The key equity indices continued to trade with small losses in morning trade. The Nifty traded around the 17,900 level. PSU Bank extended its winning streak for the fifth consecutive trading session.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 62.75 points or 0.10% to 60,586.63. The Nifty 50 index shed 5.20 points or 0.03% to 17,909.85.
The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.53% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.57%.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,028 shares rose and 1,092 shares fell. A total of 143 shares were unchanged.
Results Today:
UltraTech Cement (up 0.17%), SBI Cards and Payment Services (down 2.02%), CSB Bank (up 0.34%), L&T Finance Holdings (up 0.77%), Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (down 0.95%), Vedant Fashions (down 0.27%), Atul (up 1.59%), CarTrade Tech (up 2.57%), eMudhra (up 0.63%), Himadri Speciality Chemical (up 1.47%), Ramkrishna Forgings (down 0.38%), Star Health and Allied Insurance Company (up 0.29%), and Tata Metaliks (up 0.27%) will announce their quarterly earnings later in the day.
Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.61%), IDBI Bank (up 1.05%), RBL Bank (up 0.97%), IDFC First Bank (up 2.47%), Aarti Drugs (up 1.23%), Central Bank of India (up 3.61%), GHCL (down 0.18%), Meghmani Organics (up 0.24%), Rossari Biotech (up 0.67%), and Satin Creditcare Network (down 0.58%) will announce their quarterly results on Saturday, 29 April 2023.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 1.107% to 4,115.60, extending gains for the fifth day in a row. The index jumped 6% in five trading sessions.
UCO Bank (up 4.04%), Central Bank of India (up 3.79%), Indian Overseas Bank (up 3.24%), Bank of India (up 2.22%), Indian Bank (up 2.11%), Union Bank of India (up 1.89%), Punjab National Bank (up 1.88%), Punjab & Sind Bank (up 1.8%), Canara Bank (up 1.39%) and Bank of Maharashtra (up 0.84%).
Stocks in Spotlight:
Wipro rallied 2.82% after the IT firm said that its board has approved a share buyback of upto Rs 12,000 crore at a price of Rs 445 per equity share through tender offer route, on a proportionate basis. The company plans to buyback up to 26.96 crore equity shares, representing 4.91% of the total paid-up equity shares of the company.
Members of the promoter and promoter group of the company have indicated their intention to participate in the proposed buyback.
Meanwhile, the IT major's consolidated net profit rose 0.71% to Rs 3,074.5 crore on 0.17% decline in revenue form operations to Rs 23,190.3 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q3 FY23. On a year on year (YoY) basis, the IT firm's net profit declined 0.41% while revenue jumped 11.17% in Q4 FY23.
Axis Bank slipped 2.66% after the private lender reported a net loss of Rs 5,728.42 crore in Q4 FY23 as against a net profit of Rs 4,117.77 crore in Q4 FY22. Total income increased 31.2% year on year (YoY) to Rs 28,865.08 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2023.
Net profit (excluding exceptional items) grew by 61% YoY to Rs 6,625 crore in Q4 FY23 and jumped 68% YoY to Rs 21,933 crore FY23. Exceptional items during the quarter and year ended 31 March 2023, aggregated to Rs 12,490 crore.
ACC rose 1.22%. The cement major's consolidated net profit tumbled 40.5% to Rs 235.63 crore in Q1 March 2023 as against Rs 396.31 crore in Q1 March 2022. Net revenue rose 8.2% year on year to Rs 4,790.91 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2023.
During the March 2023 quarter, volume increased by 9% QoQ and 7.6% YoY at 8.5 million tonne, supported by an increase in blended cement (clinker factor reduced from 56.1% to 54.8%), better route planning and higher operational synergies with parent, Ambuja Cements. Market leadership was maintained across key markets, said ACC.