Trendlyne Analysis

Nifty 50 closed at 18,129.95 (-51.8, -0.3%) , BSE Sensex closed at 61,431.74 (-128.9, -0.2%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 15,361.60 (-64.8, -0.4%). Of the 1,948 stocks traded today, 788 were on the uptick, and 1,099 were down.

Indian indices fell from their day highs and closed in the red for a third straight trading session. The benchmark Nifty 50 index declined over 45 points and closed below the 18,200 mark. Zydus Lifesciences fell over 2.2% after its Q4 net profit declined by 25.4% YoY to Rs 296.6 crore due to impairment of goodwill by its subsidiary and the cessation of operations in one of its facilities.

Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 closed in the red, following the benchmark index. Nifty Infra and Nifty Realty closed below their Wednesday closing levels. According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, hotels, restaurants & tourism was the top-performing sector of the day in a weak market.

Major Asian indices closed in the green, except for India’s BSE Sensex, which closed lower. European stocks traded higher as investors turned optimistic about a breakthrough in US debt-ceiling talks. Brent crude oil futures traded marginally lower after rising over 2.7% on Wednesday.

• Relative strength index (RSI) indicates that stocks like Astral, InterGlobe Aviation, Intellect Design Arena and CreditAccess Grameen are in the overbought zone.

• ITC is falling despite its net profit in Q4FY23 growing by 23% YoY to Rs 5,175.5 crore. Its EBITDA margin improves by 330 bps YoY to 34.8% due to reduced employee benefits expenses. Revenue growth is driven by FMCG, hotels, and agriculture businesses. ITC appears in a screener of stocks with increasing profits for the past four quarters.

• GAIL India is falling as its Q4FY23 net profit sharply drops by 81.6% YoY to Rs 634.2 crore due to rising inventory costs. However, its revenue increases by 21.7% YoY led by healthy growth in the natural gas marketing and city gas segments. The stock shows up in a screener for companies with net profit declining sequentially over the past four quarters.

• Clean Science & Technology is falling despite a 29.5% YoY rise in net profit to Rs 80.9 crore in Q4FY23. EBITDA margin expands by 7.8 percentage points owing to lower raw material and power & fuel costs. It features in a screener of stocks in the buy zone based on days traded at the current PE.

• State Bank of India's Q4FY23 net profit rises 83.2% YoY to Rs 16,694.5 crore, while its revenue increases 29.4% YoY. The rise in revenue is driven by the corporate and retail banking segments. The company shows up in the screener for stocks with increasing profits for two consecutive quarters.

• Zydus Lifesciences is falling as its Q4FY23 net profit declines 25.4% YoY to Rs 296.6 crore on expenses of Rs 603.1 crore incurred due to the impairment of goodwill by its subsidiary and the cessation of operations in one of its facilities. However, the company’s revenue grows by 31.7% YoY, driven by robust growth in its pharmaceuticals segment.

• PSU banks like Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, State Bank of India and UCO Bank are falling in trade. All constituents of the broader sectoral index Nifty PSU Bank are also trading in the red.

• Vedant Fashions announces an offer for sale of 7% equity shares of the company by its promoters, Ravi Modi Family Trust. The floor price for the offer will be Rs 1,161 per share.

• Raj Kumar Baheti, Chief Financial Officer of Alembic Pharmaceuticals, expects the company to deliver double-digit growth, with its margins around 15% in FY24.

  #OnETNOW | Raj Kumar Baheti, Alembic Pharmaceuticals on double digit growth, margins of the co and more@Alembic_Pharma #StockMarket pic.twitter.com/PSe6Q4gRMw

  — ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) May 18, 2023

• ICICI Securities downgrades Kajaria Ceramics to ‘Add’ from ‘Buy’ with an unchanged target price of Rs 1,290. This implies an upside of 8.4%. The brokerage remains optimistic about the firm’s long-term prospects but sees near-term margin and volume tailwinds impacting its performance. It also believes the stock is trading at an expensive valuation given its recent three-month rally.

• Whirlpool of India is rising despite its net profit declining 25.2% YoY to Rs 62.7 crore in Q4FY23. Revenue also dips 2% YoY to Rs 1,672.7 crore. Narasimhan Eswar, Managing Director of the company, expects improved profitability through strong product offerings in the mid and premium ranges and cost reduction measures.

• Restaurant Brands Asia rises despite net loss widening by 9.4% YoY to Rs 73.4 crore due to rising input costs and employee expenses. However, its revenue rises by 28.6% YoY, led by healthy growth in its India segment. The company shows up in a screener for stocks with over 20% gains in the past month.

• Jefferies maintains its ‘Buy’ rating on Max Healthcare Institute with a target price of Rs 600. The brokerage believes that the company’s EBITDA growth momentum will continue in FY24 on the back of new bed additions and improving ARPOB (average revenue per occupied bed).

