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Nifty ended April derivative series higher by 1.1% in which market-wide rollovers were marginally higher as compared to the previous month and stood at 93.2% vs 92.9% last expiry.Thursday's session saw Kotak Mahindra Bank shares ending 11% lower at Rs 1,643 on NSE while Hitachi Energy India shares ended nearly 14% up at Rs 9,342 on BSE.Here's what Avdhut Bagkar, Derivatives & Technical Analyst, StoxBox, recommends investors should do with these stocks when the market resumes trading today.Kotak Mahindra BankShares of Kotak Mahindra Bank have slipped to a new 52-week low, propelling a negative downside in the days ahead. The sentiment has turned sour, and a breach of Rs 1600 could steer downside in the direction of Rs 1400 level. On the upside, the stock faces hurdles at Rs 1725 and Rs 1775, which must be overcome to recoup the bullish trend. Until that happens, the trend will stay sluggish.Hitachi Energy IndiaHitachi Energy India set a new all-time high on Thursday, implying fresh breakout in the price. The stock is moving in the direction of Rs 10,000 level, with immediate support falling at Rs 8700 level. The medium-term accumulation range emerges near Rs 8800 – 8900 levels. The trend is robust in the overbought territory of Relative strength index (RSI), indicating a strong momentum. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Mumbai: Shares offered in the Vodafone Idea follow on public offer (FPO) listed at ₹11.8 apiece on the NSE on Thursday, about 7.3% above the FPO price of ₹11. The shares were listed at ₹12 on BSE and closed at ₹13.8, after a gain of 5.3%. Thursday was also the day when the highest ever quantity of Vodafone Idea shares were traded. After the offer, the company's market capitalisation was at ₹91,747.17 crore on Thursday. "A lot of HNIs and retail investors had subscribed to the FPO with an arbitrage point of view," said Jimeet Modi, founder, Samco Securities. "They have locked their gains and booked profits and moved on from the company."Vodafone Idea's ₹18,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO), India's biggest, closed successfully earlier this week having been subscribed 7 times, with strong demand from global institutional investors. Vodafone Idea had priced the issue at ₹10-11 a share, a 26% discount to the ₹14.87 a share that was recently set for the preferential issue to one of the promoters. Jimeet Modi said that about 60-70% of the investors put money only from the short-term perspective and the rest 20-30% of retail investors aimed to hold for a longer period.The FPO had the highest subscription of 19.31 times from Qualified Institutional Buyers and 4.54 times from non-institutional investors. The retail portion was also fully subscribed. It had also raised ₹5,400 crore via anchor investors.

Rashmi Saluja, executive chairperson, Religare Enterprises, said she is confident of her performance and won't retreat under 'false' allegations made by the Burman family, the leading shareholder seeking majority control of the financial company, as she has the full support of the board and is proud of her turnaround credentials evidenced through what she described as a tough phase for non-bank lenders."I may have agreed that five years ago, I didn't have the experience, but after five years, three successful businesses, a company turnaround and a great team and board to support me, I will not back down," Saluja told ET in an interview. "Any allegations of corporate governance against the board and the management are directly reflected toward the regulators. Our naysayers need to understand that."The board of Religare Enterprises is in a tussle with members of the Burman family, the promoters of Dabur, who have accused Saluja of insider trading by selling shares of the company immediately before the announcement of an open offer on September 25, 2023. The Burman family has gradually been raising its stake in Religare Enterprises over the past five years - from 9.9% in 2018 to 14% in 2021, with another 7.5% and 5.27% in 2023. The stakes automatically triggered an open offer to the minority shareholders. Full subscription to the offer would automatically give majority control of the company to the Burmans.The Burman family has accused Religare's existing management, including Saluja, and the board of lapses in corporate governance. It has alleged that Saluja violated insider trading laws by selling shares of the financial services company immediately before the announcement of the open offer. The Burmans have also sought an investigation into the allotment of 8% shares of Religare Finvest to Religare Enterprises chairman Saluja through Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), arguing the process "raises a question mark on the management and the independence of the independent directors" of Religare.The independent directors of Religare, meanwhile, have levelled allegations of fraud and other breaches against the Burmans with different economic regulators - the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) - on the takeover process.Saluja denied all allegations of insider trading and manipulation in stock awards and compensation.Transparency claims"As an industry, we are strictly governed and monitored by the regulators. All transactions, either ESOPs or otherwise, must be approved by the regulators," she said. "Not once during the five years was any complaint raised to Sebi or any regulator. The moot question to ask is, why now?"Saluja joined as additional non-executive independent director on December 20, 2018. Later, she was appointed the non-executive independent chairperson. The board, on December 10, 2019, designated her as the executive chairperson. The appointment proposal was subsequently approved by the RBI."We have denied the allegations of insider trading...Exercising listed stock options by employees requires prior approvals. The process involves financing from external lenders as well as approvals for pledging financing or revocation and eventual sale," she said. "The process for ESOP exercise... was set in motion several weeks before the information on the open offer we received formally through newspapers. Moreover, the share sale proceeds were utilised to invest in additional ESOPs of Religare Group entities only. We wish to remain invested in the company and continue to push for growth."She brushed aside allegations by the Burman family that Religare had applauded the takeover bid before rejecting it. "The board initially considered the Burmans' takeover bid as per Sebi's directive. However, as per the responsibility of a well-governed board, subsequent assessments were made, wherein many aberrations were found in the submission. We shared our comments with regulators," Saluja added. "We cited concerns for investigation on matters concerning market manipulation, funding sources, and inconsistencies in statements made to the BSE."Religare Enterprises is expanding fast with a firm focus on delivering value to stakeholders, she said. "We have a robust growth plan for the company. The board and the current management, having turned around the company, have worked on credible long-term growth plans, which have been vetted by marquee third-party experts," Saluja said. "Our vision is to develop a comprehensive risk management framework.Overcoming the oddsShe lauded the efforts made by her colleagues to turn around the company when several other lenders and financiers, such as Dewan Housing Finance, Yes Bank, IL&FS and Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Capital, needed either special dispensations, bailouts or administrative buyouts for survival."We have a positive net worth, which has given confidence in our investors, such as Kedaara Capital and Union Bank, to continue to be invested and supportive of the management and the team behind this success," Saluja said. "Three out of four businesses - health insurance, broking, and housing finance - have been consistently profitable and growing."Religare Finvest, the MSME financing arm, has completed an industry-first settlement with all its lenders and the fraud tag has been removed, she added. It is now business-ready with a net worth of more than ₹700 crore. "The board and the current management have been at the helm for more than five years and are in the best position to guide the company to catapult to the next growth phase," she added.

