HDFC and HDFC Bank drags indices lower, Paytm rallies

Indian Markets:

• The stock market experienced a sharp downturn due to an intense wave of selling in the banking, metals, and financial services sectors
• As a result, the market capitalization of listed companies declined by Rs 1.42 lakh crore, indicating a significant loss of investor wealth.
• Heavyweight HDFC twins were the biggest casualties of the day, tumbling nearly 6 percent each amid reports that the merger of the two may result in an outflow of $150-$200 million following MSCI changes.

Global Markets:

• The European blue chip index closed Thursday’s session down 0.45%, having trimmed earlier losses, as investors digested a fresh 25 basis point interest rate hike from the European Central Bank.
• The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday also issued a 25 basis point increase to interest rates, as widely expected, though it hinted at a possible pause in its monetary tightening cycle in a post-meeting statement.
• U.S. stock futures ticked higher early on Friday morning as investors processed a fresh round of earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, with tech giant Apple beating expectations on both the top and bottom lines for the fiscal second quarter.

Stocks in Spotlight:

• Hero MotoCorp shares gained a percent after the company announced its fourth-quarter results. The stock recovered most of its lost ground since its disappointing April sales numbers, when both domestic and export volumes reflected a slump in demand. The two-wheeler maker beat Street estimates with its net profit up 37 percent YoY to Rs 859 crore and revenue rising 12 percent to Rs 8,307 crore.
• One97 Communications, which owns Paytm, has gained 3 percent ahead of its Q4 result. Paytm is expected to release its quarterly results for the March-ended quarter on May 5 with analysts largely anticipating a robust performance for the quarter.
• Shares of HDFC Bank and Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd plunged around 5 percent after an MSCI tweak indicated that the merged HDFC entity will have a lower weighting in the index. This could lead to $150-200 million in outflows.

News from the IPO world?

• Coforge to go for US IPO as soon as public market revives
• Ideaforge Technology IPO approved by SEBI
• Tata Play gets SEBI approval to float IPO

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