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Informist, Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Equity Alert: Axis Bank gains post Q2 results; brokerages recommend 'buy'

MUMBAI--1018 IST--Shares of Axis Bank topped Nifty 50 constituents and rose 4% Thursday to an over-three-month high of INR 1,216.90. Brokerages still recommend buying Axis Bank even after it posted disappointing earnings for the September quarter. The miss in the bank's net profit was largely due to a one-time standard provision of INR 12.30 billion, which led to a surge in its total provisions during the quarter. At 1015 IST, shares of the bank traded over 2% higher at INR 1,193.70. The stock was the top gainer in the Nifty 50 index.

Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities has upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' and also raised its target price by nearly 17% to INR 1,401. The brokerage firm has upgraded its estimates for net profit by 5.3% and 5.8% for 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) and FY28 due to expectations of improvement in loan growth ahead. The broking firm said this standard asset provision will be written back to the bank's profit and loss statement when all the outstanding loans in the two discontinued product variants are recovered or closed in the normal course or by Mar. 31, 2028.

Barring the one-time provision, the bank's core earnings were stable as the growth in loans rose 170 basis points, its net interest income and net interest margin, and provisions were in-line with the Street's expectations, Prabhudas Lilladher Institutional Equities said. It has retained its 'buy' rating on the stock but has raised the target price by nearly 4% to INR 1,425. The brokerage has cut its estimate for core net profit by 6% for FY26 but raised it by 2% for FY27 due to better loan growth.

Nuvama Institutional Equities maintained its 'hold' rating for Axis Bank with an unchanged price target of INR 1,180. Moreover, Emkay Global Financial Services has retained its 'buy' rating with a target price of INR 1,400. However, after posting mixed earnings of the bank for the September quarter, Nuvama recommends switching to ICICI Bank for a more sustainable and less volatile business model and higher current and savings accounts growth.

Emkay Global has cut its earnings estimate for FY26 by 5% and expects return on assets to first dip to 1.5% in FY26, impacted by one-off asset quality events, and then gradually recover to 1.7% by FY28. The brokerage said it has retained its 'buy' rating on the back of cheap valuation of the stock. The bank's management expects its margins to bottom out in the December quarter, in the absence of any further rate cuts by the RBI. This, coupled with moderation in loan loss provisions, is expected to lead to better profitability in Oct-Mar, Emkay Global cited the bank's management as saying.

The target price of Nuvama on shares of Axis Bank implies a near-1% upside to the stock's Wednesday close, while Emkay's price target implies a near-20% upside. Wednesday, the stock closed 0.6% lower at 1,169.60. 

The bank reported its September quarter earnings post market hours Wednesday. Axis Bank posted the sharpest fall in its net profit in 19 quarters in the September quarter due to a surge in its provisions because of deteriorating asset quality. Provisions and contingencies of the bank increased by around 61% from a year ago to INR 35.47 billion in Jul-Sept, including a one-time standard provision of INR 12.30 billion. The Reserve Bank of India mandated these provisions following its inspection for FY25.  (Simran Rede)

Equity Alert: Mkt opens higher Thursday; bank stocks rise, Axis Bank up 3%

MUMBAI--0941 IST--Benchmark equity indices opened higher Thursday, supported by gains in bank stocks. Shares of Axis Bank rose nearly 3% despite the company's net profit for the September quarter missing analysts' estimates. The stock was the biggest gainer in the Nifty 50 index. Eternal rose over 1% ahead of its Jul-Sept earnings, due later Thursday. Analysts expect the company to post a sharp on-year rise in revenue for the quarter, but a steep fall in its net profit. 

At 0940 IST, The Nifty 50 index was up 0.4% at 25415.80 points and the BSE Sensex index was 0.4% higher at 82926.13 points. Most financial services companies in the Nifty index were in the red. HDFC Life Insurance Co. declined nearly 3% after the company posted sluggish on-year growth in net profit for the September quarter as the top line fell sharply due to a slump in net income from investments. SBI Life Insurance Co. and Shriram Finance fell over 1% each. 

Most sectoral indices gained, with the Nifty Auto up and the Nifty Private Bank up nearly 1%. Most real estate stocks rose and the Nifty Realty index gained nearly 1%. Oberoi Realty was up over 4% after the company posted a higher-than-expected consolidated net profit and revenue for the September quarter. The Nifty IT and Nifty Oil & Gas were the only sectoral indices in the red, down marginally. All broader market indices gained, with the Nifty Smallcap 250 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 being the biggest gainers, rising 0.6% each. 

Among Nifty 200 stocks, KEI Industries fell nearly 5% after the company posted marginally lower than expected revenue for the September quarter. Bharti Hexacom and Sona BLW Precision Forgings gained over 3% and were among the top gainers in the index. (P. Madhu Kumar)

Equity Alert: Most Asian indices rise; Kospi, S&P/ASX 200 touch record highs

MUMBAI--0828 IST--Almost all indices in Asia were higher with South Korea's benchmark Kospi and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 touching record intraday highs. Markets in South Korea touched fresh highs after the International Monetary Fund raised the country's growth forecast in its October outlook report. Markets in Asia were boosted by IMF raising its growth projection for the global economy due to the impact of US tariffs' being "at the modest end of the range."