  Brokerage Radar | @Jefferies on @MaxHealthcare:
  Maintain Buy; EBITDA growth momentum should sustain in FY24 on new bed additions and higher average revenue per occupied bed#StockMarket pic.twitter.com/cctvUhf1Cd

  — ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) May 18, 2023

• Venkatraman Rajamani, promoter of 360 One Wam, sells a 0.28% stake in the company on Wednesday.

• Realty stocks like Brigade Enterprises, Godrej Properties, Macrotech Developers and Oberoi Realty are falling in trade. The broader sectoral indices Nifty Realty and BSE Realty are also trading in the red.

• Thermax is rising as its Q4FY23 net profit rises 52.1% YoY to Rs 156 crore and revenue increases by 16% YoY, driven by healthy growth in the industrial products, industrial infrastructure and chemicals segments. It shows up in a screener for stocks with net profit increasing sequentially over the past three quarters.

• Rahul Gautam, Chairman and Managing Director of Sheela Foam, says the company targets double-digit revenue growth in FY24. He anticipates improved margins due to lower TDI (raw material for foam) prices.

  #OnCNBCTV18 | Haven’t seen enough stability on the demand front yet. Railways business will be a ?400-500 cr business in the next 2-3 years, says Rahul Gautam of Sheela Foam pic.twitter.com/wRE2HQGOiF

  — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) May 18, 2023

• Private banks like Bandhan Bank, City Union Bank and Axis Bank are rising in trade. All constituents of the broader Nifty Private Bank index are also trading in the green.

• Sandur Manganese & Iron Ore surges more than 5% as its Q4FY23 net profit jumps over 4x QoQ to Rs 173.7 crore. Revenue expands 56.7% QoQ, aided by growth in revenue from the mining and ferroalloys segments. It features in a screener of stocks with highest recoveries from their 52-week lows.

• Abbott India, Hindustan Copper and Muthoot Finance fall 0.7%, 2% and 1.4% respectively over the past week, ahead of their Q4FY23 results tomorrow.

• BLS International Services is falling in trade as reports suggest that 1.41 crore shares (3.4% equity) of the company, amounting to Rs 253.3 crore, change hands.

  BLS Intl Large Trade | 1.41 cr shares (3.4% equity) worth ?253.3 cr change hands at an average of ?177/sh#BlockDeal #LargeTrade pic.twitter.com/1sh0VOIx01

  — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) May 18, 2023

• NHPC is rising on receiving a letter of intent from the Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam for a 200 MW solar power project. The project, valued at Rs 1,007.6 crore, is part of Gujarat State Electricity Corp’s solar park. The stock is trading near its 52-week high.

• Honeywell Automation is rising as its net profit rises 54% YoY to Rs 112 crore. Revenue increases 27% YoY. It shows up in a screener of stocks with high TTM EPS growth. The company has declared a final dividend of Rs 95 per share in FY23.

• Jindal Stainless’ Q4FY23 net profit falls 12.8% YoY to Rs 765.7 crore on higher input costs and power & fuel expenses. Revenue rises marginally by 0.4% YoY. The company has declared a final dividend of Rs 1.5 for FY23. It shows up in a screener of stocks with highest recoveries from their 52-week lows.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include Honeywell Automation India Ltd. (40,206.65, 7.35%), Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd. (1,042.30, 3.03%) and Au Small Finance Bank Ltd. (747.60, 2.29%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include Godrej Properties Ltd. (1,309.15, -5.39%), Adani Total Gas Ltd. (666.65, -5.00%) and Adani Transmission Ltd. (751.60, -4.86%).

Movers and Shakers

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

Top high volume gainers on BSE included Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd. (122.50, 14.27%), EIH Ltd. (207.65, 7.45%) and Honeywell Automation India Ltd. (40,206.65, 7.35%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were Thermax Ltd. (2,280.10, -7.34%), Vaibhav Global Ltd. (299.45, -6.35%) and Brightcom Group Ltd. (15.55, -4.89%).

Vedant Fashions Ltd. (1,249.10, 0.22%) was trading at 21.8 times of weekly average. Whirlpool of India Ltd. (1,362.70, 1.08%) and Poly Medicure Ltd. (980.10, -0.33%) were trading with volumes 6.1 and 5.9 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

17 stocks took off, crossing 52 week highs, while 2 stocks hit their 52 week lows.

Stocks touching their year highs included - Can Fin Homes Ltd. (675.45, 0.73%), Cera Sanitaryware Ltd. (7,365.25, 0.16%) and Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Company Ltd. (1,042.30, 3.03%).

Stocks making new 52 weeks lows included - Ipca Laboratories Ltd. (675.15, -1.28%) and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. (193.70, -0.69%).

18 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd. (122.50, 14.27%) and Honeywell Automation India Ltd. (40,206.65, 7.35%). 20 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. (602.35, -8.00%) and Coromandel International Ltd. (943.00, -3.75%).