The GIFTY Nifty futures were trading in the red during the early hours before the opening of the markets on Wednesday. Domestic Indices are expected to open negative in line with the GIFT Nifty futures. 

The benchmark equity indices, NSE Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex, closed flat on Monday before the market holiday on Independence Day. The Sensex gained nearly 80 points 0.12% to close at 65,401.92, while the Nifty settled 0.03% or 6.25 points higher at 19,434.55.

Here are the top stocks that are likely to be in focus today. 

Hero MotoCorp: Promoters of the company have provided details regarding the disclosure of the 2016 Family agreement as per the SEBI rules. Sunil Kant Munjal resigned from the post of Joint Managing Director in 2016 and is set to exit the company’s promoter group following the family settlement deal. Pawan Munjal, Santosh Munjal, Renu Munjal and Suman Kant Munjal will control and manage the company. “Family Group” and Sunil Kant Munjal agreed to use the trademark HERO.

Oil India, ONGC: On Monday, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced that the special additional excise duty (SAED) on crude petroleum would be hiked from Rs 4,250 per tonne to Rs 7,100 per tonne, effective Tuesday, August 15. The SAED on diesel would see a massive jump from Re 1 per litre to Rs 5.50 per litre. The SAED would be charged at Rs 2 per litre on air turbine fuel. This was nil before. 

Vodafone Idea (VI): VI’s net loss increased to Rs 7,840 crore in the first fiscal quarter compared to Rs 6,419 crore in the preceding quarter and Rs 7293 crore in the same quarter last year owing to increased finance costs such as interest and charges on borrowings. However, the company’s total income was up 1.9% year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 10,610.4 crore. 

InterGlobe Aviation: According to reports, co-founders Rakesh Gangwal and his wife Shobha Gangwal might sell up to a 4% stake in the budget airlines in block deals today at the floor price of Rs 2,400 per share, valuing the 1.56 crore shares at approximately Rs 3,730 crore. 

SpiceJet: The Supreme Court charged the CMD of SpiceJet with a contempt notice on Monday in a case against Credit Suisse for failing to comply with an “in principle commercial settlement’. Additionally, Akasa Air reported a higher number of domestic passengers flown per month than SpiceJet in July, widening the gap from June. While SpiceJet transported 555,000 and 504,000 passengers in June and July, the Lt Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed airline carried 618,000 domestic passengers in June and 624,000 in July. 

ITC: The FMCG major reported a 17.5% YoY growth in its standalone net profit to Rs 4,902 crore in Q1FY24 from Rs 4,169.38 crore in the year-ago period on the back of lower expenses. However, the company’s standalone revenue from operations fell 7.2% to Rs 16,995.49 crore from Rs 18,320.16 crore a year ago.  Further, the ITC board approved the ITC Hotels demerger, and the demerged entity will list on the exchanges within 15 months. As per the 10:1 share ratio, shareholders holding 10 shares of ITC will receive one share of the demerged entity.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M): Mahindra’s tractor division launched its new Mahindra OJA tractor range and seven lightweight 4WD tractors. Two new tractors, OJA 2127 and OJA 3140, are launched at Rs 5.64 lakhs and Rs 7.35 lakhs, respectively.