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India's leading public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) among 69 companies will announce their results for the quarter ended March 2024 on Thursday. Other companies investors will watch out for include Asian Paints, BPCL and Indian Overseas Bank.Apart from the above, Abbott India, ADF Foods, Ajmera Realty, Alkyl Mines, Alps Industries, Alembic Pharma, ASI Industries, Balgopal Commercial, Capital SFB, Care Ratings, Escorts Kubota, Grand Foundry, Gopal Snacks, HPCL, IOB among others will also release their March quarter numbers.SBI Q4 expectationsIndia's leading public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) is expected to report muted numbers for the fourth quarter ended March 2024.Analysts are pricing in a flattish net interest income (NII) growth or even a marginal decline up to 1% year-on-year on the back of higher operating expenses and NIM normalisation.Operating expenses would be higher due to wage revision-related costs (final settlement impact).Net profit for the fourth quarter is likely to drop 24% year-on-year, according to an average estimate of five brokerages."We expect operating profit to decline 20% year-on-year (higher operating expenses) and NIM normalization. We are building in flat NII growth on the back of 14% year-on-year loan growth," said Kotak Equities.Asian Paints Q4 expectationsDomestic paint and building material player Asian Paints is expected to report a net profit of Rs 1,317 crore for the quarter ended March 2024, which will likely be 5% year-on-year.The Mumbai-headquartered company may also post a revenue of Rs 9160 for the said quarter, which will be a 4.3% jump on the YoY basis, according to average estimates by three brokerages.The PAT range is expected between Rs 1,287 crore and Rs 1,900 crore. The lower band is estimated by Axis Securities, while Anand Rathi sees the higher range.The demand for paints remained steady in Q4, said one of the brokerages while emphasising that the low input price-driven margin expansion for companies is behind now and boiling crude oil prices and price cuts could create a margin pressure for most companies in this segment.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

Indian market is expected to consolidate on Thursday tracking muted global cues.The Nifty future closed positive with gains of 0.05% at 22392 levels on Wednesday. India VIX was up by 0.41% from 17.05 to 17.08 levels.On the weekly options front, the maximum Call OI is placed at 22500 and then towards 22700 strikes while the maximum Put OI is placed at 22000 and then towards 22200 strikes.Call writing is seen at 22400 and then towards 22600 strikes while Put writing is seen at 22200 and then towards 22100 strikes.“Options data suggests a broader trading range in between 21800 to 22800 zones while an immediate range between 22100 to 22500 levels,” Chandan Taparia, Analyst-Derivatives at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited, said.FIIs in the cash segment on Wednesday sold to the tune of Rs 6,669.10 cr while DIIs bought to the tune of Rs 5928.81 cr.FIIs' Long short ratio for index futures has further dipped to 38.50, as on a net basis, they sold 26530 index futures.“The Nifty PCR is currently at 0.59. Going ahead, 22200-22180 will act as crucial support for the index, while resistance is seen at 20-EMA levels of 22410-22430 zone,” Sudeep Shah, Deputy Vice President, Head of Technical and Derivative Research, SBI Securities, said.“Any sustainable move below the level of 22180 will lead to further selling pressure in the index up to the 22030-21950 level,” he said.“On a cross-over above 22430, Index could witness a short-term move upto 22580-22630,” recommended Shah.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: Rajesh Palviya, VP-Technical & Derivative Research, Axis Securities told ETBureauHeritage Foods: Buy| Target Rs 410| Stop Loss Rs 345Prestige Estates: Buy| Target Rs 1900| Stop Loss Rs 1415Orient Electric: Buy| Target Rs 255| Stop Loss Rs 220Expert: Kunal Bothra, Market Expert told ETNowPetronet LNG: Buy| Target Rs 323| Stop Loss Rs 299Ashok Leyland: Buy| Target Rs 205| Stop Loss Rs 193Biocon: Buy| Target Rs 318| Stop Loss Rs 288Expert: Nooresh Merani, an independent technical analyst told ETNowAxis Bank: Buy| Target Rs 1200| Stop Loss Rs 1120ICICI Lombard General Insurance: Buy| Target Rs 1900| Stop Loss Rs 1670OIL: Buy| Target Rs 700| Stop Loss Rs 620(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)

