Infosys’ Tax Refund, HDFC Bank’s Stake Sale, Canara Bank’s IPO, and IOCL’s Joint Venture

Opening Bell:

Gift Nifty is up by 5.0 points in the early morning trade, indicating a positive opening for Indian stock market

On Monday, Asian stock markets saw an uptick as traders evaluated crucial economic figures from China and Japan. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was up by 0.41%, though the Topix saw a slight decrease of 0.28%. In South Korea, the Kospi increased by 0.36%, and the Kosdaq saw a gain of 0.63%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s markets remained closed in observance of Easter Monday.

In the U.S., the S&P 500 ended the week with modest gains on Thursday, marking its best first quarter in five years. This came as investors processed a new set of economic indicators while anticipating forthcoming inflation data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up by 47.29 points, or 0.12%, reaching 39,807.37. The S&P 500 climbed by 5.86 points, or 0.11%, to 5,254.35, whereas the Nasdaq Composite experienced a slight drop of 20.06 points, or 0.12%, finishing at 16,379.46.

Stocks News:

👉 Infosys: The IT company is set to obtain a tax refund totaling ₹6,329 crore from the income tax department. Concurrently, the company is confronted with a substantial tax liability of ₹2,763 crore as per assessment orders. These orders are rooted in various sections of the Income Tax Act of 1961. The refunds, inclusive of accrued interest, are related to assessment years spanning from 2007-08 to 2018-19. Infosys has communicated in an exchange filing that it is presently evaluating the impact of these orders on the financial statements for the quarter and fiscal year ending March 31, 2024.

👉 HDFC Bank: This leading private bank is looking to divest its entire interest in HDFC Education and Development Services through the Swiss challenge method, currently seeking a purchaser. On March 30, the bank revealed in a regulatory announcement that it has begun discussions with a prospective buyer, presenting a binding term sheet that will act as the starting point for soliciting competing offers.

👉 Canara Bank: The state-owned banking entity has received the green light from its board to offload a 13% stake in Canara Robeco Asset Management Company through an IPO, pending approvals from the Reserve Bank of India and the Department of Financial Services.

👉 Indian Oil Corporation: IOCL has disclosed plans to create a joint venture with Panasonic Energy of Japan to manufacture cylindrical lithium-ion cells domestically. Following an initial agreement signed on January 21, the two firms have now entered into a binding term sheet, laying down the groundwork for their collaborative venture. The partnership aims to detail the specifics by the upcoming summer, as per the latest filings.

👉 Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 188.31 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 2,691.52 crore worth of stocks on March 28, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Domestic and International Events

• In the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2024, India recorded a fiscal deficit of ₹15.01 trillion, amounting to 86.5% of its revised yearly forecast, according to official figures. The fiscal deficit’s annual projections were adjusted to ₹17.35 trillion in the interim budget presented on February 1 for FY24.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Saturday that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is poised to expand by 8 percent or more for the quarter ending March 31. For the fiscal year 2023/24, the economy is anticipated to maintain this rate of growth on an annual basis, with Sitharaman attributing this outlook to effective inflation control and enhanced macroeconomic stability.

• The United States’ GDP experienced a 3.4% annual growth rate in the final quarter of 2023 (October-December), an adjustment from the previously estimated 3.2%. However, this growth marked a deceleration from the third quarter’s 4.9% expansion. The GDP growth for the entire year was reported at 2.5%.

• Crude oil prices saw a decrease on Monday, yet retained much of their recent advances. Brent crude dropped by 0.21% to $86.82 a barrel, after a 2.4% increase the previous week. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude decreased by 0.14% to $83.05 a barrel, following a 3.2% rise last week.