Day: April 17, 2025

Frontline indices, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, extended their gains for the fourth consecutive session on Thursday, April 17, amid across-the-board buying and easing concerns over the impact of the ongoing trade war on the Indian economy.

Sensex closed 1,509 points, or 1.96 per cent, higher at 78,553.20, while the Nifty 50 settled with a gain of 414 points, or 1.77 per cent, at 23,851.65. The mid and small-cap segments underperformed as the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended 0.56 per cent and 0.52 per cent higher, respectively.

Investors earned over ₹4 crore in a day as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms rose to over ₹419 lakh crore from ₹415 lakh crore in the previous session.

Indian stock market: key highlights

Let’s take a look at 10 key highlights of the stock market today:

1. Why did the Indian stock market rise for the fourth consecutive session?

Easing concerns over trade war, improving macroeconomic outlook of the country and fresh foreign capital inflow are driving the stock market.

“A strong rally in large-cap stocks was observed today, primarily driven by financials, amid expectations of improved margins stemming from changes in savings deposit interest rates,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.

“Positive sentiment was further supported by a reversal in FII flows, although the sustainability of this trend remains uncertain. Nonetheless, optimism surrounding the domestic market persists, bolstered by the expectation of a favourable outcome from US-India trade negotiations and a relatively minimal disruption from the US-China trade tensions. Additionally, a moderating inflation trajectory towards more comfortable levels is further enhancing market sentiment,” Nair said.

2. Top Nifty 50 gainers today

Eternal (earlier Zomato), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and ICICI Bank ended as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index. As many as 43 stocks ended higher in the Nifty index.

3. Top Nifty 50 losers today

Wipro, Hindalco and Tech Mahindra ended as the top losers in the Nifty pack of stocks.

4. Sectoral indices today

Nifty Bank jumped 2.21 per cent, while the Financial Services index clocked a gain of 2.27 per cent.

Nifty Private Bank and PSU Bank rose 2.23 per cent and 1.64 per cent, respectively.

All major sectoral indices ended with gains.

5. Over 80 stocks hit 52-week highs

Shares of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finserv were among the 83 stocks that hit 52-week highs in intraday trade on the BSE.

6. Over 30 stocks hit 52-week lows

Arigato Universe, Dhruva Capital Services and Gensol Engineering were among the 33 stocks that hit their 52-week lows in intraday trade on the BSE.

Eqwires Research Analyst

Top-notch SEBI registered research analyst

Best SEBI registered Intraday tips provider

info@eqwires.com

Telegram | Facebook | Instagram

Call: +91 9624421555 / +91 9624461555

www.eqwires.com

Tech major Infosys will be among the 12 companies to announce its earnings report for the January-March quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (FY25) on Thursday. Companies will also be releasing their performance report for the entire financial year that ended on March 31. 

Besides Infosys, other companies announcing financial results today are Jio Financial Services, HDFC Asset Management Company, HDFC Life Insurance Company, Tata Elxsi, Advik Capital, Devinsu Trading, Mahindra EPC Irrigation, Indosolar, National Standard (India), Sanathnagar Enterprises, Omnitex Industries India. 

Infosys Q4 expectations

According to estimates tracked by Business Standard, Infosys is likely to report a dip in its bottom line in the fourth quarter of FY25.

Infosys’ revenue is expected to come in at ₹41,965.95 crore, marking a 0.48 per cent increase quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q). On a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) basis, the company’s top line is projected to grow by an average of 10.66 per cent. 

In its third quarter, Infosys reported a 11.4 per cent Y-o-Y increase in its net profit, amounting to ₹6,806 crore. Sequentially, net profits were up 4.6 per cent. Revenue was up 1.9 per cent sequentially to ₹41,353 crore. 

Last week, another IT-major TCS announced its quarterly results, reporting a 1.69 per cent decline in consolidated net profit for the quarter that ended on March 31, 2025 (Q4 FY25), at ₹12,224 crore year-on-year. During the same period last year, the company had declared a net profit of ₹12,434 crore.

Market review, April 17

On Thursday, benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade, dragged down by IT stocks. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 362 points to 76,682.29 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went down by 129.75 points to 23,307.45. 

From the Sensex firms, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro and Titan were among the biggest losers. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and State Bank of India were the gainers. 

