NTPC Profit Surge; Torrent Pharma Plans ₹5,000cr Raise; Divi’s Labs Sees Profit Growth; Glenmark Pharma’s Loss Widens

Opening Bell: 

Gift Nifty is down by 4.5 points in the early morning trade, indicating a negative opening for Indian stock market                        

Asian markets traded higher on Monday in anticipation of key economic data from China and India later this week. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan increased by 0.1%, recovering slightly after a 1.5% decline last week and pulling back from a two-year peak. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose by 0.39%, and the Topix index climbed 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.3%, with the Kosdaq up 0.35%. Additionally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures suggested a stronger opening.

The US stock market ended higher on Friday, with the Nasdaq achieving its fifth consecutive week of gains and reaching a record closing high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up by 4.33 points, or 0.01%, to 39,069.59, while the S&P 500 increased by 36.88 points, or 0.70%, to 5,304.72. The Nasdaq Composite rose by 184.76 points, or 1.10%, to close at 16,920.79. For the week, the Dow fell by 2.34%, the S&P 500 edged up by 0.03%, and the Nasdaq surged by 1.41%.

Stocks News:

👉 NTPC reported a 33% year-over-year increase in Q4 net profit, reaching ₹6,490 crore, along with a 7.6% rise in revenue, totaling ₹47,622 crore. The company’s gross power generation grew by 4.15% to 93.387 billion units (BU) in Q4, compared to the same period last year, driven by increased power demand due to high temperatures across the country. The board recommended a final dividend of ₹3.25 per share.

👉 Torrent Pharma reported a 56.4% year-over-year increase in Q4 net profit, reaching ₹449 crore, and a 10.2% rise in revenue, totaling ₹2,745 crore for Q4. The company plans to raise ₹5,000 crore by issuing equity shares and convertible bonds through a qualified institutional placement (QIP).          

👉 Divi’s Laboratories reported a 67.6% year-over-year increase in Q4 net profit, reaching ₹538 crore, along with an 18% rise in revenue to ₹2,303 crore. The company’s EBITDA surged by 50.1% to ₹731 crore in Q4.

👉 Glenmark Pharma’s net loss widened to ₹1,238.6 crore in Q4FY24, compared to a loss of ₹549.4 crore in the same period last year. Despite this, the company’s revenue increased by 2.1% to ₹3,063 crore.

👉 Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers as they bought Indian equities worth Rs 944.83 crore worth of shares on May 24. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors bought Rs 2,320.32 crore worth of equities on the same day.

Domestic and International Events

• India’s forex reserves reached an all-time high of $648.7 billion as of May 17, according to the Reserve Bank of India showed on Friday. This follows a surge of $2.56 billion in the previous week. Foreign currency assets (FCAs) also increased by $3.361 billion to $569.01 billion. Gold reserves increased by $1.24 billion to $57.19 billion, while SDRs rose by $113 million to $18.16 billion.

• The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will approach inflation-targeting frameworks with caution, as accurately estimating the neutral interest rate is particularly challenging in Japan due to the extended period of near-zero short-term interest rates over the past three decades, Governor Kazuo Ueda stated.

• Crude oil prices steadied after its biggest weekly loss in four. Brent futures rose 0.13% to $82.23 a barrel after dropping 2.2% last week and touching the lowest since early February, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 0.17% to $77.85.