Asian equities were mixed as traders weighed the firming expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts against continued weakness in technology shares.

Stocks in Australia, Japan, and South Korea climbed along with futures contracts for US equities on Friday.

Wall Street experienced a notable shift on Thursday (July 25), as smaller stocks and previously underperforming market segments rallied, while Big Tech stocks saw a significant pullback.

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

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 221 points higher and NSE Nifty is trading 80 points higher.

Infosys, Hindalco, and Bharti Airtel are among the top gainers today.

HDFC Bank, ONGC, and Nestle the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading on a positive note. The BSE Midcap index is trading 0.9% higher and the BSE Smallcap index is trading 0.6% higher.

Barring the FMCG sector and banking sector all other Sectoral indices are trading positive today, with stocks in the metal sector, telecom sector, and realty sector witnessing selling pressure.

The rupee is trading at Rs 83.73 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading 0.4% higher at Rs 67,754 per 10 grams today.
 

Tech Mahindra Q1 Results

IT services company Tech Mahindra on Thursday reported 23% year-on-year (YoY) growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 8.5 bn in the June quarter. The profit was slightly below the Street estimate of Rs 8.7 bn.

Revenue from operations was down 1% YoY to Rs 130.1 bn in the April-June 2024 period.

On a sequential basis, profit after tax increased 28% and revenue rose 1%.

The company has reported an EBITDA of Rs 15.6 bn, which is up about 17% YoY, while margins improved 1.9% YoY to 12%.

Revenue for the quarter in constant currency terms declined 1.2% YoY but was up 0.7% quarter-on-quarter.

The company secured deals worth US$ 534 m during the first quarter, marginally up from the US$ 500 m worth of TCV clocked in the preceding March quarter.

The number of active clients at the end of the June 2024 quarter stood a 1,165, down from 1172 in the March 2024 quarter and 1,225 in the June 2023 quarter.

Segment-wise, revenue from the communications segment fell nearly 10% YoY, while that of the hi-tech and media division was down 3.5% YoY.

The revenues from BSFI and other segments were also down by 3.5% and 5.5%, respectively during the first quarter.
 

SJVN Bags Mizoram Project

SJVN Ltd. has announced that it received a Letter of Intent from the Government of Mizoram for the allotment of the Darzo Lui Pumped Storage Project. This marks SJVN's first venture in the state. The Darzo Lui Pumped Storage Project, with an installed capacity of 2,400 megawatts, is proposed to be developed across Darzo Nallah, a tributary of the Tuipui River.

The project has an estimated completion cost of Rs 13,947.50 crore, including IDC (interest during construction) and financing costs at the April 2023 price level

The project is designed as an on-stream closed-loop pumped storage project, consisting of eight units of 300 megawatts each. It is projected to generate an annual energy output of 4,993.20 million units, assuming 95% plant availability.

SJVN expects to complete the project within 72 months. An agreement formalizing this venture is expected to be signed within the next three months between SJVN and the Government of Mizoram.

Sobha Stake Sell

Anamudi Real Estates LLP, a privately-held Godrej family arm, is likely to sell a 5% stake in Bengaluru-headquartered Sobha Ltd through block deals for US$ 100 m, CNBC-TV18 reported on 25 July citing sources.

Anamudi Real Estate holds a 9.9% stake in the real estate company.

There will be a 90-day lock-in period on further sales. The deal price has likely been set at a discount of 6% to the current market price of Sobha's stock.

Sobha Ltd was listed on the Indian stock exchanges in 2006 and is one of the leading players in South India. It has a presence in the Delhi-NCR market.

Sobha Ltd has chalked out an aggressive expansion plan and will soon enter the Mumbai luxury housing market, as it seeks to achieve more than a four-fold jump in annual sale bookings to Rs 300 bn in the next 4-5 years.

In May, Sobha Ltd Chairman Emeritus PNC Menon had said that the company would increase its equity capital by four times to Rs 100 bn over the next five years to support future expansion plans and would launch a rights issue to raise around Rs 20 bn.

Sobha Ltd is part of Sobha Group which was founded by PNC Menon in 1995. The Group has a real estate business in Dubai under an entity named Sobha Realty.

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