Indian indices on Thursday continued the winning streak, staging a solid recovery after recent pains, with support from most counters. Market heavyweights Reliance Industries, Maruti, TCS, HDFC, and M&M contributed significantly to the rally. Sectorally, all the sectors except metals were in the green, with auto, IT, banks, and financials making healthy gains.
Globally, shares in Europe and US were mixed as inflation worries, crude prices, and the war in Ukraine kept the investors cautiously optimistic. In Asia, shares in Japan, South Korea, and Australia advanced, while that in Hong Kong and Shanghai declined.
The Sensex added 874.18 points, or 1.53%, to close at 57,911.68, while Nifty50 gained 256.05 points to end at 17,392.60. IT, bank, financials, auto were among the best performing sectors, while metals and telecom were muted.
On the 30-stock index, the most gains were made by M&M, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Reliance, while Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, and Nestle India were the only losers.
On Nifty50, Eicher Motors, Coal India, Adani Ports, and M&M made the most gains, while CIPLA, Hindalco, and ONGC were among the laggards.
Tata Elxsi
The design and technology services provider, Tata Elxsi, clocked 39 per cent year-on-year growth in Q4FY22 profit at Rs 160 crore on healthy growth in revenue that increased 31.5 per cent YoY to Rs 682 crore backed by strong double-digit growth in transportation, media and communications, and healthcare segments. EBITDA grew by 32 per cent YoY to Rs 221.2 crore in the March quarter.
Future Retail
Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on Wednesday held a meeting of its shareholders to consider and approve the sale of the company’s retail assets to billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd.
The meeting was chaired by Shailesh Haribhakti, FRL said in a regulatory filing. Haribhakti has been appointed by the NCLT to chair the meeting.
The result of the voting will be announced in due course, it added. The meeting was held through video conferencing and “requisite quorum was present”, the filing added.
ICICI Securities
ICICI Securities on Wednesday reported a 3 per cent growth in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 340 crore for the three months to March 2022. In comparison, the company had posted a PAT of Rs 329.47 crore in the same quarter of the preceding fiscal, ICICI Securities said in a statement.
The company posted a 21 per cent jump in revenue at Rs 892 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs 739.34 crore in the year-ago period, aided by strong all-round performance across business segments.
ICICI Securities has a client base of 76 lakh, of which over 6.2 lakh were added during the quarter.
RBL Bank
Private sector RBL Bank on Wednesday said it has finalised the name for regular MD and CEO and forwarded it to the RBI for approval. The Board at its meeting held on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the nomination and remuneration Committee, RBL said in a regulatory filing.
The bank, however, did not disclose the name selected for the position. It further said the name has been forwarded to the RBI for its approval as per the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had granted an extension of three months to its interim MD and CEO Rajeev Ahuja.
Persistent Systems
Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund bought additional stake. Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund bought additional 21,566 shares in the IT company via open market transactions on April 18. With this, Kotak MF’s shareholding in the company stands at 5 percent, up from 4.97 percent earlier.
Reliance Industries
Reliance rose for a third session and was among the top three gainers on the Nifty 50 index, up 2.34%.
Morgan Stanley raised its target price on the conglomerate’s stock to 3,253 rupees ($42.61) from 2,926 rupees and said it expects up to a 10% boost to the company’s net asset value in anticipation of quicker hydrogen monetization.
Nykaa
Leading beauty retailer Nykaa has joined hands with ELCA Cosmetics Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of global beauty company Estee Lauder Companies, to launch premium salons in India. This move marks Nykaa’s entry into the professional beauty services segment.
The salons will be branded ‘Aveda X Nykaa’ and will have a strong focus on offering luxury professional hair care services, among others. The first co-branded salon has been launched in Bengaluru with plans to open two additional salons this year.
Besides running the salons, the two companies said they will also focus on partnering with existing salon operators. “ We will also look at how we can support the broader salon community and ecosystem not only in terms of offering them products for retail as well as for their own services,” added Nayar.
Welspun Corp
Welspun group company Welspun Corp has placed a bid to acquire Sintex Prefab and Infra Ltd, as part of the Sintex group firm’s ongoing bankruptcy resolution process in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), said two people aware of the development.
Atul Auto
The company joined hands with Valeo and Honda Power Pack Energy India for electric vehicles with battery swapping solutions. Subsidiary Atul Greentech (AGPL), engaged in designing and developing innovative solutions for last-mile electric mobility for domestic and export markets, would launch the e-vehicle after the successful completion of field trials.
LIC
The government is likely to take a call on the timing of Life Insurance Corp. of India’s initial public offering (LIC IPO) this week. “A decision on timing the IPO would be taken this week,” an official told PTI.
The government aims to divest about five percent of the state-run insurance behemoth.
The government has sounded out global sovereign wealth and pension funds such as Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Singapore-based GIC, three Canadian pension funds and Qatar Investment Authority as being anchor investors for the public issue.
During the roadshows, the government reached out to about 180 potential anchor investors. According to officials, the LIC IPO, which is set to be the biggest ever Indian public offer, will require at least 8-10 big-ticket foreign investors.
Infosys
Infosys today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Germany-based digital marketing agency Oddity. This follows the announcement the company made last month..
The acquisition further strengthens Infosys’ creative, branding and experience design capabilities, and demonstrates its continued commitment to co-create with clients. They help them navigate their digital transformation journey, according to an exchange filing.
