Newsmakers: Bharti Airtel earnings, India ratings on rupee and more

Bharti Airtel Q2 profit jumps 10 per cent to Rs 1,523 crore
Bharti Airtel, India's top telecom operator, has reported a 10.1 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,523 crore for the quarter ended September 30, on the back of growth in data traffic. "The company had reported a net profit of Rs 1,383 crore for the corresponding period last financial year," Airtel said in a statement.

Fuel consumption to be higher in next 18 months, says Moody's
Projecting the economy's growth at 7 per cent in the current fiscal and 7.5 per cent in the next one, Moody's Investors Service said GDP growth and low oil prices will lead to higher fuel consumption over the next 18 months. "We expect the country's economy to grow at a faster pace, with GDP growth for the fiscal year ending March 2016 at 7 per cent and 7.5 per cent for the following year," it said in a report.

India e-commerce story strong, to hit $35 bn by 2019: Nomura
Indian e-commerce sector's growth looks strong and is expected to reach $35 billion by 2019, says a report. "The growth of India e-commerce remains strong, tracking our expectations of reaching $35 billion by 2019," Nomura said in a research report. The report, however, noted that the focus needs to move towards the roadmap to profitability, where "some progress is visible but a lot is still in the works".

Rupee likely to touch 64.5 levels this week: India Ratings
India Ratings has said it expects the rupee to appreciate to the 64.5 level this week on expectations of a rally in the emerging market currencies. "We expect a 'risk-on' rally globally to support emerging market currencies this week. The rupee, after trading in a narrow band of Rs 64.73-65.22 against the dollar last week, is likely to appreciate and inch closer to 64.5 to the dollar," said the domestic rating agency in a note.

HDFC reports 18.2% rise in Q2 net profit
Mortgage lender HDFC reported a 18.2 per cent rise in its standalone net profit in the last quarter. The firm posted Rs 1,605 crore net profit for the quarter ending September 30 2015 compared to Rs 1,357 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal. Total income rose to Rs 7,480.2 crore in the reporting quarter against Rs 6,670.6 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2014.