Asian share benchmarks fell on Thursday as markets digested the implications of policymakers in major economies preferring to take patient approach to monetary easing amid sticky inflation.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.6%.

US equity futures rallied following upbeat earnings from Nvidia Corp. released after the New York close, which reinforced optimism for the global artificial-intelligence boom.

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

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 155 points higher and NSE Nifty is trading 50 points higher.

L&T, Asian Paints, and Axis Bank are among the top gainers today.

Hindalco, Sun Pharma and Coal India the other hand are among the top losers today.

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

Sectoral indices are trading mixed, with stocks in telecom sector, capital goods sector and realty sector witnessed buying. Meanwhile the stocks in power sector, metal sector and healthcare sector witnessed selling pressure.

The rupee is trading at Rs 83.27 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading 0.6% lower at Rs 72,618 per 10 grams today.
 

Torrent Power Q4

Indian energy provider Torrent Power posted its second straight fall in quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by higher fuel prices.

The company, a unit of Torrent Group, said consolidated net profit fell 4.2% to Rs 4.3 bn (US$ 51.7 m) in the January-March quarter from Rs 4.5 bn a year ago.

Its revenue from operations rose 8.1% to Rs 65.3 bn, however, total expenses, led by fuel cost, rose nearly 10% to Rs 60.1 bn.

Searing heatwaves and an uptick in economic activity have resulted in India's electricity generation growing at an average of about 8% annually following the pandemic year of 2020/21, outpacing power demand growth in every major global economy.

Torrent Power's Chairman, Samir Mehta sees power demand in the the world's fastest-growing major economy to remain strong going forward. The company has an aggregate installed generation capacity of 4,328 megawatt peak (MWp) comprising 2,730 megawatts (MW) of gas-based capacity, 1,236 MWp of renewable capacity and 362 MW of coal-based capacity.

Torrent Power is an integrated power utility managing the entire chain - generation, transmission, and distribution across four key Indian states. It is a part of the illustrious Torrent Group, which ranks 5th in the Indian pharmaceutical market.

Gland Pharma Q4 Profit Jumps 145%

Gland Pharma on 22 May reported a 145% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 1.9 bn for the January-March period of FY24 from Rs 787 million in the year-ago period.

The company's revenue came in at Rs 15.4 bn up 96% from the year-ago quarter of Rs 7.9 bn.

The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at Rs 3.4 bn, up from Rs 1.7 bn a year ago. EBITDA margins came in at 23% in the March quarter as against 21% a year ago.

R&D expenses of the company in the quarter were Rs 436 million (3.7% of revenue). The company had 4 ANDAs filed, and 6 ANDAs approved in the quarter.

The Board recommended a final dividend of Rs 20 per equity share for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2024, subject to the approval of its shareholders.

Q4 revenue declined primarily due to operational disruptions and breakdowns which caused high order backlogs.

Delayed tech transfer further impacted Q4 revenue, as the new business was intended to replace phasing-out business.

The next two years are important for meaningful results, the company said. Gland Pharma is exploring acquisitions, co-development, and partnership opportunities to accelerate growth, it added. Overall, biologics are a key driver for our future growth.
 

Allcargo Logistics Arm Acquires Stake

Allcargo Logistics said that its wholly owned subsidiary, ECU Worldwide NV has acquired a 25% stake in Fair Trade for a consideration of EUR 2.9 million.

Fair Trade is a FCL and LCL consolidation services provider, operating in Germany with offices in Bremen and Hamburg. Its turnover for 2023 was EUR 13,679,876.

Under the acquisition of the balance 25% stake in Fair Trade, ECU Worldwide NV now holds a 100% stake in Fair Trade and is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

The company has acquired Fair Trade for the expansion of FCL and LCL business in an important market with a synergistic and capable partner.

Earlier in November 2022, the company's wholly owned subsidiary, ECU Worldwide NV had acquired a 75% stake in Fair Trade for a total consideration of EUR 12 million.

Allcargo Logistics is an integrated logistics service provider and operates in multiple business segments multimodal transport operation (MTO), container freight station (CFS) / inland container depot (ICD), projects and engineering (P&E), contract logistics, and logistics parks (LPs) in which it has forayed recently.

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