Stocks in focus: HDFC, Grasim Industries, SAIL, Future Retail, Vedanta, SpiceJet, Tata Steel

Nifty futures were trading 23.35 points or 0.20 per cent higher at 11,457.20 on Singaporean Exchange, suggesting a positive start for the headline indices Sensex and Nifty on Tuesday. A host of factors such as the two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), developments around the Covid-19 vaccine, UK vote on Brexit, India’s August CPI reading released yesterday, oil prices and other global cues will be keenly watched. Benchmark indices started the week on a weak footing. “Mid-cap/Small-cap companies have been relative outperformers in CY20 and the momentum may continue in the near term. Thus any weakness in the market should be looked as a buying opportunity to add quality stocks in the portfolio as the overall long term market trend remains positive,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Stocks in focus today:

HDFC, UltraTech Cement: JP Morgan Funds bought over 16.28 lakh shares of Housing Development Finance Corporation at an average price of Rs 1768.2 apiece. The shares were sold by Flagship India Investment Company (Mauritius) Ltd. In addition, JP Morgan Funds also bought 1.26 lakh shares of UltraTech Cement at Rs 3,896.9 apiece.

Grasim Industries: Kumar Mangalam Birla said that the company’s capex plan for the FY21 has been calibrated to Rs 1,615 crore while the company has decided to continue the Vilayat VSF (viscose staple fibre) brownfield expansion with revised timelines.

SAIL: Domestic steel major Steel Authority of India Ltd reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,226.47 crore in the April-June quarter. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 102.68 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Future Retail: Future Retail Ltd reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 561.95 crore in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 159.24 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Vedanta, SpiceJet, Future Enterprises: A total of 642 companies including Vedanta, SpiceJet, Future Enterprises, Max India, Kalyani Forge, Kilitch Drugs and Liberty Shoes are scheduled to announce their quarterly earnings today.

Tata Steel: Tata Steel said it will pay Rs 235.54 crore in bonus to its employees for FY 2019-20. A Memorandum of Settlement was signed on Monday between the management of Tata Steel and Tata Workers’ Union (TWU) for the payment of the annual bonus, Tata Steel said in a statement.