ONGC slips ahead of Q4 earnings, Grasim Ind. Q4 falls short of estimates

Indian Markets:

• The domestic stock market experienced a significant surge on Friday, propelled by two key factors: the robust growth forecast for the Indian economy and the optimistic outlook for a regular monsoon season.
• The Nifty 50 index found stability around the 18,500 level as a result of a widespread rally. This rally was primarily driven by the impressive performance of FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods), IT (Information Technology), and realty (real estate) shares.
• Contributing to the market rally, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have consistently shown a preference for purchasing Indian equities in recent months. Their consistent net buying activity has further reinforced the positive sentiment in the market.

Global Markets:

• European and Asian stocks advanced on Friday as talks to raise the U.S. debt ceiling reached their crucial final week. Investors were hopeful that a deal would be reached soon to avoid a default, which would have a negative impact on the global economy.
• Wall Street ended sharply higher on Thursday after a blowout forecast from Nvidia sent the chipmakers stock soaring and fueled a rally in AI-related companies.
• US Republican negotiators on Thursday said some progress had been made in debt-ceiling talks, though a deal has not yet been reached.

Stocks in Spotlight:

• Reliance Industries (RIL) witnessed a notable surge of 2.79% in its stock value. The company made an announcement regarding Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) and its FMCG arm. RCPL successfully concluded the acquisition of a 51% controlling stake in Lotus Chocolate Company. This acquisition was executed with a total consideration of Rs. 74 crore. Additionally, RCPL also invested in non-cumulative redeemable preference shares of Lotus Chocolate Company, amounting to Rs. 25 crore.
• Ahead of the much-anticipated announcement of its March quarter earnings, shares of ONGC experienced a slight decline of nearly one percent. According to the analysis by Kotak Institutional Equities, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of the oil exploration and production company are expected to witness a sequential decline of 2 percent. This projected decline can be attributed to a quarter-on-quarter drop of around 4 percent in oil sales.
• Grasim Industries recorded a substantial decline in net profit for the fourth quarter, reaching Rs 93.5 crore. This figure represents 88.5 percent decline compared to the year-ago period, when the net profit stood at Rs 814 crore. Furthermore, the reported net profit fell significantly below the estimate of Rs 329 crore predicted by CNBC-TV18. The diminished profitability can be primarily attributed to a high base effect caused by a tax write-back in the year-ago period, as well as a softening of realizations in the chemicals business.

News from the IPO world🌐

• Vinsys raises pre-IPO funding at Rs. 200 crore valuation
• SEBI proposes to cut down IPO listing timeline to 3 days
• Westbridge and Nexus-backed India Shelter Finance eyes Rs 2,000-cr IPO

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