Equity benchmarks will likely open on a low note on Friday, tracking weakness in Asian markets. As the SGX Nifty Index (quoted at 17,055) indicated, the Nifty could open around 30 points lower.

US markets were boosted overnight by assurances from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that steps would be taken to ensure the safety of deposits in the banking system. The Dow Jones, Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 rose 1%.

Hindustan Aeronautics: The government will exercise the greenshoe option to sell an additional 1.75% stake in the company, as the sale offer was subscribed at 4.5 times its base size. The issue will be open to retail investors on Friday.

IT stocks: Accenture reported second-quarter revenue of $15.81 billion, beating its forecast of $1.52 billion to $15.75 billion. It has lowered its FY23 guidance to 8-10% from 8-11%. The company announced it would cut 19,000 jobs, or 2.5% of its workforce, due to rising wages and cost streamlining. It expects $1.2 billion in severance payments.

Campus Activewear: TPG today sold a 7.62% stake in Campus Activewear worth Rs 800 crore at Rs 345 per share in a block deal, CNBCTV-18 reported.

Reliance: Piramal Realty, the real estate arm of the Piramal Group, has partnered with Jio-bp (a joint venture between RIL and bp) to install electric vehicle charging stations in its residential developments. The partnership aims to provide world-class EV charging solutions to Piramal’s residential projects in Mumbai.

Aether Industries: The company has signed a preliminary agreement with the Gujarat government to invest around Rs 1,000 crore to set up a new manufacturing facility at its Panoli facility.

Canara Bank: Canara Bank has sold its 40% stake in Commercial Indo Bank Ltd (CIBL) to the State Bank of India for Rs 121.3 crore.

Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar: Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar said on Thursday that it had acquired two companies, Phenil Sugars Ltd (PSL) and Bajaj Power Ventures Private Ltd (BPVPL), for Rs 800 crore.

Vedanta: Vedanta’s board will consider the payment of its 5th interim dividend for FY23 on March 28.

PNB: PNB’s board will meet on March 29 to consider funding for FY24 through additional Basel III compliant Tier-I and Tier-II bonds.

LIC: The Financial Services Institutions Bureau has recommended Siddhartha Mohanty as Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation of India. Mohanty is currently the LIC’s Acting Chairperson.

IDFC First Bank: The board has approved a preferential allotment of 37.75 crore shares at Rs 58.18 each to wholly-owned subsidiary IDFC Financial Holding Company via private placement, bringing the latter’s stake in the bank to 39.99%.

Lupin: The company has received preliminary approval from the USFDA to market obeticholic acid tablets, a generic version of Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s Ocaliva® tablets.

Rail Vikas Nigam: The 40:60 joint venture of Rachana Construction and RVNL has received LOA for upgrading to Six Lane Shoulder EPC Mode on NH-8A (New NH-47) Sarkhej-Changodar Section of Ahmedabad-Bagodara-Rajkot Road, Gujarat. The project cost is Rs 252.21 crore.

Bharat Electronics: The Ministry of Defence has signed two contracts worth Rs 3,700 crore with Bharat Electronics to supply medium power radars and digital radar warning receivers (RWR) to the Indian Air Force.

Tata Steel: The company has acquired the remaining 24% stake in subsidiary Tata Steel Advanced Materials from Tata Steel Downstream Products for about Rs 17.33 crore.

IRCTC: IRCTC has signed a 5-year MoU with the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA) to provide helicopter ticket booking services to Shri Kedarnath Dham pilgrims on behalf of UCADA.

Astec LifeSciences: The company’s production activities at MIDC Mahad, Birwadi Industrial Estate, Raigad, Maharashtra, resumed operations on Thursday, March 23.

Nibe: The company acquired the remaining 50% stake in Indigenous Casting Technology upon receipt of MIDC’s NOC and all its assets and liabilities.

Indiabulls Housing Finance: The company allotted 9.16 lakh non-convertible bonds in the public offering, raising Rs 91.65 crore.