Indian equity benchmark indices settled in red after six days on rally on Friday. The BSE Sensex closed 887.64 points or 1.31 per cent lower at 66,684.26, while the NSE Nifty 50 ended 235.75 points or 1.18 per cent lower at 19,743.40.
“The weak guidance from Infosys cast a shadow over the outlook of the Indian IT sector, causing a delay in Nifty's pursuit of the 20,000 mark. While the heavyweights surrendered to the bears, the small caps demonstrated resilience. Global markets presented a mixed picture, with the US market struggling due to weak earnings, while UK retail sales exceeded expectations with a 0.7% MoM growth,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
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Top stocks to watch on 24 July:
Reliance Industries
The oil-to-telecom conglomerate reported 5.9 per cent decline in quarterly profit from year-ago period. Net profit slipped to Rs 18,258 crore in the quarter ended 30 June from Rs 19,405 crore in the corresponding quarter. Revenue declined by 5.31 per cent to Rs 2.1 trillion, in line with estimates. The company’s oil-to-chemicals business reported weak performance, the consumer-centric retail and telecom businesses reported solid earnings.
ICICI Bank
The private lender reported 39.7 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 9,648 crore on a standalone basis in the April-June quarterly results, compared to Rs 6,905 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Net interest income (NII) increased 38 per cent year-on-year to Rs 18,227 crore in the first quarter of the ongoing financial year from Rs 13,210 crore in the year ago period.
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Kotak Mahindra Bank
Kotak Mahindra Bank has reported standalone profit of Rs 3,452.3 crore for quarter ended June fiscal 2024, growing 66.7 per cent over a year-ago period despite rise in provisions and contingencies, while operating profit surged 78 per cent YoY to Rs 4,950 crore. NII increased by 32.7 per cent year-on-year to Rs 6,233.7 crore, with net interest margin at 5.57 per cent, while advances grew by 19 per cent. Asset quality was stable with gross non-performing assets (NPA) declining 1 bps sequentially to 1.77 per cent, and net NPA increasing 3 bps to 0.40 per cent.
Power Finance Corporation
The company has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth Rs 2.37 lakh crore with 20 companies, both public and private, in the clean energy category. The company signed these MoUs with Adani Group, JBM Auto, Rajasthan Renewable Energy, Greenco, ReNew, Continuum, Avaada, Megha Engineering & Infrstructure, among others.
Aurobindo Pharma
The United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has issued a Form 483 with three observations after inspecting the company’s Unit III, a formulation manufacturing facility in Bachupally village in Telangana during 14-21 July. The observations are procedural in nature.
