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Indian markets ended higher in a truncated week as investor optimism remained strong and FIIs bought significantly. For the week, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 1% to 60,431. The Nifty 50 index jumped 1.30% to 17,828. The BSE Midcap index climbed 1.52% to 24,720.57. The BSE Smallcap index gained 1.53% to 28,149.58.
In cash segment, FIIs were net buyers for Rs 3355.1 crore and DIIs were net sellers for Rs 411.4 crore during the week.
Top gainers among Nifty sectoral indices were Realty [5.25%], Auto [3.6%], Metal [3.29%], Bank [2.66%], and Private Bank [2.21%]. Top losers were IT [-1.47%] and Media [-0.59%].
Indian rupee strengthened by 23 paise to 81.85 against the US dollar on Thursday [13-4-2023].
Company News
Infosys: The IT behemoth’s performance in the fourth quarter of FY23 was lower-than-expected as the company witnessed a decline in volumes due to unplanned project ramp downs and delays in decision-making among some of its clients. Consolidated net profit rose 7.8% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 6,128 crore in the quarter ended March 31. This was against Rs 5,686 crore in the year-ago period. The profit declined 6.9% QoQ. Revenues from operations grew 16% to Rs 37,441 crore as against Rs 32,276 crore in Q4 FY22. Total revenues sequentially dropped 2.3%, down from Rs 38,318 crore in Q3 FY23.
For the full year, Infosys reported revenues of about Rs 147 trillion, up 20.7 per cent. Net profit grew 9% at Rs 24,095 crore. Also, the IT major’s revenue growth guidance for FY24, in the range of 4-7 per cent, was lower than Street expectations, and much below the rise the company clocked in FY23. For FY23, the board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 17.50 per share. Together with the interim dividend of Rs 16.50 per share, which has been paid, the dividend per share for FY23 sums up to Rs 34.
Infosys shares listed on the NYSE in the US fell over 9% after the results were announced on Thursday.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS): The country’s largest IT services exporter has reported lower than expected earnings for March FY23 quarter with consolidated profit growing 5% sequentially to Rs 11,392 crore led by other income. Consolidated revenue grew by 1.6% QoQ to Rs 59,162 crore with revenue in dollar terms rising 1.7% to $7,195 million. Consolidated EBIT rose 1.4% to Rs 14,488 crore with margin flat at 24.5% for the quarter. The company has announced a final dividend of Rs 24 per share. Meanwhile, the company’s board has appointed K Krithivasan as MD and CEO of the company with effect from June 1, 2023 after the resignation of Rajesh Gopinathan.
IDBI Bank: Shares of the lender ended 9.77% higher on NSE on Thursday amid media reports that RBI has started the evaluation process of potential bidders interested in the lender. The Reserve Bank of India has begun evaluating at least five potential bidders interested in picking up a majority stake in state-owned IDBI Bank, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Prem Watsa-backed CSB Bank and Emirates NBD are among those that have submitted expressions of interest, two of the people said.
State Bank of India (SBI): The country’s largest lender said its Executive Committee of the Central Board will be meeting on April 18 to consider the long term fund raising in single or multiple tranches of up to $2 billion, through a public offer and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US dollar or any other convertible foreign currency during FY24.
HDFC Bank: The country’s largest private sector lender has signed a Master Inter Bank Credit Agreement with Export Import Bank of Korea for a $300 million line of credit. The pact was signed at GIFT City, Gujarat. This will help HDFC Bank raise foreign currency funds which it would extend to Korea-related businesses.
Vedanta: The diversified minerals company announced that its board approved raising of funds through issuance of non‐convertible debentures (NCDs) aggregating up to Rs 2,100 crore in one or more tranches, on a private placement basis. Vedanta will allot 21,000 secured, unrated, unlisted, redeemable NCDs of face value Rs 10 lakh.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL): The state-owned company said that it has signed a MoU with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) to jointly pursue business opportunities around nuclear power plants based on pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) technology. This partnership is expected to pave the way for early implementation of non-polluting and long-cycle nuclear power projects, BHEL said in a press release.
Ashok Leyland: The company has launched e-Marketplace for used commercial vehicles, Re-AL. The marketplace will aid customers in exchanging used vehicles and upgrading them to new Ashok Leyland trucks and buses. By leveraging this digital platform, Ashok Leyland hopes to increase transparency in the otherwise disorganized used vehicle ecosystem.
