Seven stocks in focus in Wednesday morning trade

NEW DELHI: The 50-share Nifty index is expected to open soft on Wednesday tracking mixed Asian markets.

Here is a list of seven stocks that are likely to be in action in morning trade today.

1) Bajaj Auto Ltd will be in focus ahead of its quarterly results. According to an ET Now poll, the company is likely to post a net profit of Rs 720 crore for the June 2012 quarter, up 1.3 per cent, as compared to a net profit of Rs 711 crore, year-on-year (Y-o-Y).

"Q1FY13 sales are expected to be at Rs 4,860 crore, up 1.7 per cent, compared to Rs 4,777 crore YoY," said the Poll.

2) Tata Power Ltd, after the company is evaluating a plan to raise as much as Rs 1000 crore through a sale of bonds to domestic investors.

The moves comes in the backdrop of a downgrade by ratings agency S&P which said the company's fund-raising ability could be curtailed because it had breached covenants on loans to its Mundra project.

3) Reliance Industries Ltd, after Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy gave a new twist to his rocky relationship with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries as he promised quick approvals to pending projects but he also threatened to block its budgets if the company does not give the CAG full access to its records.

4) Telecom stocks will be in focus after the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) is expected to meet on crucial issues related to the reserve price, usage charge, deferred payment options by operators and rollout obligations, media reported suggested.

5) Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, after the Naveen Jindal-controlled company is close to acquiring a controlling stake in a Canadian coal mine owner to feed its India-based power and steel plants.

"Jindal, announced on Tuesday that it is pulling out of the massive $2.1-billion iron ore investment in Bolivia, is in advanced talks with the Toronto-listed CIC Energy, the owner of large undeveloped coal assets in Botswana, Africa," ET reported.

6) Grasim Industries Ltd, after the Aditya Birla Group company is working on setting up a $500 million (Rs.2,764 crore) plant in Turkey for producing viscose staple fibre (VSF), a raw material used for making apparels and home textiles.

7) Bajaj Finserv Ltd, after the company reported an increase of 51 percent in profit after tax during the first quarter helped by growth in advances, lower NPA, improvement in insurance claims and premium income.

Consolidated profit for the company went up to Rs 195 crore from Rs 129 crore in the first quarter last year.