Stocks Radar: Punjab National Bank, Gitanjali Gems, Zee Learn 

Indian equity benchmarks edged higher led by HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, and Infosys amid strong Asian markets.

The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 rose as much as 0.7 percent to 34,305 and 10,575 points respectively.

Mid-cap and small-cap shares rose in line with their larger counterparts as the S&P BSE MidCap Index rose 0.7 percent, while the S&P BSE SmallCap Index gained 0.5 percent in early trade.

All sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading higher led by the S&P BSE Metal Index’s 1 percent gain.

Here Are The Stocks Moving The Market This Morning

Punjab National Bank: Slumps After Detecting $1.8 Billion Fraud

Shares of the country’s second-largest state-run lender continued to plummet for a second day, falling as much as 8.6 percent in the first hour of trade, to Rs 133.3. The current price is the lowest since Oct. 24.

On Wednesday, the bank notified the stock exchanges that it had detected fraudulent transactions amounting to $1.77 billion at one of its branches in Mumbai.

The fraudulent transactions are allegedly linked to designer and jeweler Nirav Modi, against whom a complaint has been filed with the Central Bureau of Investigation, BloombergQuint reported. The issue was first detected in mid-January, PNB told the CBI.

PNB was the worst performer on the Nifty PSU Bank Index, and has been pummeled in 2018. The stock has gained only thrice in the last 13 trading sessions and has declined 18.3 percent since the start of 2018.

Gitanjali Gems: Follows PNB On The Way Down

Shares of the Mumbai-based jeweller fell as much as 19 percent, the most in over three months, to Rs 47.50 after its promoter Mehul Choksi’s name surfaced in the PNB fraud case.

The trading volume is 12.6 times higher than the 30-day average, and the stock has declined nearly 24 percent since the beginning of the year.

When the matter first came to light Gitanjali Gems had said that its promoter Choksi was taking all legal steps to ensure his name was removed from the list of accused in the FIR. A statement by the company also claimed that Choksi did not have any current dealings with the firms named in the FIR.

Zee Learn, MT Educare: Spike On Deal News

Shares of Zee Learn Ltd. rose as much as 9.3 percent, while those of MT Educare Ltd hit their upper circuit for the fifth time in the last six trading sessions.

Zee Learn today informed the exchanges that it planned to acquire 44.5 percent stake in MT Educare for a total consideration of Rs 200 crore.

MT Educare will issue 3.2 crore shares to the Essel Group on a preferential basis at a price of Rs 62.57 each, according to the stock exchange notification. The acquisition will trigger an open offer for an additional 26 percent stake in MT Educare, the price of which has been fixed at Rs 72.76 per share, Zee Learn said in a separate notification.

The trading volume so far today is 18.6 times higher than the 30-day average.

Sun Pharma Falls After Q3 Numbers Disappoint

Shares of India’s largest drug maker fell as much as 1.8 percent to Rs 564, after it reported a 75 percent decline in its third quarter profit.

The profit for the quarter, at Rs 365 crore, was much lower than the Rs 944 crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg. The bottom line was hit by a deferred tax payment of Rs 513 crore under the new tax regime in the U.S.

Traded volume in today’s session has so far been 5.6 times higher than the 30-day average. The stock’s consensus price target is now 3.5 percent lower than the current price. Edelweiss downgraded the stock to ‘Hold’ from the earlier rating of ‘Buy’.

Key Q3 Financial Highlights:

• Revenue down 16 percent to Rs 6,653 crore.
• Net profit down 75 percent to Rs 365 crore.
• EBITDA down 41 percent to Rs 1453 crore.
• Margin at 21.8 percent versus 30.9 percent.

Stocks Reacting To Earnings

Cox and Kings Q3 (YoY)

• Stock was up 3.9 percent to Rs 262
• Revenue down 2 percent at Rs 1356 crore.
• Net profit up at Rs 96 crore versus Rs 15 crore.
• EBITDA up 68 percent at Rs 168.5 crore.
• Margin at 12.4 percent versus 7.3 percent.

Endurance Tech Q3 (YoY)

• Stock was up 1.12 percent to Rs 1,183
• Revenue up 19.8 percent at Rs 1,581 crore.
• Net profit up 5.4 percent at Rs 78 crore.
• EBITDA up 25.6 percent at Rs 223.5 crore.
• Margin at 14.1 percent versus 13.5 percent.

Nestle Q3 (YoY)

• Stock was up 3.7 percent to Rs 7,534
• Revenue up 15 percent at Rs 2,601.5 crore.
• Net profit up 60 percent at Rs 312 crore.
• EBITDA up 37.5 percent at Rs 533.5 crore.
• Margin at 20.5 percent versus 17.1 percent.

Jet Airways Q3 (YoY)

• Stock was down 2.72 percent to Rs 781.4
• Revenue up 10 percent at Rs 6,086 crore.
• Net profit down 46 percent at Rs 165 crore.
• EBITDAR up 3 percent at Rs 865 crore.
• Margin at 14.2 percent versus 15.2 percent.

Repco Home Finance Q3 (YoY)

• Stock was down 4.17 percent to Rs 575
• Net interest income up 20 percent at Rs 115.5 crore.
• Net profit up 5 percent at Rs 48.5 crore.
• GNPA at 3.70 percent versus 3.40 percent (QoQ).
• Net NPA at 2.05 percent versus 1.90 percent (QoQ).

IndoCount Industries Q3 (YoY)

• Stock was down 2.8 percent to Rs 103.6
• Revenue down 8 percent at Rs 451 crore.
• Net profit down 36 percent at Rs 36 crore.
• EBITDA down 33 percent at Rs 61 crore.
• Margin at 13.5 percent versus 18.6 percent.