Gift Nifty indicates a gap-up opening for the Indian stock indices; The US markets ended higher led by Mega-cap stocks; The Asian markets also traded higher ahead of economic data

PRE-MARKET REPORT

The domestic equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open higher on Monday tracking gains in global peers.

Gift Nifty was trading around the 22,650 level, a premium of nearly 95 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a gap-up start for the Indian stock market indices.

The US stock market ended higher on Friday led by a rally in mega-cap growth stocks after robust quarterly results from Alphabet and Microsoft in addition to moderate inflation data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 153.86 points, or 0.40%, to 38,239.66, while the S&P 500 gained 51.54 points, or 1.02%, to 5,099.96. The Nasdaq Composite ended 316.14 points, or 2.03%, higher at 15,927.90.

Asian markets traded higher on Monday ahead of the key economic data from the region and the US Federal Reserve’s meeting this week.

South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.63%, and the Kosdaq surged 0.94%. Japan’s markets are shut for a public holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a weak opening.

STOCKS TODAY

Vodafone Idea: ATC Telecom Infrastructure has exited the telecom operator by selling its entire shareholding of 144 crore equity shares (equivalent to 2.87 percent of paid-up equity) at an average price of Rs 12.78 per share via open market transactions, valued at Rs 1,840.3 crore. However, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius has net bought 48,13,75,145 equity shares in Vodafone at an average price of Rs 12.7 per share.

HCL Technologies: The global IT services company has reported a net profit of Rs 3,986 crore for the March FY24 quarter, falling 8.4 percent over the previous quarter impacted by weak operating numbers, and overall numbers came in below analysts’ estimates. Revenue from operations grew by 0.2 percent sequentially to Rs 28,499 crore for the quarter, while dollar revenue growth stood at 0.4 percent and revenue in constant currency terms grew by 0.3 percent QoQ. The board has declared an interim dividend of Rs 18 per share for FY24. HCL Tech sees revenue growth in constant currency terms in the range of 3-5 percent for FY25 and an EBIT margin of 18–19 percent.

SBI Life Insurance Company: The insurance company has recorded a net profit of Rs 810.8 crore for the January–March FY24 quarter, growing 4.4 percent over the year-ago period. Net premium income for the quarter grew by 26.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 25,116.5 crore, and net commission at Rs 851.4 crore declined by 2.3 percent during the same period.

ICICI Bank: The private sector lender has recorded a standalone net profit at Rs 10,707.5 crore for the quarter ended March FY24, growing 17.4 percent over a year-ago period on lower provisions for bad loans. Overall, earnings were ahead of analysts’ estimates. Net interest income grew by 8.07 percent year over year to Rs 19,093 crore for the quarter. Asset quality improved with the gross NPA declining 14 bps sequentially to 2.16 percent and the net NPA falling 2 bps to 0.42 percent in Q4 FY24.

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise: Apollo HealthCo (Apollo 24/7, or AHL), a subsidiary of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, has entered into a binding agreement to raise equity capital of Rs 2,475 crore from global private equity investor Advent International. In addition, Apollo 24/7 will merge Keimed, the wholesale pharma distributor, with itself in a phased manner over the next 24–30 months. Advent will invest in compulsory convertible instruments in two tranches to secure a 12.1 percent stake in the merged entity by valuing the combined entity at an enterprise value of Rs 22,481 crore.

IDFC First Bank: The lender has registered a net profit of Rs 724 crore for the March FY24 quarter, falling 9.8 percent compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, impacted by higher provisions. Net interest income jumped 24 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,469 crore for the quarter. There was a nice improvement in the asset quality of the bank as the gross NPA dropped 16 bps QoQ to 1.88 percent and the net NPA fell 8 bps sequentially to 0.60 percent for the quarter.

Ircon International: The company, under its joint venture with Dineshchandra R. Agrawal Infracon (DRA), has received the letter of award for the construction of the Kottavalasa-Koraput doubling project of Waltair division, East Coast Railway, on EPC mode, at Rs 1,198.09 crore.