Nifty 50 closed at 23,516 (-41.9, -0.2%), BSE Sensex closed at 77,337.59 (36.5, 0.1%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 22,224.90 (-104.7, -0.5%). Of the 2,146 stocks traded today, 809 showed gains, and 1,315 showed losses.

Indian indices pared the gains from the afternoon session and closed in the red. The volatility index, Nifty VIX, rose by 5.7% and closed at 13.7 points. Reports suggest Vodafone is likely to sell a 19% stake in the Indus Towers for Rs 17,000 crore in a bulk deal.

Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 closed lower following the benchmark index. Nifty Bank and Nifty IT closed higher than Tuesday’s closing level. According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, fertilizers emerged as the top-performing sector of the day, with a rise of over 5.2%.

Most European indices trade in the red, except for Italy’s FTSE MIB trading flat. US indices futures trade flat, indicating a cautious start. UK’s CPI inflation for May declined to 2% from 2.3% in April, hitting the Bank of England's inflation target for the first time in three years.

• Money flow index (MFI) indicates that stocks like Varroc Engineering, Home First Finance, JK Paper, and Bikaji Foods International are in the overbought zone.

• Axis Bank and its subsidiaries enter an agreement to acquire an additional stake worth up to Rs 336 crore in Max Life Insurance. This will increase the shareholding of the Axis Entities in Max Life to around 20%.

• Datamatics Global rises sharply as it secures a patent for its AI-powered document processing software TruCap plus. The software facilitates automated document processing for structured, semi-structured, and unstructured documents.

• Bharat Forge plans to invest $40 million in its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bharat Forge Aluminum USA, to support capital expenditure for an aluminum forging facility.

• Crude oil prices rise marginally due to increased tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and the West Asian region. August Brent oil futures hover around $85.3 per barrel, while August WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil futures trade around $80.7 per barrel.

  #CrudeOil #futures traded marginally higher on Wednesday morning following the escalation in tensions between Russia and Ukraine and in the West Asian region.https://t.co/TgXfATxSJc

  — businessline (@businessline) June 19, 2024

• Akme Fintrade (India)'s Rs 132 crore IPO gets bids for 1.6X the available 78.7 lakh shares on offer on the first day of bidding. The retail investor quota gets bids for 2.5X the available 36.6 lakh shares on offer.

• DEE Development Engineers' Rs 418 crore IPO gets bids for 1.2X the available 1.5 crore shares on offer on the first day of bidding. The retail investor quota gets bids for 1.6X the available 74.8 lakh shares on offer.

• SEPC surges as its board approves a rights issue of 15.4 crore equity shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 200 crore. The company has fixed June 25, 2024, as the record date.

• CLSA reiterates its 'Buy' rating on Varun Beverages with a higher target price of Rs 1,977. The brokerage believes the company's enhanced affordability of offerings and expansion into new territories and product lines will help support growth. It notes that broader distribution channels are contributing to increased market penetration.

  VARUN BEVERAGES
  
  CLSA increases target multiple from 48X to 59X
  
  pic.twitter.com/TCoMWV6hCJ

  — Mangalam Maloo (@blitzkreigm) June 19, 2024

• Sona BLW Precision Forgings receives certification under the PLI scheme for automobile and auto components from the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The certification was awarded for its traction motors designed for electric three-wheelers.

• Reports suggest that 62.5 lakh shares (11.7% stake) of Sansera Engineering, amounting to Rs 750 crore, have changed hands in a block deal. Client Ebene and CVCIGP II Employee Ebene are the likely sellers in the transaction.

• ZF Commerical Vehicle plunges as 14.5 lakh shares (7.6% stake), amounting to Rs 2,287 crore, reportedly change hands in a block deal. Wabco Asia is the likely seller in the transaction.

• Tata Motors announces a price hike of 2% for its commercial vehicles, effective July 1, to offset the impact of rising commodity prices.

  #JustIn | Tata Motors to increase CV prices by up to 2% effective July 1 pic.twitter.com/A2TBkpkcnt

  — CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) June 19, 2024

• Delta Corp surges over 16% as it anticipates relief from retrospective taxes ahead of the GST Council meeting on June 22. The council will likely amend the CGST Act to waive unpaid GST dues owing to uncertainties or common business practices.

