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We have collated a list of recommendations from top brokerage firms from ETNow and other sources:Macquarie on Zomato: Underperform| Target Rs 96Macquarie maintained an underperform rating on Zomato with a target price of Rs 96. The competitive intensity is rising.Multiple incumbent e-commerce platforms have announced renewed ambitions in Qcom. The global investment bank considers Blinkit as an efficient operator.Despite the large potential TAM of India retail, with rising competitive intensity, continue to see downside to consensus estimates.Macquarie on Apollo Hospitals: Underperform| Target Rs 4,200Macquarie maintained an underperform rating on Apollo Hospitals with a target price of Rs 4200. Q4 results were operationally in line with estimates but hospital profitability declined.Higher depreciation and amortisation expenses led to PAT miss. Hospital business EBITDA margin compressed 130 bps YoY and 70 bps QoQ to 23.1%.BofA Securities on HDFC Bank: Buy| Target Rs 1,800BofA Securities maintained a buy rating on HDFC Bank with a target price of Rs 1800. The private sector lender seems to have bottomed out and re-rating is possible.In FY25, the EPS cut cycle bottomed out. The global investment bank believes that the current EPS expectations are low enough and we might finally see an end to the EPS downgrade cycle.BofA Securities on M&M: Buy| Target Rs 3050BofA Securities upgraded M&M to a buy from neutral earlier and raised the target price to Rs 3050 from Rs 2480 earlier.Antique on PTC Industries: Buy| Target Rs 13010Antique initiated a buy rating on PTC Industries with a target price of Rs 13,010. •All that glitters is Titanium. It is a closely guarded manufacturing technology and high margins.Casting a highly value additive segment. Titanium-at the heart of aerospace manufacturing.The geopolitical situation is extremely favorable to PTC. Agreements provide long-term order book visibility.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

Indian market is expected to trade higher on Friday tracking positive global cues.The Nifty future closed negative with losses of 1.13% at 22487 levels on Thursday. India VIX is at 24.18 levels.Since it is the beginning of the new series (June series) options data is scattered at various strike prices. On the weekly options front, the maximum Call OI is placed at 23000 and then towards 22800 strikes.Maximum Put OI is placed at 22000 and then towards 22500 strikes. Minor Call writing is seen at 22500 and then towards 22600 strikes while minor Put writing is seen at 22400 and then towards 22200 strikes.“Options data suggests a broader trading range in between 21800 to 23100 zones while an immediate range between 22100 to 22800 levels,” says Chandan Taparia, Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited.“Nifty formed a Bearish candle on a daily scale and is forming lower highs from the last three sessions,” he said.“Now till it holds below 22500 zones weakness could be seen towards 22350 then 22222 zones whereas hurdles can be seen at 22600 then 22750 zones,” recommended Taparia.We have collated a list of stocks from the F&O basket along with cash market from various experts for traders who have a short-term trading horizon:Expert: Pritesh Mehta, Lead Technical Analyst at YES Securities told ETBureauApollo Tyres Futures: Buy| Target Rs 428| Stop Loss Rs 484Coromandel International: Buy| Target Rs 1430| Stop Loss Rs 1230Texmaco Rail: Buy| Target Rs 225| Stop Loss Rs 190Expert: Kunal Bothra, Market Expert told ETNowIndus Tower: Buy| Target Rs 360| Stop Loss Rs 336Oberoi Realty: Buy| Target Rs 1900| Stop Loss Rs 1800Sona BLW Precision Forging: Buy| Target Rs 688| Stop Loss Rs 618(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

