Wipro approves buyback, Nestle India at record high, Jefferies bullish on L&T

Indian Markets:

• Nifty 50 Movement: The Nifty 50 index quickly regained its momentum and settled above the highly desirable 18,000 mark.
• The stock market witnessed significant gains on Friday, with the key equity indices performing exceptionally well.
• The NSE sectoral indices showcased a strong bullish sentiment, with all indices except the Nifty Consumer Durables index experiencing gains.
• Notably, the Nifty PSU Bank, Media, IT, and Healthcare indices all rose by over 1% each

Global Markets:

• The Dow Jones futures indicated a negative opening in the US stock market today, with a decline of 134 points.
• While most Asian stocks advanced on Friday, European shares declined across the board.
• In his first policy meeting, the newly appointed Governor Kazuo Ueda left the interest rates unchanged at the Bank of Japan, in line with market expectations for no changes to the benchmark interest rate. The rate has been held at minus 0.1% since the central bank took rates below zero in 2016.
• On Thursday, U.S. stocks closed sharply higher thanks to the upbeat results from bellwether tech firms. Meta Platforms Inc, Microsoft Corp, and Alphabet Inc soared after reporting results.
• The data showed that gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 1.1% in the first quarter of the year, which is down from a 2.6% increase in the final three months of 2022.

Stocks in Spotlight:

• Wipro saw a 2.89% rise in its share price after announcing that its board has approved a share buyback plan of up to Rs 12,000 crore. The buyback will be conducted through a tender offer route, with a share price of Rs 445 per equity share on a proportionate basis. The company aims to buyback up to 26.96 crore equity shares, which represents 4.91% of its total paid-up equity shares. It is worth noting that members of the promoter and promoter group have expressed their interest in participating in the proposed buyback.
• Nestle India achieved a fresh record high, with the stock closing 2.77% higher, marking its third consecutive session of gains. The company surpassed analysts’ expectations with its first quarter results for CY2023, reporting a net profit of Rs 736 crore, beating the estimated figure of Rs 674 crore. The revenue from operations for the March quarter saw a substantial increase of 21.3% YoY, reaching Rs 4,830 crore. This was the highest revenue growth rate observed by the company in the past ten years, marking a significant achievement for Nestle India.
• Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) shares achieved an all-time high, closing 2.24% higher. The company is set to release its March quarter earnings on May 10, and analysts are optimistic about strong order inflows and efficient execution during the quarter. Jefferies, a brokerage firm, predicts that in FY24, L&T will receive backing from both the Middle East and India’s private sector capital expenditure. This follows the announcement of Rs 25,800 crore worth of orders for the quarter ending in March. L&T is expected to meet or even surpass the upper limit of its year-on-year order flow guidance of 15% for FY23.

News from the IPO world?

• IPO activity to pick up pace in 2nd half of 2023
• IPO bound OYO become profitable
• Survival Technologies get Sebi’s nod for Rs.1,000 crore IPO

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