Market closes higher, Motilal Oswal initiates coverage on JSW Cement with a 'Neutral' rating
By Trendlyne Analysis

 

Nifty 50 closed at 24,980.65 (103.7, 0.4%), BSE Sensex closed at 81,644.39 (370.6, 0.5%) while the broader Nifty 500 closed at 23,066.60 (135.1, 0.6%). Market breadth is highly positive. Of the 2,517 stocks traded today, 1,666 were on the uptick, and 797 were down.

Indian indices closed higher after rising in the morning session. The Indian volatility index, Nifty VIX, fell 4.5% and closed at 11.8 points. Auto stocks, including Ola Electric, Tata Motors, and Bajaj Auto, closed higher after China lifted export curbs on rare earth magnets to India, easing supply constraints.

Nifty Smallcap 100 and Nifty Midcap 100 closed higher. Nifty Oil & Gas and S&P BSE IPO were among the top index gainers today. According to Trendlyne’s sector dashboard, Oil & Gas emerged as the best-performing sector of the day, with a rise of 2.2%.

Asian indices closed mixed. European indices are trading in the green. US index futures are trading flat as investors await Home Depot earnings. Comments from Federal Reserve officials on interest rates and monetary policy are due later this week. Brent crude futures are trading lower on speculation that Ukraine-Russia-US talks could ease sanctions on Russian oil.

  • Money flow index (MFI) indicates that stocks like HBL Power Systems, Hyundai Motor India, JM Financial, and JK Cement are in the overbought zone.

  • Magellanic Cloud surges as it secures an order worth Rs 85 crore from Rail Vikas Nigam to implement AI-enabled video surveillance systems across Southern Railway.

  • Motilal Oswal initiates coverage on JSW Cement with a ‘Neutral’ rating and a target price of Rs 163. The brokerage highlights that the company’s capital expenditure plans of Rs 5,600 crore will help expand capacity and support its entry into the northern region. It also expects a revenue CAGR of 19% over FY26–28.

  • Tata Motors is rising sharply as it reportedly partners with Motus Holdings to re-enter the South African passenger vehicles market, owing to rising demand for budget vehicles in the country. Motus Holdings will be the exclusive distributor of Tata Motors cars in South Africa.

  • Tyre makers expect demand to pick up in H2FY26, fueled by festive buying and a potential rural rebound. Despite short-term softness, they stay cautiously optimistic, backed by replacement demand, urban consumption, and easing input costs. Neeraj Kanwar, MD of Apollo Tyres, anticipates improved demand post-monsoon, supported by infrastructure and mining activity, and expects stronger topline growth in both India and Europe.

  • Century Plyboards (India)'s Executive Director, Keshav Bhajanka, expects its revenue to grow in the mid-teens in FY26, driven by improvements across the plywood, laminates, medium density fibreboard (MDF), and particle wood segments. He also states that value growth will outperform volume growth due to the price hikes implemented on the back of inflation.

  • Seamec's board of directors terminates its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rakesh Ayri, due to non-performance, effective August 19.

  • Paradeep Phosphates and Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore are rising as China lifts fertiliser export restrictions to India. India imports nearly 80% of its specialty fertilisers, such as water-soluble nutrients and liquid foliar feeds, from China.

  • Auto stocks like Ola Electric, Tata Motors, and Bajaj Auto rise as China agrees to ease export curbs on rare earth magnets. With China supplying 90% of global output, the move could ease supply disruptions that have impacted production. This comes as domestic demand improves amid talks of a potential GST cut.

  • Sarda Energy & Minerals rises as it wins the bid for the Senduri Coal Mine in Madhya Pradesh, with 248.5 million tonnes of coal reserves. The company will share 9.5% of revenue with the state government.

  • Kernex Microsystems is rising as it receives a Rs 151.4 crore order from Western Railways to deploy the Kavach system.

  • Alembic Pharma receives US FDA approval for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Macitentan tablets. The drug treats high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. According to IQVIA, the drug had a market size of $1.2 billion in June 2025.

  • Citi turns positive on Indian equities, projecting a 7% upside in the Nifty 50 by June 2026, with a target of 26,700. Strong macro fundamentals, steady domestic flows, and a likely recovery in consumption and credit demand during the festive season support the outlook. Citi notes that Q1 earnings were broadly in line, with muted trends. It also highlights a rebound in domestic mutual fund flows in July, especially in the multi-cap and flexi-cap segments.

  • IDBI Capital downgrades Bata India to a 'Hold' call from 'Buy', with a lower target price of Rs 1,147 per share. This indicates a potential upside of 2%. The brokerage is cautious on the stock due to its weak Q1FY26 earnings and the shift in consumer behaviour towards online platforms, leading to growth in e-commerce and direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands. It expects the company's revenue to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% over FY26-27.

