Strong Earnings Help Sensex, Nifty Clock Second-Best Month Of 2018

Indian equity benchmarks clocked their second best monthly gain of 2018 as Indian companies continue to report strong earnings.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.3 percent or 112 points to record high of 37,606.58 and the NSE Nifty 50 index climbed 0.33 percent or 37 points to an all-time high of 11,356.50.

Most of the Nifty companies that have reported earnings so far have either met or beaten estimates in June quarter. Fifteen companies have met estimates, seven have beaten while eight missed estimates, data compiled by BloombergQuint showed.

Gains in today's session was led by Reliance Industries after it surpassed TCS to become India's most valuable company.

Sixteen out of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended higher led by the S&P BSE Energy index’s 1.9 percent gain. On the other hand, the S&P BSE Finance index was top loser, down 0.5 percent.

Shares of the Bengaluru-based defence equipment maker rose as much as 8.4 percent to Rs 116.90 after its profit beat Bloomberg estimate of Rs 116.90.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net profit up 44 percent at Rs 180 crore versus estimate of Rs 94.3 crore
• Revenue up 17.2 percent at Rs 2,077.84 crore versus estimate of Rs 1,772.83 crore (YoY)
• Other income at Rs 8.88 crore

• Prism Johnson has 36 lakh shares change hands in two blocks. Stock down 5.5 percent to Rs 108.

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

India’s April-June fiscal deficit at Rs 4.29 lakh crore versus full-year budget estimate of Rs 6.24 lakh crore, Finance Ministry data showed.

April-June revenue deficit came in at Rs 3.52 lakh crore or 85 percent of full year estimate of Rs 4.17 lakh crore.

Shares of the Mumbai-based textile manufacturer rose as much as Rs 1.8 percent to Rs 865.70 after it reported June quarter earnings.

Key earnings highlights:

• Consolidated net profit at Rs 1.92 crore versus loss of Rs 5.87 crore (YoY)
• Consolidated revenue at Rs 1,250.66 crore versus Rs 1,196.88 crore (YoY)

Shares of the Kochi-based electrical components maker recovered from intraday lows and rose as much as 3.5 percent to Rs 223 after it met Bloomberg consensus estimates in June quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net profit up 48 percent at Rs 34.4 crore versus estimate of Rs 35.2 crore
• Revenue up 11.6 percent at Rs 635 crore versus estimate of Rs 627 crore

Ajanta Pharma Ltd.'s profit rose 11 percent on a yearly basis during April-June quarter, according to its stock exchange notification.

Key earnings highlights (Q1, YoY):

• Net profit up 11 percent at Rs 105.7 crore.
• Revenue up 8 percent at Rs 511 crore.
• Ebitda up 23.6 percent at Rs 157.4 crore.
• Margin at 30.8 percent versus 26.9 percent.

Shares of the agrochemical maker fluctuated between gains and losses to trade at Rs 650 as of 2:15 p.m. The company reported its quarterly results for April-June period.

Key earnings highlights (Q1, YoY):

• Net profit up 7.8 percent at Rs 510 crore.
• Revenue up 11 percent at Rs 4,134 crore.
• Ebitda up 13 percent at Rs 847 crore.
• Margin at 20.5 percent versus 20.1 percent.

Shares of the Ghaziabad-based FMCG company rose as over a percent to rs 397 after its net profit met Bloomberg consensus estimates in June quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenues up 16 percent at Rs 2,081 crore versus estimate of Rs 2,013 crore
• Net profit up 25 percent at Rs 329 crore versus estimate of Rs 326 crore
• Ebitda up 25 percent at Rs 387 crore versus Rs 308.5 crore
• Margin at 18.6 percent versus 17.2 percent

• Vardhman Textiles: The Ludhiana-based textile manufacturer fell 0.4 percent to Rs 1,204.95. Trading volume was 55.4 times its 20-day average.
• Gujarat Gas: The Ahmedabad-based gas distribution company rose 0.7 percent to Rs 785.75. Trading volume was 16.5 times its 20-day average.
• Sheela Foam: The Ghaziabad-based mattress maker rose 1.1 percent to Rs 1,490. Trading volume was 15.6 times 20-day average.
• Brigade Enterprises: The Bengaluru-based real estate developer rose 7.8 percent to Rs 202.50. Trading volume was 11.3 times its 20-day average.

