Stock Market Today: Nifty Extends Rally To 13Th Session With Fresh Closing Highs; Bajaj Finance, ITC Lead

The Indian Rupee weakened by 5 paise to close at 83.92 against the US dollar. It closed at 83.87 on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

India's benchmark stock indices recorded their best closing on Monday, with the Nifty 50 extending gains for the 13th consecutive session, its longest run in decades. Sensex rose for the tenth consecutive session.

The NSE Nifty 50 ended 0.2%, or 49.35 points, higher at 25,285.25, and the Sensex closed 0.24%, or 194.07 points, up at 82,559.84. Intraday, the Nifty hit a new record high of 25,333.60 and the Sensex touched a fresh lifetime high of 82,725.28.

Nifty's incremental gains however shows sign of fatigue as options data indicate heavy call writing at 25,300 for the weekly expiry, Kush Bohra, founder of investment advisory firm kushbohra.com said. "Despite the bullish trend, consider booking profits from this stellar run and reinvesting at a dip. Prudence dictates locking in gains and rebalancing positions."

Shares of ITC Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and Reliance Industries Ltd. contributed the most to the gains of Nifty.

While those of HDFC Bank Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd. weighed on the Nifty.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of sellers. As many as 2,255 stocks fell, 1,782 rose, and 149 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Broader indices underperformed. BSE Midcap ended flat and BSE Smallcap closed 0.5% down.

Thirteen out of 20 sectoral indices on the BSE fell and seven ended higher. BSE Metal fell the most.

Most sectoral indices ended higher with Nifty FMCG rising the most. Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma were the only indices that fell.

• Nifty ends higher in the thirteenth consecutive session; Sensex ends higher for ninth consecutive session

• Both indices recorded highest close

• Nifty ends 0.2% or 49.35 points higher at 25285.25

• Sensex ends 0.24% or 194.07 points higher at 82559.84

• Intraday

• Nifty rose as much as 0.4% to hit a new record high 25,333.60

• Sensex rose as much as 0.41% to hit its highest level of 82,725.28

• Broader indices underperformed; Nifty Midcap 100 ended 0.21% down and Nifty Smallcap 250 fell 0.08%

• Sectoral indices were mixed at close; Nifty FMCG was the top gainer and Nifty Metal fell the most

• Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were top Nifty gainers

• Hindalco Industries and Dr.Reddy's Labs were top losers among Nifty stocks

• Launches at an introductory starting price of Rs 9.99 lakh, ex-showroom India.

• Petrol: Rs 9,99,000

• Diesel: Rs 11,49,990

• Automatic: 12,49,990

• Note: Bookings are now open.

Source: Company

India's benchmark stock indices saw no signs of cool-off as they continued their record rally on Monday, helped by information technology and consumer stocks.

The 50-stock benchmark gauge—NSE Nifty 50—extended its record rally to day 13, a first since the formal launch of the index. The Nifty 50 put forth a fourth consecutive day of new highs while the 30-stock BSE Sensex hit life high for the third straight session.

Both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex rose as much as 0.39% and 0.44% to hit a fresh high of 25,333.6 and 82,725.2, respectively. As of 12:08 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was 56 points, or 0.23%, higher at 25,292, and the BSE Sensex was up 218 points, or 0.27%, at 82,588.

The NSE Nifty IT hit a lifetime high led by gains in HCL Technologies Ltd., Infosys Ltd., and Tech Mahindra Ltd. even as CLSA remained cautious, with the latest analysis pointing to a mixed outlook.

During the week gone by, both Nifty and Sensex extended gains for the third week, with both gaining around 1.6%.

Momentum indicators point to strengthening trend, potentially paving the way for large gains in the near term, according to Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services. "We will have our eyes on 25,365-25,800 as the nearest upside objectives (for Nifty)." The downside markers may be placed near 24,800, a crack of which should see 24,440 as the first downside objective, he said.

Asia-Pacific stocks were trading mixed as concerns linger over China's growth following the decline in factory activity. Mixed expectations of September rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve also called for an early caution. Equity benchmarks in Japan and South Korea were marginally higher, while those in Hong Kong and China were trading lower.

Shares of Infosys Ltd., ITC Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., HCL Tech Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd. contributed the most to the gains in the Nifty 50 in trade so far.

While those of HDFC Bank Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., and Bharti Airtel Ltd. were weighing the index.

On NSE, seven out of 12 sectors slipped with Nifty Metal and Auto falling the most during the session. The Nifty IT index rose nearly 1% followed by FMCG.

Broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 0.12% and 0.43% lower, respectively. On BSE, 14 out of the 20 sectors declined, led by Industries and Capital goods.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of the sellers. Around 1,805 stocks rose, 2,097 stocks declined, and 164 stocks remained unchanged on the BSE.

• Maithan Alloys Ltd.'s arm switches on arc furnaces at its newly installed plant in West Bengal.

• Production is likely to commence by next week.

Source: Exchange filing

Aspires for a "Viksit Bharat" where every part of the country, including rural India, sees the girl child educated, healthy, capable, and smiling.

National resources, including capital, profits, reserves, taxes, people, and technology, are crucial for driving growth.

National resources must also be used to build social infrastructure and sustainability.

Inclusion and active participation of all citizens are vital alongside economic prosperity.

India is already on the path to achieving these goals, not just talking about potential.

National resources are driving growth, social infrastructure, and inclusion.

Industry and SEBI are working to make mutual funds accessible at ₹250.

Aim is to reduce onboarding and servicing costs, leveraging technology.

This allows participation in wealth creation with as little as $3 per month.

The initiative supports inclusive growth toward "Viksit Bharat."

Future market ecosystem and regulations will adapt to these inclusive goals.

Source: Madhabi Puri Buch, SEBI Chairperson, speaking at the Financing 3.0 Summit

• Ramkrishna Forgings Ltd. sell wholly-owned subsidiary Globe All India Services to Yatra Online for Rs 128 crore.

• The company will set up aluminium forging facility at Jamshedpur at an investment of Rs 57.5 crore.

Source: Exchange filing

• Restructuring of crypto balances will take at least six months, WazirX Hack said.

• Singapore court will take creditors’ view on whether moratorium should be granted

• Under restructuring, remaining assets will be distributed to users on pro-rata basis

• WazirX Hack is in talks with white knight for capital

Source: Nischal Shetty at Townhall

• Board approves increasing fundraise amount to Rs 250 crore

• Board had earlier approved raising up to Rs 205 crore on rights issue basis

Source: Exchange Filing

• Airtel, Nokia & MediaTek complete trials combining use of TDD & FDD mid-band spectrum

• TDD stands for Time Division Duplex; FDD stands for Frequency Division Duplex

Source: Exchange Filing

Creates separate business vertical for renewable Engineering, Procurement, and Construction

Source: Exchange Filing

Gets contract from RailTel to develop edge data centers in 102 cities across India

Source: Exchange Filing

Gets work orders worth Rs 182.5 crore

Source: Exchange Filing

Gets order worth Rs 143 crore for data centre project from Bank of Maharashtra

Source: Exchange Filing

Shares of Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv rose the most among Nifty stocks after its IPO-bound housing finance arm's red herring prospectus showed that it is set to open for subscription on September 9.

Shares of Bajaj Finance hit its highest since January 17 while those of Bajaj Finserv hit 32-month high.

• India has to balance between investor and domestic interests

• Financial markets not the best parameter for risk and reward

• When market becomes bigger than the economy, it tends to impact public policy and macro outputs

• The consequences of such financialisation need be avoided

• India can ill afford the impact of financialisation

Source: V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor

• Electricity demand growth declined to 16 month low in August 2024

• All India electricity demand growth moderated to negative 4.4% YoY

• Full year demand growth remains healthy a 6-6.5% in FY25

• Average spot power tariffs reduced to Rs 4.4 per unit in Aug 2024

• Coal stock at power plants fell to 13.8 days as on Aug 27

• Sluggish global demand in key economies, oversupply putting pressure on companies

• New capacity addition, cheaper imports squeezing profitability of petchem manufacturers

• Domestic demand expected to grow at steady pace at 6-8%

• Expects challenging environment to persist in near to medium term

• August coal production down 11.9% at 46.1 MMT

• August offtake down 11.8% at 52.1 MMT

Source: Exchange Filing

• Maintains 'hold' on Gujarat State Petronet, raises target by 45% to Rs 467, implying 5% upside

• Restructuring to simplify structure, unlock value, enhance synergies

• Estimates 39% EPS accretion for Gujarat Gas

• Expects Rs 300 cr indirect tax savings per annum for Gujarat Gas

• Expects Gujarat Gas' pricing to propane in Morbi to improve by 3.2%

• Maintains 'buy' on Gujarat Gas at Rs 715 target, implying 18% upside

On Merger:

• Merger to unlock value for Gujarat Gas & Gujarat State Petronet

• See 5% upside for Gujarat Gas

• Company may not pay taxes for next 4 years due to GSPC's accumulated tax losses

• Expects to see improved margins and return ratios post merger

On Overall business:

• Expect Q2FY25 volume momentum to be weak

• Expect company's volumes to pick up in H2FY25-FY26

• Long term volume growth prospects remain robust due to expansion

• Reiterates outperform on Persistent

• Maintains 'hold' on Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra

• Most BPO companies raised annual growth guidance

• BPOs seeing shift towards outcome based contracts, improved pricing

• Indian IT companies have proactively announced partnerships with Nvidia

• They are not far behind Accenture in buildung competencies around Nvidia

• Weak 2H demand by retail points to a bleak 2Q-4Q

August manufacturing PMI at 57.5 vs 58.1 in July

Source: Bloomberg

• Gets notice of termination of Global Depositary Receipt facilities effective October 28, 2025

• Forced sale to start on or after October 29, 2025

Source: Exchange Filing

Rail Minister inaugurated BEML's new 9.2-acre Hangar facility at Bangalore

Source: Exchange Filing

• Records highest ever alloy wheel sales in August

• August sales decline by 7% YoY

• August tractor sales grew by 9% YoY

Source: Exchange Filing

The stock rose in the second consecutive session today after inaugurating “Bondada Industrial Park-II” at Ankireddipally, Hyderabad, to cater global standard manufacturing facilities.

At 10:27 a.m., it was locked in its 5% upper circuit limit at Rs 723.45.

• Gets letter from NSEL Investors Form for one time settlement for closure of litigation from payment default by defaulters at NSEL 11 years ago

• NIF informed that they will communicate with traders and revert with proposal

Source: Exchange filing

• Revises prices for select variants of Alto K10 and S-Presso

• Price of S-Presso LXI Petrol variant reduced by Rs 2,000

• Price of Alto K10 VXI Petrol variant reduced by Rs 6,500

Source: Exchange Filing

• Domestic sales down 8% at 13,347 units

• Total sales down 7% at 14,463 units

• Domestic M&HCV sales down 14% at 7,790 units

• Total M&HCV sales down 11% at 8,663 units

Source: Exchange Filing

Total two-wheeler sales at Bajaj Auto Ltd. surged on the back of domestic demand even as exports were largely muted.

The Pulsar maker sold 3,35,178 motorcycles in August 2024 as against 2,85,031 units in the year-ago period—a growth of 18%. While domestic sales surged 30% to 2,08,621 units, exports rose 2% to 1,26,557 units, according to an exchange filing.

Shares of Gujarat Gas Ltd. surged nearly 14% to over two-year high on Monday after the government announced to merge of Gujarat Gas, GSPC Energy Ltd., Gujarat State Petronet Ltd., and Gujarat State Petroleum Ltd. under a single entity.

Most stocks in the index were trading higher at 9:51 a.m. Shares of HCL Tech, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra contributed the most to the index as it hit its lifetime high of 43,079.70.

Arm Resco Global approves raising up to Rs 350 crore on preferential basis

Source: Exchange Filing

• Ola Electric clocks lowest monthly sales in August as rivals TVS Motor and Bajaj Chetak catch up.

• E2W sales up 47% YoY to 27,506 units

• E2W sales down 34% MoM to 27,506 units

• Market share at 31% as on Aug. 31, 2024

• TVS iQube sales up 13% YoY to 17,541 units (Market Share: 20%)

• ⁠Bajaj Chetak sales up 154% YoY to 16,699 units (Market Share: 19%)

Source: VAHAN data

The Department of Public Enterprises announced on Friday that four central public sector enterprises were elevated to 'Navratna' status, marking a significant milestone in their operational capabilities.

The newly-upgraded Navratna companies are Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd., National Hydroelectric Power Corp., Solar Energy Corp., and RailTel Corp.

• Total sales up 16% YoY at 3.97 lakh units

• 2-wheeler sales up 18% YoY at 3.35 lakh units

• Commercial vehicle sales up 11% YoY at 62,626 units

Shares of NBCC India Ltd. gained in early trade on Monday after the board approved a 1:2 bonus issue of shares to its shareholders.

The board set Oct. 7 as the record date to determine which shareholders will be eligible for the bonus shares, according to an exchange filing on Saturday. The bonus issue is subject to approval by shareholders at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Benchmark equity indices continued their uptrend and hit their new record highs at opening as gains in the shares of ICICI Bank contributed the most to the gains.