US officials have slowed the issuing of licenses to chipmakers such as Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. for large-scale AI accelerator shipments to the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter, while officials conduct a national security review of AI development in the region.It’s unclear how long the review will take, nor is there a concrete definition of what constitutes a large shipment, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Officials are particularly focused on high-volume sales, the people said, as countries including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia look to import massive quantities of the chips used in AI data centers.AI accelerators — a category pioneered by Nvidia — help data centers process the flood of information needed to develop artificial intelligence chatbots and other tools. They’ve become essential equipment for companies and governments seeking to build an AI infrastructure.In October, the Commerce Department added much of the Middle East to chip export restrictions that originally focused on China and a handful of other foreign adversaries. That meant companies needed a special US government license to ship cutting-edge semiconductors and chipmaking tools to countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.US officials have delayed or not responded to license applications submitted under that rule in the past several weeks, some of the people said. That includes attempts to sell to customers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to one of the people. In addition to Nvidia and AMD, Intel Corp. and startup Cerebras Systems Inc. also make accelerator chips. The four companies declined to comment.The goal is to give Washington time to develop a comprehensive strategy around how the advanced chips will be deployed overseas, according to the people. That includes negotiating who manages and secures the facilities used to train AI models, some of the people said.Shares of Nvidia slipped to a low for the day after Bloomberg reported on the license reviews. At the close in New York, the stock was down 3.8% to $1,105. AMD, meanwhile, pared earlier gains. It was up less than 1% to $166.75.In a statement, the Commerce Department said its highest priority was “protecting national security.”“With regards to the most cutting edge technologies, we conduct extensive due diligence through an interagency process, thoroughly reviewing license applications from applicants who intend to ship these advanced technologies around the world,” a representative for the department said. “As always, we remain committed to working with our partners in the Middle East and around the world to safeguard our technological ecosystem.”Thea Kendler, who leads export administration at the Commerce Department, visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait earlier this month as part of those ongoing discussions. In the UAE, she indicated that there was progress in collaboration on semiconductor export controls, another person familiar with the matter said.Part of the concern is that Chinese companies, which are largely cut off from cutting-edge American technology themselves, could access those chips through data centers in the Middle East. The Biden administration has been waging a broader campaign to keep advanced semiconductors and manufacturing equipment out of China’s hands, for fear that the technology will be used to bolster its military.The UAE and Saudi Arabia have been jockeying for regional leadership in AI, aiming to reduce their economies’ dependence on oil. Both countries see the US as a key partner in that effort, and top officials and companies have said they’ll fulfill US requests to keep Chinese supply chains separate — or divest from Chinese technology entirely.Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia just forged a deal with China’s Lenovo Group Ltd. that involves the computer maker building a research and development center in Riyadh.The ability to secure export licenses is a major part of negotiations surrounding Microsoft Corp.’s $1.5 billion investment in Abu Dhabi AI firm G42 — a partnership that followed months of talks with US officials.

Asian stocks rose on Friday and were poised for the fourth month of gains, while the dollar drifted lower, keeping the yen steady as investors await inflation readings from Europe and the U.S. that will likely dictate the path of interest rates globally. A downward revision to consumer spending meant the U.S. economy grew more slowly than expected in the first quarter, data showed on Thursday, weighing on Treasury yields and the dollar. The economic data also stoked expectations that the Federal Reserve has scope to cut rates this year, with market pricing putting a September cut at a coin toss, CME FedWatch tool showed. For the year, traders are pricing in 35 basis points of easing. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.55%, pushing away from the three-week low hit on Thursday. The index is set for a 1.4% decline for the week but is up 2.7% in May, rising for the fourth straight month. Japan's Nikkei was up 0.20% and is flat for the month. China stocks also rose, with the blue-chip index up 0.23% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index spiking 1.3% higher. The upturn in China's markets came even as the nation's manufacturing activity unexpectedly fell in May, an official factory survey showed on Friday. The soft outcome kept alive calls for fresh stimulus as a protracted property crisis continues to weigh on businesses, consumers and investors. Financial markets have been biding their time for the main data event of the week - Friday's April report on U.S. core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which is the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, said the market is taking a more cautious approach to the European and U.S. PCE inflation data after upside surprises in Australia and German inflation reports earlier this week. Federal Reserve policymakers continue to expect inflation to fall this year even as the labour market stays strong, leaving them in no hurry to cut the policy rate from the 5.25%-5.5% range they have kept it in since last July. Elsewhere, traders are also warily looking over their shoulders for any hints of intervention from the Tokyo authorities as the Japanese yen flirts with levels that led to suspected bouts of intervention late in April and early this month. The yen was last at 156.74 per dollar, having touched four-week lows of 157.715 on Wednesday. The currency weakened to its lowest in 34 years at 160.245 on April 29, sparking at least two suspected rounds of interventions. The Japanese authorities have been relatively restrained in their recent verbal warnings, possibly waiting for weaker U.S. economic data and a shift in Fed policy to support the yen, according to Charu Chanana, head of currency strategy at Saxo. But with the Fed looking likely to cut rates only towards the end of the year, the frail yen has been caught in the crosshairs of the vast gap between U.S. and Japan yields, with traders using the yen to fund their investments in higher yielding currencies. Data on Friday showed core consumer prices in Japan's capital rose 1.9% in May on rising electricity bills but price growth excluding the effect of fuel eased, heightening uncertainty on the timing of the central bank's next interest rate hike. "Even if the BOJ raises rates in June or July, the increase is expected to be minimal and unlikely to significantly close the gap with US interest rates," Chanana said, noting that movements in dollar/yen towards the 155 level could attract more carry trade interest. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six rivals, was at 104.77, on course for 1.5% decline in May, snapping a four-month winning streak. The euro last fetched $1.0828 ahead of inflation report from euro zone that is set to influence the European Central Bank's policy path. The central bank is all but certain to cut rates in June but what comes after that remains uncertain. Markets are pricing 60 basis points of ECB cuts this year. In commodities, oil prices eased after a surprise build in U.S. gasoline stocks weighed on the market. Brent futures was down 0.31% at $81.61 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down 0.36% at $77.63. Gold prices rose 0.12% to $2,345.93, on course for over 2% gain in May.