Shares of the Delhi-based packaged food company swung between gains and losses after it reported June quarter earnings.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net profit up 6 percent at Rs 219 crore versus Rs 233 crore (YoY)
• Revenue at Rs 2,031.97 crore versus Rs 2,020.31 crore (YoY)

• Inox Leisure has 41 lakh shares (4.2 percent equity) change hands in a block on BSE. Stock down 0.5 percent at Rs 195.55.

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of the Coimbatore-based automotive engineering services company rose as much as 7.6 percent to Rs 562.85 after its profit than doubled in June quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net profit doubled to Rs 22 crore versus Rs 11 crore (YoY)
• Revenue up 14 percent at Rs 364 crore versus Rs 318 crore (YoY)

Shares of the Chennai-based supply chain solution provider fell as much as 8 percent, the most in over a month, to Rs 114.50 after its profit declined in June quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net profit fell 10 percent to Rs 88.64 crore versus Rs 98.37 crore (YoY)
• Revenue 9 percent to Rs 10,215 crore versus Rs 9,374 crore (YoY)

Mukesh Ambani-led oil-to-telecom Reliance Industries overtook Tata Consultancy Services as the most valuable company of India in today's trade.

Reliance Industries market cap rose to Rs 7.44 lakh crore overtaking TCS' market cap of Rs 7.39 lakh crore.

Shares of Reliance Industries rose 2 percent to a record high of Rs 1,174.40.

Nifty 11,200 strike price put was among the most active put option contracts on the National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract rose 5.15 percent to Rs 101. As many as 3.06 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 27.9 lakh shares.

Click here to see the complete options chain

• Indian benchmarks were struggling as financial stocks came under selling pressure.
• The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.3 percent or 128 points to 37,370 and the NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.25 percent or 29 points to 11,290.
• Eight out of 11 sector gauges compiled by National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Financial Services index's 0.9 percent drop. On the other hand, the Nifty Pharma index was top loser, up 0.9 percent.
• The overall breadth was marginally positive as 1,235 shares were advancing while 1,089 were declining on the BSE.

Shares of the Mumbai-based retailer rose as much as 4.37 percent to record high of Rs 1,664.55 after it reported June quarter earnings.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue up 27 percent at Rs 4,559 crore.
• Net profit up 43 percent at Rs 251 crore.
• Ebitda up 39 percent at Rs 422 crore.
• Margin at 9.3 percent versus 8.4 percent.

Andrew Holland, CEO at Avendus Capital Alternate Strategies told BloombergQuint that he will continue buying high priced consumer stocks due to earnings growth expectations.

Key highlights of the conversation:

• Private banks to continue taking market share from PSU banks.
• Expect combination of private and corporate banks to drive banking going forward.
• Would continue to buy high priced consumer stocks due to earnings growth expectation.
• Expect Tech Mahindra to re-rate over the year.
• I.T. well supported by the rupee depreciation tailwind.

Shares of the Mumbai-based fertiliser maker rose 0.2 percent to Rs 643.75 ahead of June quarter earnings.

Below are Bloomberg consensus estimates of what to expect from Tata Motors in June quarter:

• Revenue seen up 9.6 percent at Rs 4,079 crore versus Rs 3,723 crore.
• Ebitda seen up 8.4 percent at Rs 813 crore versus Rs 750 crore.
• Margins seen at 19.9 percent versus 20.1 percent.
• Net profit seen up 7 percent at Rs 506 crore versus Rs 473 crore.

Shares of the Mumbai-based auto maker fell 1.3 percent to Rs 264 ahead of June quarter eranings.

Below are Bloomberg consensus estimates of what to expect from Tata Motors in June quarter:

• Revenue seen at Rs 70,900 crore versus Rs 58,493 crore, up 21.2 percent.
• Ebitda seen at Rs 7,415 crore versus Rs 5,596 crore, up 32.5 percent.
• Profit seen at Rs 920 crore versus Rs 3,199 crore, down 71 percent.

• HDIL has 27.8 lakh shares change hands in two blocks. Stock up 17 percent a Rs 23.60.

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of the country's third largest wireless telecom service provider fell as much as 5.4 percent to Rs 55.25.

The telecom operator’s net profit stood at Rs 256.5 crore compared with a Rs 962.2-crore loss in the previous quarter, according to its exchange filing. The loss would have widened without the one-time gain of Rs 3,364.5 crore from the sale of Idea Celullar Infrastructure Services Ltd. to American Tower Corporation. Analysts tracked by BloombergQuint expected a loss of Rs 1,515 crore.

