More Stories

Informist, Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

---

Equity Alert: L&T dn ahead of Q4 results; W Asia war seen weighing on margin

 

MUMBAI--1010 IST--Shares of Larsen & Toubro fell nearly 2% to the day's low of INR 4,026 ahead of the company's March quarter earnings, due later in the day. At 0943 IST, shares of the company traded over 1% lower at INR 4,046.

 

The multinational conglomerate is expected to post a consolidated bottom line of INR 55.65 billion, up nearly 11% on year, excluding exceptional items. On a sequential basis, the company is likely to report net profit growth of 22%. This would be the 17th consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth in the company's net profit.

 

Its consolidated top line is likely to post a 12% on-year growth at INR 831.90 billion. Sequentially, this would be a rise of 16%. The rise in both its key metrics is expected on the back of healthy execution of its robust order book. However, the West Asia conflict is expected to weigh on L&T's operating margin for its core engineering and construction business due to order execution.

 

So far in the day, over 322,000 shares of the company have changed hands on the exchange, lower than over 500,000 shares traded till the same time Monday.

 

All 13 brokerage recommendations available with Informist on the company have a 'buy' recommendation on the stock with an average target price of INR 4,604.  (Arundathi A R)

---

Equity Alert: Markets open lower as crude oil prices stay over $113/bbl  

 

 

MUMBAI--0940 IST—Benchmark indices opened lower Tuesday as crude oil prices hovered above $113 per barrel. Brent crude oil gained following reports of escalating tensions in West Asia. Indices in the US ended lower and most Asian indices opened down. Banking stocks were the major laggards in the domestic indices.

 

At 0937 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 24052.65 points, down 66.65 points or 0.3% and the BSE Sensex was at 77098.45 points, down 170.95 points or 0.2%. Bharti Airtel and HDFC Life Insurance Co. were the best-performing stocks in the Nifty 50 by rising nearly 1?ch. Titan Co. and the heavyweight Reliance Industries were up 0.5?ch. Adani Enterprises, Bharat Electronics, Infosys, and Power Grid Corp. of India also gained marginally.  

 

Financial services company Shriram Finance fell by over 2% to become an underperformer in the Nifty 50. Its peers, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv, fell over 1?ch. The heavyweight banking stocks – ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank fell by around 1?ch. Larsen & Toubro shed over 1% ahead of its March quarter earnings. Maruti Suzuki India, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Graism Industries, Tata Steel, and Trent fell around 1?ch in the Nifty 50.  

 

Aditya Birla Capital rose over 4% and was the best-performing stock among the Nifty 200 constituents. It rose after the company's consolidated net profit for the March quarter rose 31% on year to INR 11.29 billion.
Bharat Heavy Electricals gained over 2% in the Nifty 200.   

         

Meanwhile, KEI Industries fell by over 6% and was the worst hit stock in both the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 indices. The company's net profit in the March quarter grew at its slowest pace in 2025-26 (Apr-Mar). The company's bottom line grew nearly 26% on-year to INR 2.84 billion. Godrej Properties fell by over 2% in the Nifty 200.

 

In the Nifty 500, Wockhardt gained 10% to be the top gainer in the index. The company reported a net profit of INR 1.7 billion for Jan-Mar, compared with a net loss of INR 250 million in the year-ago quarter.  (Adhithya Aji)

---

Equity Alert: Most mkts in Asia fall; South Korea's KOSPI bucks trend, up 5%

MUMBAI--0835 IST--Most equity indices in Asia faced some selling pressure as tensions in West Asia escalated once again. The United Arab Emirates said Iran launched missile attacks and drones against it. This comes not long after the US President Donald Trump launched 'Project Freedom' to free up ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude oil futures rose above $113 per barrel, further dampening sentiment. However, South Korea's benchmark KOSPI defied the larger trend to touch another new all-time-level.

 

The KOPSI was up by over 5% even as its peer indices in Asia remained muted. The upmove was led by buying carried out by foreign and institutional investors, and an interest in semiconductor stocks, according to media reports. Shares of heavyweight chipmaker SK Hynix soared over 12% during early trade while those of Samsung Electronics Co. rose over 5%. The benchmark KOSPI had logged stellar gains in April, surging roughly 30%. 

 

Meanwhile, Trump said South Korea should join the US in 'Project Freedom' after blaming Iran for a South Korean vessel being set ablaze near the Strait of Hormuz. "Iran has taken some shots at unrelated Nations with respect to the Ship Movement, PROJECT FREEDOM, including a South Korean Cargo Ship. Perhaps it's time for South Korea to come and join the mission!," Trump said in a post on social media platform, Truth Social. "Our government will communicate closely with relevant countries regarding this matter and take necessary measures to ensure the safety of our vessels and crew members inside the Strait of Hormuz," South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement.  