Huawei's latest high-end phone features more Chinese suppliers, including a new flash memory storage chip and an improved chip processor, a teardown analysis showed, pointing to the progress China is making towards technology self-sufficiency. Online tech repair company iFixit and consultancy TechSearch International examined the inside of Huawei Technologies' Pura 70 Pro for Reuters, finding a NAND memory chip they said was likely packaged by the Chinese telecoms equipment maker's in-house chip unit HiSilicon and several other components made by Chinese suppliers. These findings have not been previously reported. Huawei's resurgence in the high-end smartphone market after four years of U.S. sanctions is being widely watched by both rivals and U.S. politicians as it has become a symbol of growing U.S.-China trade frictions and China's bid for technology self-sufficiency. The firms also found that the Pura 70 phones run on an advanced processing chipset made by Huawei called the Kirin 9010 that is likely only a slightly improved version of the Chinese-made advanced chip used by Huawei's Mate 60 series. "While we cannot provide an exact percentage, we'd say the domestic component usage is high, and definitely higher than in the Mate 60," said Shahram Mokhtari, iFixit's lead teardown technician. "This is about self-sufficiency, all of this, everything you see when you open up a smartphone and see whatever are made by Chinese manufacturers, this is all about self-sufficiency," Mokhtari said. Huawei declined to comment. Huawei launched the Pura 70's four smartphone models in late April and the series quickly sold out. Analysts say it will likely take more market share from iPhone manufacturer Apple, while policymakers in Washington are questioning the efficacy of U.S. curbs on the telecoms equipment giant. CHINA-MADE FLASH MEMORY CHIP Earlier analysis by teardown firms such as TechInsights of the Mate 60, launched in August last year, found the phone to be using DRAM and NAND memory chips made by South Korea's SK Hynix. SK Hynix said at the time it no longer did business with Huawei and analysts said the chips likely came from stockpiles. The Pura 70 still contains a DRAM chip made by SK Hynix, iFixit and TechSearch found, but the NAND flash memory chip was likely packaged by Huawei's HiSilicon unit this time around and was made up of NAND dies each with a capacity of 1 terabit. This is comparable to products made by major flash memory producers such as SK Hynix, Kioxia and Micron. However, the firms were unable to definitively identify the manufacturer of the wafer as the markings on the NAND die were unfamiliar, they added. But iFixit added that they believed that HiSilicon may have produced the memory controller as well. "In our teardown our chip ID expert has identified it as a particular HiSilicon chip," Mokhtari said. SK Hynix reiterated that it was "strictly complying with the relevant policies since the restrictions against Huawei were announced and has also suspended any transactions with the company since then". INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS IFixit and TechSearch's analysis of the processor used by the Pura 70 Pro also suggests Huawei may have only made incremental improvements in its ability to produce an advanced chip with Chinese partners in the months since it launched the Mate 60 series. The processor is similar to the one employed in the Mate 60 series that was produced for Huawei by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) using the Chinese chip foundry's 7 nanometer (nm) N+2 manufacturing process, they said. "This is significant because news of the 9000S on a 7nm node caused a bit of a panic last year when U.S. lawmakers were confronted with the possibility that the sanctions imposed on Chinese chipmakers might not slow their technological progress after all," iFixit said. "The fact that the 9010 is still a 7nm process chip, and that it's so close to the 9000S, might seem to suggest that Chinese chip manufacturing has indeed been slowed." Still, he cautioned against underestimating Huawei, saying that SMIC was still expected to make a leap to a 5nm manufacturing node before the end of the year. SMIC did not respond to a request for comment.

