Stocks

HSBC Reports 7% Drop in FY Pre-Tax Profit Amid $4.9 Billion One-Time Charges, Raises 2028 ROE Target HSBC Full-Year Profit Slips Despite Beating Estimates HSBC Holdings on Wednesday reported a 7% decline in full-year pre-tax profit as it absorbed $4.9 billion in one-time charges.Europe’s largest lender posted a pre-tax profit of $29.9 billion for the year, slightly above the $28.9 billion average of analyst estimates compiled by HSBC. The results follow what the bank described as a particularly strong 2024 performance.Chief Executive Georges Elhedery said the bank had taken decisive action over the past year as it advanced a major restructuring plan.One-Time Charges Weigh on Earnings The decline in profit was primarily driven by...

Larsen & Toubro Secures Major EPC Orders in India and Middle East, Shares Climb 1.8% Power Transmission & Distribution Vertical Wins Contracts Worth ₹5,000 Crore to ₹10,000 Crore Larsen & Toubro Ltd. on Wednesday, February 25, announced that its Power Transmission and Distribution vertical has secured major engineering, procurement, and construction contracts in India and overseas markets. The company categorizes orders in the ₹5,000 crore to ₹10,000 crore range as major.Following the announcement, the company’s shares moved higher in early trade, reflecting investor optimism around the fresh order inflows.Grid Modernisation Projects in West Bengal In India, the company has received an order to design, supply, and construct two 220...

Silver Rally Enters Structural Phase as Volatility Tests Investor Conviction, Says Apurva Sheth Technical Compression, Undervaluation and Macro Tailwinds Drove Early Call Silver’s rally over the past year has reignited investor interest, marked by sharp upward moves followed by equally swift corrections. According to Apurva Sheth, Head of Market Perspectives and Research at SAMCO Securities, the opportunity was visible well before the breakout, supported by a confluence of technical, valuation, and macroeconomic signals.In an interaction, Sheth said three decisive factors stood out when his team first identified the silver opportunity.The first was technical compression. Silver had remained confined to a multi month range of $21 to...

Shares of Vedanta Ltd climbed more than 5% in Wednesday’s trade, supported by fresh brokerage action, while JSW Steel Ltd advanced around 2% amid a pair trade recommendation from global brokerage Citi.The rally follows Citi’s initiation of a tactical pair trade, assigning an “Overweight” rating to Vedanta and an “Underweight” rating to JSW Steel, citing valuation divergence and sector dynamics.Citi Flags Limited Upside for JSW Steel Citi noted that JSW Steel is currently trading at nearly 9 times its EV to EBITDA multiple. According to the brokerage, this valuation reflects optimism that extends beyond prevailing spot steel prices.The firm added that upside could be capped as domestic steel prices approach import parity levels. It...

When N Chandrasekaran took charge as Chairman of Tata Sons in 2017, the Tata Group was navigating a period of transition. Nearly nine years later, the $300 billion conglomerate stands transformed in scale and profitability, even as the current financial year presents fresh headwinds for key group companies such as TCS and Tata Motors.Revenue Nearly Doubles, Profits Triple Since FY17 Under Chandrasekaran’s leadership, Tata Group’s financial footprint has expanded significantly.In FY17, the group’s revenue stood at just over ₹6 lakh crore. By FY25, that figure had surged to more than ₹11.5 lakh crore, nearly doubling over the period.Profit growth has been even sharper. From around ₹35,000 crore nine years ago, the group’s...

US Countervailing Duties Trigger Sharp Sell-Off in Solar Shares Mumbai, February 25: Shares of Indian solar and renewable energy companies came under sharp pressure in early trade on Wednesday after the US Department of Commerce imposed preliminary countervailing duties of 125.87% on solar cell and panel imports from India.The announcement weighed heavily on investor sentiment, triggering broad-based declines across the listed solar manufacturing segment.Waaree, Premier Energies Lead Declines Waaree Energies emerged as one of the biggest losers, falling as much as 14.6% to Rs 2,580.50 and hitting the lower circuit during the session. The stock later recovered partially to trade at Rs 2,724, down 9.90%.Premier Energies dropped...