At pre-open, the Nifty was at 25327.45, up 0.36% or 91.55 points and the Sensex was at 82732.95, up by 0.45% or 367.18 points.

A report by Geojit said that it will have eyes on 25365-25800 as the nearest upside objectives, while downside marker may be placed near 24800, a crack of which should see 24440 as the first downside objective.

"But, given the soft closing of Friday, it is fair to expect a consolidation that needs to be contained above 25200 for continuation of uptrend today," the report said.

Shares of Infosys Ltd., ITC Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., and Bajaj Finance Ltd. contributed the most to the gains.

While those of Tata Motors Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd., and Hindalco Industries Ltd. weighed on the index.

At pre-open, the Nifty was at 25327.45, up 0.36% or 91.55 points and the Sensex was at 82732.95, up by 0.45% or 367.18 points.

• The yield on the 10-year bond opened flat at 6.86%.

• It closed at 6.86% on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Rupee opened flat at 83.87 against the US dollar.

• It closed at 83.87 on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Loan growth likely to moderate in FY25E

• Elevated CD ratio limiting banks' ability to pursue credit growth

• Cut credit growth estimates for Pvt banks/PSBs by 210bp/112bp for FY25

• Estimate systemic growth to moderate to 12.5% in FY25

• Gap between credit, deposit growth to narrow to <100bp over the year

• Pace of PSBs' market share loss to decline significantly

• Banks to achieve earnings growth of 15% in FY25E, FY26E

• Pvt banks to grow 11% in FY25E and 16% in FY26E

• PSBs earnings to grow at 19% in FY25E and 14% in FY26E

• Positives: Robust balance sheets, strong contingency buffers, reasonable sector valuations

• Headwinds likely to persist in near term

• Preferred picks are ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI

• Domestic passenger vehicle sales up 16% YoY at 43,277 units

• Total exports up 26% YoY at 3,060 units

• Domestic 3-wheeler sales up 32% YoY at 9,326 units

• Total tractor sales up YoY 1% at 21,917 units

Source: Exchange Filing

Gets order worth Rs 247.9 crore from BPCL for executing solar power project

Source: Exchange Filing

• Completes SPV acquisition of Khavda Phase-IV Part-A project

• To commission Khavda project in next 24 months on build, own, operate & transfer basis

• To invest Rs 4,091 crore to build 298 km Khavda project

• To build 7 GW renewable energy transmission network

Source: Exchange Filing

Gets environmental clearance for manganese & iron ore mines in Ramghad.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Emerges as highest bidder for 2 luxury group housing plots in Gurugram

• Gurugram land parcels to have combined revenue potential of over Rs 3,400 crore

Source: Exchange Filing

• Maintains Buy, Revised target of Rs 1,600, implying 17% upside, as against Rs 1,475 earlier

• Management suggests worst behind, sees proper rebound post few quarters

• Diversification away from Glass Lined Equipment yielding results with access to larger market

• Global mixing total addressable market size of $6 billion, co current capabilities offers access to $3 billion

• Targets revenue of $100 million in mixing over the next 3-4 years

IIFL Securities

• Maintains 'reduce' on Gujarat Gas at Rs 607 target

• Merger exposes Gujarat Gas shareholders to riskier, volatile E&P, trading & pipeline business

• Levers for value creation limited to cost savings

• Remains cautious as each businesses have their own challenges

• One may opt to take a “leap of faith” for value creation in long run

Emkay

• Maintains 'reduce' on Gujarat Gas at Rs 600 target

• Maintains "Add" on Gujarat State Petronet at Rs 460 target

• Exchange ratio implies issuance of 78.7 crore new GGL shares

• 53.7 crore shares to get cancelled out due to intercompany stakes

• Valuation of GSPL seems low at 5 times current net profit run rate

• Expects merger to imply 50% EPS accretion for Gujarat Gas

Jefferies

• Maintains 'underperform' rating

• Integration of gas trading business to improve Gujarat Gas' margin profile

• Merger to increase earnings volatility for Gujarat Gas

• Fair value of Gujarat Gas at Rs 513 post scheme implies 15% downside

• Maintains 'buy', target of Rs 13,000, with 15.9% upside)

• Management expects to outpace 7-8% long-term industry demand growth

• Expects price hikes post monsoon/festive season as demand picks up

• Management targeting Rs300/t of cost savings over the next 3 years

• Capacity expansion to 183.5 mtpa remains on track for FY27 vs current 149.5mtpa