South Korea's Kospi rose almost 2% after the IMF raised the country's 2025 growth forecast to 0.9% from 0.8%. Markets in the country also received a boost after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Wednesday told CNBC that Washington was "about to finish up" trade negotiations with South Korea. "The devil's in the details, but we are ironing out the details," he was quoted as saying by CNBC. Shares of Samsung Electronics rose 2.3% to an all-time high and those of Hyundai Motor advanced 8%. Shares of Kia were up around 7%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was almost 1% higher and hit a new intraday record after the country's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped to a near four-year high in September at 4.5%, Reuters reported. Peak forecast by the Reserve Bank of Australia had estimated a 4.3% rise. Employment rose by just 14,900 in September, lower than market expectations of a 20,000 rise. Weak jobs reading paves the way for further interest rate cuts.
 

The FTSE Singapore Strait Times fell over 0.4%. The country's non-oil domestic exports likely fell 2% on year in September, Dow Jones Newswire said, citing an estimate by The Wall Street Journal. In August, non-oil domestic exports contracted by 11.3% on year. "Readings might be choppy in the coming months, based on August and September trade reports from major trade partners in Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia," Denise Cheok, Moody's Analytics economist, was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires.

Following were the levels of key Asian indices at 0820 IST:

(Eshitva Prakash)

Equity Alert: Mkt may rise Thu; Trump says India to stop buying Russian oil

MUMBAI--0804 IST--Benchmark indices are seen moving upward Thursday, extending Wednesday's gains, after US President Donald Trump said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him that India will stop buying crude oil from Russia. This came months after Washington imposed punitive tariffs on New Delhi over oil purchases from Moscow.

India "can't immediately stop buying Russian oil, bit of a process, which will be over soon", Trump said at a joint news conference with Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel at the Oval Office. "That's a big stop. Now we've got to get China to do the same thing."

"Within a short period of time, they (India) will not be buying oil from Russia. And they will go back to Russia after the war is over," he said. Trump said he was in the midst of negotiating a trade deal with India and Pakistan. "I heard that they are shooting at each other. I said here's the deal, you go to war, I will put a 200% tariff. I am going to stop you from doing any business in the US. I said it to both of them, within 24 hours the war ended. It would have been a nuclear war," Trump said.

The derivatives contract of the GIFT Nifty shows a slight positive start for the market. At 0803 IST, the GIFT Nifty's October contract was at 25469.50 points, nearly 146 points higher than the Nifty 50's latest close. On Wednesday, the Nifty 50 closed at 25323.55, up 178.05 points or 0.7%. The BSE Sensex settled at 82605.43, up 575.45 points or 0.7%. The resistance for Nifty 50 is pegged at 25500-25600 points and support is seen at 25250 points. 

Market participants will watch for the September quarter earnings of the Nifty 50 companies scheduled to detail their results Thursday – Nestle India, Eternal, Infosys, Jio Financial Services, and Wipro. They will also asses the earnings of LTIMindtree, another information technology company which will details its results Thursday.

On the global front, Wall Street indices closed higher Wednesday, with Morgan Stanley and Bank of America rallying after robust quarterly results. The rise in the market came against mounting trade tensions between the US and China. Markets in Asia rose in early trade Thursday. (Simran Rede)

Equity Alert: S&P 500, Nasdaq rise on better-than-expected bank earnings

MUMBAI--0748 IST--The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite index ended higher Wednesday, buoyed by better than expected earnings of Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. An upbeat start to the earnings season largely overshadowed concerns around US-China trade ties and a US government shutdown. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC in an interview that Washington did not want to escalate a trade conflict with China, adding that US President Donald Trump was ready to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month.

Strong quarterly reports from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley improved trader sentiment on Wall Street. Shares of Bank of America ended 4.4% higher and those of Morgan Stanley rose almost 5%. Bank results from earlier this week indicate that major US companies might be performing better than forecasts. The earnings also provide cues on the US economy's condition at a time when many macroeconomic reports are delayed due to a government shutdown.

"It appears as if the banks have hit the ball out of the park, exceeding both earnings and revenue expectations...that's an indication that the economy remains strong and, coupled with the likelihood that the Fed will cut rates again at the end of this month, (it) is bolstering investor optimism," Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, was quoted by CNBC as saying.

While there has been higher volatility in the US stock market, this hasn't deterred US federal officials from pursuing tough talks with China, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent was cited as saying by CNBC. "We won't negotiate because the stock market is going down, we will negotiate because we are doing what is best economically for the US," he said.

Shares of chipmaker ASML rose 3% after the company reported September orders and operating income above market expectations, lifted by booming AI investment, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, shares of medical equipment maker Abbott fell over 2% following downbeat quarterly revenue. Shares of Bunge rose almost 13% despite the grain trading company lowering its earnings forecast following its merger with Viterra.

Following are the closing levels of US indices Wednesday:

(Eshitva Prakash)

End

US$1 = INR 87.85

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

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