News Wrap | Sensex & Nifty Fall for Day 5; IndusInd Bank Plummets; Ratan Tata's Will Includes Provisions

Good evening, and welcome to Business Hook’s daily news podcast, where we bring you a roundup of the day’s top business stories. I’m Avni Raja, and today is the 25th of October, 2024 – the last working day of the week for many of us.

Let’s start with Asian equity markets. It was a mixed Friday in Asia, with investors keeping an eye on Japan's upcoming general election over the weekend. Japan also reported its October retail inflation rate, which dropped to 1.8 percent from 2.2 percent in September. Against this backdrop, the country’s benchmark index, the Nikkei, slipped over half a percent. Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng each gained over half a percent.

Back home, the Sensex and Nifty extended their losing streak for the fifth straight session, each slipping nearly a percent. The Sensex ended the week at 79,400, plunging almost 700 points, while the Nifty fell below 24,200 with a loss of more than 200 points. Both benchmark indices are now down eight percent from the highs they reached in the last week of September. The recent stock market downturn has been driven by significant selling by foreign institutional investors amid concerns over high valuations and muted second-quarter results. This sell-off has made it the worst pre-Diwali phase for Indian investors in a decade.

Shifting focus to stock-specific action: of the fifty constituents of the Nifty, 38 declined while only 12 advanced. Among the gainers, FMCG major ITC stood out, rising over two percent to close at 476 rupees per share. The stock gained following its second-quarter results, which missed expectations on net profit but showed a strong revenue beat. Major brokerages, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, and Nomura, have responded positively to ITC’s performance, issuing BUY calls with price targets as high as 560 rupees per share.

Staying with stocks - private sector lender IndusInd Bank took a sharp hit in Friday’s trade as the biggest loser by a wide margin on the Nifty 50. The stock plunged 19 percent to close at 1,037 rupees, driven by disappointing second-quarter results. The bank’s consolidated net profit dropped 39.5 percent year-on-year to 1,300 crore rupees. Although net interest income grew five percent, it missed estimates, and asset quality deteriorated slightly.

Shifting gears – details of the will of the late business icon Ratan Tata are out. According to a Times of India report, Tata, whose estate is estimated at over 10,000 crore rupees, has bequeathed assets to his foundation, brother Jimmy Tata, half-sisters Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy, household staff, and others. He has also made provisions for his Executive Assistant, Shantanu Naidu, and his long-time butler, Subbiah, who worked with Tata for almost three decades. That’s not all. In a touching display of Ratan Tata’s love for animals, he has made provisions in his will for the lifelong care of his German Shepherd, Tito.

With that, it’s a wrap on this edition of the Business Hook News Wrap podcast. We will be back on Monday with the next edition of our podcast. Have a great weekend and check out our YouTube channel Business Hook for the top business developments of the day.