Asian stocks were mixed as the US dollar rose after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump reinforced bets that his chances of winning the presidential election have increased.

Australian and South Korean shares rose while Hong Kong futures indicated an early loss when markets open.

US stock market indices ended mostly lower on Thursday dragged by losses in heavyweights amid the release of US inflation data.

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

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 163 points higher and NSE Nifty is trading 51 points higher.

HCL Tech, Bajaj Auto, and Cipla are among the top gainers today.

Coal India, Asian Paints, and Tata Steel the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Midcap index is trading 0.2% higher and the BSE Smallcap index is trading 0.4% lower.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed today, with stocks in the banking sector, oil & gas sector, and IT sector witnessing the most buying. Meanwhile, stocks in the realty sector and power sector witnessing selling pressure.

The rupee is trading at Rs 83.54 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading marginally higher at Rs 73,230 per 10 grams today.
 

RVNL's New Order Win

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) said it has received a letter of acceptance (LoA) from Central Railway for overhead modification work up-gradation of the existing 1 x 25 kV electric traction system.

The scope of the order comprises overhead modification work for up-gradating the existing 1 x 25 kV electric traction system to a 2 X 25 kV AT feeding system in the Wardha-Ballarshah section in the Nagpur division of Central Railway to meet the 3,000 MT loading target.

The period for executing the project is 24 months. The cost of the project is Rs 1.3 bn.

Rail Vikas Nigam is in the business of executing all types of railway projects, including new lines, doubling, gauge conversion, railway electrification, metro projects, workshops, major bridges, construction of cable-stayed bridges, institution buildings etc.

IREDA Q1 Results

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) reported a 30% growth in its net profit for the April-June quarter, according to its profit-and-loss statement uploaded on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

IREDA reported a net profit of Rs 3.8 bn compared to Rs 2.9 bn during the same period last year. The net profit figure is also higher than the Rs 3.4 bn reported during the March quarter.

IREDA's asset quality also improved on a sequential basis. Gross NPA at the end of the June quarter stood at 2.2% from 2.4% at the end of the March quarter.

Net NPA also saw a marginal improvement to 0.9% from 1% in the March quarter. The renewable energy financier's debt-equity ratio stood at 5.83x from 6.35x last year.

For the June quarter, the company released a business update in which loan sanctions stood at Rs 91.4 bn from Rs 18.9 bn during the same period last year.

Loan disbursements also increased by 67.6% to Rs 53.2 bn. IREDA's loan book at the end of the June quarter stood at Rs 631.5 bn, a growth of 33.8% compared to the year-ago period.

IREDA CMD Pradip Kumar Das had said that the company is likely to raise equity through a Follow-on Public Offer, subject to the government's consent.

The quantum of the FPO is likely to be between Rs 40 bn to Rs 50 bn, Das said, adding that a request for an FPO has been placed with the government but the process takes time.
 

Zomato Increases Platform Fees

Food delivery majors Swiggy and Zomato have again gone for a platform fee hike. Customers now have to pay Rs 6 an order on both the apps, a 20% increase from Rs 5 earlier.

The fee, being charged in Bengaluru and Delhi, to begin with, is different from delivery fees, goods and services tax, restaurant charges, handling charges, and the like.

It is charged on all food orders, even if the customer is enrolled under the various loyalty/membership programs the two companies have. The fee directly goes to the company, which helps control costs and shore up revenues.

The higher fee will likely be rolled out across the country gradually.

While an increase of Re 1 on each order may not be significant for customers, for Zomato, which delivers around 22-25 lakh orders daily, it is an additional income of Rs 25 each day. In all, food-delivery companies are looking at additional income of Rs 1.25-1.5 crore a day just by levying a platform fee.

Swiggy and Zomato have restricted the platform fee to food delivery and haven't extended it to their quick commerce businesses Instamart and Blinkit, respectively.

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