Business News at 05:30 pm on 12th January, 2024

Let’s begin – The benchmark equity indices ended Friday’s trading session higher after recording a fresh lifetime intraday high. The NSE Nifty 50 gained 247.35 points to settle at 21,894.55 points. While S&P BSE Sensex closed 847.27 points higher or 1.18% to settle at 72,568.45 points. Nifty Bank ended higher by 271.45 points or 0.57% to settle at 47,709.80 points. The broader indices ended in positive territory, with Nifity 50 and Nifty 100 stocks leading the gains. On the sectoral front, IT and PSU Bank durables stocks led the gains. In the last five days, Nifty 50 gained 170.75 points or 0.79% whereas Sensex gained 658.14 points or 0.92%. Infosys, ONGC, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, and LTIMindtree were the top gainers on Nifty 50.

Up next – Infosys witnessed a remarkable 7% surge in its share price during early trade on Friday, propelled by the IT services giant’s better-than-expected earnings report for the third quarter of FY24, even in the face of a decline in revenue and net profit. Infosys shares rallied as much as 7.09% to reach Rs 1,600.20 apiece on the NSE. India’s second-largest IT services company reported a 1.7% decrease in consolidated net profit for Q3FY24, amounting to ₹6,106 crore compared to ₹6,212 crore in Q2FY24. The quarter’s revenue also experienced a 0.4% dip, landing at ₹38,821 crore from ₹38,994 crore QoQ. In constant currency terms, revenues dropped to $4,663 million.

In another development – The Indian rupee rose to its highest level in four months on Friday, also marking its best week in a month, supported by dollar inflows towards both debt and equity investments and dollar sales by foreign banks on behalf of their clients.The rupee ended at 82.9225 against the dollar, versus its previous close of 83.0275 and logged its eighth consecutive day of gains. It had risen to 82.87 in intraday trade, marking its highest level since Sept. 22.For the week, the rupee rose 0.3% against the dollar, its best week since Dec 15. Foreign fund inflows and external commercial borrowing-related inflows helped the rupee rise above its crucial psychological level of 83 per dollar, traders said.

Moving on – Silicon Valley venture capital investor Chamath Palihapitiya on Friday announced his new incubator 8090, entirely funded by him, to support enterprise software startups. Before starting Social Capital in 2011, Sri Lanka-born Palihapitiya was an early member of Facebook and served as the Vice President for user growth. Prior to Facebook, he worked at the Mayfield Fund, AOL and Winamp. According to private market data provider PitchBook, Palihapitiya has 50 investments and 37 exits so far. Estimates about his net worth vary widely and is reportedly believed to be around a billion dollars. As of mid 2021, as per Forbes, his net worth stood at $1.2 billion.

Meanwhile – IT firm Wipro on Friday posted third quarter profit for FY24 at Rs 2700.60 crore, down 11.9 per cent in comparison to Rs 3065.00 crore during the corresponding quarter of last year. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 22,205.10 crore, down 4.4 per cent as against Rs 23,229.00 crore during the third quarter of FY23. The company also announced the payment of interim dividend of Re 1 per equity share of par value Rs 2 each to the members of the company as on January 24, 2024, being the record date. While the total income recorded by the IT firm during the quarter in review was at Rs 22,803.00 crore, total expenses incurred during the quarter was at Rs 19,250.50 crore.

In other news – Unveiling a monumental addition to India’s infrastructure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, also referred to as Atal Setu, spanning 21.8 kilometers between Sewri in Mumbai and Nhava Sheva in Raigad district on Friday. This trans harbour link stands as the longest sea bridge in India, promising to drastically reduce travel time between the two points from the current hour and a half to a mere 20 minutes. With a total cost of ₹17,840 crore, the MTHL boasts six lanes, with 16.5 kilometers of the bridge extending over the sea. Commencing operations for the public from January 13, this sea bridge is set to redefine connectivity in the region.

Lastly – Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Friday that a brief Budget session of Parliament, the last of the 17th Lok Sabha, will be held between January 31 and February 9. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the interim budget on February 1. The session will begin with President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament. The interim budget typically takes care of the fiscal needs of the intervening period till a government is formed after the Lok Sabha polls. The term of the 17th Lok Sabha ends on June 16.