Stocks to Watch: Adani Ports, PNB, Bajaj Finance, Cipla, Vodafone Idea, SBI

NEW DELHI: Here are the top 10 stocks that could be in focus on Wednesday:

Bajaj Finance: India's second-largest non-banking finance company has raised deposit rates by as much as 10 basis points, effective 10 May - the second such hike in the last one month. It has also reduced minimum deposit size from ₹25,000 to ₹15,000 to attract more depositors. In late April, it had raised deposit rates by 60 basis points.

State Bank of India: The board of State Bank of India has approved raising up to $2 billion via overseas bond sales. The bonds may be denominated either in dollars or any other currency but are likely to be in multiple tranches. In January last year, the lender had mopped up $600 million at a record low coupon offered to international investors. 

ICICI Bank: Merrill Lynch India Equities Fund Mauritius Ltd on Tuesday sold 4.80 lakh shares of ICICI Bank worth ₹34 crore through an open market transaction. According to block deal data available with the BSE, Merrill Lynch sold 4,80,440 shares at an average of ₹714.65 apiece. BlackRock Global Funds India Fund picked up the same amount of shares at the same price.

Vodafone Idea: India’s third largest carrier Vodafone Idea narrowed its losses to ₹6,563 crore in the quarter ended March 2022, from ₹7,230 crore in the previous quarter, and grew its key operating metrics including revenue and margins, on the back of tariff hike in November last year.

Cipla: The drug major reported a consolidated net profit of ₹362 crore for the March ended quarter, down 12% on year. Revenue from operations rose to ₹5,260 crore from ₹4,606 crore in the fourth quarter of FY21.

UltraTech Cement: Armed with a favourable legal opinion and regulatory precedence under the Competition Act, UltraTech Cement, part of the Aditya Birla Group, is likely to bid for Holcim's India assets - Ambuja Cements and ACC Ltd., as per a media report. It is also ready to divest voluntary assets of around 15 MTPA as a remedy to comply with market share norms.

Vedanta: The resource major is looking to add some glitter to its balance sheet by exploring for gold and copper at four blocks acquired by listed parent company Vedanta, while also increasing production of silver this year at its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc.

Future Retail: Shareholders of Future Retail Ltd and proxy advisory firm InGovern Research Services have written to Sebi demanding immediate action to protect hundreds of thousands of Future shareholders and prevent the company from being referred to an insolvency court.

Future Enterprises: Has defaulted on payment of principal and interest of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of about ₹26 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Welspun India: Home textiles major Welspun India reported a 61.8% year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit to ₹51.25 crore for the quarter ended March. Consolidated total income stood at ₹2,247.06 crore compared with ₹2,173.56 crore in the year-ago period.