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Informist, Monday, Apr. 20, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Bank of Maharashtra rises nearly 1% ahead of Jan-Mar earnings

 

MUMBAI--0937 IST--Shares of Bank of Maharashtra rose nearly 1% to a high of INR 73.90 ahead of its March quarter earnings later in the day. At 0937 IST, the shares were at INR 73.36, up from INR 72.73 Friday.

According to YES Securities, the bank's net profit for the March quarter is expected to rise 4% on year to INR 15.53 billion on increase in net interest income. However, the net profit is seen lower than INR 17.79 billion in the trailing quarter. The state-owned lender is expected to report net interest income of INR 35.98 billion, up nearly 16% on year and up slightly over 5% sequentially.

 

According to the brokerage firm, Bank of Maharashtra's sequential loan growth is likely to be 5% given its growth trajectory. Net interest income growth will be marginally higher than average loan growth due to rise in return on loans outperforming the cost of deposits. The public sector lender is likely to report slightly higher net interest margin sequentially.

 

Sequential growth in fee income is expected to be higher than loan growth. Operating expenditure of the public sector bank would be lower than business growth. The lender is expected to report a 3.1% rise in its pre-provisioning operating profit sequentially and an increase of almost 12% on year, according to the brokerage. Slippage in asset quality is expected to be higher while provisions will be slightly lower on a sequential basis.

 

All the four brokerage reports on the bank available with Informist, have a "buy" recommendation on the stock with an average target price of INR 81.  (Janwee Prajapati)

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Equity Alert: Indices seen slightly up; crude oil below $100/bbl to support

 

MUMBAI--0845 IST--Domestic benchmark indices are likely to open slightly higher Monday as crude oil prices stayed below the $100 per barrel level. Equity indices in other Asian markets were also higher in early trade. US President Donald Trump said negotiators from the country will travel to Islamabad on Monday for possible talks, aiming at the end of the US-Iran war. Back home, stocks of index heavyweights HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank will be in the spotlight, as they detailed their March quarter earnings Saturday.

 

Meanwhile, Iran reimposed restrictions on the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, reversing its stance after the US said it would not end its blockade on the crucial chokepoint, the Associated Press reported, quoting Tehran's joint military command. At 0844 IST, the June futures contract of Brent Crude was trading over 5% higher at $95.11 per barrel.

 

On the earnings front, HDFC Bank reported a 9% on-year rise in its net profit for Jan-Mar to INR 192.21 billion as provisions of the bank fell 18% on year to INR 26.10 billion. The bank's total income was nearly flat at INR 898 billion, compared to INR 895 billion a year ago. Its peer, ICICI Bank, posted an 8.5% rise in its net profit for the March quarter to INR 137.02 billion.

 

Brokerages Nuvama institutional Equities and Emkay Global have retained their 'buy' call for HDFC Bank. While Nuvama cuts its target price for HDFC by 10% to INR 1,050, Emkay retained its target price for the bank at INR 1,225. Nuvama cuts HDFC's 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) earnings-per-share estimates by 3% on limited visibility of re-rating. Both the brokerages retained 'buy' call for ICICI Bank as well, with target prices unchanged. Nuvama retained target price for the bank at INR 1,670 and Emkay kept it unchanged at INR 1,785.

 

The April futures contract of GIFT Nifty indicated a slightly higher opening for the 50-stock index. At 0843 IST, the GIFT Nifty contract traded at 24450 points, which is nearly 100 points higher from the Nifty 50's previous close. Friday, the 50-stock index settled 0.7% higher or 156.80 points higher at 24353.55. "Going ahead, cross and sustenance above 24400 spot is essential for further up move towards 24650-24800 spot levels in near term," Vipin Kumaar, senior technical and derivatives analyst at Globe Capital Market, said. "Conversely, a decisive break below 24000 spot levels might drag it towards 23600-23550 spot levels."  (Arundathi A R)

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Equity Alert: Asian mkts see modest gains even as US-Iran tensions escalate

 

MUMBAI--0840 IST--Asian indices saw modest gains in early trade even as US futures tumbled Sunday after the US seized an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, leading to a re-escalation of the conflict in West Asia. The South Korean Kospi led the gains among its peers, climbing over 1%. Investors in the region remain anxious as crude oil futures rebounded over 6?ter falling 9% Friday on the news of Iran re-opening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has since closed the strategic trade route and rejected a second round of peace talks with the US due to "excessive demands" by the latter. At 0840 IST, Brent Crude oil futures were around $95 per barrel.