 

Among other Asian indices, the FTSE Singapore Strait Times, the S&P AXS 200, and the Hang Seng fell 0.2-0.7% during early trade. Markets in Japan and China were closed for a public holiday.

 

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

 

Index	Level	Change in %
Hang Seng Index	25899.03	(-)0.75
KOSPI	6936.99	5.12
FTSE Singapore Strait Times	4911.00	(-)0.27
S&P/ASX 200 INDEX	8646.90	(-)0.58

 

(Ruchira Kagita)

---

 

Equity Alert: Indices may open lower Tue as crude prices cross $110/bbl

 

MUMBAI--0825 IST—-Domestic benchmark indices are likely to open lower Tuesday as crude oil prices surged again above $110 per barrel. Crude prices rose after news reports that the US attacked seven Iranian "fast boats" in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and Iran attacked an oil facility in the United Arab Emirates. Market participants will also focus on the March quarter results of Nifty 50 constituents Mahindra & Mahindra and Larsen & Toubro, due later in the day.

 

The UAE on Monday said it had come under attack from Iran for the first time since a fragile ceasefire took hold in early April, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, two American-flagged merchant ships were reported to have successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz as part of a new safeguarding initiative, according to the report.

 

At 0827 IST, the July Brent crude futures contract was trading over 1% lower at $113.15 per barrel. The May futures contract of Gift Nifty suggested a lower opening for the domestic equity market Tuesday. At 0828 IST, the Gift Nifty contract was largely flat at 24075, but down over 40 points from the Nifty 50's previous close of 24119.30. "Buy on dips is expected with the Nifty 50 finding support at 23800 points," Nandish Shah, senior derivative analyst at HDFC Securities, said.

 

M&M is expected to post robust year-on-year growth on the back of higher sales of its sport utility vehicles, an increased focus on premiumisation, and improved realisations. Its bottom line is expected to rise 43% on year to INR 34.93 billion in the March quarter. The Mumbai-based automaker's top line is seen at INR 383.40 billion during the quarter.

 

Larsen & Toubro is expected to report a moderate rise in its consolidated top line and bottom line for the quarter, driven by the healthy execution of its robust order book. The company's consolidated net profit, excluding exceptional items, is seen at INR 55.65 billion, up nearly 11% on year. The company's revenue is expected to rise nearly 12% on year to INR 831.90 billion.

 

In global markets, Asian indices showed a mixed performance in early trade. South Korea's Kospi led the pack of gainers, up over 5%. The CSI 300 Index was the worst hit, down nearly 1%. All the US indices closed lower in the previous session.  (Arundathi A R)

---

Equity Alert: US indices end lower as strife in West Asia escalates again

 

MUMBAI--0740 IST--Indices on the Wall Street closed lower Monday after concerns over the war in West Asia reared their head again. Market sentiment weakened after the United Arab Emirates said Iran launched missile attacks and drones against it. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said the US military struck seven Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz. Brent Crude oil futures soared above $110 per barrel again on the back of these developments. Among the key S&P 500 sectoral indices, the S&P 500 Energy was the only one to close in the green, up almost 1%.  

 

In an interview with Fox News, Trump said that Iran will be "blown off the face of the Earth" if it attacks US vessels carrying out what he termed 'Project Freedom'. Trump, who launched the project over the weekend, said the US will free up ships which were stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. "We have the best equipment. We have stuff all over the world. We have these bases all over the world... we can use all of that stuff, and we will, if we need it," Trump said. 

 

Meanwhile, shares of the data analytics firm Palantir Technologies fell by over 3% even as the company raised its ‌annual revenue forecast and beat estimates for the quarter ended March. Shares of Duolingo Inc. tumbled more than 10% in after-hours trading after the language-learning company topped first-quarter expectations, but signalled again that 2026 will bring slower growth and higher costs. Investors will watch the April jobs report, due later Tuesday, to gauge the resilience of the labour market. 

 

The following were the closing levels of major US indices on Monday:

 

US Indices	Levels	Change in %
Dow Jones Industrial Average	48941.90	(-)1.13
NASDAQ Composite	25067.801	(-)0.19
S&P 500	7200.75	(-)0.41

 

(Ruchira Kagita)

 

US$1 = INR 95.36

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

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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.

 

NSE: National Stock Exchange
NYSE: New York Stock Exchange
NYMEX: New York Mercantile Exchange
SEBI: Securities and Exchange Board of India
RBI: Reserve Bank of India

Internet links:
Securities and Exchange Board of India - http://www.sebi.gov.in
Bombay Stock Exchange - http://www.bseindia.com
National Stock Exchange of India - http://www.nseindia.com
Directory of Indian government websites - http://goidirectory.nic.in
Indian Ministry of Finance - http://www.finmin.nic.in
Reserve Bank of India - http://rbi.org.in
Controller General of Accounts, Government of India - http://www.cga.nic.in
Government's Press Information Bureau - http://www.pib.nic.in

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.