BSNL for its 4G rollout. As part of the contract, ITI will manufacture the radio access network (RAN).

BSNL issued the APO for the reservation quota (RQ) order in the west zone.

The order includes planning, engineering, supply, installation, and commissioning, and AMC of 4G Mobile Network for 23,633 sites in the west zone of the telecom company. The total value of the contract also includes AMC for 9 years.

ITI said, that the supply period is 18-24 months and the warranty is 12 Months with the consortium partner being IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

ITI is the country's premier telecom company and multi-unit central public sector undertaking, and is a total solutions provider in the telecommunications segment.

Currently, ITI has six manufacturing facilities in locations like Bengaluru, Naini, Raebareli, Mankapur, Srinagar, and Palakkad along with an in-house R&D center in Bengaluru and marketing, sales & projects (MSP) offices spread across the country.

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