Asian equities showed signs of bucking the dour mood on Wall Street that dragged US stocks lower for a fifth day.

Wall Street's main indexes rose in the first trading session of 2025 as investors pinned their hopes on a fresh political landscape and more interest rate cuts, but Tesla limited gains on the Nasdaq after a dour deliveries report.

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

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 227 points lower and NSE Nifty is trading 48 points lower.

ONGC, SBI, and NTPC are among the top gainers today.

Cipla, TCS and ICICI Bank hand are among the top losers today.

The BSE Midcap index trading 0.3% higher and the BSE Smallcap index are trading 0.6% higher.

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

The rupee is trading at Rs 85.77 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading 0.2% at Rs 77,873 per 10 grams today.
 

Varun Beverages to Strengthen South Africa's Presence

Varun Beverages Ltd, leading bottler of beverage major PepsiCo, on Thursday (January 2) announced an investment of Rs 4.1 bn by subscribing to 1,984,695 ordinary shares in its South African subsidiary, The Beverage Company Proprietary Ltd (Bevco), at a price of ZAR 453.47 per share.

This acquisition results in an incremental shareholding of 2.42% in Bevco.

The investment aims to assist Bevco in repaying its existing debt and strengthening its balance sheet for future business growth.

Bevco is engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of licensed PepsiCo-branded and own-branded non-alcoholic beverages in South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini.

In the financial year ending June 30, 2024, Bevco reported a consolidated turnover of ZAR 4,090 million (m). The transaction is considered a related-party transaction since Bevco is already a subsidiary of Varun Beverages. However, the shares were allotted at arm's length.
 

Hero MotoCorp Sales Jump

Hero MotoCorp, India's leading two-wheeler manufacturer, recorded a 7.5% increase in total sales for 2024, with volumes rising to 59,11,065 units compared to 54,99,524 units in 2023. The growth was driven by demand across motorcycles, scooters, and electric vehicles (EVs).

In December 2024, the company reported total sales of 3,24,906 units, a decline of 17.5% compared to the same month last year.

Domestic sales stood at 2,94,152 units, down 22% from 3,77,842 units a year ago, while exports increased sharply by 91% year-on-year to 30,754 units.

Motorcycle sales in December fell 15.8% year-on-year to 2,98,516 units, and scooter sales declined 32.8% to 26,390 units.

For the April-December period, total sales rose 6.8% to 4.52 m units, compared to 4.23 m units in the corresponding period last year.

Hero MotoCorp reported a 49% growth in global business sales during 2024 and introduced eight new models globally, designed to cater to region-specific customer needs.

Hero MotoCorp's shares has taken a major hit.
 

RITES Bags Order

Rites said that it has secured a locomotive repair order worth Rs 697.8 m from Steel Authority of India (SAIL) for its Bhilai Plant in Chhattisgarh.

The order includes R3Y/ R6Y repair of WDS6 Locomotives (43 Nos.) for a period of 3 years.

The said order will be executed in 3 years.

Meanwhile, the company's subsidiary, REMC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC), a financing arm of Indian Railways, to explore options for financing power projects for supply to the Railways.

Under this MoU, both parties will explore opportunities for collaboration across domains, including Transaction Advisory, Project Management services, DPR reviews, and consultancy or advisory services related to financing power projects with backward and forward linkages to the Railways, excluding those awarded by REMC.
 

NHPC Receives Teesta-V Loss Payment

India's largest hydropower company, NHPC Ltd on Thursday (2 January) announced the receipt of the second on-account gross payment of Rs 2.5 bn under its Mega Insurance Policy.

This payment is related to the business interruption (BI) loss caused by the flash flood at the Teesta-V Power Station (510 MW) on 4 October 2023.

Last year in August, a landslide at the Teesta-V Power Station (510 MW) affected parts of the Tail Race Tunnel (TRT), and a severe flash flood in the Teesta Basin in October 2023 led to a complete shutdown of the Teesta-5 power station.

Restoration work is still projected to be completed by March 2025.

NHPC expects to resume power generation from the Teesta-V Project in the third quarter of FY26.

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