Meanwhile, brokerages have maintained their bearish stance on the stock after June quarter earnings. Here's what brokerages said:

CLSA

• Downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Buy’; cut target price to Rs 51 from Rs 70.
• June quarter’s revenue was in-line, but Ebitda came below estimates.
• Operating metrics were also weak.
• Merged company funded, but gearing still out of hand.
• Expect net debt to be 6.6 times Ebitda by March 2021, will remain uncomfortable.

Kotak Securities

• Maintained ‘Reduce’ with a target price of Rs 75.
• June quarter’s earnings were weaker than expected.
• Also, much weaker than Bharti’s on most operating metrics.
• Equity infusion, a meaningful one, could be needed sooner than expected.

Shares of the Mumbai-based crop protection company fell as much as 7.5 percent, the most in over three months, to Rs 351 after its profit declined in june quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue up 34 percent at Rs 457 crore.
• Net profit down 21 percent at Rs 34 crore.
• Other income down 77 percent at Rs 3.5 crore.
• Ebitda up 15 percent at Rs 71 crore.
• Margin at 15.5 percent versus 18 percent.

Shares of the Mumbai-based private sector lender pared early gains to edge 0.2 percent lower to Rs 567.40.

In early trading, the stock rose as much as 2.96 percent as it returned to profitability in the April-June period after reporting its first-ever quarterly loss in the previous quarter.

Net profit fell 46.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 701 crore compared with Rs 624 crore profit estimated by analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

The lender had reported a loss of Rs 2,189 crore in the quarter ended March 2018 due to a surge in provisions.

• Infosys has 25 lakh shares change hands in a single block deal. Stock down 0.1 percent at Rs 1,349.45.

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of the budget airline operator fell as much as 10.45 percent, the most in over two months, to Rs 900.05 after its June quarter profit was nearly wiped out on rising fuel cost, competitive fares and foreign exchange loss.

Net profit in the April-June period plunged 97 percent from the year-ago quarter to Rs 28 crore, according to an exchange filing by the parent of low-cost carrier IndiGo. That compares with the Rs 514-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

• Revenue rose 13 percent year-on-year to Rs 6,512 crore.
• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and rentals (Ebitdar) fell 47 percent to Rs 1,031 crore.
• Margin more than halved to 15.8 percent from 33.9 percent earlier.

Indian equity benchmarks edged lower dragged by weakness in ICICI Bank, HDFC twins and Infosys.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.3 percent or 102 points to 37,396 and the NSE Nifty 50 index declined 0.28 percent or 31 points to 11,288.

Eleven out of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading lower led by the S&P BSE Finance index's 0.4 percent drop. On the other hand, the S&P BSE Realty index was top gainer, up 0.7 percent.

The mid- and small-cap shares were muted in early trading as the S&P BSE MidCap index rose 0.17 percent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index was trading marginally lower.

Rupee opened marginally higher at 68.67 per dollar against yesterday's close of 68.68 as traders watch for inflows from foreign investors of the $2.3 billion share sale by HDFC Bank. The bank, a darling among foreign investors, starts its offering as it seeks to boost its capital ratios and expand lending capacity.

The rupee ended little changed at 68.68 per dollar on Monday, having gained 0.3 percent last week, amid growing expectations that the RBI could raise rates this week to stem capital outflows and curb inflation.

JPMorgan on Avenue Supermarts

• Maintained ‘Underweight’; raised target price to Rs 1,175 from Rs 1,050.
• Good operating performance was reported in June quarter.
• Lower interest costs further boosted net profit growth.
• Raise earnings estimates on the back of higher revenue growth assumptions.
• Valuations expensive; Already factor in optimism.

Credit Suisse on Escorts

• Maintained ‘Outperform’; raised target price to Rs 1,230 from Rs 1,170.
• June quarter results were operationally better than expected.
• Tractor margins on adverse product mix, higher commodity costs and one-off provisioning.
• Outlook on both CE and railways is encouraging.
• Continue to prefer Escorts as top mid-cap pick.

BofAML on Titan

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a target price of Rs 1,080.
• Correction offers particularly attractive entry levels.
• Well-established brands to offer continuous outperformance across segments.
• Operating leverage and asset light growth to aid margins.
• Expect 28 percent EPS CAGR to back premium valuation.

Brokerages On HDFC

JPMorgan

• Maintained ‘Overweight’ with a target price of Rs 2,300.
• Stable performance with 18 percent loan growth.
• Spreads and asset quality remain well controlled.
• Best play to capture property upcycle which could start in 2018.