After cancellation of nearly 80 flights, Tata-owned Air India Express has terminated the employment of 30 employees (cabin crew members) after they failed to report to work. "Your act of reporting sick for work amounts to a concerted action with a common understanding, to not operate the flight and to disrupt services of the Company. This is not only in violation of the applicable laws, but also violates the Air India Express Limited Employees' Service Rules as are applicable to you," read one of the termination letter of the Air India Express employee.Read More: After Vistara, here's why Air India crew is up in arms against Tatas After major disruption on Wednesday, CEO Aloke Singh in a message to employees said that he is open to discussion with the cabin crew and that the airline will curtail flights for the next few days to mitigate the disruption. The airline operates around 360 flights per day.Crew members unhappy with Tata:The salaries of crew members has been slashed by almost 20 per cent owing to the merger of Air India Express with AirAsia India, reported ET.K K Vijaykumar, president of Air India Express Employees Union which counts around 300 crew of the airline as its members, told ET that multiple allowances which were part of the employees' compensation prior to the merger, have been entirely removed, resulting in significant salary cuts.Air India Express, before the merger, used to operate only to the Middle East countries and its crew were paid multiple allowances, After the merger, the crew now also has to fly to domestic destinations due to which some allowances are not paid, for example a layover allowance, which is paid to crew for overnight stay at foreign destinations.The union had earlier written to the Regional Labour Commissioner at Delhi and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran that the airline is being mismanaged and there is a lack of equality in the treatment of the staff.“Employees find themselves silenced when attempting to address grievances, with management actively suppressing any dissenting voices on company platforms,” the letter reviewed by ET said."There is a glaring lack of equality in the treatment of employees. Salaries, experience and merits are being disregarded, with internal job postings now being filled by candidates external to Air India Express, bypassing qualified internal candidates,” the letter said.Chaos till now:The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday called for a report from Air India Express regarding cancellation of flights and asked them to resolve issues promptly. Additionally, the airline has been advised to ensure facilities to passengers as per Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) norms.Along with the ministry, Delhi's regional labour commissioner Ashok Perumalla pushed the company to settle the issues raised by the protesting staff. "We are engaging with the crew to understand the reasons behind these occurrences...," said a spokesperson of the airline.(with agency inputs)

Mumbai: Shares of financial services companies recorded the highest selling by overseas funds across sectors in the second-half of April. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) dumped shares in the sector worth ₹12,550 crore between April 16 and April 30 after purchases worth ₹3,212 crore in the first half of the month, as per data from National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL). The sector received inflows worth ₹52,900 in 2023.FPIs sold shares worth ₹27,140 crore across 14 sectors in April 16-30 period. Other than financials, information technology (IT), fast- moving consumer goods (FMCG) and oil & gas sectors were among the sectors that witnessed large outflows.The IT sector witnessed profit booking by foreign investors worth ₹4,915 crore between April 16 and 30, after outflows worth ₹4,658 crore in the first-half of the month. They offloaded shares worth ₹3,563 crore and ₹1,443 crore in FMCG and oil & gas, respectively.109962813Power and healthcare sectors saw foreign outflows worth ₹834 crore and ₹768 crore, respectively, after witnessing inflows worth ₹5,143 crore and ₹61 crore in the first-half of the month.In the last 15 days of April, foreign investors turned net sellers worth over ₹500 crore in automobiles, construction, and metals sectors among others.Overseas investors bought Indian equities worth ₹13,060 crore across 9 sectors in the second-half of April. These investors demonstrated renewed buying interest in India's telecom sector with an investment of ₹6,619 crore for the period between April 16 and 30 after buying shares worth ₹1,659 crore in the first-half of the month. The sector received foreign funds worth ₹7,967 crore in March.They continued to infuse funds in capital goods and services stocks in the second-half of the month worth ₹2,408 crore and ₹1,764 crore respectively, while the sector earmarked 'Others' received ₹1,348 crore.