Stock Market Today: SBI, ONGC, NTPC Help Nifty, Sensex Close At Record High

• The local currency weakened 7 paise to close at 83.60 against the US dollar.

• It closed at 83.53 on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian benchmarks ended at fresh closing high in the first session of the week tracking sharp gains in State Bank of India, Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd., and NTPC Ltd.

The NSE Nifty 50 settled 81.75 points or 0.33% higher at 24,583.90, and the S&P BSE Sensex ended 145.52 points or 0.18% higher at 80,664.86.

Intraday, the Nifty 50 rose 0.54% to a fresh high of 24,635.05, and the Sensex rose 0.43% to a fresh high of 80,862.54.

"A lackluster trade was seen after a knee-jerk reaction in the opening and the Index settled at 24,586.70 with gains of 84.55 points. Barring IT, all other sectors ended the day in green with PSU Bank being the top gainer followed by Media," said Aditya Gaggar, director, Progressive Shares.

The Mid and Smallcap indices advanced over 0.50% and outperformed the Frontline Index. The Index has formed a DOJI candlestick pattern at a record level which indicates a reversal, but considering a strong uptrend such correction if any, will be considered a buying opportunity. The downside seems to be protected at 24,400 while on the higher side level of 24,740 will serve as an immediate hurdle, Gaggar added.

State Bank of India, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, NTPC Ltd., ITC Ltd., and Bajaj Auto Ltd. added to the benchmark index.

Axis Bank Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Grasim Industries Ltd., and Tata Steel Ltd. weighed on the benchmark.

On NSE, 11 sectors ended higher, and one declined out of 12. The NSE Nifty IT declined the most, and the NSE Nifty PSU Bank rose the most.

Broader indices outperformed. S&P BSE Midcap closed 0.95% higher and S&P BSE Smallcap ended 0.21% higher.

Seventeen out of 20 sectoral indices on the BSE ended higher. BSE Oil & Gas was the top gainer.

Around 2,050 stocks advanced, 1,992 fell, and 126 stocks remained unchanged on the BSE.

• MRF price hike to come into effect from July 18

• Price revision expected for truck, car radials

• No clarity of price hike for two-wheeler tyres

• No clarity on quantum of price hike expected

Source: Three MRF dealers in Mumbai, Ahmedabad

• CESC Ltd.'s step-down arm Purvah Green Power in pact with Suzlon Energy for supply & maintenance of wind turbines.

Source: Exchange filing

• Seeing eagerness on UK’s part to complete the deal

• New government at helm in UK, will work on FTA soon

Source: Government official

• Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. received a letter of acceptance from East Coast Railway for contract worth Rs 160 crore.

Source: Exchange filing

• $3.06 billion imports in June vs $5 billion

• $2.25 billion gem and jewellery exports in June vs $2.28 billion

• Net profit at Rs 479 crore vs Bloomberg est of Rs 512 crore

• Net profit rose 15% at Rs 479 crore vs Rs 417 crore

• Total income rose 15% at Rs 26,750 crore from Rs 23,243 crore

• VNB Margins fell 120 basis points at 25%

• Solvency Ratio at 186% vs 200%

• Value of New Business rose 18% at Rs 718 crore

• Annual Premium Equivalent rose 23% at Rs 2,866 crore

• IIFL Enterprises to consider bonus issue of share on July 31.

Source: Exchange filing

• VFSI Holdings stake in Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. fell to 4.09% from 6.11% earlier.

Source: Exchange filing

The benchmark equity indices traded near their day's highs through midday on Monday, with the NSE Nifty 50 reaching an all-time high as market participants look forward to the quarterly results of heavyweights and the Union budget.

At 11:38 a.m., the Nifty was trading at 24,587.65, up 0.35% or 85.50 points, while the Sensex was at 80,725.16, up 0.26% or 205.82 points.

During the day, the Nifty jumped 0.45% to an all-time high of 24,611.85. The Sensex jumped 0.37% to an intraday high of 80,813.69.

The Nifty has outperformed Bank Nifty as it has got support from the IT space, according to Amar Deo Singh, senior vice president of equity, commodity and currency at AngelOne. "Any correction in Nifty is a buying opportunity," he said, pointing out that the key levels to watch out for at 24,000–24,400.

The Bank Nifty is displaying divergent trends and is expected to see consolidation. Any pullback to 51,700 and 51,800 is a buying opportunity, he said.

Shares of State Bank of India, Infosys Ltd., ITC Ltd., NTPC Ltd. and Oil & Natural Gas Corp. contributed the most to the gains in the Nifty.

Reliance Industries Ltd., Grasim Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd. and Tata Steel Ltd. weighed down on the index.

All sectoral indices on the NSE were trading higher, with the Nifty Pharma. PSU Bank and Oil & Gas leading.

The broader indices also rose as the BSE MidCap was trading 0.60% higher and the SmallCap rose 0.27%.

Eighteen out of the 20 sectoral indices on the BSE advanced, except Industrials and Capital Goods.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of the buyers as 1,986 stocks rose, 1,845 fell and 164 remained unchanged on the BSE.

• Net interest income up 20% at Rs 2,799 crore vs Rs 2,340 crore YoY

• Net profit up 47% at Rs 1,293 crore vs Rs 882 crore YoY

• Gross NPA at 1.85% vs 1.88% QoQ

• Net NPA unchanged at 0.2% QoQ

Source: Exchange Filing

• Zomato hikes platform fee from Rs. 5 per order

• Platform fee at 6 per order in selective markets (Bangalore & Delhi)

• Platform fee one of the ways to improve profitability

• Increase of Re. 1 positive impact of 30-35bps on take rates

• Only in selective markets positive impact on EBITDA 1-2%

• Fifth time that they have raised convenience fee

• Platform fee raised from Rs. 2 to Rs. 5 in a phased manner

• Expect platform fee to move towards INR 8-10 per order

• Don’t foresee a big increase in restaurant commissions

• GOV to move towards management guidance of 4-5%

• Platform fee won’t impact order volumes as it is done in phased manner

• Apple's annual India revenue rises 33% to almost $8 billion.

