Asian markets traded mixed on Tuesday, following similar moves overnight on Wall Street.

Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% and Topix rose 0.3%, while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3%, while the Kosdaq dropped 0.2%.

US stock market ended mixed on Monday, with the Nasdaq closing at a record high led by megacap tech shares.

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

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 213 points lower and NSE Nifty is trading 61 points lower.

Cipla, HUL, and Tata Steel are among the top gainers today.

Reliance Industries, Grasim Industries, and Shriram Finance are among the top losers today.

The BSE Midcap index ended 0.2% higher and the BSE Smallcap index is trading 0.3% higher.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed today with stocks in realty sector and capital goods sector witnessing most buying. Meanwhile stocks in banking sector and oil & gas sector witnessing selling pressure.

The rupee is trading at Rs 84.9 against the US dollar.

In commodity markets, gold prices are trading marginally higher at Rs 77,13 per 10 grams today.
 

Indus Towers Wins Tax Appeal

Indus Towers Limited has secured a favorable ruling from the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) regarding the denial of depreciation on assets received during its merger with Bharti Infratel.

The company's announcement confirmed that the ITAT has ruled in its favor, dismissing the tax department's objections to the depreciation claims on merged assets.

This decision significantly reduces the company's contingent liability by approximately Rs 35 bn.

The case's background involves the 2020 merger between Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel, which combined their telecom tower infrastructure to create one of the largest telecom tower companies in India.

As part of the merger, assets were transferred, and the company sought depreciation on these transferred assets.

However, the tax authorities disallowed depreciation on some of these assets, which led to the dispute.

The favorable ruling from the ITAT will allow Indus Towers to claim depreciation on these assets, reducing the company's contingent liabilities.
 

RVNL Shares in Focus

State-owned Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) shares will remain in focus on Tuesday after the company received a letter of acceptance from Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd for the construction of 10 elevated metro stations under the second phase of the Nagpur Metro Rail Project (NMRP).

The contract is valued at Rs 2.7 bn, inclusive of GST, and is expected to be completed within 30 months.

The project includes the construction of seven elevated metro stations in Reach 3A, namely Hingna Mount View, Rajiv Nagar, Wanadongri, APMC, Raipur, Hingna Bus Station, and Hingna. Additionally, three elevated metro stations in Reach 4A - Pardi, Kapsi Khurd, and Transport Nagar - are part of the scope.
 

Wipro to Acquire IT Consulting Firm

Wipro is set to acquire Massachusetts-headquartered IT services consulting firm Applied Value Technologies (AVT) for US$ 40 million to augment its existing application services capabilities, coming at a time when the IT services major is in the midst of its business turnaround.

The all-cash transaction is expected to be completed by 31 December 2024.

Purchase consideration of up to US$ 40 million will be subject to customary closing adjustments as per the terms of the purchase agreement.

AVT has several subsidiaries founded between 2021 and 2022 across Massachusetts, Singapore and the Netherlands. These companies provide enterprise application development and support services for a global clientele.

Vedanta Approves 4th Interim Dividend

Billionaire Anil Agarwal's diversified mining company Vedanta has approved the fourth interim dividend for FY25 at Rs 8.5 per equity share, amounting to Rs 33.2 bn.

This takes the total dividend payout by Vedanta for FY25 to Rs 167.9 bn.

The record date for the payment of the dividend shall be December 24, 2024, and the interim dividend shall be paid within the stipulated timeline.

On 6 December, parent Vedanta Resources released the company's encumbered shares held by group subsidiaries entities Twin Star, Welter Trading, Vedanta Mauritius I & II, and Vedanta Netherlands.
 

Zomato's Global Finance Head Quits

Zomato's global head of finance and chief financial officer of its business-to-business grocery supply vertical Hyperpure Hemal Jain resigned on Monday.

Her last date at the Gurgaon-based food and grocery delivery firm will be 31 January.

Jain's departure comes close on the heels of Zomato being slapped with a Rs 8 bn demand notice by goods and services tax (GST) authorities.

She reported to Zomato chief financial officer Akshant Goyal.

This is the second senior management departure at Zomato over the last few months after Akriti Chopra - the company's co-founder and chief people officer resigned in September.

Jain, who was among Zomato's senior management team that worked on the company's July 2021 initial public offering, has spent more than a decade at Hindustan Unilever prior to joining the Deepinder Goyal-led company.

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