Nifty 50 closed at 21,778.70 (124.0, 0.6%), BSE Sensex closed at 72,410.38 (372.0, 0.5%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 19,399.25 (102.3, 0.5%), of the 2,028 stocks traded today, 831 showed gains, and 1,154 showed losses.

Indian indices maintained the gains from the afternoon session and closed in the green, with the Nifty 50 closing at an all-time high of 21,779. The volatility index, Nifty VIX, dropped by 2.7% and closed at 15.1 points. KEC International won new orders worth Rs 1,566 crore across various businesses. The orders include transmission & distribution, civil, oil & gas pipelines and cables in India and overseas.

Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 closed higher following the benchmark index. Nifty FMCG and Nifty Oil & Gas closed higher than Wednesday’s closing level. According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, metals & mining emerged as the top-performing sector of the day, with a rise of over 1.7%.

Most European indices trade in the red. US indices futures trade flat, indicating a cautious start. Japan’s industrial production in November fell by 0.9% MoM against estimates of a 1.6% contraction. The decline in motor vehicle production was the major reason, as it contracted by 2.5% MoM.

• Relative strength index (RSI) indicates that stocks like Gujarat Fluorochemicals, Bharat Dynamics, Voltas and Jubilant Ingrevia and are in the overbought zone.

• Siemens sees six analyst target price upgrades and four recommendation upgrades in the past month. Varun Beverages, Thermax, and Manappuram Finance see two analyst target price upgrades over the same period.

• Central Bank of India surges as it enters into a strategic co-lending partnership with Kisetsu Saison Finance (India) to offer MSME Loans at competitive rates.

• Sula Vineyards rises sharply as the company reports the highest single-day revenue of Rs 85 lakh on December 24, driven by the Christmas Holidays. The company had an inflow of 12,000 visitors on the same day. It appears in a screener of stocks with growing net profit and margins.

• Anmol Singh Jaggi, MD of Gensol Engineering, expects the company's revenue will rise to Rs 4,000 crore by FY26. He attributes this growth to its key segments: renewable energy and electric mobility. Meanwhile, the company's board of directors will meet on January 1 to discuss capital raising options, including QIP, preferential issue, or a combination of both.

  #GensolEngineering expects revenue to increase to Rs 4,000 crore by FY 2026 from Rs 393 crore in 2022–23, says Chairperson Anmol Singh Jaggi.
  
  Read more ??https://t.co/BRLChJXzjK

  — NDTV Profit (@NDTVProfitIndia) December 28, 2023

• Man Industries (India) surges as it announces successful testing of its pipes for safe hydrogen transportation, conducted by a European research centre for hydrogen transport.

• Zydus Wellness rises as 7.80 lakh shares, amounting to Rs 127.3 crore, reportedly change hands in a block deal.

• Ramky Infrastructure's board approves the sale of 100% shareholding in its arm, Visakha Pharmacity, for Rs 165.2 crore to Brij Gopal Construction.

• Brainbees Solutions, the parent company of FirstCry, reportedly files for an IPO with SEBI. As per the DRHP, the offer includes a fresh issue worth around Rs 1,1816 crore and an offer for sale of about 5.4 crore shares.

  Firstcry's parent firm Brainbees Solutions files papers to go public#FirstCry #IPOs #markets https://t.co/hRv4j3GNUn

  — Business Standard (@bsindia) December 28, 2023

• Suprajit Engineering rises sharply as HDFC Mutual Fund buys an additional 2% stake (27.2 lakh shares) in the company. After this, HDFC Mutual Fund currently holds a 7% stake in the company.

• KEC International wins new orders worth Rs 1,566 crore across various businesses. The orders include transmission & distribution, civil, oil & gas pipelines and cables in India and overseas.

• Swan Energy falls as Hypnos Fund sells a 1.2% stake (32.8 lakh shares) for Rs 500.6 per share, totaling Rs 164.3 crore. Meanwhile, Jainam Broking buys a 1.1% stake (29.5 lakh shares) for Rs 504.6, totaling Rs 148.9 crore.

• Rashesh Gogri, VC and MD of Aarti Industries, reports an improvement in demand in the discretionary segment. The company secured a long-term supply contract with a global agrochem major on Wednesday. Gogri expects this deal to yield an EBITDA margin of around 20%, with a ramp-up of the contract in FY25.