• Estimates 12% volume CAGR through FY24-27

• August 2-wheeler sales at 5.12 lakh units

• August domestic sales at 4.92 lakh units

• EV, global business and 125cc segments continue upward trend

Source: Exchange Filing

• Approves allotment of 35.6 crore shares to TML Securities Trust

• TML Securities is an independent trust of which Axis Trustee Services is an Independent Trustee

• Paid-up ordinary share capital of company stands increased to Rs 736 crore divided into 368 crore shares

Source: Exchange Filing

Gets GST demand worth Rs 289 crore including interest & penalty for FY20

Source: Exchange Filing

• Reiterates 'buy' with a target of Rs 4,300, implying 15% upside

• Well positioned to benefit from revised CPCB 4+ norms

• Demand remained strong despite price hikes of 15-35% across nodes

• Exports seem bottomed out, expect improvement in coming quarters

• Expect distribution segment to report 25% annual growth over FY24-27

• Expect revenue/PAT annual growth of 18%/21% over FY24-27

• U.S. Dollar Index at 101.7

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 3.90%

• Brent crude 0.70% lower at $76.39 per barrel

• Nymex crude 0.68% down at $73.05 per barrel

• GIFT Nifty was down by 23.5 points or 0.15 at 25,408.00 as of 07:39 a.m.

• Bitcoin was down 1.25% at $57,688.53

• Nifty September futures up by 0.53% to 25,398 at a premium of 163 points.

• Nifty September futures open interest up by 5.23%.

• Nifty Bank September futures up by 0.31% to 51,663 at a premium of 282 points.

• Nifty Bank September futures open interest down by 1.45%.

• Nifty Options Sept. 5 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 26,000 and maximum put open interest at 24,000. 

• Bank Nifty Options Sept. 4 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 59,000 and maximum put open interest at 51,000.

• Securities in ban period: Balrampur Chini Mills.

• Ex/record dividend: Kopran, Vinati Organics, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri, Fineotex Chemical, Karnataka Bank.

• Ex/record AGM: Allcargo Gati, Kopran,

• Moved out of short-term ASM Framework: Godfrey Phillips India, Nucleus Software Exports, Ola Electric Mobility, Rane Brake Lining.

• Wardwizard Innovations & Mobility: Promoter Yatin Sanjay Gupte created a pledge for 60 lakh shares on Aug. 30.

• ECOS (India) Mobility & Hospitality: The public issue was subscribed to 64.26 times on day 3. The bids were led by qualified institutional investors (136.85 times), non-institutional investors (71.23 times) and retail investors (19.79 times).

• Baazar Style Retail: The public issue was subscribed to 0.72 times on day 1. The bids were led by retail investors (0.82 times), non-institutional investors (0.47 times), and qualified institutional investors (0.7 times).

• Gala Precision Engineering: The company will offer its shares for bidding on Monday. The price band is set from Rs 503 to Rs 529 per share. The Rs 167.93 crore IPO issue is a combination of a of a fresh issue for Rs 135.34 crore and a rest offer for sale. The company raised 50.28 crores from anchor investors.

• Nirlon: Albula Investment Fund Ltd sold 25.29 lakh shares (2.8%), Arial Holdings 1 sold 16.62 lakh shares (1.8%), Ares Diversified sold 15.83 lakh shares (1.75%), Resonance Opportunities Fund sold 6.28 lakh shares (0.69%), while BSREP IV FPI Two Holdings (DIFC) bought 68.45 lakh shares (7.59%) at Rs 440 apiece.

• Shanti Educational Initiatives: Legends Global Opportunities (Singapore) PTE Ltd. bought 9 lakh shares (0.55%) at Rs 120.85 apiece, and New Leaina Investments sold 9 lakh shares (0.55%) at Rs 120.85 apiece.

• Kesoram Industries: SG Sundae Holdings LLC sold 19.26 lakh shares (0.62%) at Rs 206.74 apiece.

• Dixon Technologies (India): UBS Principal Capital Asia sold 6.86 lakh shares (1.15%) at Rs 13178.47 apiece.

• Globus Spirits: Chartered Finance & Leasi Ng sold 1.45 lakh shares (0.5%) at Rs 1,080.1 apiece, while Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund bought 2 lakh shares (0.69%) at Rs 1,071.49 apiece.

• Vodafone Idea: UBS Principal Capital Asia sold 38.21 crore shares (0.54%) at Rs 15.67 apiece.