Bullion Holds Steady After Previous Session Decline Gold and silver prices stabilized in early trade on Wednesday, February 25, following a sharp decline in the previous session, as strength in the US dollar limited further upside and reduced demand for safe-haven assets.Spot gold was trading near $5,146.18 per ounce at 0054 GMT. Earlier this week, the metal had climbed to a more than three week high before retreating over 1 percent on Tuesday after touching that peak during early Asian trading hours. US gold futures for April delivery slipped 0.2 percent to $5,165 per ounce.Silver also saw mild pressure. Spot silver eased 0.2 percent to $87.13 per ounce after reaching a more than two week high on Monday.Stronger US Dollar Weighs...

UBS Says Indian IT Sell-Off Is Misread, AI Seen as Opportunity Not Threat Indian IT stocks may be facing misplaced fears around artificial intelligence, according to UBS, which believes the recent correction in the sector is being misinterpreted by the market.Hartmut Issel, Head of APAC Equities, Global Wealth Management and Chief Investment Officer at UBS, said artificial intelligence is unlikely to displace Indian IT services companies. Instead, he suggested that AI adoption could generate fresh demand, creating a potential entry point for investors after the recent decline in share prices.AI Integration Challenges Could Benefit Indian IT Firms Issel noted that many companies experimenting with AI are discovering that...

The Indian rupee strengthened by 6 paise to 90.89 against the US dollar in early trading on Wednesday, supported by a weaker dollar index and a firm opening in domestic equity markets.The local currency opened at 90.94 in the interbank foreign exchange market before advancing to 90.89, marking a gain of 6 paise from its previous close.Dollar Index Eases, But Crude Oil Caps Upside The broader US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.07% to 97.77. The softer dollar lent support to emerging market currencies, including the rupee.However, the upside remained limited as global crude oil prices surged sharply. Brent crude futures rose 1.37% to $71.74 per barrel. Higher oil prices...

Shares of Lloyds Metals and Energy Ltd. climbed sharply on Wednesday, February 25, after global brokerage Nomura initiated coverage on the stock with a bullish outlook. The stock emerged as one of the top gainers on the Nifty Metal index following the note.At the time of reporting, shares were trading 4.7% higher at ₹1,219.2.Nomura Initiates ‘Buy’ Rating With 37% Upside Potential Nomura has started coverage with a “Buy” rating and assigned a price target of ₹1,600 per share. This implies a potential upside of 37.4% from the stock’s previous closing price.The brokerage highlighted that Lloyds Metals is undergoing a structural transformation. According to Nomura, the company is shifting from being a pure-play mining business to a...

Heightened market volatility has triggered a broad correction in equity valuations, with several stocks retreating from the steep premiums they commanded just months ago. However, according to Deven Choksey, Managing Director at DRChoksey Finserv, this phase of consolidation is helping restore rational pricing and opening selective investment opportunities for medium-term investors.He believes the recent correction is gradually bringing valuations back in line with fundamentals, creating room for disciplined portfolio accumulation in high-quality names.Bajaj Housing Finance Trades Near Realistic Valuations Bajaj Housing Finance has emerged as one of the key stocks Choksey is tracking closely. He noted that the stock has fallen...

US Software Stocks Rally as Anthropic Partnerships Ease AI Disruption Fears US software stocks staged a strong recovery on Tuesday, February 24, after artificial intelligence startup Anthropic unveiled new enterprise partnerships and product enhancements that helped calm investor concerns about AI disrupting traditional software businesses.The rebound comes after weeks of volatility in the sector, driven by fears that AI-native platforms could replace deeply integrated enterprise software ecosystems.Anthropic Expands Enterprise Integrations at Claude Event At its enterprise agents event, Anthropic introduced updates to Claude Cowork, enabling businesses to integrate the tool with widely used enterprise applications.The updated...

Hindustan Aeronautics Shares Rise as CLSA Sees 38% Upside on Strong Order Pipeline Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. opened higher on Wednesday, February 25, snapping a two day losing streak, as fresh brokerage optimism lifted investor sentiment around the defence major.The stock was trading 0.80% higher at ₹3,984.10, even as it remains down 8% over the past month.CLSA Maintains Outperform Rating With ₹5,436 Target Brokerage firm CLSA has reiterated its Outperform rating on Hindustan Aeronautics, setting a price target of ₹5,436 per share. The target implies a potential upside of 38% from Tuesday’s closing level.In a detailed review of the company’s prospects, CLSA projected orders worth $33 billion over FY25 to FY30. This...