Mumbai: Traders carried forward mostly bearish bets in Nifty futures to the June series on Thursday - the expiry of May equity derivative contracts - ahead of the general election results next week. Analysts said foreign fund managers have predominantly rolled over bearish positions to June, while domestic traders remained bullish though the benchmark indices extended losses to the fifth straight trading session.NSE's Nifty fell 216.05 points, or 0.95%, to close at 22,488.65, and BSE's Sensex declined 617.3 points, or 0.83%, to end at 73,885.60, on Thursday. Both Nifty and Sensex have shed about 2% in the past five trading sessions.The slide has resulted in the undertone becoming edgy and the Nifty nearing a crucial support, said analysts."The index is currently precariously placed with the significant 50EMA (exponential moving average) zone lying near 22,380 levels," said Vaishali Parekh, vice president - technical research, Prabhudas Lilladher. "The index needs a decisive move past the 22,700 zone for the bias to improve and with the election outcome event nearing, high volatility and fluctuations are expected in the coming days." 110577218About 69% of Nifty futures contracts were rolled over to June, as against 65% to the May series and three month average of 68%, according to stock exchange data."FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) have been sellers not only in the cash segment, but they have been on the short side in the index futures segment for most part of the May series," said Ruchit Jain, lead research analyst at 5Paisa.com. "They formed some longs before expiry, but have not rolled over the long positions to the June series, and have 87%of the positions on the short side with over 3.38 lakh net short contracts open." Nifty's rollover is higher than its three month average and past month roll over, but indicates mix of long and short positions, indicating that a tug of war may continue in near term, said Chandan Taparia, head of technical and derivatives research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. While the general election results will be out on June 4, markets will track the exit polls scheduled over the weekend. The recent 88% surge in the Volatility Index, or VIX - a fear gauge for the market, in the past one month suggests the mood among traders is nervous. The index remained flat on Thursday at 24.18 level.FPIs net sold shares worth ₹3,050.15 crore on Thursday. So far in May, they have pulled ₹27,500 crore out of Indian equities.The rollover for Bank Nifty stood at 67%, which is the lowest in the past three years, lower than 74% seen in April 2024.There has, however, been a buildup of bullish positions in private bank stocks."Sectorally, private banks see a bullish buildup and can continue to do well, whereas there is a weakness across IT stocks given the correction in global markets this week," said Jain.Taparia sees bullishness from participants in Nifty Auto and PSUs and said stocks like Samvardhana Motherson, Bharti Airtel, Exide have seen a long buildup.

Mumbai: Hero FinCorp, the financial services arm of India's leading two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp, will likely file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) next month for an initial public offering (IPO), according to investment banking sources. The share sale could be worth ₹5,300 crore to ₹5,500 crore, making it the largest ever public issue by a non-banking financial company (NBFC).Hero FinCorp's board approved the public issue on Wednesday.The IPO will consist of a fresh share issue of ₹4,000 crore and an offer for sale of up to ₹1,500 crore by existing shareholders.An email query sent to Hero FinCorp went unanswered till press time.ICICI Sec, BofA Sec, Jefferies, JM Fin, HSBC Sec, UBS, SBI Cap and HDFC Bank are the bankers to the proposed issue, said sources.110577145Some of the large IPOs by NBFCs in the past have been from IRFC, Aadhar Housing, PNB Housing and Aptus Value Housing. Their IPOs were worth between ₹2,780 crore and ₹4,633 crore.Hero MotoCorp owns around 41% stake in Hero Fincorp, while the promoters , the Munjal family, own around 38%. The remaining stake is held by private equity investors such as Credit Suisse, Apollo Global, and a few dealers of Hero MotoCorp.Shares of Hero MotoCorp ended flat at ₹5,142.4 on Thursday in a weak market. Hero FinCorp has rallied over 80% in the past year to around ₹1,800-1,900 in the unlisted market. Hero FinCorp's profit after tax in FY24 surged 32% to ₹637 crore from a year ago. The NBFC reported an interest income of ₹7,479 crores in FY24, a jump of 31% over FY23.

