Nifty 50 closed at 21,441.35 (92.0, 0.4%), BSE Sensex closed at 71,336.80 (229.8, 0.3%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 19,148.85 (94.2, 0.5%), of the 2,042 stocks traded today, 1,166 were on the uptrend, and 842 went down.

Indian indices maintained the gains from the afternoon session and closed in the green, with the Nifty 50 closing at 21,441. The volatility index, Nifty VIX, rose by 7.1% and closed at 14.7 points. Bharat Electronics won an order worth Rs 678 crore from the Uttar Pradesh government, for supplying AI software tools and cybersecurity solutions to the state's 'Dial 112 Project'.

Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 closed higher following the benchmark index. Nifty Metal and Nifty Oil & Gas closed higher than Friday’s closing level. According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, chemicals & petrochemicals emerged as the top-performing sector of the day, with a rise of over 1.9%.

Major European and US indices are closed today on account of Boxing Day. According to Singapore’s Department of Statistics, the country’s CPI inflation in November increased by 3.6% against estimates of 3.8% growth.

• Money flow index (MFI) indicates that stocks like Allcargo Logistics, Shyam Metalics and Energy, Jubilant Ingrevia and Voltas are in the overbought zone.

• NMDC rises to a new 52-week high of Rs 204.9 as iron ore futures rise to a 10-month high of $140 per tonne. The company appears in a screener of stocks with strong momentum.

• RBL Bank and Bajaj Finance are falling as the RBI reportedly notes "serious deficiencies" in Bajaj Finance's adherence to guidelines concerning its co-branded credit card partnership with RBL Bank. The RBI has granted only a one-year extension, until December 21, 2024, for this partnership, despite Bajaj Finance seeking a longer duration.

• Greenply Industries transfers 51% of its stake in its arm, Greenply Middle East, for $1.6 million to an investor group. Greenply Industries will cease to hold a controlling interest in the arm following this transaction.

• Star Health and Allied Insurance Co is rising as 14.3 lakh shares (0.2% equity), amounting to approximately Rs 75.3 crore, change hands, according to reports.

  #StarHealth has 14.3 lakh shares change hands in a large trade. #NDTVProfitStocks
  
  Read latest #stockmarket updates: https://t.co/C49MZ0QpGB pic.twitter.com/6jP6oBsMLd

  — NDTV Profit (@NDTVProfitIndia) December 26, 2023

• Innova Captab's Rs 570 crore IPO gets bids for 55.2X the available 90.8 lakh shares on offer on the third day of bidding. The retail investor quota gets bids for 17.1X the available 45.8 lakh shares on offer.

• Inox Wind rises after securing a 279 MW wind turbine generator order from a large commercial & industrial player. The order includes the supply of the company's 3 MW wind turbine generators and is expected to be completed by 2025.

• Thermax is falling as the National Company Law Tribunal approves the demerger of its arms, Thermax Cooling Solutions and Thermax Instrumentation.

• According to a poll by economists, India’s GDP is expected to grow by 6.7% in FY24, led by domestic demand and improvement in investments.

  #India's resilient #economy seen expanding 6.7% in FY24https://t.co/VKclx0qyTQ

  — Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) December 26, 2023

• Bharat Electronics rises to an all-time high of Rs 184.5 as it bags an order worth Rs 678 crore from the Uttar Pradesh Government. The order involves the supply of AI software tools and cybersecurity solutions to the state's 'Dial 112 Project'.

• Arman Financial Services falls after raising Rs 230 crore through qualified institutional placement. The issue price is set at Rs 2,195, which is a 16% discount to Friday's closing price. The company appears in a screener of stocks with declining cash flow from operations.

• Godrej Properties launches a new residential project, Godrej Aristocrat, in Gurugram, selling 600 flats worth Rs 2,600 crore.

• Rahul Thomas, Director at Suraj Estate Developers, reveals plans to launch three new projects by March. He adds that the company targets margins of 40% in redeveloped projects. Suraj Estate’s shares debuted on the bourses today at a 5.6% discount to the issue price of Rs 360.

  SURAJ ESTATES
  
  Muted listing on the bourses today
  
  Co points out, will have 7.5 Lk Sq Feet of supply over the next few years
  
  Expect to grow in the Mount Mary sub-area
  
  Also looking at 3 redevelopment projects currently
  
  Will surpass last year’s preSales
  
  https://t.co/wMA43MZupZ

  — Mangalam Maloo (@blitzkreigm) December 26, 2023

• US FDA closes an inspection of Zydus Lifesciences' API site in Changodar, Ahmedabad, with six observations. The PAI-cum-GMP inspection took place from December 14 to December 22, 2023.