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi index, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were quoting higher. US markets ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

List of firms releasing Q4 FY25 results on April 17

1. Infosys 

2. Jio Financial Services 

3. HDFC Asset Management Company 

4. HDFC Life Insurance Company 

5. Tata Elxsi 

6. Advik Capital 

7. Devinsu Trading 

8. Mahindra EPC Irrigation 

9. Indosolar 

10. National Standard (India) 

11. Sanathnagar Enterprises 

12. Omnitex Industries India

Eqwires Research Analyst

Top-notch SEBI registered research analyst

Best SEBI registered Intraday tips provider

info@eqwires.com

Telegram | Facebook | Instagram

Call: +91 9624421555 / +91 9624461555

www.eqwires.com

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating dozens of American workers’ allegations that India’s biggest IT outsourcer, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., discriminated against them based on their race, age and national origin. 

The former employees are largely professionals from non-South Asian ethnic backgrounds over the age of 40, who say the company targeted them for layoffs but spared Indian colleagues, some of whom were working on H-1B skilled worker visas. They began filing complaints against TCS in late 2023.  

“Allegations that TCS engages in unlawful discrimination are meritless and misleading,” a TCS spokesperson said. “TCS has a strong track record of being an equal opportunity employer in the U.S., embracing the highest levels of integrity and values in our operations.”

An EEOC spokesperson, citing federal law, said the agency cannot comment on investigations. Complaints, or charges, made to the EEOC are confidential under federal law. 

Bloomberg News reviewed more than two dozen of the complaints, which have not been made public. Emails and interviews with people familiar with the investigation show it began during President Biden’s administration and has continued under President Trump.  

In the UK, three former TCS workers have made similar claims to an employment tribunal, saying the company in 2023 discriminated against them based on their age and nationality as part of a redundancy program, The Guardian reported this month. TCS denied the allegations in a response submitted to the tribunal.

In an April 2024 letter that has not been previously reported, US Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, wrote to the EEOC’s commissioners and its then-chair, Charlotte Burrows. Moulton asked the agency to consider opening an investigation into TCS, noting that residents of his state were among more than two dozen people who had submitted complaints to the agency.  

TCS’s actions “may have constituted a pattern-or-practice of discrimination impacting Americans that falls within the EEOC’s jurisdiction,” he wrote. “Additionally, it may also have been a potential misuse of US work visa programs designed to fill US labor shortfalls.”  

The EEOC is tasked with enforcing laws prohibiting discrimination in the workplace. In 2020, its investigation of another of the world’s biggest outsourcing firms, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., found that the company discriminated against non-Indian workers in its US operation. A jury in a federal class-action lawsuit found in October that Cognizant intentionally discriminated against more than 2,000 non-Indian employees between 2013 and 2022, echoing the EEOC findings. Cognizant said it provides equal employment opportunities for all employees and does not tolerate discrimination. It has said it plans to appeal the verdict and disagrees with the EEOC finding.

The allegations against TCS underscore longstanding criticisms of outsourcing companies’ use of the H-1B visa program, which is designed to help US employers fill high-skill jobs in sectors lacking domestic talent. A Bloomberg News investigation in July showed how some outsourcing firms have used their vast overseas workforces to overwhelm the annual lottery that decides which applicants can get new H-1Bs. 

TCS is India’s biggest IT services firm by revenue, with more than 600,000 employees globally. It is one of India’s best-known companies, part of the sprawling Tata Group, and like other outsourcers, it serves US clients such as airlines, automakers, financial institutions and more.

In February, Bloomberg reported that TCS has made heavy use of another employment visa program reserved for managers, known as L-1A, and that some ex-staffers have alleged the company used them to circumvent H-1B rules. TCS has denied any wrongdoing. 

Trump in January appointed as acting EEOC chair Andrea R. Lucas, who had served as an EEOC commissioner since his first term. She has vowed to step up investigations into what she describes as discrimination against American workers. 

“Unlawful bias against American workers” is a major problem nationwide, with many employers preferring those on visas and other foreigners over American workers, she said in a February news release. Stamping out illegal discrimination will lessen demand for undocumented foreign workers and protect the US immigration system from abuse, she said.

In their complaints, the former workers noted that their dismissals came after TCS’s head of global human resources, Milind Lakkad, told an Indian news agency that TCS was open to hiring Indian visa workers in the US who had lost their jobs at major tech firms. Lakkad was reported as saying that some 70% of TCS’s employees in the US were Americans, but that the company would like to reduce that number to 50% in order to offer opportunities to its staff in India. 

TCS declined to comment on specific details from the workers’ complaints.

Eqwires Research Analyst

Top-notch SEBI registered research analyst

Best SEBI registered Intraday tips provider

info@eqwires.com

Telegram | Facebook | Instagram

Call: +91 9624421555 / +91 9624461555

www.eqwires.com