Indian equity markets are likely to open gap-down on Friday amid unsupportive global cues. Ahead of the session, SGX Nifty Futures quoted 15,715 levels, signaling a cut of over 50-odd points on the NSE Nifty 50. Global cues were weak as major markets in Asia-Pacific lost steam with Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 0.7% and Topix down 0.5%. Investors will watch out monthly auto sales figures due on Friday, July 1. “India VIX is hovering around 22 levels indicating that volatility is likely to continue. On the positive side progress in monsoon, expectation of good Q1 FY23 earnings, along with reasonable valuations are providing comfort to long term investors in the market.,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Stocks in focus on 1 July, Friday

Hindustan Unilever: FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Thursday said its chief executive officer and managing director Sanjiv Mehta will be appointed the president commissioner (non-executive chairman) of Unilever’s Indonesia business. Mehta’s appointment as president commissioner of PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk (Unilever Indonesia) is subject to approval from shareholders at Unilever Indonesia’s next extraordinary general meeting to be held on July 28, 2022.

SBI Card and Payment Services: The country’s largest pure-play credit card company SBI Card along with Aditya Birla Finance on Thursday announced the launch of a co-branded credit card. The ‘Aditya Birla SBI Card’ is a co-branded credit card offering significant reward points to customers on their purchases various sectors.

Bharti Airtel: The telecom operator said it has opted to defer the payment of AGR dues up to FY 2018-19, that are not tabulated in the Supreme Court’s order, by up to four years. It has retained the right to pre-pay instalment amounts and would not avail the option of conversion of the interest dues that would accrue into equity. Meanwhile, the Competition Commission of India approved Google’s investment of nearly $1 billion for 1.28% in Bharti Airtel.

Lupin: The drug maker has received approval from US FDA for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) – Paliperidone extended-release tablets. The drug is a generic equivalent of Invega extended-release tablets of Janssen Research and Development, LLC. The product will be manufactured at Lupin’s facility in Goa. The drug had estimated annual sales of $152 million in the US as per IQVIA MAT March 2022 data. The drug is used in the treatment of schizophrenia, a mental disorder.

Reliance: Reliance Industries announced on Thursday a franchise partnership with Pret A Manger to launch and build the British sandwich and coffee chain in India, marking the company’s foray into the booming food and beverage industry. Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL) will open the food chain across the country, starting with major cities, it said in a statement. Reliance will open the first Pret store in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, before March 2023, a source with direct knowledge told Reuters.

SAIL: The flagship arm of SAIL, Bhilai Steel Plant has supplied over 80,000 tonnes of steel for the Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor project. The 508-km project, slated for completion in October 2028, will connect Mumbai and Ahmedabad with a high-speed rail track, where trains would travel at a speed of 320 kms per hour.

UPL: The company has acquired 100 percent holding in Nature Bliss Agro (NBAL) to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. With this acquisition, they plan to manufacture and sale crop protection and allied products, in sync with existing business activities of UPL.

Globus Spirits: Globus Spirits will be providing various services including engineering, operations, maintenance, and marketing for distillery assets owned by Tilaknagar Industries. It will operate a plant at Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. The company will get service fee as a share of core profit generated by the distillery assets.

Maruti Suzuki: The auto major aims to increase its share in the SUV segment, with the launch of four new brands over the next couple of years. With 43 per cent market share in India’s passenger vehicle market, they launched refurbished version of its popular compact SUV model, named Brezza. The price starts at Rs 7.99 lakh for the base variant and goes up to Rs 13.96 lakh for the top variant.