  • Reliance Infrastructure is rising as it bags an order from NHPC to develop a 390 megawatt (MW) interstate transmission system for a solar power project.

  • Reliance Industries is rising as Jio discontinues its entry-level 1 GB recharge plans of Rs 209 for 22 days and Rs 249 for 28 days. This increases the entry-level recharge to Rs 299 for 1.5 GB per day for 28 days. The company's subsidiary, Reliance Consumer Products, acquires a majority stake in a joint venture (JV) with Naturedge Beverages to enter the healthy functional beverage market.

  • Motilal Oswal maintains its 'Buy' rating on Glenmark Pharmaceuticals with a target price of Rs 2,400. The brokerage notes the company’s Q1FY26 performance was below expectations due to weak domestic formulations, low Europe & rest of the world (ROW) sales, along with higher OpEx impacting margins. However, it has raised its FY26/FY27 earnings estimates by 3%/8%, factoring in income from the ISB 2001 drug deal and US regulatory constraints.

  • Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle's shares debut on the bourses at a 1.4% discount to the issue price of Rs 517. The Rs 1,540.7 crore IPO received bids for 2.7 times the total shares on offer.

  • Inox Wind rises sharply as it divests a stake worth Rs 175 crore in its subsidiary, Inox Renewable Solutions, at a valuation of Rs 7,400 crore.

  • Vardhman Textiles and Indo Count Industries are rising as the Finance Ministry temporarily exempts the 11% import duty on raw cotton till September 30. The move aims to ease pressures from the 50% tariff imposed by the US on Indian exports.

  • Raja Gopal Sastry, CFO of Endurance Technologies, says a GST cut would boost demand in the auto sector, noting that most of the company’s components currently fall under the 28% GST bracket. He adds that the government’s mandate on Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS) in two-wheelers is a major opportunity. Sastry also mentions that discussions are underway with OEMs for part orders.

  • SPML Infra is rising as it bags an order worth Rs 1,073 crore from the Indore Municipal Corp to upgrade the water supply system. As part of the project, the company will set up a water intake, raw water pumping house, water treatment plant, pumping stations & transmission systems, and electric substations. The company will also operate and maintain the water system for the next 10 years.

  • GMR Airports is rising as its board of directors schedules a meeting on August 21 to consider and approve raising up to Rs 5,000 crore through the issue of securities, including a qualified institutional placement (QIP) or other modes.

  • Va Tech Wabag secures a Rs 118 crore order from the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning in Bahrain. The contract involves the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the 40 MLD Madinat Salman Sewage Treatment Plant and Long Sea Outfall for five years.

  • Hindustan Zinc rises as its board of directors approves setting up a 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) zinc tailings processing plant in Rampura Agucha, Rajasthan. The board expects the project to be completed in the next 28 months, with a capex of Rs 3,823 crore.

  • Nifty 50 was trading at 24,915.20 (38.3, 0.2%), BSE Sensex was trading at 81,319.11 (45.4, 0.1%), while the broader Nifty 500 was trading at 22,958.65 (27.2, 0.1%).

  • Market breadth is in the green. Of the 1,984 stocks traded today, 1,210 showed gains, and 710 showed losses.

Riding High:

Largecap and midcap gainers today include Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (2,581.30, 6.5%), Samvardhana Motherson International Ltd. (99.40, 5.7%) and Astral Ltd. (1,366.10, 4.0%).

Downers:

Largecap and midcap losers today include Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd. (13,785, -5.1%), Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd. (507.35, -2.5%) and Solar Industries India Ltd. (14,699, -1.7%).

Volume Rockets

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

Top high volume gainers on BSE included KIOCL Ltd. (401, 19.9%), Ola Electric Mobility Ltd. (44.83, 8.7%) and Devyani International Ltd. (167.09, 7.5%).

Top high volume losers on BSE were Bajaj Holdings & Investment Ltd. (13,785, -5.1%) and SRF Ltd. (2,929.60, 0%).

Vardhman Textiles Ltd. (435.10, 6.3%) was trading at 39.8 times of weekly average. Exide Industries Ltd. (392.80, 4.4%) and TTK Prestige Ltd. (663.65, 3.0%) were trading with volumes 12.1 and 9.5 times weekly average respectively on BSE at the time of posting this article.

BSE 500: highs, lows and moving averages

15 stocks took off, crossing 52 week highs,

Stocks touching their year highs included - Ashok Leyland Ltd. (133.28, 1.2%), CCL Products India Ltd. (920.50, 2.0%) and Indian Bank (671.65, -0.7%).

37 stocks climbed above their 200 day SMA including Devyani International Ltd. (167.09, 7.5%) and Motherson Sumi Wiring India Ltd. (41.89, 6.2%). 10 stocks slipped below their 200 SMA including Neuland Laboratories Ltd. (13,044, -3.6%) and PTC Industries Ltd. (13,402, -2.2%).

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