Earnings

The company's gross refining margins - a measure of its core profitability - took a hit amid volatility in oil prices and slowing demand globally, but its fast-growing telecom and retail businesses drove profit to new highs.

Shares in Wipro closed 2.91 per cent higher at Rs 346.20 apiece on the BSE, ahead of the earnings announcement by the company.

Shares in Reliance Industries ended 0.3 per cent lower at Rs 1,133 apiece on the NSE, whose benchmark index Nifty finished a volatile session 0.1 per cent higher, ahead of the earnings announcement by the company.

Sales rose 12.4 per cent while revenue from its beauty and personal care segment, gained nearly 11 per cent to Rs 4,539 crore.

Asset quality was largely stable, with gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans at 3.14 per cent at the end of December, compared to 3.11 per cent in the previous quarter and 2.52 per cent a year earlier.

Infosys on Friday reported a net profit of Rs 3,609 crore for the October-December period. That marked a decrease of 12.2 per cent from Rs 4,110 crore in the previous quarter, according to a regulatory filing by the company.The net profit in the quarter ended December 31 fell short of analysts' estimates. On an average, 25 analysts had estimated the IT major's net profit at Rs 4,131 crore in the December quarter, news agency Reuters reported citing Refinitiv Eikon data.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Thursday reported a record net profit of Rs 8,105 crore for the October-December quarter. With that, the country's largest IT company kicked off the corporate earnings season. Net profit in the quarter ended December 31 rose 2.6 per cent from Rs 7,901 crore in the previous three-month period, according to a regulatory filing by the company.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans stood at 1.13 per cent at the end of December, compared with 1.09 per cent in the previous quarter and 1.16 per cent a year earlier.

The Finnish company, which listed its shares on the stock market in Helsinki last year, reported third-quarter adjusted operating profit of 10.4 million euros ($11.8 million), up from 4.0 million euros a year ago.

The news was embarrassing for Walmart given the $16 billion bet the company has placed on this money-losing business, but shareholders largely shrugged it off, as the stock fell less than 1 per cent on a day broader markets also declined.

Vodafone Idea's after-tax loss was Rs 4,974 crore in the second quarter ended September 30, which included a one-time charge of Rs 566 crore, mainly due to integration and merger related costs.

Provisions for bad loans at IDBI Bank, which has the highest bad loan ratio in the sector, jumped 92.9 per cent to Rs 5,482 crore.

Standalone profit after tax, which does not include the share of profit from unit Mahindra Vehicle Manufacturers, stood at Rs 1,649 crore ($228.28 million) for its fiscal second quarter that ended September 30, compared with Rs 1,332 crore a year earlier.

Aircraft fuel expenses climbed 55.8 per cent to Rs 845 crore, while total income from operations rose 3.8 per cent.

Tata Steel Q2 earnings: Thirteen analysts on an average had expected the Mumbai-based firm to post a profit of Rs 2,247 crore.