INDIAN MARKETS:

On October 16, At close, the Sensex was down 318.76 points or 0.39 percent at 81,501.36, and the Nifty was down 86 points or 0.34 percent at 24,971.30.

US MARKETS:

The Nasdaq Composite rose 51.49 points, or 0.28%, to 18,367.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 337.28 points, or 0.79%, to 43,077.70.

ASIAN MARKETS:

The Topix increased by 0.08%, while the Nikkei dropped by 0.46%. Taiwan's increased by 0.49%, and the Kospi was up 0.03% from the previous close.

OIL & GAS UPDATES:
US West Texas increased 0.63%, while Brent Crude increased by 0.57%.

KEY QUARTERLY EARNINGS:

Bajaj Auto Q2 (Standalone YoY): 

Profit up 9.2% to Rs 2,005 crore; revenue rises 21.8% to Rs 13,127.5 crore. EBITDA grows 24.3% to Rs 2,652.2 crore; margins expand 40 bps to 20.2%.

L&T Technology Services Q2 (Consolidated QoQ): 

Profit rises 1.9% to Rs 319.6 crore; revenue up 4.5% to Rs 2,572.9 crore. EBIT grows 1.1% to Rs 387.7 crore; margins fall 50 bps to 15.1%. Dollar revenue increases 3.9% to $306.7 million. Reaffirms FY25 guidance of 8-10% revenue growth; declares Rs 17 per share interim dividend.

Aditya Birla Money Q2 (YoY): 

Profit jumps 124% to Rs 26.7 crore; revenue up 30.4% to Rs 125.7 crore.

Pondy Oxide and Chemicals Q2 (Consolidated YoY): 

Profit surges 168.2% to Rs 15.3 crore; revenue increases 45.9% to Rs 579.1 crore.

KEY STOCKS TO WATCH:

Oriana Power: 

The company secured a Rs 375 crore contract to build a 75 MW solar power plant for Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company under the PM-KUSUM Scheme.

Bikaji Foods International: 

Its subsidiary, Bikaji Foods Retail, will invest up to Rs 131.01 crore to acquire a 53.02% stake in Hazelnut Factory Food Products to expand its QSR business.

Ircon International: 

Signed an MoU with Patel Engineering for collaboration on infrastructure projects in India and overseas.

Welspun Corp: 

Subsidiary Sintex-BAPL acquired 100% of Weetek Plastic, making it a fully owned subsidiary.

UltraTech Cement: 

Added 1.2 MTPA grinding capacity at its Arakkonam plant, bringing its total capacity to 156.06 MTPA.

Reliance Industries: 

Fixed October 28 as the record date for determining shareholders eligible for bonus equity shares, which was approved via e-voting on October 15.

FII/DII DATA:

1. FIIs net SOLD Rs 3,436 crore worth shares on 16 October

2. DIIs net BOUGHT Rs 2,256 crore worth shares on 16 October.

Thank you, have a great Trading Day ahead!!