Nifty 50 closed at 24,971.30 (-86.1, -0.3%) , BSE Sensex closed at 81,501.36 (-318.8, -0.4%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 23,673.15 (-62.6, -0.3%). Market breadth is even. Of the 2,307 stocks traded today, 1,176 were on the uptrend, and 1,097 went down.
Indian indices closed in the red, with the benchmark Nifty 50 index closing at 24,971.3 points. The Indian volatility index, Nifty VIX, rose 0.4% and closed at around 13.1 points. Hyundai Motor India’s Rs 27,870.1 crore IPO received bids for 0.2X the available 10 crore shares on offer on the second day of bidding. The retail investor quota got bids for 0.3X the available 4.9 crore shares.
Nifty Midcap 100 closed lower, while Nifty Smallcap 100 closed flat. Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables closed in the red. According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, Forest Materials emerged as the best-performing sector of the day, with a rise of 2.9%.
European indices traded mixed. Major Asian indices closed mixed. US index futures traded mixed, indicating a cautious start to the trading session. Stellantis announces plans to recall over 20K hybrid crossover SUVs in the US due to concerns over the brake pedal.
Relative strength index (RSI) indicates that stocks like Ipca Laboratories, Usha Martin, and Hitachi Energy India are in the overbought zone.
Himadri Speciality Chemical is rising as its net profit grows 34.7% YoY to Rs 135.4 crore in Q2FY25. Revenue increases by 13.4% YoY to Rs 1,150.5 crore, driven by higher sales from the carbon materials and chemicals segment. The company appears in a screener of stocks where mutual funds increased their shareholding over the past two months.
Ugro Capital is rising as it secures a loan worth $40 million (approx. Rs 330 crore) from the United States International Development Finance Corp (US DFC). The lender will use this loan to invest in small businesses.
Wockhardt rises to hit its new 52-week high of Rs 1,126.5 as it files for its fast-acting insulin analog, Aspart injection, with the Drug Controller General of India. The insulin will be available in cartridges, vials, and prefilled disposable pens for diabetes management.
Macquarie suggests that Swiggy, gearing up for its IPO, is four to six quarters behind its competitor Zomato. It notes that Swiggy's gross order value (GOV) is about 26.5% lower than Zomato's. Swiggy reported a GOV of $820 million (Rs 6,800 crore) in Q1FY25, compared to Zomato's $1,116 million (Rs 9,300 crore) during the same period in the food delivery sector. In addition, Swiggy has a monthly transacting user base of 14 million, while Zomato leads with 20 million users.
Motilal Oswal maintains its 'Buy' call on HCL Technologies with a higher target price of Rs 2,300 per share. This indicates a potential upside of 23.1%. The brokerage believes the company's investments in next-gen platforms will help improve client expenses. It expects the firm's revenue to grow at a CAGR of 11.9% over FY25-27.
HDFC Life Insurance rises as its net profit grows by 14.8% YoY to Rs 433 crore in Q2FY25. Revenue increases by 23.8% YoY to Rs 28,489.3 crore, owing to improvements in annual premium equivalent (APE) and new business premium. It shows up in a screener of stocks outperforming their industry price change during the quarter.
Amber Enterprises India is rising as it enters a joint venture agreement with Korea Circuit to manufacture printed circuit boards (PCBs) in India. Amber, via its subsidiary IL JIN Electronics, will hold a 70% stake, aiming to meet India's growing electronics demand.
Nidhu Saxena, MD & CEO of Bank of Maharashtra, says that the cost of deposits has increased by 37 bps YoY. He notes the improved traction in CASA deposits and highlights the bank’s NIM (net interest margin) guidance of 3.7-3.9%.
South Indian Bank rises sharply as its net profit grows 18.2% YoY to Rs 324.7 crore in Q2FY25. Revenue increases 12.9% YoY to Rs 2,804.2 crore during the quarter. The bank's asset quality improves as its gross and net NPAs decline by 56 bps YoY and 39 bps YoY, respectively. It shows up in a screener of stocks with increasing revenue for the past eight quarters.
Ceigall India emerges as the lowest bidder for a Rs 207 crore project from the State Highway Authority of Jharkhand. The project involves constructing a four-lane elevated road from near Sahajanand Chowk to near Judge Colony in Ranchi.
Ashoka Buildon is rising as it bags an order worth Rs 1,126.6 crore from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to construct a flyover in Sion, Mumbai.
Waaree Energies sets its IPO price band at Rs 1,427-1,503 per share. The issue size is Rs 4,321.4 crore, with a fresh issue worth Rs 3,600 crore and an offer for sale of around Rs 721.4 crore. The issue opens on October 21.
Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals is rising as it enters a license & distribution agreement with Triple Hair. As per the agreement, Akums Drugs will receive exclusive rights to develop and market products recently innovated by Triple Hair in India.
Cochin Shipyard falls sharply as the central government announces plans to sell a 5% stake worth Rs 2,026 crore through an offer for sale at Rs 1,540 per share. The offer includes a base sale of 2.5%, with an option to sell an additional 2.5%.
