Nifty 50 closed at 21,462.25 (-109.7, -0.5%), BSE Sensex closed at 71,186.86 (-313.9, -0.4%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 19,414.80 (-72.8, -0.4%), of the 2,013 stocks traded today, 999 were on the uptrend, and 983 went down.
Indian indices maintained the losses from the afternoon session and closed in the red, with the Nifty 50 closing at 21,462. The volatility index, Nifty VIX, dropped by 6.7% and closed at 14.1 points. Oracle Financial Services Software closed at an all-time high of Rs 6,545.5 as its Q3FY24 net profit increased by 77.5% QoQ to Rs 740.8 crore helped by lower professional and finance expenses. Its revenue improved by 26.2% QoQ due to the growing product and services segment.
Nifty Midcap 100 closed flat, while Nifty Smallcap 100 closed in the red following the benchmark index. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Realty closed higher than Wednesday’s closing level. According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, hardware technology & equipment emerged as the top-performing sector of the day, with a rise of over 0.9%.
Most European indices trade in the green. US indices futures trade flat indicating a cautious start. The data released by the US Census Bureau indicated that the country’s retail sales in December increased by 0.6% MoM against estimates of 0.4% growth.
Oracle Financial Services Software sees a long buildup in its January 25 future series as its open interest rises 86.1% with a put-call ratio of 1.2.
Tata Communications rises as its Q3FY24 revenue grows by 24.4% YoY to Rs 5,633.3 crore due to the growing data, transformation, and real estate services segments. However, its net profit declines by 88.6% YoY due to higher network & transmission and employee benefit expenses.
Intellect Design Arena rises as it starts an AI Innovation centre in GIFT City, Gujarat. The centre will connect the company with 8 global cities, New York, London, Frankfurt, Toronto, Singapore, Melbourne, Chennai, and Mumbai.
Sugar industrystocks like Ravalgaon Sugar Farm, Bannari Amman Sugar, and Dhampur Bio Organicstrade in red as the Uttar Pradesh government increases the Minimum Selling Price (MSP) on sugarcane by Rs 20 per quintal.
BofA anticipates India's credit growth to accelerate following the Lok Sabha elections. The brokerage highlights that loan growth in India was around 20% in 2023, driven by retail loans. It expects the telecom, infrastructure, and renewables sectors to boost credit growth.
Consumer durables stocks like Crompton Greaves Consumer Products, Havells India, Titanand Rajesh Exportsare falling in trade. All constituents of the broader BSE Consumer Durablesindex are also trading in the red.
Ashok Leyland is rising after it bags an order worth Rs 522 crore from Karnataka State Transport Undertakings for manufacturing 1,225 BSVI diesel-fueled buses. The buses will have an advanced H series engine, which is expected to reduce the overall cost of ownership.
Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy is falling as its revenue misses Forecaster estimates by 34% despite rising by 43.2% YoY in Q3FY24. Revenue rises on the back of an increase in revenue from the EPC business. Its net loss declines by 37.1% YoY due to a reduction in direct project costs. The company appears in a screener of stocks with low Piotroski scores.
Reports suggest that 43.9 lakh shares (0.5% equity) of Max Healthcare Institute, amounting to approximately Rs 312.8 crore, change hands in a large trade.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services maintains its 'Buy' rating on Angel One with an upgraded target price of Rs 4,000 per share, indicating a potential upside of 20.2%. The brokerage believes that the company's focus on gaining market share in the cash segment and revenue growth from the distribution segment will contribute to its success. It expects the company's revenue to grow at a CAGR of 18.6% over FY23-26.
South Indian Bankrises to an all-time high of Rs 31.2 as its Q3FY24 net profit grows by 197.2% YoY to Rs 305.4 crore. However, its net interest income decreases by 0.7% YoY due to a decline in the retail and other banking operations segments. The bank's asset quality improves as its gross and net NPA margins decline by 74 bps and 65 bps YoY, respectively.
Shakti Pumpssurges by 3% after its board of directors approves a fundraising plan of Rs 200 crore in one or more tranches through a qualified institutional placement.
Jayant Acharya, Joint Managing Director & CEO of JSW Seel, expects steel demand to grow by 14% but highlights that cheap imports are a concern. He adds that the company plans to expand its capacity to 35 MT by FY25.
Welspun Corp hits a new 52-week high of Rs 596.4 after its associate company, East Pipes Integrated Company for Industry (EPIC), wins multiple orders worth SAR 1.3 billion (Rs 3,000 crore) in Saudi Arabia to manufacture and supply steel pipes to Saline Water Conversion Corporation and Aramco.
Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services surges 3% as it bags a contract worth Rs 200 crore from Torrent Gas to implement a close loop fleet program.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance plunges almost 7% as its net profit misses Trendlyne's Forecaster estimates by 13.9%, despite rising by 3.1% YoY in Q3FY24. Revenue increases by 52% YoY due to improvement in revenue from the life and health insurance segments. It appears in a screener of stocks with declining cash flow from operations over the past two years.
Neeraj Kumar, CEO of Jindal Saw, says the company expects higher revenue in Q4FY24 compared to Q3, with margins above 15% and declining debt levels. He also mentions that the current order book for iron & steel pipes and pellets is at Rs 1,238.7 crore. In Q3FY24, the net profit rose by 41.5% YoY to Rs 531.6 crore, while revenue increased by 9.5% YoY.
Aarti Industriesrises by 5% after signing a long-term agreement worth Rs 6,000 crore to supply a niche specialty chemical to a multi-national conglomerate over four years.
Oracle Financial Services Softwarerises to an all-time high of Rs 6,084.2 as its Q3FY24 net profit grows by 77.5% QoQ to Rs 740.8 crore helped by lower professional and finance expenses. Its revenue improves by 26.2% QoQ due to growing product and services segment.
IIFL Finance rises as its revenue grows by 28.2% YoY to Rs 1,137.5 crore. However, its net profit declines by 17.2% YoY due to growing finance, impairment, and employee benefit expenses. The company appears in a screener of stocks with increasing quarterly revenue.
Nomura maintains its ‘Buy’ rating on Apollo Hospitals, with an upgraded target price of Rs 6,724. The brokerage expects that improvement in capacity utilisation will lead to EBITDA expansion in the medium to long term.
Happiest Minds Technologies falls more than 3% as its revenue rises 0.8% QoQ in Q3FY24, missing Trendlyne's Forecaster estimates by 0.9%. Net profit grows by 1.9% QoQ to Rs 59.6 crore during the quarter. It shows up in a screener of stocks where promoters increased pledged shares QoQ.
Dolly Khanna adds Ujjivan Financial Services to her portfolio in Q3FY24. She buys a 1.1% stake in the company.
Ashish Kacholia cuts his stake in TARC to below 1% in Q3FY24 from 2.2% held in Q2FY24.
LTIMindtree plunges almost 10% as its EBITDA margin declines by 10 bps QoQ due to rising finance cost and other expenses in Q3FY24. Net profit increases by 0.6% QoQ to Rs 1,169.8 crore. Its revenue grows by 1.2% QoQ due to growth in the manufacture & resources and healthcare segments. The company appears in a screener of stocks with growing net profit and margins YoY.
Riding High:
Largecap and midcap gainers today include Oracle Financial Services Software Ltd. (6,545.50, 28.69%), Tata Communications Ltd. (1,769.60, 4.25%) and Oil India Ltd. (395.45, 3.70%).
Downers:
Largecap and midcap losers today include LTIMindtree Ltd. (5,603.00, -10.72%), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd. (486.20, -5.58%) and MphasiS Ltd. (2,514.10, -4.30%).
Volume Rockets
24 stocks in BSE 500 are trading on high volumes today.
Top high volume gainers on BSE included Oracle Financial Services Software Ltd. (6,545.50, 28.69%), PCBL Ltd. (311.00, 11.55%) and Sobha Ltd. (1,474.95, 11.19%).
Top high volume losers on BSE were LTIMindtree Ltd. (5,603.00, -10.72%), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd. (486.20, -5.58%) and IndiaMART InterMESH Ltd. (2,488.65, -4.32%).
Birla Corporation Ltd. (1,376.95, -1.22%) was trading at 18.2 times of weekly average. Medplus Health Services Ltd. (738.00, -0.81%) and Century Plyboards (India) Ltd. (800.15, 1.91%) were trading with volumes 10.9 and 7.9 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.
BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages
30 stocks hit their 52 week highs, while 1 stock tanked below their 52 week lows.
Stocks touching their year highs included - Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. (5,990.85, 1.10%), Apollo Tyres Ltd. (500.05, 6.00%) and Bank of Maharashtra (51.95, 4.21%).
Stock making new 52 weeks lows included - VIP Industries Ltd. (555.90, -0.28%).
5 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Privi Speciality Chemicals Ltd. (1,161.45, 2.77%) and KNR Constructions Ltd. (257.40, 0.31%). 20 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including Indian Energy Exchange Ltd. (137.20, -6.83%) and Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd. (883.95, -4.51%).