Equity benchmark indices settled higher for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday on the back of buying in metal and commodity stocks amid a positive trend in global markets.
The BSE Sensex jumped 114.49 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 73,852.94. The NSE Nifty advanced 34.40 points or 0.15 per cent to close at 22,402.40. The majority of the sectors ended in green with buying seen in Metals, Healthcare, and Realty. Metal stocks are witnessing fresh buying amid a rise in commodity prices, improving the Chinese economy, and the expectation of healthy demand ahead.
“Global markets turned positive as geo-political tension in the Middle East eased off and investors focus now on the earning season. Following its global peers, healthy domestic macro data and in-line Q4 results led to an up-move in the Nifty. We expect this bullish momentum likely to continue in the markets. Further, a sharp decline in India's VIX amid the start of elections indicates lower market volatility in the near term. Niche sectors would continue to remain in momentum,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
Here Are The Key Stocks To Watch On 25 April:
Hindustan Unilever: The FMCG giant has reported a standalone net profit of Rs 2,406 crore for the March quarter of FY24, falling 5.7 per cent compared to the year-ago period, impacted by weak topline as well as operating numbers. Revenue from operations fell 0.2 per cent YoY to Rs 14,857 crore for the March quarter, with volume growth of 2 per cent. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) fell 1 per cent YoY to Rs 3,435 crore, with the margin falling 20 basis points at 23.1 per cent. Higher advertising and promotion costs impacted the margins though there was a lower raw material cost on a year-on-year basis. The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 24 for FY24.
Kotak Mahindra Bank: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday banned private lenders from onboarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and issuing fresh credit cards with immediate effect after the regulator found “serious deficiencies” in the lender’s IT risk management.
Axis Bank: The private sector lender has reported a standalone net profit of Rs 7,130 crore for the March 2024 quarter, compared to a loss of Rs 5,728.4 crore in the year-ago quarter, despite elevated provisions for bad loans. Net interest income (NII) increased 11.5 per cent YoY to Rs 13,089 crore for the reported quarter, with a net interest margin of 4.06 per cent. Asset quality improved as the gross NPA declined 15 basis points sequentially to 1.43 per cent and the net NPA fell 5 bps to QoQ to 0.31 per cent in Q4.
LTIMindtree: The IT services firm reported a 5.9 per cent QoQ decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,100.7 crore for the March quarter of FY24. Revenue from operations during the quarter fell 1.4 per cent QoQ to Rs 8,893 crore. The company has seen a 30 bps decline in EBITDA margin at 17.3 per cent and a 70 bps fall in EBIT margin to 14.7 per cent for the reported quarter.
Rail Vikas Nigam: The state-owned company has emerged as the lowest bidder for a project worth Rs 239 crore from Southern Railway for providing an automatic block signaling system in Jolarpettai junction to erode the junction of Salem division in Southern Railway.
