Market drifts lower in early trade, broader mkt outperforms

Indian equity indices were trading with minor cuts in early trade. The Nifty traded a tad below the 17,900 level. PSU Bank, media and IT stocks were in demand while consumer durables, financial services and FMCG shares corrected.

At 09:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 85.25 points or 0.14% to 60,564.13. The Nifty 50 index shed 18.65 points or 0.10% to 17,896.40.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.43% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.53%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,834 shares rose and 744 shares fell. A total of 89 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,652.95 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 97.07 crore in the Indian equity market on 27 April, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Axis Bank declined 0.95%. The private lender reported a net loss of Rs 5,728.42 crore in Q4 FY23 as against a net profit of Rs 4,117.77 crore in Q4 FY22. Total income increased 31.2% year on year (YoY) to Rs 28,865.08 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2023.

Net profit (excluding exceptional items) grew by 61% YoY to Rs 6,625 crore in Q4 FY23 and jumped 68% YoY to Rs 21,933 crore FY23. Exceptional items during the quarter and year ended 31 March 2023, aggregated to Rs 12,490 crore.

Wipro rose 2.75%. The IT major`s consolidated net profit rose 0.71% to Rs 3,074.5 crore on 0.17% decline in revenue form operations to Rs 23,190.3 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q3 FY23. On a year on year (YoY) basis, the IT firm`s net profit declined 0.41% while revenue jumped 11.17% in Q4 FY23.

Meanwhile, the company`s board has approved a share buyback of upto Rs 12,000 crore at a price of Rs 445 per equity share through tender offer route, on a proportionate basis.

Tech Mahindra shed 0.26%. The IT major`s consolidated net profit declined 13.8% to Rs 1,117.7 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 1,296.6 crore posted in Q3 FY23. Revenue from operations fell marginally to Rs 13,718.2 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 13,734.6 crore recorded in Q3 FY23. On a year on year (YoY) basis, Tech Mahindra`s net profit tumbled 25.77% while revenue jumped 13.22% in Q4 FY23.

ACC lost 1.38%. The cement major reported consolidated net profit of Rs 236 crore in Q4FY23 as compared to net profit of Rs 396 crore in Q4FY22. Net revenue rose to Rs 4791 crore from Rs 4427 crore.

LTIMindtree added 0.34%. The company`s consolidated net profit rose 11.3% to Rs 1114.1 crore on 0.8% rise in revenue to Rs 8691 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q3 FY23. The board of directors recommended a final dividend of Rs 40 per equity share for the financial year ended 31 March 2023.

Global Markets:

Most of the Asian stocks were trading higher on Friday after Wall Street logged one of its best days in the year, powered by earnings from Big Tech companies. Investors in Asia will be closely watching as the Bank of Japan concludes its monetary policy meeting today, the first under new BOJ governor Kazuo Ueda.

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday thanks to upbeat results from bellwether tech firms, with Meta Platforms Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc soaring after reporting results.

Data showed that gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 1.1% in the first quarter of the year. That was down from a 2.6% increase in the final three months of 2022.

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