 

Market participants remain wary of the developments in West Asia as the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran neared its deadline on Wednesday. Even during the period of truce, the US maintained a blockade of ships entering and exiting Iranian ports, which Iran claims was among its reasons for rejecting a second round of peace talks in Islamabad. 

 

"US' excessive demands, unreasonable and unrealistic expectations, frequent shifts in positions, continuous contradictions, and the so-called naval blockade which violates ceasefire understanding along with threatening rhetoric, have so far hindered progress in the negotiations," Iran's state-owned news agency said in a post on X. A prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz could put further pressure on Asian markets due to the region's heavy dependence on oil imported from West Asia.

 

Apart from Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 also rose nearly 1% during early trade. A report by Moody's Analytics expects Japan to report a 1.6% on-year rise in core consumer prices for March, similar to the pace seen in February. However, the agency expects inflation to have softened in the March quarter partly due to government support for household energy bills and an easing of broader price pressures. The West Asia conflict is likely to drive up commodity prices and thereby re-accelerate consumer price inflation from April, the report says. Japan's inflation data is due on Friday. 

 

China's CSI 300 index saw marginal gains during early trade. China left its benchmark lending rates unchanged for an 11th straight month, after it reported a 5% growth in its GDP in the first quarter, up from 4.5% in the previous quarter. Economists had expected the figure to come in at around 4.8%.

 

Following were the levels of major Asian indices at 0834 IST:

 

Indices	Levels	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4750.2137	0.46
Hang Seng Index	26369.45	0.8
Nikkei 225 Day	59045.45	0.97
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3786.07	0.67
KOSPI	6265.82	1.19
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	5009.25	0.23
S&P/ASX 200	8952.7	(-)0.06

 

(Shruti Nair)

 

 

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Equity Alert: Dow futures tumble as US seizes Iranian cargo ship, oil jumps

 

MUMBAI--0735 IST--US futures tumbled Sunday after the US seized an Iranian cargo ship, in a re-escalation of tensions between the two countries. While futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed nearly 1%, losses in those tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq were lower compared to its peers. Crude oil prices resumed their climb and rose over 5% on Monday after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday due to the continued naval blockade of its ports by the US. At 0735 IST, Brent Crude futures were at $94.64 per barrel.

 

US President Donald Trump said the seized Iranian carrier,"is under U.S. Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what's on board." Further, Trump threatened to attack all power facilities and bridges in Iran if the country did not agree to a deal with the US.

 

The ongoing ceasefire between the two countries is set to expire Wednesday. During the period of truce, the US maintained its naval blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran reopened and subsequently closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint which controlled over 20% of the world's oil supply before the conflict began Feb.28. On Sunday, Iran also rejected a second round of peace talks in Pakistan, citing "excessive demands" by the US, reports said.

 

This comes after US markets came off a winning week, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 touching record highs on the news of a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel and after Iran had declared the Strait of Hormuz open. "After the Nasdaq has rallied for 13 days in a row on hopes for a deal, we ended the week very overbought on a short term basis. And now the situation with Iran is gotten even more complicated and uncertain on when this conflict will end and when the Strait will fully reopen without fear of attack," CNBC quoted Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, as saying.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Friday:

 

Index	Levels	%Chng
Dow Jones Industrial Average	49447.43	1.79
NASDAQ Composite	24468.48	1.52
S&P 500	7126.06	1.2

 

(Shruti Nair)

 

US$1 = INR 92.81

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

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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