Market Overview

The Indian stock market experienced a significant downturn today, with the Sensex dropping 400 points. Despite the overall negative sentiment, the market breadth remains positive, buoyed by gains in mid-cap and small-cap stocks.

Sanghvi Movers’ Significant Decline

Shares of Sanghvi Movers hit a six-month low, trading at Rs 800.10, reflecting a sharp decline of 10 percent in intra-day trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). This drop is a continuation of the stock’s recent poor performance, following the company’s disappointing financial results for the June 2024 quarter (Q1FY25). Over the past week, the stock has plummeted 32 percent, and it is now at its lowest level since February 2, 2024. Sanghvi Movers’ stock has nearly halved, down 46 percent from its 52-week high of Rs 1,483, reached on May 16, 2024. [Read More]

RBI Policy Update

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent on August 8. This decision marks the ninth consecutive pause in rate adjustments and is the second-longest period of inactivity in the past 25 years. While headline inflation has moderated, food prices remain elevated, leading to an adjusted forecast for inflation in Q2 and Q3FY25 to 4.4 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively. The GDP forecast for Q1FY25 was revised down to 7.1 percent due to weaker corporate profitability and government expenditure. Growth in India remains resilient, but a rate cut appears unlikely in the near term. [Expert Insights by Mr. Dhiraj Relli, MD and CEO at HDFC Securities]

Aadhar Housing Finance Reports Strong Q1 Earnings

Aadhar Housing Finance saw its shares surge 4.65 percent to Rs 432 per share on the BSE, driven by robust financial performance in Q1FY25. The company reported significant year-on-year growth in both topline and bottomline for the April-June quarter. [Read More]

Unichem Labs Posts Turnaround Performance

Unichem Laboratories reported a turnaround performance for the June quarter, with net profit rising to Rs 9 crore compared to a loss of Rs 0.7 crore in the previous year. Revenue increased by 5.5 percent to Rs 446.4 crore, while EBITDA surged by 59.6 percent to Rs 43.4 crore. The company’s margin improved to 9.7 percent from 6.4 percent year-on-year.

MRF Reports Mixed Q1 Results

MRF Limited reported a net profit of Rs 563 crore for the June quarter, a decrease of 3.3 percent from Rs 581.5 crore year-on-year. Revenue rose 12 percent to Rs 7,077.8 crore, and EBITDA increased by 2.1 percent to Rs 1,137.8 crore. However, the EBITDA margin shrank to 16.1 percent from 17.6 percent year-on-year.

RBI’s View on Alternative Investments

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das highlighted a growing interest in alternative investments among retail customers. He noted that this trend could potentially expose the banking system to liquidity issues, suggesting that banks should innovate their financial products and services to mobilize household savings more effectively. [Read More]

Abbott India Stock Surges on Q1 Earnings

Abbott India’s stock price surged 5 percent following strong operational performance for Q1FY25. The company’s EBITDA climbed 10 percent year-on-year to Rs 391 crore, up from Rs 355 crore in Q1FY24. [Read More]

Tata Motors Gains from Moody’s Ratings Upgrade

Shares of Tata Motors rose 2.5 percent to Rs 1,051 following Moody’s Ratings upgrade of the company’s corporate family rating from Ba3 to Ba1. The upgrade reflects sound governance practices and a positive outlook from the rating agency.

Market Outlook

Despite today’s market decline, investor sentiment remains cautious but optimistic due to the positive performance of mid-cap and small-cap stocks. The upcoming earnings reports and economic indicators will be crucial in determining the market’s trajectory.