Stocks to Watch: Infosys, HCL Tech, Maruti Suzuki, Vedanta, IndiGo, Zee

Here are the top stocks that could be in focus in today's trade:

Infosys: Information Technology (IT) services major, Infosys Ltd on Thursday reported a mere 3.2% year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit for the fiscal's second quarter ended September (Q2FY24) to ₹6,212 crore compared to ₹6,021 crore in the year-ago period. Sequentially, the consolidated net profit was up 4.5%. Infosys revenue growth guidance has been trimmed to 1%-2.5% from 1%-3.5%, as per the company's filing.

HCL Tech: HCL Technologies reported a rise of 9.8% in its consolidated net profit at ₹3,832 crore, compared to ₹3,489 crore in the corresponding period last year. The growth in profit was supported by a robust deal momentum even as larger macroeconomic weakness persisted in the IT sector. The company's revenue from operations in the second quarter of the current fiscal stood at ₹26,672 crore, registering a growth of 8.04%, compared to ₹24,686 crore in the year-ago period.

Maruti Suzuki: Maruti Suzuki will consider the issuance of preferential shares to its parent firm at its Board of Directors Meeting, scheduled on October 17. The issue of equity shares will be considered for acquiring Suzuki Motor Gujarat Private Limited, said the automaker in a stock exchange filing on Thursday. Months ago, the Maruti Suzuki board had approved the termination of the contract manufacturing agreement CMA with Suzuki Motor Gujarat Private Ltd.

Vedanta: Vedanta Ltd on Thursday said it has incorporated a wholly-owned arm, 'Vedanta Iron and Steel Ltd, as part of its demerger drive. The wholly-owned arm was incorporated on Tuesday and has an authorised capital of one lakh equity shares of ₹1 each. The move is in line with the company's plan, announced on September 29, to demerge its business, the company said in a regulatory filing.

InterGlobe Aviation: Over 76,000 passengers of budget carrier IndiGo were affected due to the airline cancelling its flights or delaying them by more than two hours in September, DGCA data revealed on Thursday. According to the data, India's domestic air passenger traffic grew 29.10 per cent at 1.22 crore in September, against 1.03 crore in the same month of the last year, with IndiGo commanding a whopping 63.4 per cent of the total traffic.

Zee Entertainment: The NCLAT on Thursday adjourned the hearing to October 13 on a plea filed by Axis Finance against the merger of Zee Entertainment Enterprise with Culver Max Entertainment, formerly Sony Pictures Networks India. The appellate tribunal on Friday will hear another plea filed by private lender IDBI Bank, which has also challenged the August 10, 2023, order of the Mumbai bench of the NCLT approving the merger.

One97 Communications: The Reserve Bank of India imposed a fine of ₹5.39 crore on Paytm Payments Bank on Thursday. The fine was imposed on non-compliance with certain provisions of RBI guidelines related to Know Your Customer (KYC), cybersecurity, etc. According to RBI, Paytm failed to comply with the provisions of RBI guidelines. Failure to report a cybersecurity incident on time is one of multiple incidents where RBI guidelines were not followed.

Persistent Systems: The country’s third largest fund house HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd, on Thursday, has booked profits by selling off over 2% stake in Persistent Systems Ltd for at least ₹905 crore, an exchange filing revealed. The stake sale has lowered HDFC AMC’s stake to 3.06% in the $5 billion Pune-based IT firm, in which the country’s top fund managers held over 23.5% through 35 different schemes as of June end.

Zaggle Prepaid Ocean: Fintech firm Zaggle has bagged a USD 20 million (about ₹166 crore) deal from Visa to issue various forex co-brand cards, according to a BSE filing. The contract is spread over a period of five years, Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Service said in the filing. Under the deal, Visa plans to further their alliance in support of the issuance of Forex co-brand cards.

360 One Wam: Norway's central bank Norges Bank on Thursday bought shares of wealth management firm 360 One Wam Ltd for ₹167 crore through an open market transaction. According to the bulk deal data available with the NSE, Norges Bank on Account of the Government Pension Fund Global purchased 32,75,807 shares of 360 One Wam. The shares were acquired at an average price of ₹511.20 apiece, taking the deal size to ₹167.46 crore.