Trendlyne Analysis

Indian indices closed in the red on a volatile day of trade as Covid omicron subvariant BF.7 outbreak in China spooked investors. However, European stocks traded higher than Wednesday’s levels amid mixed global cues. UK’s gross domestic product rose 1.9% YoY in the third quarter but fell 0.3% QoQ.

Most major Asian indices closed in the green, in line with the US indices, which closed higher on Wednesday. US indices registered their biggest daily gain in December with help from Nike and FedEx, which rose sharply after beating forecaster estimates in their quarterly earnings. Improving consumer confidence and cooling inflation expectations from investors also helped US stocks to rise. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index rose nearly 1.5% while the Dow Jones closed 1.6% higher on Wednesday. Crude oil prices traded higher after rising over 3% on Wednesday as US crude supplies remained tight ahead of the holiday season.

Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 closed in the red, following the benchmark index. Nifty Metal and Nifty Media closed lower than Wednesday’s levels. Nifty IT closed flat, despite the Nasdaq 100 closing in the green on Wednesday.

Nifty 50 closed at 18,127.35 (-71.8, -0.4%), BSE Sensex closed at 60,826.22 (-241.0, -0.4%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 15,431.50 (-96.1, -0.6%)

Market breadth is sharply down. Of the 1,940 stocks traded today, 281 were on the uptrend, and 1,640 went down.

• Relative strength index (RSI) indicates that stocks like The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore, UTI Asset Management, Abbott India and Thyrocare Technologies are in the overbought zone.

• Zydus Lifesciences receives final approval and 180 days of shared exclusivity from the US Foods & Drug Administration to market selexipag tablets. The drug is used to treat high blood pressure in the vessels that carry blood to the lungs and will be manufactured in the company’s facility in Ahmedabad SEZ, Gujarat. The tablet had annual sales of $577 million in the US as of September 30.

• JK Cement trades in green in a falling market. The company inks a pact with Acro Paints to acquire a 60% stake via its subsidiary JK Paints and Coatings. The cost of acquisition will be Rs 153 crore and it will help JK Paints foray into the construction chemicals segment.

• Fertilizer stocks like Coromandel International, The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore, Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals and Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers fall over 2% in trade today. The broader Fertilizers industry is also trading in the red. Reports suggest that fertilizer companies must pay for 40% of gas in cases of spot buying.

  #NewsAlert | Fertiliser companies will have to pay for at least 40% of gas under spot buying#Fertilisers #Gas #StockMarket #StocksToWatch pic.twitter.com/pVh84UeCc0

  — ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) December 22, 2022

• Abbott India rises for six consecutive sessions and touches its 52-week high of Rs 21,975. It ranks high on Trendlyne's checklist with a score of 77.3%. The stock also features in a screener of companies with high TTM EPS growth.

• Realty stocks like Indiabulls Real Estate, Sunteck Realty, Godrej Properties and Oberoi Realty are falling in trade. The broader sectoral index Nifty Realty is also trading in the red.

• Capital goods stocks like Elgi Equipments, Praj Industries, AIA Engineering and Sona BLW Precision Forgings are falling in trade. The broader sectoral index BSE Cap Goods is also trading in the red.

• Ajanta Pharma is rising in a weak market. The stock ranks high on the Trendlyne Checklist score. Trendlyne’s consensus recommendation shows that seven analysts recommend a ‘Buy’ on the stock.

• Elin Electronics’ Rs 475 crore IPO gets bids for 3.1X the available 1.4 crore shares on offer on the last day of bidding. The retail investor quota gets bids for 2.2X the available 71.04 lakh shares on offer.

• K Natarajan, Executive Director and COO of Galaxy Surfactants, expects the company’s volume growth to be flat or negative in FY23 but 6-8% in FY24.

  #OnCNBCTV18 | Raw material prices have declined in the last 3 months. Raw material prices have declined in the last 3 months. Significant currency devaluation in Egypt, says K Natarajan of Galaxy Surfactants pic.twitter.com/XLapEaZcrN

  — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) December 22, 2022

• ICICI Direct maintains a ‘Buy’ rating on Sheela Foam with a target price of Rs 1,650, implying an upside of 27%. The brokerage expects the company to gain market share in the Indian mattresses industry, given its new product launches and strong balance sheet. It also sees the firm’s recent order wins and focus on ramping up exports as key positives. The brokerage anticipates Sheela Foam’s net profit to grow at a CAGR of 22% over FY22-24.

• Torrent Investments wins an auction to buy debt-laden Reliance Capital with the highest bid of Rs 8,640 crore, beating Hinduja Group and Oaktree Capital, say reports. This comes after Reliance Capital was suspended from trading after initiating a corporate insolvency resolution process on Tuesday.

