Asian stocks rose, following a buoyant session on Wall Street amid bets the Federal Reserve will soon signal it's ready to start cutting interest rates.

The MSCI Asia-Pacific index headed for a third day of gains while Hong Kong futures also pointed to a rise.

US stock market ended higher on Monday led by tech stocks, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq extending their winning streak to eight consecutive sessions, the longest in 2024.

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

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 150 points higher and NSE Nifty is trading 50 points higher.

BPCL, Eicher Motors, and Hero MotoCorp are among the top gainers today.

ONGC, Cipla, and Bharti Airtel the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on positive. The BSE Midcap index is trading 0.3% higher and the BSE Smallcap index is trading 0.5% higher.

Sectoral indices are trading positive today, with stocks in the auto sector and the oil & gas sector witnessing buying.

The rupee is trading at Rs 83.87 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading marginally higher at Rs 71,529 per 10 grams today.
 

Bajaj Auto to Hike Deferred Tax Provision

Bajaj Auto Ltd on Monday said it will need to increase its provision for deferred tax by Rs 2.1 bn due to the withdrawal of indexation benefit and change in the tax rate on long-term capital gains on debt mutual fund.

The company invests its surplus funds into a range of asset classes, including debt mutual funds. It was making accounting provisions for deferred tax as per applicable law on fair value gains on these investments.

A one-time impact will be made while computing the profit after tax, and reporting the financial results for Q2 of FY25, it added.

Bajaj Auto said the Finance (No 2) Act 2024 withdraws the indexation benefit on long-term capital gains on debt mutual funds purchased before 1 April 2023.

Due to the withdrawal of the indexation benefit and change in tax rate, the accounting provision for Deferred Tax on Investment Income so created needs to be restated.

The company further said only a provision is being made in the books of accounts at this point in time to record the deferred tax in line with the applicable accounting standards and the recently enacted tax change.

The actual payment of tax would be made at the time of redemption of these mutual funds. The cash outgo towards tax could be different at the time of redemption depending on the actual gain and actual prevailing tax regime.

Zomato Block Deal

Antfin Singapore Holding, an arm of Alibaba Group, is planning to offload a 2% stake or 185 million (m) shares in the online food delivery platform Zomato, worth US$ 556 m (Rs 46.5 bn), through a block deals.

Earlier, it was reported that the firm was planning to offload 1.5% shares worth US$ 408 m.

The floor price for the block deals has been fixed at Rs 251.68 per share which is a 4% discount to the stock's last close on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the channel reported.

Antfin had a 4.3% stake in Zomato as of June 30, 2024, according to the exchange data.

On Monday, Zomato's share price settled at Rs 263.24 per share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), it closed at Rs 262.3, down by 0.8%.

After the latest transaction, if it goes through, Antfin Singapore Holding Pte's shareholding will reduce to a 2.8% stake in Zomato from a 4.3% stake (as of June 2024) in the company.

The move follows Zomato's strong quarterly earnings report where its net profit jumped 126.5 times to hit Rs 2.5 bn in the April-June quarter, compared to the year-ago period, even as the food aggregator hiked platform fees charged to consumers and saw an improvement in the operational profitability of its quick commerce arm Blinkit.
 

Torrent Power Challenges NCLT Nod

Torrent power has moved the appellate tribunal NCLAT against the approval of Sarda Energy and Mining's resolution plan for the debt-ridden SKS Power Generation.

Earlier on 13 August, the Mumbai-based bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), while approving Sarda Energy and Mining's (SEML) bid, had rejected applications, including Torrent Power, to acquire SKS Power Generation (Chhattisgarh).

Torrent Power had raised objections over the selection process, terming it discriminatory, and contended that it had proposed the highest upfront payment. The Torrent group firm also sought a copy of the approved plan, which was rejected by the NCLT.

The order has now been challenged by Torrent Power before the Delhi-based bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

Torrent Power's petition is scheduled for hearing on Tuesday before a three-member bench of the NCLAT headed by its Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan.

Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) was started against SKS Power Generation in April 2022 over the plea of Bank of Baroda, which had a total admitted claims of Rs 25.6 bn.

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