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HDFC Mutual Fund loaded up 80 lakh shares of HDFC Bank and 71 lakh shares of HDFC in March. Interestingly, buying came ahead of the Street-shaking announcement of the merger of both entities in early April, following which both stocks rallied significantly.

“The commentary going forward will be very significantly talking earnings down. What the market has yet to reflect is an earnings downgrade and which is why we are seeing that while markets globally have had these kinds of falls and recoveries, they have really done nothing for the past six months, particularly our market.”

Analysts said the Q4 miss was an aberration in an otherwise stock demand environment and said it could bring some weakness on the counter in the short term. That said, their long term targets suggest double-digit potential upside for the scrip.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.22 percent, or 328.51 points, to 27,172.00, while the broader Topix index gained 0.95 percent, or 17.99 points, to end at 1,908.05.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.6% higher at 7,523.4, posting its fourth weekly gain in five. The benchmark marked its lowest trading volume so far this year, ahead of a long weekend due to Good Friday and Easter Monday holidays.

The blue-chip index fell 0.2%, with oil majors BP and Shell down 0.3% each on weaker crude prices.

For the week ahead, stock markets could see fresh declines as investors react to disappointing fourth-quarter results by IT heavyweight Infosys, Bhamre said. Index heavyweight HDFC Bank is also set to declare earnings on Saturday, which would drive stock prices.

The IPO consists of a fresh issue of up to Rs 250 crore with a face value of Rs 2 per share and an Offer For Sale of up to 9,000,000 equity shares by existing shareholders.

“Cement as a sector that will clearly benefit from the infrastructure push that we have been long waiting for. JK Cement, Heidelberg Cement, JK Lakshmi among smallcaps or even Ramco Cements are looking very attractive. Among the larger companies, UltraTech is also looking good. In case of fertilisers, UPL, Deepak Fertilisers and even Jubilant Ingrevia are the names we are looking at now.”

The brokerage said the ongoing correction is an opportunity to buy heavyweight stocks of the sector at relatively better entry levels even though margins are likely to remain at risk in the near term.