Credit Suisse

• Maintained ‘Outperform’; raised target price to Rs 2,350 from Rs 2,250.
• NII growth was robust led by strong AUM growth.
• Asset quality remained stable; Credit costs dropped on transition to IND-AS.
• Stock trading at attractive valuations given loan growth and sustained profitability.

Brokerages On Axis Bank

CLSA

• Maintained ‘Buy’; raised target price to Rs 690 from Rs 650.
• Top-line ahead: Retail continues to lead.
• June quarter’s net profit ahead of estimates led by better NII and NPL recoveries.
• Slippages moderates, but stress still rises.
• De-risking underway; Expect RoE of 15 percent from April 2020.

Kotak

• Maintained ‘Add’ with a target price of Rs 600.
• Net Interest Margin was reasonably stronger than expected.
• Decline in NPLs is quite meaningful.
• Higher upgrades, write-off and lower slippages led to decline.
• Need clarification on movement of sub-investment grade portfolio.

Brokerages On Tech Mahindra

CLSA

• Upgraded to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Sell’; raised target price to Rs 650 from Rs 635.
• Revenue beat led by enterprise as telecom stays soft.
• Margin recovery comes to a halt.
• Need to watch for growth recovery.
• See limited earnings growth potential and margin upside.

Macquarie

• Maintained ‘Neutral’; raised target price to Rs 700 from Rs 670
• June quarter results were mixed bag with miss on revenue and small beat at EBIT margin.
• Telecom business continues to be a drag.
• 5G-related spend is still some time away.
• Raise EPS estimates to factor in weaker rupee.

Investec

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a target price of Rs 786.
• June quarter’s revenue and EBIT were ahead of estimates.
• Decline in revenues in telecom segment has been sharper than expected.
• Expect EBIT Margin performance to improve through 2018-19.
• Expect long awaited improvement in telecom appears to be finally here.

Brokerages On InterGlobe Aviation

JPMorgan

• Downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Overweight’; cut target price to Rs 900 from Rs 1,150.
• June quarter earnings impacted on all fronts.
• Expect industry to either take up pricing or cut back on capacity addition.
• Lower pricing due to competitive intensity to pressure the stock near term.
• Sufficient levers to improve its cost base over medium to long term.

UBS

• Maintained ‘Sell’; cut target price to Rs 940 from Rs 1,040.
• June quarter’s net profit declines significantly on high fuel and other expenses.
• Continue to expect 2018-19 yield growth to be weak.
• Maintenance spend to remain high going forward in the near term.
• Cut our EPS estimates for the current and the next financial year by 34 percent and 5 percent respectively.

Brokerages On Godrej Consumer

Macquarie

• Maintained ‘Outperform’; raised target price to Rs 1,465 from Rs 1,285.
• Strong turnaround in HI business leading to operational beat in June quarter.
• India volume growth at 14 percent was ahead of estimate.
• Believe growth momentum in HI business will continue.
• Godrej Consumer remains our top pick.

CLSA

• Maintained ‘Outperform’; raised target price to Rs 1,425 from Rs 1,150.
• June quarter’s consolidated Ebitda was ahead of estimates.
• Strong domestic growth with healthy margins.
• Management commentary was fairly positive on growth.
• 2018-19 could be busiest year (new launches) for India business.

Brokerages On Shree Cement

Macquarie

• Maintained ‘Outperform’ with a target price of Rs 21,500.
• Adjusted June quarter’s Ebitda was in line; Margins recovery ahead.
• Strong volumes partially offsets costs.
• Capacity growth to drive market share gain in FY19-20.
• Cost headwinds persists but peaking out.
• Volume growth to remain ahead of industry on timely expansion.

Nomura

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a target price of Rs 22,900.
• June quarter was a miss driven by higher costs, MTM loss.
• Blended realisation was marginally lower than expected.
• Continue to believe that cement sector is on cusp of an upturn.
• Volume growth will likely get better.

Brokerages On Idea Cellular

CLSA

• Downgraded to ‘Sell’ from ‘Buy’; cut target price to Rs 51 from Rs 70.
• June quarter’s revenue was in-line, but Ebitda came below estimates.
• Operating metrics were also weak.
• Merged Co. funded, but gearing still out of hand.
• Expect net debt to be 6.6 times Ebitda by March 2021, will remain uncomfortable.

Kotak Securities

• Maintained ‘Reduce’ with a target price of Rs 75.
• June quarter’s earnings were weaker than expected.
• Also, much weaker than Bharti’s on most operating metrics.
• Equity infusion, a meaningful one, could be needed sooner than expected.