• Samvardhana Motherson International is falling as 1.6 crore shares (0.5% equity) amounting to Rs 111.5 crore change hands, according to reports.

  Samvardhana Motherson Large Trade | 1.6 cr shares (0.5% equity) worth ?111.48 cr change hands at ?69/sh pic.twitter.com/R3tnQyCc1d

  — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) December 22, 2022

• Maruti Suzuki India signs a five-year agreement with Kamarajar Port in Ennore, Chennai, to export around 20,000 cars annually, say reports. The company will use the port to export cars to Africa, West Asia, Latin America and South & South-East Asia. Kamarajar Port becomes the fourth port to be used to export cars by the company. The stock shows up in a screener for companies with high TTM EPS growth.

• Strides Pharma Science's arm Strides Pharma Global receives 94 million Australian dollars (Rs 525 crore) as deferred consideration for the sale of its Australian operations in 2019.

• Tata Communications’ arm Tata Communication (Netherlands) is set to acquire 100% stake in Switch Enterprises for $58.8 million (Rs 486.3 crore). Switch Enterprises is a US-based media-enabled services company. It believes this acquisition will drive the expansion of its video connect business and its footprint in the media ecosystems in Europe and North America.

• VS Ganesh, Managing Director of Page Industries, says that the company will not take price hikes even if cotton prices rise. He maintains a revenue target of Rs 10,000 crore and capex in the range of Rs 200-250 crore.

  #OnCNBCTV18 | Consumer retail space is going through a challenging time. Expect to bounce back in Q4, taking corrective actions. Will hold on to the revenue target of ?10,000 cr, says VS Ganesh of Page Industries pic.twitter.com/VfdAQ3OcZw

  — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) December 22, 2022

• Ashish Kacholia sells a 0.6% stake in D-Link (India) for approx Rs 5.2 crore in a bulk deal on Wednesday.

• Sula Vineyards’ shares list at a 1.1% premium to the issue price of Rs 357 on its debut on the bourses. The 960.3 crore IPO was subscribed for 2.3X the total shares on offer.

• Supriya Lifesciences inks a pact with Enrich Energy, a Pune-based firm, to build a 4.68 MWp solar photovoltaic project in Nanded, Maharashtra. This project will generate and supply green energy, fulfilling 50% of the company's requirements. Supriya Lifesciences also signs a long-term agreement with Enrich energy for operations and maintenance services for the project, which will be operational by FY23-24.

• Torrent Pharma’s board approves its merger with Curatio Health Care. Curatio’s net worth is Rs 115.39 crore. This merger will aid Torrent Pharma’s overall growth and ease supply & distribution network and costs. Torrent Pharma shows up in a screener of stocks with improving book value for the past two years.

• Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, acquires Metro Cash & Carry for a cash consideration of Rs 2,850 crore. This acquisition will add large-format stores to RRVL's existing store count and strengthen its e-commerce business. Isha Ambani, Director of RRVL says, “We believe that Metro India’s healthy assets and our deep understanding of the Indian merchant/kirana ecosystem will offer a differentiated value proposition to small businesses in India.”

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include General Insurance Corporation of India (175.70, 4.61%), Jubilant Foodworks Ltd. (533.80, 2.42%) and REC Ltd. (112.50, 2.23%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include Union Bank of India (76.15, -6.22%), Adani Wilmar Ltd. (552.60, -6.04%) and Adani Power Ltd. (276.00, -4.99%).

Volume Rockets

17 stocks in BSE 500 are trading on high volumes today.

Top high volume gainers on BSE included Ajanta Pharma Ltd. (1,227.40, 4.74%), Wockhardt Ltd. (236.35, 3.34%) and Aster DM Healthcare Ltd. (241.20, 2.46%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were Thyrocare Technologies Ltd. (623.80, -10.99%), Vardhman Textiles Ltd. (308.15, -5.71%) and CreditAccess Grameen Ltd. (883.15, -2.74%).

Jyothy Labs Ltd. (202.95, 1.73%) was trading at 17.5 times of weekly average. Capri Global Capital Ltd. (757.15, 1.57%) and Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company Ltd. (215.70, 2.45%) were trading with volumes 9.6 and 6.7 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

2 stocks made 52-week highs, while 17 stocks were underachievers and hit their 52-week lows.

Stocks touching their year highs included - Abbott India Ltd. (2,1842.45, 1.36%) and Jyothy Labs Ltd. (202.95, 1.73%).

Stocks making new 52 weeks lows included - Sunteck Realty Ltd. (344.55, -2.38%) and Voltas Ltd. (807.35, -0.78%).

5 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Sonata Software Ltd. (540.00, 1.33%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (1,826.05, 0.63%). 43 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including Thyrocare Technologies Ltd. (623.80, -10.99%) and Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (663.35, -6.14%).