Varun Beverages: The bottling company of PepsiCo said its board will also consider a stock split of the existing shares having a face value of Rs. 10/- each, subject to shareholders and regulatory approvals. The board will meet on May 2, 2023 for the same.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T): The company said that its hydrocarbon business, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH), has secured a significant order under its AdVENT (Advanced Value Engineering and Technology) business vertical. As per L&T classification, the value of the significant project is Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore. The EPC company said that the order is for license plus engineering, procurement and construction (L-EPC) of a technical ammonium nitrate (TAN) plant along with weak nitric acid (WNA) plant at Gadepan, Kota, Rajasthan from Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals.
Tata Power: The company said that Asian Development Bank (ADB) has entered into an agreement with its distribution arm Tata Power Delhi Distribution (TPDDL) for subscribing to non-convertible debentures for Rs 150 crore. With this agreement, the two parties plan to enhance Delhi’s power distribution through grid enhancements. ADB has also awarded TPDDL with a grant of $2 million to partially finance the purchase and integration of a pilot battery energy storage system (BESS).
NTPC: The company will issue non-convertible debentures worth Rs 3,000 crore on April 17 on private placement basis with a coupon of 7.35% for a tenor of three years. The funds will be used towards capital expenditure, financing existing loans and other general purposes.
Maruti Suzuki India, IDFC First Bank: Maruti Suzuki India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IDFC First Bank, wherein the bank will offer personalised finance options for new car loans, pre-owned car loans, and commercial vehicle loans while purchasing Maruti Suzuki vehicles.
Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and Titagarh Wagons: The BHEL-Titagarh Wagons consortium has received an order from Ministry of Railways for supply of 80 sleeper class Vande Bharat trainsets at Rs 120 crore per train, their comprehensive maintenance for 35 years, and upgradation of government manufacturing units and trainset depots.
Paras Defence and Space Technologies: The company’s subsidiary — Paras Anti-drone Technologies — has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Spacekawa Explorations (Kawa Space) for indigenous development and deployment of space intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) payloads. Paras Anti-drone and Kawa Space will develop and advance technologies for space applications.
Economy News
India’s retail inflation or the consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation for March fell to a 15-month low of 5.66% from 6.44% in February.
India’s industrial output, as measured by the index of Industrial production or IIP, in February rose 5.6% year on year, data from the Ministry of Statistics showed. The index of industrial production (IIP) expanded by 5.2% in January after rising 4.3% in December.
India’s overall exports (including merchandise and services) are estimated to have increased by 13.84% to a record $770.18 billion in 2022-23, while overall imports are expected to have surged 17.38% to $892.18 billion over the previous year, data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday showed.
India’s goods exports declined in March by 13.9% to $38.38 billion, while imports fell 7.9% to $58.11 billion. Total goods exports in 2022-23 rose 6.03% to $447.46 billion, while the imports surged by a steeper 16.5% to $714 billion.
Global Markets
The US markets ended higher as investor sentiments improved, driven by encouraging data on inflation. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 0.79%, the Dow Jones added 1.19%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.29%.
The US consumer price index for March rose 0.1% month-on-month and 5% from a year-ago period, while core CPI rose 5.6% on an annual basis. Further, there were also encouraging inflation news on the producer side which is expected to lead to lower prices for consumers in the future. The Producer Price index (PPI) declined 0.5% MoM in March compared to a fall of 0.1% in the rpior month and PPI rose 2.7% YoY in March compared to 4.7% rise in the year-ago period. The core (excluding food and energy) producer price index declined 0.1% MoM in March.
The US FOMC minutes of the March 21-22 meeting were released during the week and it showed that the banking sector turmoil is likely to push the US economy into a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years.
Chinese markets were mixed during the week as investors were concerned over the country’s economic recovery despite positive news related to new loans and trade data. The Shanghai Stock Exchange index advanced 0.32%, while the CSI 300 fell 0.76%, and the benchmark Hang Seng index gained 0.53%.
China’s consumer price index rose 0.7% in March from a year earlier, down from a 1% rise the previous month. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose to 0.7% in March from 0.6% in February. The producer price index fell 2.5%, the lowest since June 2020 and its sixth straight monthly decline.
On the trade front, China’s exports rose 14.8% year-on-year in March and imports fell a less-than-expected 1.4%.
For March, Chinese banks extended 3.89 trillion yuan in new yuan loans, more than double the February’s number, data from the People’s Bank of China showed. The increase was attributed to the central bank’s policy support for the economy and rise in mortgage loans.
Japanese equities gained over the week, with the Nikkei 225 index rising 3.54% and the broader Topix index surging 2.71%, on the back of rise in tech and steel stocks and increase in Uniqlo-owner Fast Retailing. The yen weakened to around JPY 132.5 against the U.S. dollar, from about JPY 132.2 at the end of the previous week.
Kazuo Ueda was sworn in as the new Bank of Japan governor on April 9. Ueda, in his first press conference, issued a series of dovish remarks which supported market sentiments.