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Informist, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Asian mkts higher, rise in KOSPI triggers halt in trading

 

MUMBAI--0833 IST--Equity indices in Asia were largely higher, with the KOSPI leading the gains. The gains in the South Korean index triggered a 'buy sidecar', halting trading. Japan's Nikkei was higher for the session and erased the losses made on Monday. Investors await a central bank meeting in Australia later in the day.  

 

The South Korean KOSPI index surged over 5% and triggered a buy sidecar, which halts purchase orders for a limited period. The exchange said the triggers occurred as KOSPI 200 futures climbed more than 5% for over one minute, CNBC reported. This comes after the index also triggered a sidecar on the sell side after the KOSPI 200 futures fell 5% on Monday. The country's Ministry of Economy and Finance held a market situation review meeting due to the events that took place in the previous session. It evaluated that the correction was influenced by the fall in US futures after the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the US Federal Reserve Chair as well as short-term profit booking. The ministry said the real economy and market conditions remained solid despite the country's currency exchange rate witnessing increased volatility due to the recent global financial market trends, The Chosun Daily reported. 

 

Investors are expected to look ahead to Australia's central bank meeting scheduled later in the day, when a strong jobs market and a more-than-expected inflation reading for the quarter have influenced investors to bet on a rate hike of 25 basis points, Reuters said. The country's benchmark index was up over 1?ter falling for four consecutive sessions.

 

In Japan, polls indicated that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party is set for a landslide victory in the snap elections on Feb. 8. The finance ministry of the country is set to auction 700 billion yen or $4.5 billion worth of 30-year government bonds on Thursday, three days before polls open, Reuters reported. If polls are to be believed, her win would provide a mandate to her agenda for fiscal loosening, which has started putting pressure on bonds and the yen.

 

India and the US have concluded a trade deal under which Washington will cut its reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 25%, US President Donald Trump said Monday. India has cut tariff and non-tariff barriers for American goods to zero, according to a Truth Social post by Trump. While Trump did not clarify whether he has scrapped 25% punitive tariffs on India for New Delhi's trade and strategic relations with Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X that Indian goods would be subject to an 18% tariff in the US. 

 

Following are the levels of key Asian indices at 0830 IST:

 

INDEX	LEVEL	CHANGE IN %
CSI 300 Index	4582.38	(-)0.51
Hang Seng Index	26468.53	(-)1.15
KOSPI	5168.29	4.42
Nikkei 225 Day	54201.01	2.94
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3623.15	2.46
FTSE Singapore Straits Times	4931.65	0.80
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8871.60	1.06
IDX Composite	4006.92	(-)0.22

 

(Akshat Saksena)

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Equity Alert: Indices seen opening with sharp gap-up post US-India trade deal

 

MUMBAI--0830 IST--Benchmark indices are expected to open sharply higher Tuesday after US President Donald Trump late Monday said the US has concluded a trade deal with India. The reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods will be lowered to 18% from 25%, Trump said on his social media Truth Social. 

 

After a significant delay, the US-India trade deal came to a conclusion which is seen as strongly positive for Indian equities. Most analysts expect a sharp gap up opening of around 700-750 points for the Nifty 50 Tuesday with expectations of a "good upside" following a short covering in the market. "Short covering will take the market much higher in the next few days," Asutosh Mishra, head of research at Ashika Stock Broking, said. 

 

The derivatives contract of the Nifty 50 also indicates a sharply higher start for the market. At 0826 IST, the August contract was at 26189 points, 1100 points higher than the Nifty 50's latest close. Monday, the Nifty 50 index closed at 25088.40, up 262.95 points, or 1.1%, and the BSE Sensex closed at 81666.46, down 943.52 points, or 1.2%.

 

Lower tariffs are expected to be very positive for every Indian asset class. Even though full tariffs are not removed and clarity on some parts is yet to be given, the direction of this is seen positive. Export sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles and apparel, machinery and equipment, and automobiles are likely to benefit, Garima Kapoor, deputy head of research and economist at Elara Capital, said.

 

Overnight, indices in the US gained Monday, with the S&P 500 closing near its record high. Tuesday, all Asian indices were higher after the news of Washington and India striking a trade deal broke.  

 

Back home, shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Bajaj Finance, and Adani Enterprises will be in focus as these companies are set to detail their December quarter earnings later in the day.  (Simran Rede)

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Equity Alert: US mkt ends up Mon as chipmakers gain; S&P 500 up after 3 days

 

MUMBAI--0741 IST--Equity indices in the US ended higher Monday, with the S&P 500 snapping a three-session losing streak and closed just shy of its record high. This was after a weekend that saw a record decline in Bitcoin and silver. The rise in the S&P 500 was helped by gains in chipmaking companies related to artificial intelligence.

 

AI-related data company Palantir ended nearly 1% higher ahead of its earnings, which were announced after the closing bell. The company beat analysts' expectations as business and the US government fuels demand, CNBC reported. The company's revenue grew 70% on year to $1.41 billion against estimates of $1.33 billion by LSEG. US revenue for the government sector rose to $570 million and revenue from the commercial sectors rose to $507 million. The earnings were "indisputably the best results that I'm aware of in tech in the last decade," Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp said in an interview with CNBC. "If you're not spending it on this, you're not spending on something that is part of keeping up with momentum," Karp added. Shares of SanDisk surged over 15% and those of Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology ended over 4% and 5.5% higher for the session as the chipmakers benefited from AI-related demand for their components, Reuters reported.

 

US factory activity in January grew for the first time in a year, with the Institute for Supply Management saying its manufacturing Purchasing Managers index rebounded to 52.6 for the month and was the highest reading since August 2022, Reuters reported. The index was at 47.9 in December. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the index to rise to 48.5.

 

The S&P 500 energy sector index fell 2% due to the decline in oil prices. US President Donald Trump said Iran was "seriously talking" with the US administration and indicated de-escalation that eased tensions of possible supply disruptions, Reuters said. Lower energy prices boosted shares of airline companies, with shares of Jet Blue and United Airlines rising over 8% and nearly 5%, respectively. The US House of Representatives has taken up legislation to end the partial government shutdown, which began on Saturday, as the final vote is expected on Tuesday. The Bureau of Labour Statistics said the employment report for January will not be released on Friday due to the partial shutdown. 

 

Shares of Alphabet rose to a record high, ending nearly 2% higher, and Amazon ended 1.5% higher; both companies are scheduled to report their earnings this week. This would help investors peek into the race for AI domination, Reuters reported. "Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to have grown their earnings nearly 11% in the December quarter, up from an estimate of about 9% at the start of January, according to LSEG," Reuters said. The growth in earnings is led by technology companies, according to the report. 

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Monday:  

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6976.44	0.54
NASDAQ Composite	23592.11	0.56
Dow Jones Industrial Average	49407.66	1.05

 

(Akshat Saksena)

 

US$1 = INR 91.51

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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