• Bandhan Bank: UBS Principal Capital Asia bought 1.92 crore shares (1.19%) at Rs 200.27 apiece.

• Oracle Financial Services Software: UBS Principal Capital Asia sold 4.84 lakh shares (0.55%) at Rs 10,999 apiece.

• Oil India: UBS Principal Capital Asia sold 1.31 crore shares (1.2%) at Rs 742.12 apiece.

• Prestige Estate: UBS Principal Capital Asia sold 22.06 lakh shares (0.55%) at Rs 1,809.68 apiece.

• Rail Vikas Nigam: UBS Principal Capital Asia sold 1.31 crore shares (0.63%) at Rs 606.83 apiece.

• Zydus Lifesciences: UBS Principal Capital Asia sold 67.01 lakh shares (0.66%) at Rs 1128.11 apiece.

• Gujarat State Petroleum Corp., Gujarat Gas, Gujarat State Petronet: Gujarat State Petronet Ltd. announced on Friday a restructuring plan to simplify its corporate structure. Following the restructuring, the company will operate through two main entities: Gujarat Gas Ltd. and GSPL Transmission Ltd.

• Navratna Status: Solar Energy Corp., RailTel Corp., NHPC, and SJVN received Navratna status from the Government of India.

• Adani Energy Solutions: The company signed a share purchase agreement with REC Power Development and Consultancy to buy Khavda IVA power transmission.

• Fortis Healthcare: The company is to buy the entire 31.52% stake held by PE Investors in the arm of Agilus Diagnostics. The company will fund this acquisition via the issuance of NCDs.

• Century Textiles: The company’s unit Birla Estates in a co-development pact with LGCPL Group for a 131-acre land parcel in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

• Canara Bank: Credit agency Moody’s assigned a Baa3 rating with a stable outlook to the issue of up to $500 million notes.

• Insecticides (India): The board approved a Rs 50 crore buyback at Rs 1,000 per share. The record date is set as September 11.

• HDFC Asset Management Co.: Life Insurance Corporation of India reduced its stake in HDFC AMC to 2.88% from 4.9% from July 1 to Aug. 29.

• Biocon: The company received an Establishment Inspection Report from the US FDA for the Visakhapatnam API facility and the company’s arm received US FDA approval for daptomycin injection. Daptomycin is used to treat skin infections.

• Reliance Industries: The NCLT, Mumbai, approved the media merger between Viacom18 and Star India on Friday. Recently, the Competition Commission of India also sanctioned the merger.

• Wipro: The company appointed Srikumar Rao as Global Head of Wipro Engineering Edge effective Oct. 5.

• Aditya Birla Capital: The company completed a 50% stake sale of Aditya Birla Insurance Brokers to Samara Capital arm Edme Services for an upfront consideration of Rs 252 crore.

The GIFT Nifty was trading 0.06%, or 15.50 points lower at 25,416.00 as of 06:37 a.m.

Most markets in Asia-Pacific region fell on Monday after data from China showed factory activity slowed in the economy despite government's recent efforts. Most countries in Asia-Pacific conduct substantial business with the world's second largest economy.

The Nikkei 225 was trading 292.56 points, or 0.76% higher at 38,940.31. The S&P ASX 200 and the Kospi were trading 0.39% and 0.23% lower, respectively as of 06:30 a.m.

A rally in US stocks faded at the end of a turbulent month on Wall Street as equities experienced only modest movements on Friday. Despite the volatility in global markets, August is concluding on a relatively calm note.

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial average ended 1.01% and 0.55% higher, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite index settled 0.75% higher.

Brent crude was trading 0.39% lower at $76.63 a barrel. Gold fell 0.03% to $2,502.71 an ounce as of 06:35 a.m.

India's benchmark stock indices ended at a record closing high on Friday, with the Nifty 50 extending gains for the 12th consecutive session, marking the best rally since its launch in 1996. Sensex rose for the ninth consecutive session.

The NSE Nifty 50 ended 0.40%, or 100.55 points higher at 25,252.50, and the S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.28%, or 231.16 points up at 82,365.77. Intraday, Nifty hit a new record high of 25,263.20 and Sensex touched a fresh lifetime high of 82,637.03.

Overseas investors remained net buyers of Indian equities for the second successive day on Friday. Foreign portfolio investors bought stocks worth Rs 5,318.1 crore, while domestic investors turned net sellers after two days of buying and offloading equities worth Rs 3,198.1 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

The Indian currency closed flat at 83.87 against the US dollar.