Asian stocks were trading mixed on Friday amid a light conomic calendar.

The Nikkei index was down 0.5% lower, while Hang Seng was trading 1.3% lower.

The benchmark S&P 500 index managed to eke out a small gain on Thursday after briefly hitting the 5,000-point milestone, as investors reacted to earnings reports, a roughly in-line jobs report and remarks from policymakers on interest rate cuts.

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

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 57 points higher and NSE Nifty is trading 5 points lower.

Apollo Hospital, TCS, and Titan are among the top gainers today.

BPCL, ONGC, and UPL on the other hand are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are trading lower. The BSE Mid Cap is trading 1% lower and the BSE Small Cap index is trading 1.3% lower.

Barring the consumer durables sector, other sectoral indices are trading lower, with socks in the metal sector, oil & gas sector, and telecom sector witnessing selling pressure.

The rupee is trading at Rs 83.01 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading flat at Rs 62,430 per 10 grams today.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading 0.1% higher at Rs 70,950 per 1 kg.
 

IRCTC Signs Delhi Metro MoU

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for providing QR code-based DMRC tickets through the IRCTC platform.

The press release stated that the initiative would benefit passengers of both the IRCTC and the DMRC by streamlining the travel experience and reducing the time spent in station queues.

The standalone net profit of IRCTC for the first quarter of the current financial year (Q1FY24) saw a fall of 5.4% to Rs 2.3 bn, compared to Rs 2.5 bn for the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The total income for Q1FY24 came in at Rs 10.4 bn, compared to Rs 8.8 bn year-on-year (YoY), rising 18.7%.

Last week, the DMRC announced an initiative called 'CarbonLite Metro Travel' to educate passengers about their significant contribution towards reducing carbon emissions by choosing metro trains instead of road-based motor vehicles.

The passengers will be able to know on the go about the average amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions they are reducing by their metro journeys.

In line with India's aim of achieving net zero emissions by 2070, the initiative intends to highlight the pivotal role each citizen plays in addressing the pressing issue of climate change through their transportation choices.

IRCTC shares are on a speedy track as railway stocks gain momentum. 

Warren Buffett's favorite type of businesses are the ones that have huge economic moats which are near-monopolies in the industries they operate in, and IRCTC is one such stock. 
 

Paytm to acquire ONDC Startup

At a time when the future of Paytm's payments business is being questioned due to a regulatory crisis, sources say that the fintech major is putting the finishing touches to a deal to acquire Bitsila, an interoperable e-commerce startup.

Bengaluru-based Bitsila is currently the third largest seller-side platform by transactions on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

The deal is in advanced stages and will likely close in the coming week, according to two people in the know.

Bitsila, founded by Dasharatham Bitla and Sooryah Pokkali in 2020, has previously raised a pre-seed round from Antler India and Redbus founder Phanindra Sama.

The company's role in ONDC as a seller-side app is B2B, as it helps onboard small merchants to the network.

Paytm is already a buyer app on the ONDC and was among the first large companies to integrate with the open network in 2022. With the Bitsila acquisition, it will be able to deepen its reach within ONDC by getting on the seller side of the network as well.

The developments have come at a time when Paytm is under the Reserve Bank of India's scrutiny for several reasons, ranging from foreign exchange violations to know-your-customer (KYC) lapses.

The regulator has reportedly found major irregularities in KYC, which exposed the customers, depositors, and wallet holders to serious risks. In its probe, the RBI found that in thousands of cases, the same PAN was linked to more than 100 customers and in some cases, to more than 1,000 customers.

The total value of transactions, running into crores of rupees, is much beyond regulatory limits in minimum KYC pre-paid instruments, raising money-laundering concerns.

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