Godrej Properties is rising as it emerges as the highest bidder for three adjoining plots intended for a group housing project in Sector 5-A, Kharghar. The plots cover 6.5 acres and offer a development potential of 2 million square feet. The estimated total revenue potential is Rs 3,500 crore.
Reports indicate that Ola Electric has engaged EY India for a project focused on addressing after-sales issues and customer complaints. This initiative follows growing dissatisfaction among customers and a government notice regarding consumer rights violations. EY India is expected to help improve operations, enhance spare parts management, and strengthen customer support in regions with a few service centres.
Ambuja Cements falls as nearly 1.5 crore shares (0.6% stake), amounting to Rs 909 crore, reportedly change hands in a block deal at an average price of Rs 586 per share.
Larsen & Toubro's heavy civil infrastructure arm bags an order worth Rs 1,000-2,500 crore from Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corp (UPMRCL) to design and construct line-2 of Agra Metro Phase-1. The scope of work includes the construction of a 15.1 km elevated viaduct, 14 stations, and a 2.6 km depot.
PNC Infratech surges as it secures two orders worth Rs 4,630 crore from Maharashtra State Road Development Corp (MSRDC). The first project involves the construction of the Pune Ring Road, spanning 13.8 km from Indori to Chimbali, valued at Rs 2,268 crore. The second project includes building a 28.9 km expressway connector from Jalna to Nanded, valued at Rs 2,362 crore.
Nomura downgrades HDFC Life Insurance Co to a 'Neutral' rating with a target price of Rs 735. The brokerage cites sustained growth and weak margins as key reasons. It believes the company will need to deliver a VNB (value of new business ) margin of approximately 25.4% in H2FY25 to achieve at least 15% YoY growth in VNB in FY25, which seems challenging. Nomura also notes the current valuation adequately reflects the company's positive aspects.
Rallis India surges as its net profit beats Forecaster estimates by 32.3% after growing 19.5% YoY to Rs 98 crore in Q2FY25, owing to lower raw material costs. Revenue rises by 12.1% YoY to Rs 938 crore due to an increase in the crop care and seeds segments. It features in a screener of stocks with negative to positive growth in sales and profit with strong price momentum.
RailTel Corp of India is rising as it receives a work order worth Rs 79.8 crore from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). The order involves selecting a service provider to set up, migrate, and manage MHADA's cloud data centre and disaster recovery site.
KEI Industries is falling as its Q2FY25 net profit misses Forecaster estimates by 6.4% despite growing by 10.4% YoY to Rs 154.8 crore, helped by inventory destocking. Revenue increases by 17.5% YoY to Rs 2,296.6 crore, driven by the cables & wires and engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) projects segments. The company's board approves a qualified institutional placement (QIP) of equity shares worth Rs 2,000 crore.
G R Infraprojects is rising as it secures a contract worth Rs 1,885.6 crore from Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to build a section of the Pune Ring Road in Pune District. The project connects Kalyan/Rathwade village to Shivare/Kusgaon village and will be completed on an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) basis.
Nifty 50 was trading at 25,012.45 (-44.9, -0.2%) , BSE Sensex was trading at 81,663.57 (-156.6, -0.2%) while the broader Nifty 500 was trading at 23,717.40 (-18.3, -0.1%)
Market breadth is in the green. Of the 1,908 stocks traded today, 1,111 were on the uptick, and 752 were down.
Riding High:
Largecap and midcap gainers today include HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd. (4,827.90, 6.0%), Tube Investments of India Ltd. (4,510.80, 4.3%) and Voltas Ltd. (1,881.30, 3.9%).
Downers:
Largecap and midcap losers today include Oil India Ltd. (527.20, -5.8%), Polycab India Ltd. (7,181.50, -4.1%) and Trent Ltd. (7,805.80, -3.9%).
Volume Rockets
40 stocks in BSE 500 are trading on high volumes today.
Top high volume gainers on BSE included Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd. (779.05, 11.6%), UTI Asset Management Company Ltd. (1,329, 7.8%) and Amber Enterprises India Ltd. (5,491.65, 6.3%).
Top high volume losers on BSE were KEI Industries Ltd. (4,384.80, -6.5%), Oil India Ltd. (527.20, -5.8%) and Zydus Lifesciences Ltd. (1,020.10, -3.6%).
Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Ltd. (362.55, 3.8%) was trading at 43.3 times of weekly average. DCM Shriram Ltd. (1,121.75, 6.0%) and Grindwell Norton Ltd. (2,511.35, 1.8%) were trading with volumes 9.3 and 9.2 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.
BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages
19 stocks made 52 week highs, while 3 stocks were underachievers and hit their 52 week lows.
Stocks touching their year highs included - HCL Technologies Ltd. (1,865.25, -0.3%), Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. (962.05, 4.1%) and Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (6,428.30, -1.3%).
Stocks making new 52 weeks lows included - CreditAccess Grameen Ltd. (1,024.10, -2.9%) and CSB Bank Ltd. (309.30, 1%).
14 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including PNC Infratech Ltd. (466, 4.4%) and Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (928.95, 4.1%). 12 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems India Ltd. (14,900, -4.9%) and Bata India Ltd. (1,422, -2.0%).