Indian IT stocks are back in focus on Wednesday, February 25, after a sharp sell-off in the previous session wiped out nearly ₹1.1 lakh crore to ₹1.2 lakh crore in cumulative market capitalisation across the sector.Shares of Infosys Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Wipro Ltd., HCLTech Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd., Persistent Systems Ltd., Coforge Ltd., L&T Technology Services Ltd., and KPIT Technologies Ltd. are likely to remain under scrutiny after Tuesday’s rout.The extent of the correction was such that eight of the top 10 losers on the Nifty 500 index were technology stocks, highlighting the intensity of the sector-wide sell-off.US Software Rally Offers Relief One of the key positive triggers for Indian IT stocks is the...

Waaree Energies, Premier Energies, Vikram Solar, Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Shares Tumble After US Imposes 125.87% Duty on Indian Solar Imports Indian solar sector stocks witnessed a sharp sell-off on Wednesday after the United States announced preliminary countervailing duties of 125.87 percent on imports of certain Indian solar products, triggering concerns over export prospects.Solar Stocks Slide on BSE Shares of key solar-linked companies declined significantly in intraday trade on the BSE:Waaree Energies fell 14.99 percent Premier Energies dropped 14.23 percent Vikram Solar declined 7.47 percent Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy slipped 1.41 percentThe declines followed the US decision to impose steep preliminary...

Afcons Infrastructure Shares in Focus After €113 Million Gabon Road Contract Termination Notice Shares of Afcons Infrastructure Ltd. are set to remain in focus on Wednesday, February 25, after the company disclosed that Société Autoroutière du Gabon has issued a termination notice for a contract valued at approximately €113.03 million.The development was communicated to stock exchanges on Tuesday, bringing attention to the company’s international project exposure and its ongoing contractual dispute.Details of the Gabon Road Project According to the company’s exchange filing, the engineering, procurement, and construction contract was awarded by a private client for the design, construction, rehabilitation, and upgrading of a 117...

Gold and Silver Prices Stabilize on February 25 After Sharp Decline as Strong US Dollar Caps Gains Gold and silver prices steadied in early trade on Tuesday, February 25, following a sharp decline in the previous session. A firm US dollar and improved risk appetite in global equities kept safe-haven demand in check, limiting any meaningful rebound in precious metals.Spot Gold Holds Near Recent Highs Spot gold was trading near $5,146.18 per ounce as of 0054 GMT. The metal had earlier climbed to a more than three week high during the week before slipping over 1 percent on Tuesday after touching that peak in early Asian trading.US gold futures for April delivery were down 0.2 percent at $5,165 per ounce, reflecting cautious positioning...

Steel Authority of India Shares in Focus as Emkay Global Reaffirms Buy, Raises Target to ₹200 Shares of Steel Authority of India Ltd are expected to remain in focus on Wednesday, February 25, after brokerage firm Emkay Global reiterated its Buy rating and raised the stock’s price target by 14 percent to ₹200 from ₹175 earlier.The revised outlook is anchored in attractive valuations, improving operational levers, and supportive domestic steel pricing trends that are expected to drive near-term profitability.Valuation Comfort and Margin Stabilisation in Focus According to the brokerage, the stock is currently trading at 1.1 times price to book, compared with its long-term average of 0.7 times. This remains below the sector average of...

Indian IT Stocks in Focus After ₹1.2 Lakh Crore Rout; Global Tech Rebound Offers Hope Shares of leading Indian IT companies will remain under close watch on Wednesday, February 25, after a sharp sell-off on Tuesday wiped out nearly ₹1.2 lakh crore in market capitalization across the sector.Heavyweight names including Infosys Ltd., TCS Ltd., Wipro Ltd., HCLTech Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd., Persistent Systems Ltd., Coforge Ltd., L&T Technology Services Ltd. and KPIT Technologies Ltd. saw steep declines, dragging the broader technology pack lower.IT Stocks Dominate Nifty 500 Losers List The scale of the decline was evident in the broader markets. Eight out of the top 10 losers on the Nifty 500 index were technology stocks, underscoring...

Gold Enters Structural Repricing Phase as Rally Above $5,000 Signals Global Monetary Reset Gold has entered what analysts describe as a structural repricing phase, reflecting deep-rooted shifts in the global financial system that are reshaping how investors and central banks view the precious metal.In its latest Precious Metals Quarterly Report, Motilal Oswal Financial Services states that gold’s surge beyond $5,000 per ounce in early 2026 is not merely cyclical momentum. Instead, it signals a broader reset in monetary confidence, reserve management strategies, and physical supply dynamics.Break from Traditional Real Interest Rate Logic Historically, gold prices have moved inversely to real interest rates. However, between 2023 and...