PSBs, auto, lift shares ahead of earnings season
Nifty, BSE log 8 session of gains in 11
Indian shares ended higher on Monday, with the Nifty index hitting the 18,000 mark after almost two months, boosted by gains in public sector banks and auto stocks ahead of quarterly earnings reports this week.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index ended up 1.07% at 18,003.30, levels it last scaled in mid-November, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex closed 1.09% higher at 60,395.63. Both indexes logged their eighth session of gains in 11.
All major Nifty sub-indexes settled higher, with the PSU Banks index advancing the most with a 3.2% gain.
Nifty’s Auto index added almost 2%.
The Nifty IT index index closed up 0.2%. Tata Consultancy Services rose more than 3% after the software heavyweight said it plans to consider a share buyback.
“The market expects Q3 results starting this week to be very good, particularly for IT and financials,” said V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Infosys Ltd Q3 income increases in line with estimates
Infosys Ltd (INFY) reported earnings for its third quarter that increased from last year in line with the Street estimates.
The company’s earnings totaled $776 million, or $0.18 per share. This compares with $707 million, or $0.17 per share, in last year’s third quarter.
Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $0.18 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.
The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 20.7% to $4.25 billion from $3.52 billion last year.
Infosys Ltd earnings at a glance:
-Earnings (Q3): $776 Mln. vs. $707 Mln. last year.
-EPS (Q3): $0.18 vs. $0.17 last year.
-Analyst Estimate: $0.18
-Revenue (Q3): $4.25 Bln vs. $3.52 Bln last year.
Grafton Group Says Annual Adjusted Operating Profit To Be At Top End Of View
Grafton Group plc (GFTU.L), an international building materials distributor and DIY retailer, on Wednesday said it expects adjusted operating profit for the year ended 31 December 2021 at the top end of expectations. Grafton cited consensus analysts’ forecast at 270.4 million pounds with a range of 266.7 million pounds to 276.3 million pounds.
Group total revenue from continuing operations, which excludes the traditional merchanting business in Great Britain, the divestment of which was completed on 31 December 2021, increased by 25.7 per cent to 2.11 billion pounds in 2021 from 1.68 billion pounds in 2020 and by 28.4 per cent from 1.64 billion pounds in 2019.
Positive second-half revenue trends that sustained till the year-end as well as the strong performance from the Group’s portfolio of high returning businesses helped to achieve this.
The final results are scheduled to be announced on 24 February 2022.
Shares of Grafton Group closed Tuesday’s trading at 1182 pounds, up 30 pounds or 2.60 percent from previous close.
Gold Subdued Ahead Of US Inflation Data
Gold prices were subdued on Wednesday as investors digested Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell remarks that rate hikes will be needed to curb inflation.
Spot gold dipped 0.3 percent to $1,817.05 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.1 percent at $1,816.55.
Powell’s comments appeared to be less hawkish than expected, pushing up equities and driving down treasury yields.
Powell said that the Fed is likely to begin the normalization of monetary policy this year, although he didn’t give any hint on the timing of the first rate hike.
Powell added that policymakers were still discussing approaches to shrink the Fed’s balance sheet and the move could start later this year.
Meanwhile, data released earlier in the day showed that China’s consumer inflation slowed in December, raising hopes for more easing from the People’s Bank of China.
After the less hawkish comments from Powell, investors now await U.S. consumer inflation data later in the day for further clues on the rate outlook.
Oil Prices Little Changed After Rally
Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday after a sharply rally in the previous session on supportive U.S. Fed remarks.
Benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.1 percent to $83.61 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 0.1 percent at $81.31.
Both contracts rose about 4 percent on Tuesday, with the most active crude futures contract settling at the highest level in about two months after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that he expects the economic impact of the new variant to be short-lived and that upcoming quarters may be positive for the economy.
The new Covid variant Omicron might play a key role in determining how crude oil prices move in the coming days. As of now, analysts say that the variant is more transmissible but less severe.
The World Health Organization has warned that half of Europe will have caught the Omicron Covid variant within the next six to eight weeks.
The United States is approaching the “threshold” of transitioning to living with the coronavirus as a manageable disease, top American scientist Anthony Fauci said.
China is enforcing zero Covid policy to eliminate Covid-19 outbreak before Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics in Beijing next month.
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute reported a 1.08 million-barrel draw in U.S. crude oil inventories for the previous week, though gasoline and distillate stocks saw large builds.
Games Workshop: H1 Net Core Business Profits Broadly In Line With Prior Year
Games Workshop Group PLC (GAW.L) said its first-half profit before tax declined 3.4 million pounds year-on-year. However, excluding foreign exchange movements and increased carriage costs and paying staff more, net core business profits were broadly in line with last year’s record performance, the Group noted.
For the six months to 28 November 2021, profit before tax declined to 88.2 million pounds from 91.6 million pounds, last year. Earnings per ordinary share was 216.6 pence compared to 224.0 pence.
Reported sales grew by 3% to 191.5 million pounds. On a constant currency basis, sales were up by 6% to 198.8 million pounds.
The Group said sales for the month of December were broadly in line with its expectations.