RIL, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Vodafone Idea, Vedant Fashions stocks in focus

Indian equity markets are headed for a tepid start on Wednesday after a day’s break. Ahead of the trading session, SGX Nifty was deep in red, hinting at a negative open for domestic equities. Global cues were weak during the early hours of trade with most Asian stock markets trading with losses. “The short term trend of Nifty remains positive with range bound action. Any decisive upside breakout of 17000 levels is likely to pull Nifty towards 17500 levels in a quick period of time. However, an inability of bulls to sustain above 16800 levels could trigger another round of downward correction to 16300 levels in the near term,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Stocks in focus on 2 March 2022, Wednesday

Reliance Industries (RIL): Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, the retail arm of Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate RIL, on Tuesday announced an investment in 30-year-old designer brand Abraham & Thakore (A&T) for a “majority stake”. The purpose of the investment is to build the brand’s global appeal in the fashion and lifestyle market, Reliance Retail said. Separately, lenders have entered the final stage of negotiation with Reliance Industries after declaring it the highest bidder for Sintex Industries. At a committee of creditors’ meeting, lenders asked RIL and Assets Care & Reconstruction Enterprise team to submit an improved offer by Wednesday.

Bharti Airtel: Airtel turned out to be the only telecom company to gain revenue market share (RMS) in the December quarter, helped by steep tariff hike announced in November last year. Airtel Ltd gained more revenue market share than Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and Vodafone Idea Ltd in the quarter ended 31 December, said brokerage firms analysing industry revenue data from the telecom regulator TRAI. Airtel shares rose to 35.4%, higher by 90 basis points (bps) sequentially and 350 bps on-year, said ICICI Securities, adding that Bharti’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) including revenue from national long-distance services was up 21.5% on-year and 7.2% on-quarter, to Rs 16,900 crore.

Tata Motors: The homegrown automaker’s domestic sales rose 27% on-year to 73,875 units in February. The auto major said its passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market last month rose by 47% on-year to 39,981 units. ICE vehicle sales in February rose 39% on-year. The company’s pure electric range that consist of the Nexon EV and Tigor EV saw sales of 2,846 units in the past month, up 478% on-year. The company noted an increase both in domestic sales and exports and across its CV lineup.

Tech Mahindra: Information technology (IT) services major Tech Mahindra Ltd has entered metaverse with the TechMVerse launch, to offer interactive and immersive experiences to customers. The company plans to hire and train 1,000 employees for TechMVerse in the first year. Initially, the operations will be spread across Dallas, London, Pune and Hyderabad. Tech Mahindra will offer immersive digital and professional experience services for design, content, as well as low-code plug-and-play NFT and blockchain platforms.

Vodafone Idea: According to media reports, Vodafone Idea has sought the release of bank guarantees worth around Rs 15,000 crore, held by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) against the company’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. The cash-strapped telecom company has also sought freezing of AGR dues on the day of the Supreme Court judgement of 24 October 2019.

Vedant Fashions: Vedant Fashions, owner of ethnic wear brand Manyavar, reported a 24.1% on-year rise in consolidated profit to Rs 127.8 crore for the December quarter, backed by strong sales and operating income. Company’s revenue grew 28% year-on-year to Rs 384.8 crore.