Wipro misses street estimates, Axis Bank reports loss on account of exceptional items, HUL Q4 results

Indian Markets:

• Nifty 50 Movement: The Nifty 50 index rose 101.45 points or 0.57% to 17,915.05, rising for the fourth straight session.
• The surge in buying across sectors in the second half of the session led to the indices ending near their peak levels.
• The market opened on a neutral note due to conflicting global signals, but picked up momentum later.
• The trading was volatile due to the expiry of April 2023 futures and options contracts.
• IT, auto, and realty shares were in demand, while FMCG and PSU banks corrected.

Global Markets:

• The Dow Jones index futures were up 155 points, pointing towards a robust start for US stocks today.
• Most shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Thursday. Investors attention was drawn towards the Bank of Japans inaugural policy meeting under new governor Kazuo Ueda.
• Reports suggest that Ueda is likely to sustain the extremely accommodative monetary policy implemented by his predecessor, Haruhiko Kuroda, for the time being. However, there are expectations that he will chart a course to move away from this policy in the future.
• The US stock market ended on a mixed note on Wednesday, with concerns about the banking sector outweighing the strong earnings of big tech companies. The ongoing political debate over raising the federal debt ceiling added to investor anxiety.

Stocks in Spotlight:

• Wipro, the Indian multinational IT services company, has reported a 0.4% YoY decline in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 2023, amounting to Rs 3075 crore. A poll of brokerages had estimated Wipro’s consolidated revenue to be Rs 23,505 crore, representing a 13% YoY increase, and the consolidated profit after tax was expected to be 2.2% higher at Rs 3,156 crore. Sequentially, revenue and profit were anticipated to increase by 1.2% and 3.4%, respectively.
• Axis Bank, reported a standalone loss of Rs 5,728.42 crore for the March quarter of FY23. This loss was due to the buying cost of Citi Bank’s India consumer business during the quarter. However, if we exclude the impact of exceptional items, the bank’s profit for the quarter would have been Rs 6,625.29 crore, a massive 61% growth compared to the reported profit of Rs 4,117.77 crore in the same period last fiscal year.
• Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) reported standalone net profit at Rs 2,552 crore for the March quarter of FY23, registering a growth of 9.66 percent from Rs 2,327 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year. Profit was largely in-line but revenue missed the mark. According to a poll of brokerages, HUL’s standalone Q4 revenue was seen at Rs 15,277 crore and net profit at Rs 2,584 crore. Estimates suggested price-hike led revenue growth at 9 percent and volume growth at 5 percent. In the previous quarter, too, volume growth was 5 percent.

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