  AARTI INDUSTRIES :
  
  -Demand is expected to recover in the next 2-3 quarters
  -EBITDA margin from new contract ~20%
  -Full ramp up of the contract to be seen in FY25
  -Confident of achieving consol margin above 20%, maintain LT guidance https://t.co/MRtI72fIT9

  — Anisha Jain (@_anishaj) December 28, 2023

• Suzlon Energy rises as it receives an order for 3 MW series turbines, amounting to 300 MW, from Apraava Energy. The company will supply 100 wind turbines, each with a rated capacity of 3 MW, projected to serve around 2.47 lakh households.

• Oil and gas stocks like Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Indian Oil Corp, Petronet LNG and GAIL (India) are rising in trade. The broader sectoral index, BSE Oil & Gas, is also trading in the green.

• Larsen & Toubro touches a 52-week high of Rs 3,559.9 as it bags orders worth Rs 2,500-5000 crore for its power transmission & distribution business in the Middle East. The projects involve developing substations and transmission lines in the region.

• DAM Capital initiates coverage on Five-Star Business Finance with a ‘Buy’ rating and a target price of Rs 1,000. The brokerage believes that the company has a strong capital adequacy of 59.4% and there will be no need for dilution for the next five years. It highlights that the company has delivered an RoA (return on assets) of 8.5% in H1FY24.

  #CNBCTV18Market | DAM Cap initiates coverage on Five Star Fin with a target of 1,000 pic.twitter.com/Xg4a3BTbJL

  — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) December 28, 2023

• Zomato is falling as it receives a show cause notice for Rs 401.7 crore, including interest and penalty for October 29, 2019, to March 31, 2022. The notice has been served by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Pune.

• Azad Engineering’s shares debut on the bourses at a 37.4% premium to the issue price of Rs 524. The Rs 740 crore IPO has received bids for 80.7 times the total shares on offer.

• Canara Bank rises following its board's approval to initiate the process of listing its subsidiary, Canara Robeco Asset Management Company, through an IPO. The bank appears in a screener of stocks nearing their 52-week high with significant volumes.

• PhillipCapital maintains its ‘Buy’ rating on Godrej Consumer Products with an upgraded target price of Rs 1,350. The brokerage believes the company is well-positioned to deliver double-digit growth in FY25. It also sees innovation in the household insecticides business.

  Brokerage Radar | Phillipcapital on Godrej Consumer maintains buy; hikes target price to Rs.1,350 from Rs.1,075.@PhillipCapital @GodrejGroup pic.twitter.com/pA7TBHgOsv

  — ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) December 28, 2023

• KPI Green Energy surges as it announces commissioning of of solar power projects by KPI Green Energy and its arm, KPIG Energia. The company is also considering a proposal for issue of bonus equity shares.

• Leelavathi Parvatha Reddy, promoter of MTAR Technologies, sells a 0.7% stake in the company. She now holds a 2.3% stake in the company.

• South Indian Bank rises as its board approves raising Rs 1,750 crore through rights issue. The company appears in a screener of stocks with strong annual EPS growth.

• Housing and Urban Development Corp (HUDCO) rises sharply as it executes a memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat government for an investment of Rs 14,500 crore. The project involves the development of housing and urban infrastructure in the state.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (417.65, 9.38%), Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Ltd. (122.85, 6.41%) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (192.60, 5.85%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include 3M India Ltd. (35,001.10, -3.82%), Adani Energy Solutions Ltd. (1,022.55, -3.41%) and Zomato Ltd. (123.20, -3.03%).

Crowd Puller Stocks

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

Top high volume gainers on BSE included Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (128.00, 12.28%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (417.65, 9.38%) and Gillette India Ltd. (6,550.00, 7.18%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were Vardhman Textiles Ltd. (377.15, -2.70%), Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd. (7,713.25, -2.63%) and ABB India Ltd. (4,642.95, -1.92%).

Borosil Renewables Ltd. (437.25, 3.20%) was trading at 11.3 times of weekly average. Shoppers Stop Ltd. (680.50, -0.45%) and Rainbow Childrens Medicare Ltd. (1,194.50, 5.21%) were trading with volumes 10.7 and 7.6 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

75 stocks overperformed with 52 week highs,

Stocks touching their year highs included - Amara Raja Energy & Mobility Ltd. (820.45, 1.07%), Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd. (5760.50, 1.28%) and Bank of Baroda (232.95, 0.41%).

3 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd. (111.20, 0.95%) and Delhivery Ltd. (384.20, 0.22%). 5 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including Aegis Logistics Ltd. (351.15, -1.89%) and KNR Constructions Ltd. (257.85, -0.88%).