• Bernstein initiates coverage on Bajaj Finance with a 'Market-Perform' rating and a target price of Rs 6,800. The brokerage notes the company faces several challenges, including a sector-wide slowdown in consumption credit, risks of scale-up in new segments having limited overlap with current core segments, and increased competitive intensity.

• Kalpataru Constructions, promoter of Kalpataru Projects International, sells a 5.3% stake (86.9 lakh shares) amounting to approx. Rs 1,003.4 crore in a bulk deal on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Custody Bank of Japan picks a 0.6% stake in the company.

• RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das projects a GDP growth rate of 7.3% for Q1FY25. He anticipates sustained economic momentum fueled by the revival in rural demand, increased government spending, and higher services exports. Das highlights inflation has been decreasing, and achieving further disinflation could be challenging, given the volatility in food prices. He cautions against prematurely changing the policy stance at this juncture.

  .@RBI Governor @DasShaktikanta said #GDP growth for #Q1FY25 was projected to be 7.3%, expressing confidence in continued economic momentum driven by #ruraldemand revival, govt expenditure, and services #exports .https://t.co/pTLEJLLse0

  — Business Standard (@bsindia) June 19, 2024

• DEE Development Engineers raises Rs 125 crore from anchor investors ahead of its IPO by allotting 61.6 lakh shares at Rs 203 each. Investors include Morgan Stanley Asia, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius, HDFC Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life Trustee, and Kotak Mahindra Trustee. Meanwhile, Akme Fintrade raises Rs 38 crore from anchor investors including Sigma Global Fund, Zeal Global Opportunities Fund, and SB Opportunities Fund.

• Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group's arm, Fosun Pharma Industrial, plans to sell a 5% stake in Gland Pharma for $172 million in block deals.

• Bank stocks like IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and HDFC Bank are rising in trade. Nifty Bank hits an all-time high of 51,256 today.

• Amur S Lakshminarayanan, CEO of Tata Communications, highlights the company's investments in various areas that could help achieve the data revenue target of Rs 28,000 crore. He anticipates improved margins over the medium and long term, supported by increasing EBITDA and better conversion rates, leading to improved cash flows.

  #OnETNOW | "Data revenue target of Rs 28,000 cr is a tall ask, but we have been investing in many areas which could help achieve the same," says Amur S. Lakshminarayanan of Tata Communications@tata_comm pic.twitter.com/a2NbCQZbuT

  — ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) June 19, 2024

• Ami Organics rises as its board approves raising Rs 500 crore via a qualified institution placement by offering shares at a floor price of Rs 1,228.7 per share.

• Indus Towers falls as reports suggest that Vodafone will likely sell a 19% stake in the company for Rs 17,000 crore in a bulk deal.

• Porinju Veliyath buys a 0.7% stake in Protean eGov Technologies for approx Rs 35.4 crore in a bulk deal on Tuesday.

• Craftsman Automation's board approves raising funds worth up to Rs 1,200 crore via a qualified institution placement by issuing equity shares having a face value of Rs 5 each.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include Zomato Ltd. (198.49, 5.2%), HDFC Bank Ltd. (1,657.85, 3.1%) and Axis Bank Ltd. (1,226.65, 2.9%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include Endurance Technologies Ltd. (2,593.60, -5.0%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (154.34, -4.1%) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (5,311.95, -4%).

Volume Shockers

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

Top high volume gainers on BSE included Delta Corp Ltd. (147.41, 11.5%), EID Parry (India) Ltd. (8,14.80, 11.1%) and Jubilant Ingrevia Ltd. (555.80, 7.9%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems India Ltd. (16,244.85, -6.0%), KNR Constructions Ltd. (358.15, -3.7%) and Indus Towers Ltd. (334, -3.1%).

Gland Pharma Ltd. (1,828.10, -0.6%) was trading at 11.7 times of weekly average. Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd. (467.65, 6.7%) and Au Small Finance Bank Ltd. (656.95, -1.1%) were trading with volumes 10.0 and 8.1 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

43 stocks hit their 52-week highs,

Stocks touching their year highs included - Avanti Feeds Ltd. (639.35, -0.1%), Axis Bank Ltd. (1,226.65, 2.9%) and Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (3,289.60, -1.7%).

14 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Delta Corp Ltd. (147.41, 11.5%) and Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (645.50, 4.2%). 11 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including RHI Magnesita India Ltd. (660.60, -4.0%) and Titan Company Ltd. (3,462.35, -3.5%).