Indian stocks made a positive start on Monday, in response to less-than-promising U.S. employment and service sector data that increased anticipation of incoming interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The S&P BSE Sensex, India's benchmark index, saw an early increase of 457 points (or 0.6%) to reach 74,337. The NSE Nifty index also appreciated, growing by 110 points (or half a percent) and reaching 22,586.
Kotak Mahindra Bank experienced a 3.7% surge after the private bank reported an 18% rise in Q4 net profit due to a healthy loan growth. Following this trend, IDBI Bank's shares appreciated by over 2% in response to a 44% year-on-year quarterly profit increase. However, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services reported a 10% dip in Q4 standalone profit and tax, still, the company's shares advanced by 1.7%.
BirlaCorp's shares soared by 4.3% after the company reported a massive 127% increase in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ending March 2024. Muthoot Finance's shares saw a slight increase following an announcement by its subsidiary, Belstar Microfinance, to file a draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for a Rs. 1,300 crore IPO.
In contrast, shares in One 97 Communications fell by 3.8% after the resignation of Paytm's COO and President, Bhavesh Gupta. Shares in Indian Overseas Bank also depreciated about 2% after the bank announced plans to sell 92 NPA loans worth Rs. 13,472 crores through e-auction. Lastly, JSW Infrastructure's shares dropped nearly 2% following reports that the company aims to invest over Rs. 2,500 crores in the 2025 financial year to expand its cargo handling capacity.