Stocks in focus: Maruti Suzuki, IRCTC, HUL, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, Aditya Birla Fashion, IndiGo – The Financial Express

US stock indices suffered their biggest one-day percentage drop in three months

Domestic equity market benchmarks BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were staring at a negative start on Thursday, as suggested by trends on SGX Nifty in early trade. Nifty futures were trading 56 points or 0.40 per cent down at 13,928.20 on Singaporean Exchange. In the previous session, headline indices wiped out all the gains made so far in 2021. From its all-time highs, the Sensex is now off 2,774.08 points or 5.53 per cent in just four trading sessions. According to the analysts, volatility to remain high on monthly expiry day. Asian peers were trading in a deep sea of red, following an overnight plunge Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.25 per cent while the Topix index declined 1 per cent. US stock indices suffered their biggest one-day percentage drop in three months with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 2.05 per cent. The S&P 500 lost 2.57 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.61 per cent.

Stocks in focus today:

Maruti Suzuki, IRCTC: A total of 129 companies including Maruti Suzuki India, Lupin, InterGlobe Aviation, Bharat Electronics Ltd, IDBI Bank, IRCTC, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, RBL Bank, Route Mobile, Shriram Transport Finance, Tata Chemicals, TVS Motor Company and Welspun Corp among others are slated to announce their quarterly earnings today.

HUL: Hindustan Unilever Ltd reported a 19 per cent on-year rise in net profit to Rs 1,921 crore in the October-December quarter. HUL’s revenue from operations surged 20 per cent on-year to Rs 11,682 crore during the quarter. The Ebitda during the quarter rose 16.6% y-o-y to Rs 2,804 crore.

Axis Bank: Axis Bank reported a 36 per cent on-year drop in net profit for the December quarter to Rs 1,117 crore on higher provisions. The bank’s provisions rose 33 per cent on-year to Rs 4,604 crore, but remained flat sequentially.

Canara Bank: Canara Bank posted a 9 per cent on-year decline in net profit to Rs 696 crore in the December quarter of FY21, with a 61 per cent rise in provisions to Rs 4,686 crore. The bank reported a total income of Rs 21,479 crore, up 5.71 per cent on-year.

India Cements: India Cements posted a net profit of Rs 62.02 crore as against a net loss of Rs 5.37 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal. The total income of the company stood at Rs 1,162.91 crore as compared to Rs 1,194.42 crore.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail: ABFRL has entered into a definitive agreement with designer brand Sabyasachi for acquiring a 51 per cent stake. The cost of acquisition is to the tune of Rs 398 crore, according to a filing on BSE.