Stocks to watch on October 21: PNC Infratech, JSW Steel, RBL Bank, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Housing and more

On the global front, China cut benchmark lending rates, following reductions to other policy rates last month as part of a package of stimulus measures to revive the economy.

The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was lowered by 25 basis points to 3.10% from 3.35%, while the five-year LPR was cut by the same margin to 3.6% from 3.85% previously.

In the commodity market, oil prices steadied in early trading on Monday, following a more than 7% drop last week.

The Mahindra Group company had posted a net profit of ₹493.9 crore in the year-ago period.

Revenue for Q2 FY25 came in at ₹13,313.2 crore, 3.49% higher than ₹12,863.9 crore in Q2 FY24, according to a regulatory filing.

On a sequential basis, profit and revenue saw an ascent of 46.81% and 2.36%, respectively.

The country's biggest private sector lender had earned a net profit of ₹15,976 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Total income increased to ₹85,500 crore during the quarter under review against ₹78,406 crore in the same period last year. 

Net Interest Income (NII) improved to ₹30,110 crore, from ₹27,390 crore in the second quarter of the previous year, registering a 10% growth.

As regards asset quality, the bank witnessed a slight deterioration, with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rising to 1.36% of the gross loans by the end of September 2024 from 1.34% a year ago.

The private sector lender had recorded a net profit of ₹3,191 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

The bank earned interest income of ₹13,216 crore during the quarter compared to ₹11,193 crore in the same period a year ago.

Net interest income (NII) improved to ₹7,020 crore, from ₹6,297 crore in the second quarter of the previous year, registering an 11% growth. However, net interest margin (NIM) moderated to 4.91% from 5.22% at the end of the second quarter of the last financial year.

RBL Bank Chief Executive and Managing Director R Subramaniakumar told reporters that the stress in the microfinance book is due to industry-wide issues, but the same on the credit-card front, where the regulator has been flagging risks for the industry, is on account of internal aspects.

The private sector lender had reported a post-tax net profit of ₹294 crore in the year-ago period and ₹372 crore in the preceding June quarter.

The insurer had earned a net profit of ₹577 crore in the year-ago period.

The company's written gross premium also rose to ₹6,948 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal compared to ₹6,272 crore a year ago.

Its net premium earned rose to ₹4,835 crore against ₹4,240 crore in the same quarter a year ago, it said.

Total revenue from operations came in at ₹2,811.26 crore against ₹396 crore in the year-ago period.

The company had earned a consolidated net profit at ₹668 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Total income increased to ₹694 crore as against ₹608 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

However, total expenses doubled to ₹146 crore as against ₹71 crore in the same period in the previous year.

The company had posted a consolidated net profit of ₹363.92 crore in the July-September quarter a year ago.

Its revenue from operations rose 12.87% to ₹4,214.45 crore during the quarter under review. It was at ₹3,733.78 crore in the year-ago period.

Its revenue from operations was also down 2.09% to ₹3,087 crore during the quarter under review. It was at ₹3,153 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

The total acquisition cost is ₹4,051.40 crore.