 "Stocks to watch on Budget day: Paytm, Godrej Consumer, Infra, rail, PSUs")
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are looking to start near the flatline on Thursday ahead of the interim budget for 2024-25.
The tepid sentiment follows losses across Asian markets, which fell this morning as the US Fed pushed against near-term rate cuts.
Fed chair Jerome Powell signalled that a rate cut in March is unlikely, even though rates will be coming down this year.
Nikkei and ASX 200 dropped 0.5-1.3 per cent. Hang Seng opened below the flatline while Kospi held gains of 0.7 per cent.
US indices slumped overnight with the Nasdaq sinking 2.33 per cent. The Dow and S&P 500 fell 0.8 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.
At 7:30 am, the Gift Nifty futures were nearly flat at 21,800 against Nifty futures’ last close.
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Stocks that may see action today:
Budget-linked stocks on radar
Infrastructure and capital goods: Budgetary outlay for overall capex spending and across related sectors could move stocks like L&T, Siemens, PNC Infratech, Cummins, Thermax, ABB India.
Railways: Rail PSUs along with private players will be on radar. RVNL, IRCTC, IRFC, Titagarh Rail, Texmaco among others.
Cement and construction: Housing and urban infra-related announcements can prompt action in stocks like ACC, Ultratech Cement, Ambuja Cements, Ahluwalia Contracts, Dilip Buildocn, IRB Infra.
Real-estate and ancillary stocks: Shares of DLF, Godrej Properties, DB Realty, Brigade among others will be in spotlight on housing related support. Ancillary players in the cables and wires space like Havells, RR kabel will also be eyed.
Rural theme: Stocks in the fertilisers, chemicals space will be on radar as investors eye announcement of expenditure towards fertiliser subsidy.
Other stocks within the consumption and two-wheeler space like Hero MotoCorp, M&M, Escorts, HUL, ITC, Dabur will also be in focus on rural support package.
Defence: PSUs like HAL, BEL, Bharat Forge, BHEL, BDL and those in the private sector like Astra Micra, Paras Defence among others will also be in focus.
Earnings, news-trigger based stocks
Q3 earnings today: Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Dr Lal Pathlabs, Texmaco Rail, Ather India, Bata, Aavas Financiers, Abbott India and Aditya Birla Capital, among others.
Paytm: The RBI has restricted Paytm Payments Bank from taking fresh deposits and credit transactions across its services, due to non-compliance of regulations and supervisory concerns.
Paytm expects an impact of Rs 300-500 crore to its annual EBITDA from the RBI’s action on Paytm Payments Bank.
Infosys: It has signed a seven-year strategic collaboration with Musgrave to automate Musgrave’s IT operations by leveraging its industry-leading AI and cloud offerings.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals: It has entered into a pact with Pfizer to launch Abrocitinib in India, which is used to treat moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.
Godrej Consumer Products: Its consolidated net profit grew 6.4 per cent YoY in Q3 to 0Rs 581 crore. Revenue rose 1.7 per cent to Rs 3,660 crore.
Jindal Steel & Power: Its consolidated profit grew a whopping 272 per cent in Q3 to Rs 1,928 crore due to a low base last year. Revenue fell 6 per cent to Rs 11,701 crore.
Dixon Technologies: It reported a 87 per cent YoY growth in net profit to Rs 97 cr in Q3. Revenue grew 100 per cent to Rs 4,818 crore.
Deepak Nitrite: Its unit Deepak Chem Tech signed a pact worth Rs 9,000 crore with Gujarat government.
HG Infra Engineering: It has won a Rs 440 crore South Central Railway project.