India's services exports jumped 11.4 per cent to USD 345 billion in 2023 despite global economic uncertainties, while China's shipments from the sector contracted by 10.1 per cent to USD 381 billion, according to a UNCTAD report. Sectors that contribute to India's services export growth include travel, transport, medical and hospitality.With an 8.9 per cent annual rise in current dollar value terms, the world services exports surpassed USD 7.9 trillion in 2023, a quarterly bulletin of UNCTAD said.The leading exporters among developing economies include India, China, Singapore, Turkiye, Thailand, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, it added.India's services imports, however, dipped marginally by 0.4 per cent to USD 248 billion last year."The main driver of the YoY (year-on-year) rise of services exports in Q4 2023 was the ample growth of international travel receipts. In the post-COVID-19 recovery, travel receipts increased by 70 per cent in Asia (YoY)," the report said.Commenting on India's services exports, an industry expert said that the export of IT and IT-enabled services and travel is going strong.Business services like engineering, architecture, legal and accounting services and research and management consulting services stand to benefit from leveraging the opportunities presented by the government initiatives.India's service exports have historically been concentrated in North America and Europe, but there is also significant potential for growth in emerging markets, such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America."Diversification of export destinations by Indian exporters can help cut dependence on traditional markets and open up new opportunities for the sector," the expert said.

Tata Steel has reaffirmed that it will continue to proceed with its Great British Pound (GBP) 1.25 billion investment to build a state-of-the-art Electric Arc Furnace for steel production in Port Talbot in collaboration with the UK government.Further, it also informed that as announced on January 19 this year, it will shut down its existing two Blast Furnaces, i.e., No. 4 and No. 5 by end of June and end of September respectively. "Following its 19 January 2024 proposal to restructure the UK business and 7 months of formal and informal discussions with the UK Steel Committee (the multi-union forum) and its advisers, Tata Steel has today announced its decision, paving the way for a major transformation of Britain’s largest steel plant at Port Talbot, in south Wales," the company said in a media release on Thursday.Calling this as the 'most viable' option, Tata Steel chief T V Narendran said that the company's proposal secures a long-term future for the business and preserves the majority of jobs in the UK as against the unions' 'unaffordable plan'. "We will continue to work with the trade unions over the following 2 weeks to agree a memorandum of understanding on the future of the UK business and the impact on our people," he added.Tata Steel expects to order equipment for the electric arc furnace by September 2024, and based on the current permit timelines, start construction on the project by August 2025. In addition, Tata Steel UK has accepted an updated and revised connection offer from National Grid, the UK's power infrastructure provider. The company has also said that in the next few days, it will finalise the necessary paperwork to ensure that it will have the necessary power infrastructure in place to commission the electric arc furnace on time by the end of 2027.Tata Steel has also said that following the closure of Blast Furnace No.4, the remaining heavy end assets will wind down, and the Continuous Annealing Processing Line will close in March 2025.Moreover, Tata Steel UK is also going to provide additional support to around 2,800 affected employees.This includes helping them with job searches; supporting facilities for training & upskilling activities; finance for small and medium-sized businesses through UK Steel Enterprise regeneration and job creation scheme. The company has also committed a one-time £20 million to the Transition Board (out of its total £100 million).