Who’s Meeting Whom

• Balarampur Chini Mills to meet Sundaram Asset Management on August 2.
• Tata Steel to meet HDFC Mutual Funds, DSP Black Rock and other investors on July 31.

Insider Trades

• Chambal Fertilizers promoter acquired 1.41 lakh shares on July 27.
• Infibeam promoter acquired 63,725 shares on July 26.

(As reported on July 30)

Bulk Deals

TCNS Clothing: Steinberg India Emerging Opportunities Fund Ltd bought 3.27 lakh shares at Rs 655.06 each.

Talwa lakhars Lifestyles: Smaller Cap World Fund Inc sold 2.25 lakh shares (0.7 percent) at Rs 138.5 each.

Modi Rubber

• Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte bought 2.28 lakh shares (0.9 percent) at Rs 51.45 each.
• Quantum (M) Limited sold 2.28 lakh shares (0.9 percent) at Rs 51.45 each.

F&O Cues

• Nifty August futures ended at 11,338.5, with a premium of 19 points versus 28 points.
• August series: Nifty open interest up 4 percent; Bank Nifty open interest up 7 percent.
• India VIX ended at 12.5, up 2.2 percent.
• Max open interest for August series call at 11,500 strike price call (open interest at 28 lakh shares, up 2 percent)
• Max open interest for August series put at 11,000 strike price put (open interest at 41.4 lakh shares, up 8 percent)

Trading Tweaks

• Andhra Petrochemicals placed under ASM framework.
• Adani Green Energy circuit filter revised to 5 percent.

Nifty Earnings To Watch

• Tata Motors
• Power Grid
• UPL
• Vedanta

Other Earnings To Watch

• Ajanta Pharma
• Astral Poly Technik
• Bank of India
• Bharat Electronics
• Blue Dart Express
• Castrol India
• Dabur India
• GSFC
• IIFL
• Mahanagar Gas
• Raymond
• V-Guard Industries

Earnings Reaction To Watch

Axis Bank (Q1, YoY)

• Net interest income up 12 percent at Rs 5,167 crore.
• Net profit down 46 percent at Rs 701 crore.
• Provisions down 54 percent at Rs 3,338 crore.
• GNPA at 6.52 percent versus 6.77 percent (QoQ)
• NPA at 3.09 percent versus 3.40 percent (QoQ)

Avenue Supermarts (Q1, YoY)

• Revenue up 27 percent at Rs 4,559 crore.
• Net profit up 43 percent at Rs 251 crore.
• Ebitda up 39 percent at Rs 422 crore.
• Margin at 9.3 percent versus 8.4 percent.

IDFC Bank (Q1, YoY)

• NII grew 26.3 percent to Rs 490 crore.
• Net profit down 58 percent at Rs 181 crore.
• Provisions at Rs 34 crore versus Rs 242 crore (QoQ)
• GNPA at 3.24 percent versus 3.31 percent.
• NNPA at 1.63 percent versus 1.69 percent.

Oberoi Realty (Q1, YoY)

• Revenue at Rs 888 crore versus Rs 261 crore.
• Net profit at Rs 309 crore versus Rs 91 crore.
• Ebitda at Rs 462 crore versus Rs 136 crore.
• Margin at 52.0 percent versus 52.1 percent.

Texmaco Rail and Engineering (Q1, YoY)

• Revenue up 44.4 percent at Rs 322.6 crore.
• Net profit at Rs 6.5 crore versus net loss at Rs 8.7 crore.
• Ebitda at Rs 23.4 crore versus Ebitda loss of Rs 4.8 crore.

Tech Mahindra (Q1, QoQ)

• Dollar revenue down 1.6 percent at $1,224 million.
• Income from operations up 2.8 percent at Rs 8,277 crore.
• Ebit down 3.3 percent at Rs 1,077 crore.
• Ebit margins at 13 percent versus 13.8 percent.
• Profit down 27 percent at Rs 899 crore.

GSPL (Q1, YoY)

• Revenue up 32 percent at Rs 391 crore.
• Net profit down 5 percent at Rs 144.5 crore.
• Ebitda up 25 percent at Rs 344 crore.
• Margin at 87 percent versus 93.2 percent.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers (Q1, YoY)

• Revenue up 13 percent at Rs 154 crore.
• Net profit up 93 percent at Rs 27 crore.
• Other Income up 69 percent at Rs 22 crore.
• Ebitda up 3 percent at Rs 16.5 crore.
• Margin at 10.7 percent versus 11.8 percent.

