Bears take charge

Nifty50: 16,483 ▼ 147 (-0.8%)
Sensex: 55,268 ▼ 497 (-0.8%)

Howdy folks!

With bears prevailing for the second straight day, we are wondering where the bulls are? Well, in an unlikely scenario, a man was seen ‘playing’ basketball with a bull. But, we hope they level the playing field again soon in the markets.

• Markets extended the losing streak for the second straight day amid mixed global cues.
• In all, 38 of the Nifty50 stocks closed in the red.
• China’s economic recovery gained momentum in July as business activities resumed despite pandemic-related disruptions.

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, Media (+0.8%) was the sole gainer, whereas IT (-2.8%) and FMCG (-1.3%) were the top losers.

What’s trending

⭐  5G auctions kicks off 🚀

BHARTIARTL (NSE): 683 ▲ 4.6 (+0.6%), IDEA (NSE): 8.8 ▼ 0.1 (-1.1%)

The Indian government kicked off the 5G auction on Tuesday, wherein 72 GHz of radiowaves worth about ₹4.3 lakh crore are being auctioned. At the end of the first round of bidding, telecom operators were not very aggressive in bidding, as per media reports. The bidding was concentrated around mid-band and high-band spectrum.

⭐ Bajaj Auto rides on price hikes 🏍️

BAJAJ-AUTO (NSE): 3,932 ▼ 89.1 (-2.2%)

The leading two-wheel manufacturer reported a 11% year-on-year rise in its net profit to ₹1,173 crore. In the same period, the company’s revenue also rose by 8% to ₹8,005 crore. The management said that the judicious price increases, better foreign exchange realisation and a favourable product mix helped offset the high input costs and also led to improved profitability.

⭐ Tata Power lights up! 💡

TATAPOWER (NSE): 225 ▼ 7.0 (-3.0%)

Tata Power reported a 90% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its consolidated net profit to ₹884 crore. This was on the back of the rising profits from its coal subsidiaries. Meanwhile, revenues rose 48% YoY to ₹14,776 crore. The company is planning a ₹14,000 crore capex in FY23, of which ₹10,000 crore will be for the renewables segment. 

⭐ Lupin BP drug gets USFDA approval 💉

LUPIN (NSE): 626 ▼ 5.9 (-0.9%)

Mumbai-based pharma firm Lupin has received an approval from the US health regulator USFDA to market Azilsartan Medoxomil tablets. The drug is used for treating high blood pressure. Azilsartan Medoxomil tablets had annual sales of $101 million in the US. It will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Nagpur.

⭐ Tanla slumps after weak results 💻

TANLA (NSE): 730 ▼ 182 (-20.0%)

Shares of Tanla Platforms were locked in the lower circuit as it plunged 20% and hit a 52-week low after the company announced Q1 results. The company, which provides cloud communications solutions to telecom and social media firms, reported a 4% year-on-year (YoY) fall in its net profit to ₹100 crore. However, the revenue increased by 28% YoY to ₹800 crore due to higher volumes in the domestic business and growth in OTT channels. 

In Focus

Banking stocks on a roll

The banking sector is cashing in all the cheques this month. The Bank Nifty index is up more than 8.5% in July alone, despite headwinds such as rising interest rates and inflation. But why is there high ‘interest' in these stocks? Let's find out.

One of the key reasons is the upbeat quarterly results announced by several banks. Despite the recent interest rate hikes, the demand for consumer loans such as home and car loans has largely remained unaffected, which is one of the main drivers for the growth in the banking sector. 

In the case of two of the largest banks in India, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, the retail loan book grew by 21.7% and 24% year-on-year, respectively.

The post-pandemic revival in economic activity followed by a rebound in business outlook has increased demand for jobs and higher wages. This trend is triggering high demand for retail loans.

Moreover, in the rising interest-rate scenario, banks tend to benefit as the net interest margin (difference between interest received on assets & interest paid to depositors) expands naturally with their costs remaining stable in the short term. ICICI Bank’s net interest margin rose to 4.01% from 3.89%, while HDFC Bank margins remained flat at 4.0%.

Also, the non-performing assets (NPA) scenario of banks improved and not many cases of major bad loans emerged during the period. ICICI Bank’s gross NPA declined by 174 bps to 3.41%, while HDFC Bank’s gross NPA stood at 1.28%, 19 bps lower than the same period last year.

And the banking sector is considered an indicator of a country's economic health. So a strong performance by this sector could indicate better days ahead.

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Good to know

What is cash reserve ratio?

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) is the minimum percentage of the total deposits that commercial banks have to keep as liquid cash with the RBI. The CRR is maintained to ensure that banks do not run out of cash to meet the withdrawal demands of their depositors. The RBI also uses CRR as a tool to regulate the money supply in the economy. The CRR currently is set at 4.50%, which means that for every ₹100 deposit that banks raise, they have to keep ₹4.50 as liquid cash with the RBI.  Banks do not earn interest on this cash and cannot use it for investing and lending it to the borrowers.

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