Rajkot police in Gujarat on Thursday arrested four government officials including a town planning officer (TPO) in connection with the devastating fire at TRP game zone here that claimed 27 lives last week. TPO M D Sagathia, assistant TPOs Mukesh Makwana and Gautam Joshi, and former station officer of Kalavad Road fire station Rohit Vigora were arrested, said an official. "Four government officials have been arrested," confirmed state Director General of Police Vikas Sahay. The government has already suspended Joshi and Vigora. At least nine persons have been arrested in the case so far.

Mumbai: Five of India’s leading IT services companies – Infosys, TCS, Wipro, LTI Mindtree, HCL Tech – have witnessed a cumulative net exit of 25,000 women in the one year ended March, an analysis of headcount data put together by staffing firm Xpheno showed.The growth in the diversity ratio of these firms has also slumped to negligible levels post the Covid-19 pandemic despite a spurt in absolute numbers, data showed.An analysis of the diversity ratio shows that the total number of women employed by this cohort grew from an estimated 374,000 at the start of pandemic (March 2020) to 540,000 in March 2023, but fell to 515,000 at the end of FY24.While the number of women employees in these firms increased by about 141,000, or 38%, between 2020 and 2024, the diversity ratio in this cohort grew by a minor 0.9 percentage points during this period, indicating a comparable jump in hiring of male employees as well.“Such parallel growth in intake scale will continue to drive constant and flat gender ratios as we are witnessing now,” said Shincy Morris, business head - direct hiring at Xpheno.The average diversity ratio in the January-March 2024 quarter at 34.26%, in fact, fell 0.6 percentage points from 34.32% a year earlier.The pre-pandemic years between 2018 and 2020 saw a stronger 1.56 percentage points growth in diversity in the five IT firms, data showed.The increase in women professionals in the workforce post pandemic is largely an outcome of an overall increase in hiring volume across genders and not due to an increase in the diversity ratio, experts said.TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech and LTI Mindtree did not respond to ET’s query until press time Thursday.Data shared by Avtar group, a leading diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) solutions company, shows a stark drop-off in women reaching leadership roles in the Indian IT industry– the diversity ratio at the senior level at 17% is less than half of 35% at the entry level.“This lack of progression can be discouraging for ambitious women,” said Saundarya Rajesh, founder-president of Avtar group. “Imagine dedicating yourself to a field, only to face constant hurdles to advancement and fair compensation. Feeling undervalued and passed over for promotions can be incredibly demotivating.”Attrition of women in the tech sector is higher at 26% compared with the overall attrition of women across industry sectors at 21%, according to Avtar’s data.“The pressure to excel in a demanding field while also managing personal commitments leads to burnout, which results in high attrition,” Saundarya said. “Clearly, the lack of advancement opportunities is discouraging for new hires from diverse backgrounds,” she added.Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of programmes to attract and retain high potential women in the workforce in the tech sector.Avtar’s data shows that post-pandemic, the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) intent has grown from 73% to 77%.However, several surveys also show that there are deep-rooted biases and challenges that are still hindering women’s advancement.According to a recent survey by ANSR, a consulting firm, women in the tech industry experience discrimination across multiple dimensions, including representation, decision making, recognition, and opportunities.“It is crucial that these programmes have the buy-ins of the CEOs. Hiring a bunch of people who are ‘different’ candidates does not guarantee inclusion,” Saundarya said.Krishna Vij, business head at Teamlease Digital, said, “Tackling the gender gap in leadership positions is crucial. This can be achieved by implementing policies that support women during pivotal life stages, such as offering flexible work arrangements, mentorship programs, and promoting return-to-work initiatives for those re-entering the workforce after a career hiatus.”