Stocks to watch in trade today; April F&O expiry in focus

Markets are likely to remain volatile ahead of April F&O expiry today

Here are a few stocks that are likely to be in focus today:

HDFC may extend weakness after it posted marginal 8% growth in standalone net profit for the March quarter at Rs 1,862 crore.

Axis Bank may extend gains after the bank’s net profit grew 18% to Rs 2,181 crore on the back of a 20% in net interest income and 21% increase in other income.

Reliance Industries and ONGC will be in focus after the government eased rules for gas field development

Jindal Steel & Power may see some pressure on reports that the CBI on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against Chairman Naveen Jindal, former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, former minister of state for coal Dasari Narayan Rao and former coal secretary H C Gupta, for an alleged conspiracy in securing a coal block in Jharkhand.

Supreme Infrastructure may firm up after the company said it has won the EPC work of Rs. 134 crore from Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for the Construction of Bridge on River Konar

Mangalore Chemicals will be in action after Deepak Fertilisers further sold 932,292 shares of Mangalore Chemicals through a bulk deal on Wednesday.

Sterling Holiday could see some pressure after ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala sold his remaining stake of 622,447 shares through a block deal on Wednesday.

Market Commentary

Volatility in the markets is likely to continue ahead of the expiry of April derivative contracts later today.

Asian stock markets were trading lower amid sluggish economic growth in the US. Japanese shares witnessed selling pressure after markets opened for trading after a holiday on Wednesday. The benchmark Nikkei was down 1.9% while the Shanghai Composite eased 0.2%. Shares in Hong Kong were weak with the Hang Seng down 0.9% and the Straits Times was down 0.5%.

US stocks eased on Wednesday tracking lower-than-expected first quarter US GDP growth.
US GDP growth for the first quarter expanded by just 0.2%. The Dow Jones ended down 75 points at 18,035.53, the S&P 500 ended down 8 points at 2,106.85 and the Nasdaq lost 32 points at 5,023.64.