Indian equity markets are likely to open in red on Thursday, weekly F&O expiry day, amid weak global cues. SGX Nifty was in red signaling that Dalal Street is headed for a negative start. Nifty futures traded 140.50 points, or 0.87%, lower at 16,027 on the Singapore Exchange. “The changing macro backdrop with heightened worries on rising rate and liquidity tightening is impacting the markets. Meanwhile, the earnings season continues to remain healthy, notwithstanding the challenges on multiple fronts. Nifty has corrected 10% from its recent high in April. The weakness in the market is likely to persist till the concerns subsides. But still this correction has offered the opportunity to accumulate some good quality stocks from long term perspective,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Stocks in focus on 12 May, Thursday

Hindalco: Aluminium producer Hindalco’s US-based subsidiary Novelis will be investing $2.5 billion to build a new low-carbon aluminium recycling and rolling plant in Bay Minette, Alabama, the company said Wednesday. The new facility will have an initial capacity of producing 600,000 tonnes of finished aluminium goods a year and will be the Aditya Birla Group’s biggest greenfield project overseas. Work at the site has begun and the company expects to begin commissioning the plant in mid-2025. “This investment marks the start of another transformational growth phase for Novelis,” Kumar Mangalam Birla, the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group and Novelis said in a statement.

Powergrid: Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) on Wednesday acquired 100% equity of Khetri-Narela Transmission Ltd (KNTL). KNTL is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for “Transmission System Strengthening Scheme for Evacuation of Power from Solar Energy Zones in Rajasthan (8.1 GW)…on build, own, operate and maintain (BOOM) basis…,” a BSE filing said. According to the filing, the entity was acquired for an aggregate value of about Rs 22.50 crore, including 10,000 equity shares at par at Rs 10 each along with assets and liabilities of the company as on the acquisition date (May 11).

Vodafone Idea: The government will hold around 33% in Vodafone Idea (Vi), post-conversion of the latter’s accrued interest liability (on deferred dues) into equity, while the telco’s promoters—UK’s Vodafone Plc and India’s Aditya Birla Group (ABG)—will collectively hold 50% in the company. The telco does not expect rising inflation to become a challenge in raising tariffs in the short or long term since consumer spend on telecom services was a tiny part of the consumer’s wallet, said CEO Ravinder Takkar said, signalling certainty to more tariff hikes in the coming quarters. Vodafone Idea is also looking at a use-more, pay-more model for tariff hikes going forward which will have a lesser impact on low-end users

Punjab National Bank (PNB): Public sector lender Punjab National Bank on Wednesday reported a 66% on-year decline in its standalone net profit to Rs 202 crore for the quarter ended March due to higher amount parked towards provisioning, even as bad loans declined. Standalone income during the quarter of 2021-22 stood at Rs 21,095 crore, down from ?21,386 crore a year ago.

UltraTech Cement: India’s largest cement maker, has submitted a non-binding bid for Holcim Ltd’s Indian assets Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd. Details about UltraTech’s bid could not be immediately ascertained.

Future Retail: Amazon Inc. has written to the Reserve Bank of India and lenders of Future Group, alleging repeated collusion by Future Retail Ltd (FRL) and banks to deny its rights. FRL should not be allowed to go into bankruptcy proceedings as that would impact its rights further.

Pfizer: Life Insurance Corp. of India has acquired 2.03% equity stake in the company via open market transactions. With this, its shareholding in the company stands at 6.05%, up from 4.02?rlier.

Q4 Results today: L&T, Tata Motors, RBL Bank, Apollo Tyres will be in focus ahead of Q4 earnings. Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, RBL Bank, Siemens, Aditya Birla Capital, Anupam Rasayan India, Apollo Tyres, Coforge, Greaves Cotton, Gujarat State Petronet, Honeywell Automation India, Poonawalla Fincorp, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Windlas Biotech, Avanti Feeds, Brigade Enterprises, CreditAccess Grameen, Genus Power Infrastructures, HP Adhesives, ICRA, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, JMC Projects, Lumax Auto Technologies, Matrimony.com, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, South Indian Bank and Spencers Retail will release quarterly earnings on May 12.