Sharda Cropchem (Q1, YoY)

• Revenue up 34 percent at Rs 457 crore.
• Net profit down 21 percent at Rs 34 crore.
• Other income down 77 percent at Rs 3.5 crore.
• Ebitda up 15 percent at Rs 71 crore.
• Margin at 15.5 percent versus 18 percent.

Gujarat Gas (Q1, QoQ)

• Revenue up 2 percent at Rs 1,765.5 crore.
• Net profit up 83 percent at Rs 121 crore.
• Ebitda up 12 percent at Rs 249.5 crore.
• Margin at 14.1 percent versus 12.9 percent.

InterGlobe Aviation (Q1, YoY)

• Revenue up 13 percent to Rs 6,512 crore.
• Net Profit down 97 percent to Rs 28 crore.
• Ebitdar down 47 percent to Rs 1,031 crore.
• Ebitdar margin at 15.8 percent versus 33.9 percent.

Idea Cellular (Q1, QoQ)

• Revenue down 4 percent to Rs 5,889 crore.
• Ebitda down 54 percent to Rs 659 crore.
• Ebitda margin at 11.2 percent versus 23.6 percent.
• Net profit of Rs 257 crore versus loss of Rs 962 crore.
• ARPU at Rs 100.

IDFC (Q1, YoY)

• Revenue down 11.6 percent at Rs 14.5 crore.
• Net profit down 18.9 percent at Rs 3 crore.

Jaiprakash Associates (Q1, YoY)

• Revenue down 32.1 percent at Rs 1,690.8 crore.
• Net loss at Rs 285 crore.
• Ebitda down 75.4 percent at Rs 186.4 crore.
• Margin at 11 percent versus 30.5 percent.

• HDFC Banks QIP opens; sets floor price at Rs 2179.13 per share
• Texmaco Rail and Engineering arm signs MoU for upgrading 150 armor vehicles
• Hindustan Aeronautics now making 11 light combat planes for air force
• Bharti Airtel's Ugandan unit to absorb rival K2’s subscribers
• Dr. Reddy’s request to sell generic Suboxone rejected

• India to report fiscal deficit data for April-June quarter and eight infrastructure industries data for June.

• India considers asking technology companies to store data locally
• World’s biggest toilet-building spree is under way in India
• How should the world treat Imran Khan?
• Biggest stock correction of the year is building, says Morgan Stanley
• Oil rises most in a month amid heightened worldwide supply risks
• Stay out: Bank of Baroda chief’s parting advice to government
• Tech bloodletting nears $300 billion since Facebook reported
• A delayed rate hike won’t be worth the wait

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India fell 0.13 percent to 11,329 as of 8:09 a.m.

Asian stocks opened lower Tuesday after the biggest technology shares led a retreat in U.S. stocks amid signs of investor fatigue with the sector. The yen edged higher as traders awaited the outcome of the Bank of Japan two-day policy meeting.

Equity indexes fell in Japan and South Korea, while futures signaled a softer open in Hong Kong.

Currencies

• The yen rose 0.1 percent to 110.93 per dollar.
• The offshore yuan added 0.1 percent to 6.8215 per dollar.
• The euro traded at $1.1709 after gaining 0.4 percent.
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped less than 0.1 percent.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $70.11 a barrel after rallying 2.1 percent.
• Gold was little changed at $1,222.75 an ounce.
• The Bloomberg Commodity Index increased 0.6 percent Monday to the highest in three weeks.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

• The U.S. Treasury is set to release its funding program for the next three months on Aug. 1.
• Earnings season continues with Berkshire Hathaway, Barclays, Tesla, Toyota, BMW, and Rio Tinto among companies reporting results.
• Central banks in the U.S., Japan, the U.K., Brazil and India all meet this week. The BOJ may tweak its yield-curve control policy and cut its CPI forecasts, while the Bank of England is expected to hike even amid Brexit gloom. The Fed is seen standing pat, as is Brazil’s central bank. The RBI will probably raise its benchmark.
• U.S. personal spending and income data for June -- coming Tuesday -- may be steady. Then it’s the jobs report on Friday, which is predicted to show a healthy labor market, with 193,000 new jobs, and an unemployment rate slipping back to 3.9 percent.
• China’s PMIs probably edged down in July, analysts say, buffeted by a deleveraging agenda and a trade war.