Trump's tariff threats spooks markets; Sensex down 106 points
Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported a 25 per cent rise in net profit attributable to the owners of the company for the January-March quarter of 2024-25, owing to higher revenues and an exceptional gain. For the quarter under review, L&T posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,497.3 crore, while revenue rose 10.9 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 74,392.28 crore.
Post-election capital expenditure (capex) has been weak at 2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in M9FY25. The FY25 revised estimates (RE) indicate 7 per cent growth in FY25 against FY24, implying 21 per cent Y-o-Y growth in Q4FY25 government capex.
'Selling could further intensify and take the index towards 22,800-22,750 in the near-term.'
Liverpool resumed their march to a second Premier League title on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over West Ham United.
Finance, ICICI Bank, Mahindra &h Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan were among the gainers. Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro were the laggards.
Some of India's largest conglomerates are gearing up to either commission or commercially start the first phase of their new energy projects this year, according to company executives and analysts.
From the 30 Sensex pack, State Bank of India jumped 5 per cent, followed by ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance and Larsen & Toubro. In contrast, Maruti, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the laggards.
Amid a debate over 70-90-hour work week, the pre-Budget Economic Survey on Friday cited studies to state that spending over 60 hours a week on work could have adverse health effects. The survey noted that spending long hours at one's desk is detrimental to mental well-being and individuals who spend 12 or more hours (per day) at a desk have distressed or struggling levels of mental well-being.
From the 30-share Sensex pack, UltraTech Cement, JSW Steel, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, Titan, Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel and Reliance Industries were the biggest gainers. NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank and Larsen & Toubro were among the laggards.
Hectic buying in blue chip counters like Reliance Industries, IT and teck shares boosted market sentiment. State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Titan, ITC, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finance were the biggest gainers.
The take by the Economic Survey 2024-25 on work hour week had come weeks after Larsen & Toubro Ltd Chairman and Managing Director SN Subrahmanyan sparked off a raging debate on social media when he said employees should work 90-hour a week, including on Sundays rather than sit at home.
With short-term rates firming up due to tight liquidity conditions, Indian corporates are opting to borrow long term to take advantage of the attractive rates by locking them in these uncertain times. The banking system has a liquidity deficit of over Rs 2 trillion. According to market participants, engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) raised Rs 1,500 crore through 10-year bonds in December 2024.
Both new and completed project values as of December 2024 remain below pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019.
Leaders who built and manage these incredible global companies cannot be tyrants, slave-drivers, or idiots. Essentially what they are saying falls under the definition of rallying the troops, inspirational talk, like the usual coach-speak with the team before a match, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
"The price quoted by L&T (Rs 45.90) in the financial bid is fairly decent, compared with the share price of Satyam in the last three months. The team of (L&T chairman) A M Naik never expected that anybody could quote 10 per cent above their price, as there was no clarity on Satyam's liabilities. Even if somebody had quoted less than 10 per cent of what L&T quoted, the company could have raised the bid in the open bidding round," said a source in L&T.
A round-up of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Stock investors have become richer by Rs 10.47 lakh crore in two straight days of gains in markets as benchmark Sensex jumped 2 per cent. At close on Wednesday, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies surged by Rs 10,47,565.48 crore to Rs 4,52,58,633.53 crore ($5.37 trillion) in two days of gains. "The feel good factor of Trump's win in the US election had a rub-off effect on world equity markets, including local indices as domestic investors resorted to value buying, especially in IT stocks, which pushed the benchmark Sensex above the 80k mark.
A video post on Reddit, which has since gone viral, shows the L&T chief saying, 'I regret that I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays also.'
Prime Miniser Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Monday condoled the death of Henning Holk-Larsen, one of the founders of Larsen and Toubro, describing him as a lover of India who contributed significantly to the country's industrialisation.
From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Zomato surged over 7 per cent. Maruti, ITC Hotels, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Titan and IndusInd Bank were among the biggest gainers. Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Adani Ports were among the laggards.
In recognition of his contribution to Indian industry, he had been honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2002.
From the 30-share Sensex pack, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys jumped over 4 per cent each. HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti and Reliance Industries were also among big gainers. Titan, IndusInd Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank were the laggards.
From the 30-share Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finance were the biggest gainers. JSW Steel and Infosys were the laggards.
Nestle, Titan, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, ITC, JSW Steel and State Bank of India were the other laggards. Among the gainers, Tata Motors jumped nearly 6 per cent. Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance and Power Grid also ended in the positive territory.
Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Maruti, Axis Bank and Tata Steel were among the other big laggards. However, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India were among the biggest gainers.
From the 30 Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, Power Grid, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Bajaj Finance and Reliance were among the biggest laggards.
A M Naik, chairman and managing director of L&T, said the details, such as the size of the funds required for each of these companies and proposed dilution of the equity, were yet to be worked out.
From the 30-share Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Asian Paints, Infosys and Maruti Suzuki were the biggest laggards.
From the 30 Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank plunged over 18.50 per cent after the firm reported a 40 per cent decline in September quarter net profit at Rs 1,331 crore, pulled down by concerns over its asset quality. Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Maruti, Bajaj Finance and Titan were also among the laggards.
Investors' wealth eroded by a whopping Rs 7.15 lakh crore during the morning trade on Friday as equity markets tumbled, driven by sharp fall in IndusInd Bank shares and unabated foreign fund outflows. The BSE Sensex tanked 708.69 points to 79,356.47 and the NSE Nifty plunged 286.35 points to 24,113.05. Tracking the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms tumbled Rs 715,739.19 crore to Rs 4,36,63,565.73 crore ($5.19 trillion) during the morning trade.
Sensex drops 138 points on foreign fund outflow
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Tata Motors was the biggest loser, tumbling nearly 6 per cent, followed by NTPC, Adani Ports, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, JSW Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank and Titan. In contrast, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) chairman S N Subrahmanyan sparked an online outrage with his comments advocating a 90-hour work week and suggesting that employees should even give up Sundays.
From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan and HCL Technologies were among the gainers. Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, Nestle India, Axis Bank and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) were among the laggards.
From the 30-share pack, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Nestle India, Asian Paints, ITC, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank and State Bank of India were among the laggards. Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel and PowerGrid were among the gainers.
Focus on the quality of work and not on the quantity, as one can change the world in 10 hours, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said on Saturday, joining the debate on a 90-hour work week.
Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, JSW Steel, NTPC, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finserv and Larsen & Toubro were also among the laggards. However, Power Grid, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and ICICI Bank were among the gainers.
