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Informist, Thursday, Apr. 24, 2025

By Akash Mandal

MUMBAI – Benchmark indices are likely to fall more Friday as analysts expect profit booking to continue. However, any fall is likely to push some investors to buy, which will limit the losses, analysts said. Investors will also assess the US weekly jobless data for the week ended Saturday, due later in the day. This data will provide cues regarding the health of the US economy amid concerns of a slowdown due to tariffs.

Indices may consolidate further on Friday and stock-specific movement may dictate market direction, said Ajit Mishra, senior vice president of technical research at Religare Broking. "It has been a healthy pause (in gains) over the last 2 days...the underlying sentiment is still positive," Mishra said. The Nifty Bank index may fall 1-2% in the coming sessions after delivering robust gains over the past couple of weeks, he said. The sectoral index has risen over 7% so far in April.

Technical charts show that bulls may be taking a breather after the recent rally, Ashish Sherigar, technical and derivatives analyst at NVS Brokerage, said. "A key resistance (for the Nifty 50) has now developed around the 24360 (points) mark. A decisive breakout above this level could resume the upward trajectory and potentially push the index towards the 24800 zone in the short term," Sherigar said.

On Thursday, the Nifty 50 ended at 24246.70 points, down 0.3%. The BSE Sensex closed at 79801.43 points, down 0.4%. Barring a brief rise in early trade, which was quickly met with intense selling, benchmark indices remained lower throughout the remaining session and consolidated in a narrow range.

The Indian market is expected to consolidate in the short-term after gaining sharply in a very short span of time, said V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services. However, the bull run is unlikely to last as fundamental corners regarding muted earnings growth and high valuations still persist, Vijayakumar said. "FIIs might drive up stocks in the short run, but the rally cannot sustain without a change in fundamentals," he said.

On the earnings front, three Nifty 50 constituents--Maruti Suzuki India, Shriram Finance, and Reliance Industries--will report their numbers for the March quarter. Reliance Industries is likely to see a sharp slowdown in on-year earnings growth in the March quarter with its flagship oil-to-chemicals business continuing to struggle. While the company's telecom and retail segments are expected to deliver a better result than the previous quarter, it would not be enough to cover for the weakness in its oil segment. The company's consolidated net profit for Jan-Mar is likely to fall 3% on year to INR 183.57 billion, according to an average of estimates from 10 brokerages. Its sales are seen rising 1% to INR 2.40 trillion.

Maruti Suzuki India's bottom line for the March quarter is expected to contract nearly 1% on year to INR 38.5 billion. An increase in despatches and price hikes during the quarter are expected to have supported the automobile major's net profit for the quarter. Despite a likely fall in net profit, its revenue is expected to grow 8% on the back of improved wholesale sales and increased realisations.

Shriram Finance is expected to deliver a robust quarter on the back of stable growth in its assets under management. The non-banking finance company's net profit for the March quarter is expected to rise 11.5% on year to INR 21.70 billion, and its net interest income is expected to rise over 9% to INR 58.40 billion.

Among the companies in the Nifty 100 index, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Co. is expected to report a 14% on-year rise in its net profit to INR 12.04 billion in the March quarter. Hindustan Zinc, Bank of Maharashtra, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Oracle Financial Services Software, Tata Technologies, and L&T Finance are among the other companies set to report their earnings for the March quarter on Friday.  End

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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