• Motisons Jewellers’ shares debut on the bourses at a 98.2% premium to the issue price of Rs 55. The Rs 151.1 crore IPO has received bids for 159.6 times the total shares on offer.

• Swan Energy's subsidiary, Triumph Offshore (TOPL), prepays its Rs 300 crore debt from internal accruals. This repayment has been made to the consortium of senior lenders for its Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) Project.

• Himanshu Baid, Managing Director of Poly Medicure, highlights the company’s entry into the cardiology and critical care segments. He projects a 20-22% revenue growth and 25-27% margin expansion for the company in FY24. Baid believes the industry will reach $50 billion by 2030.

  #OnCNBCTV18 | We are entering the Cardiology & Critical Care segments, and have developed B2B relationships in the US Market, says Himanshu Baid of Poly Medicure pic.twitter.com/XXZicjJh78

  — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) December 26, 2023

• One97 Communications falls amid reports of laying off 1,000 employees from its operations, sales, and engineering teams during its shift towards AI technology. The company appears in a screener of stocks with falling book value per share.

• PNC Infratech rises as it receives a provisional completion certificate for the Unnao-Lalganj section of NH-31. The project, with a total cost of Rs 1,602 crore, was completed 33 days ahead of its schedule.

• Kiddy Plast, promoter of VIP Industries, sells a 0.2% stake in the company. It now holds 2.3%.

• CLSA maintains its ‘Buy’ rating on Bharat Electronics with an upgraded target price of Rs 207. The brokerage says the company’s order inflows have surged 7X year-to-date and are expected to beat the FY24 inflow guidance of Rs 20,000 crore, led by OEM orders.

  Brokerage Radar | CLSA on BEL maintains buy, hikes target price to Rs.207 from Rs.154@CLSAInsights @BEL_CorpCom pic.twitter.com/gHJWRneg0M

  — ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) December 26, 2023

• Saumya Polymers, promoter of Astral, sells a 1.4% stake in a block deal. It now holds 8.5% of the company.

• JSW Energy rises as its subsidiary, JSW Renew Energy, begins phased commissioning of an 810 MW wind power project in Tamil Nadu. The first phase, with 51 MW, is now operational under a 25-year power purchase agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

• KPIT Technologies rises as it acquires a 13% stake in cloud-based game aggregator N-Dream AG for 3 million euros (approx Rs 27.5 crore). This acquisition will help the company to enter into the cloud gaming space. It appears in a screener of stocks with low debt.

• Infosys falls as a global company terminates a $1.5 billion (approx. Rs 12,475.1 crore) memorandum of understanding. The deal was for Infosys to provide AI solutions.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include Divi's Laboratories Ltd. (3,863.50, 4.56%), Adani Green Energy Ltd. (1,600.20, 4.38%) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (2,820.65, 4.33%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include Zomato Ltd. (125.00, -2.72%), Bank of India (109.50, -2.06%) and Jubilant Foodworks Ltd. (570.20, -1.93%).

Volume Rockets

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

Top high volume gainers on BSE included Castrol India Ltd. (182.55, 12.30%), NLC India Ltd. (250.20, 11.75%) and Alkyl Amines Chemicals Ltd. (2,570.90, 11.54%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were Poly Medicure Ltd. (1,442.55, -1.17%) and Jupiter Wagons Ltd. (320.30, -1.05%).

Balaji Amines Ltd. (2,614.60, 10.54%) was trading at 9.0 times of weekly average. Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd. (540.40, 1.51%) and Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals Ltd. (789.35, 5.04%) were trading with volumes 7.9 and 7.8 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

42 stocks took off, crossing 52 week highs,

Stocks touching their year highs included - Bayer Cropscience Ltd. (5,651.00, 0.91%), Bharat Electronics Ltd. (181.95, 4.09%) and Bharat Forge Ltd. (1,226.95, 2.10%).

7 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Alkyl Amines Chemicals Ltd. (2,570.90, 11.54%) and Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd. (111.40, 1.13%). 1 stock slipped below their 200 SMA including V-Mart Retail Ltd. (2,027.15, -3.67%).