IndusInd Bank reported 15% growth in net profit to Rs2,349 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 compared to ₹2,043 crores during corresponding quarter of previous year on account of increase in loan book and higher yield on advances. For the full financial year, the bank reported a net profit of Rs 8,977 crores for the year ended March 31, 2024 up by 21% over the previous year at ₹7,443 crores.“One is the growth in the asset book (that contributed to the profits) and also the yield on advances. “ said Sumant Kathpalia, managing director & CEO, IndusInd Bank. “ We could also bear the cost of deposit increase and also sustainability of net interest margins (NIM)”The bank's interest income rose 17.8 percent to Rs 12198 crores during the quarter compared to Rs 10020 crore in the same period a year ago. Other income, essentially comprising profits on sale of investments or treasury income rose 16.5 percent to 2508 crore during the quarter. Interest expenses rose 21 percent to Rs 12198 crore during the quarter compared to Rs 10020 crore in the same period a year ago. Net Interest Income for the quarter was reported at ₹5,376 crore, growth by 15% year-on-year.Net interest margin, a ratio of a bank’s interest earning on loans to the interest it is paying on deposits and an indicator of banks' profitability and growth was 4.26 percent for the March quarter against 4.28% for March 2023 quarter. Gross bad loans or non performing assets were at 1.92% of gross advances as on March 31, 2024, as against 1.98% as on December 31, 2023.Provisions and contingencies for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, were 13 percent lower at Rs 3,885 crores as compared to ₹4,487 crores for the corresponding quarter of previous yearThe bank declared a dividend of Rs 16.5 per share for the year ended March 2023. The bank is looking at a 18 percent growth in loans for the current fiscal and a mix of 55% retail and 45% corporate loans according to CEO Kathpalia

Mumbai: Kotak Mahindra Bank, India’s third-biggest private lender by market value, may see a moderation in deposit growth and a marginal drop in the share of low-cost deposits in FY25 as it shifts focus on fixing its IT systems following regulatory curbs, said banking analysts. The stock was both the biggest loser and most actively traded in the country Thursday.On Wednesday evening, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred the Uday Kotak-promoted lender from onboarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and directed them to stop issuing new credit cards. The regulator cited “serious deficiencies and non-compliances” and “continued failure on the part of the bank to address these concerns in a comprehensive and timely manner.”“The RBI restrictions will impact the bank’s ability to acquire new savings account customers until the ban is lifted because a significant number of new customer acquisition was done through its digital banking platform- Kotak811,” a banking analyst said.For instance, 72% of the new savings accounts in FY23 — the latest available data — were acquired through Kotak-811. As many as 17.5 million savings account customers were onboarded through the Kotak-811 platform, as of March 2023. 109607520“Secondly, new affluent walk-in customers will want a credit card as part of their onboarding kit, but since the bank is restricted from issuing them until the ban is lifted, it could be a deterrent,” added the analyst.The stock, which lost nearly 11% Thursday, saw active cash trades of about 11,000 crore. Axis Bank, which was the next most traded on the Nifty, didn’t generate half the volumes that Kotak Mahindra did.The ban comes at a time when mobilising deposits, particularly low-cost deposits, has emerged as one of the biggest challenges for most banks.Since the bank’s focus has been onboarding customers through online channels, it has slowed the pace of adding branches. According to a Macquarie report, it has added just 350 branches in four years. HDFC Bank, on the other hand, added 900 branches in just one year.In a letter to employees to address their concerns, the newly appointed MD & CEO Ashok Vaswani reassured that the bank is diligently working toward resolving the issues raised by the regulator. “The exponential growth in business through our digital channels has necessitated a completely different level of technology infrastructure, which we have been steadfastly building,” he stressed in the letter.In a separate FAQ (frequently asked question), KVS Manian, joint managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said services to existing Kotak811 customers will not be impacted.Kotak Mahindra Bank's current and savings account deposits fell to 47.7% in the third quarter ending December 2023 from 53.3% a year ago. A report by Emkay said they are likely to be at 478% for the fourth quarter ending March 2024 and fall further to 47.2% in FY25. The bank is scheduled to announce its fourth-quarter results on May 4. Similarly, the net interest margin stood at 5.22% on December 31, 2023, but it may fall below 5% in FY25, Emkay said.