• Apple's India revenue jumped 33% from $6 billion in March last year.

Source: Bloomberg

• IPO worth Rs 510 crore to open on July 19, close on July 23.

• Sets price range for IPO at Rs 90-95 per share.

Source: Bloomberg

• June WPI inflation rose 3.36%

• June WPI food inflation at 8.68% vs 7.40% May

• June WPI primary articles inflation at 8.80% vs 7.20% in May

• June WPI fuel and power inflation at 1.03% vs 1.35% in May

• June manufactured products inflation at 1.43% vs 0.78% in May

• WPI inflation rose to 16-month high.

• WPI core inflation rate at 0.9% vs 0.4% May

• Varun Beverages Ltd. has signed a pact to manufacture snacks 'Simba Munchiez' in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Source: Exchange filing

• Hindalco Industries Ltd. is to sell land in Maharashtra to arm of Birla Estates.

• Alert: Company had earlier signed proposal to sell land in Maharashtra to Birla Estates.

• Hindalco Industries is to get Rs 595 crore from sale of Maharashtra land & also 1.5% sales revenue.

Source: Exchange filing

The NSE Nifty Energy rose to a fresh high of 43,273.85 tracking gains in NTPC Ltd., and Oil Natural Gas Corp Ltd. It was trading 0.83% higher at 43,200.85 as of 12:00 p.m., as compared to 0.37% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

• India's ride hailing startup, BluSmart raised $24 Million or Rs 200 Crore

• It completed a Pre-Series B funding round.

• Investors include Swiss-based ResponsAbility, MS Dhoni Family Office, ReNew Founder Sumant Sinha

• Existing investors, BluSmart founders also participated

Source: Bloomberg

• NTPC Ltd. had 12.3 lakh shares changed hands in a block deal.

• Steel Authority of India Ltd. had 65 lakh shares changed hands in two large trades.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Antony Waste Handling Cell Ltd. jumped 8.62% to Rs 620.40, the highest level since its listing on Jan 1, 2021. It was trading 7.06% higher at Rs 611.45 as of 11:31 a.m., as compared to 0.32% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

The NSE Nifty FMCG scaled a fresh high of 60,056.45 as ITC Ltd., Varun Beverages Ltd. led gains. It was trading 0.53% higher at 60,040.50 as of 11:13 a.m. as compared to 0.32% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

• Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. has appointed Ravi A Robert Jerard as CMD for six months.

• PK Purwar ceases to be CMD of co on account of non-extension of tenure of as CMD of BSNL.

Source: Exchange filing

• Ashok Leyland Ltd. has received an order worth Rs 981 crore from MSRTC for 2,104 fully-built buses.

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of Tanla Platforms Ltd. jumped 14.03% to Rs 1,086.45, the highest level since Jan 24. It pared gains to trade 9.94% higher at Rs 1,047.50 as of 10:55 a.m., as compared to 0.33% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

The company has signed a pact with Wisely ATP, a global tech major, to tackle scams on messaging platforms, Tanla Platforms said in a exchange filing on Saturday.

Shares of Zomato Ltd. rose to a fresh high level of Rs 232.00 as it hiked the platform fee to Rs 6 per order. The stock was trading 2.67% higher at Rs 228.40 as of 10:48 a.m., as compared to 0.35% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

Shares of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. rose to a fresh high of Rs 1,394.35 on Monday as the company said its board will consider share buyback on Thursday. It was trading 3.66% higher at Rs 1,375.40 as of 10:44 a.m., as compared to 0.36% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

Shares of Zensar Technologies Ltd. hit a 5% upper circuit on Monday as it introduced AI-powered robots along with launching four products for the global defense market. The stock was trading 5.10% higher at Rs 808.95 as of 10:37 a.m., as compared to 0.25% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

The NSE Nifty Pharma rose to a fresh high of 20,848.20, as Aurobindo Pharma Ltd., and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. gain. The index was trading 1.09% higher at 20,838.10 as of 10:31 a.m. as compared to 0.22% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

The NSE Nifty IT scaled a high of 39,567.00, the highest level since Dec 30, 1999. It was trading 0.59% higher at 39,253.90 as of 10:27 a.m., as compared to 0.28% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

The NSE Nifty Oil & Gas rose to the fresh high of 12,967.00 as Oil and Natural Corp Ltd. and GAIL (India) Ltd. lead gains. The index was trading 0.57% higher at 12,930.05 as of 09:49 a.m., as compared to 0.18% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

• SRM Contractors Ltd. received an order worth Rs 278.5 crore from NHAI

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of Avenue Supermarts Ltd. rose nearly 5% as the company posted over 17% on year growth in its net profit during April-Jan period. The stock was trading 0.94% higher at Rs 4,990.05 as of 09:37 a.m., as compared to 0.22% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

Indian Renewable Energy Development Authority Ltd. rose to the highest level since its listing after it posted 30% annual rise in its net profit for April-June. The stock was trading 4.08% higher at Rs 295.87 as of 09:34 a.m., as compared to 0.25% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

Shares of HCL Technologies Ltd. rose to the highest level within four months after it reported profit in line with street estimates. The stock was trading 3.51% higher at Rs 1,615.00 as of 09:28 a.m., as compared to 0.27% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

Indian benchmarks opened higher in the first session of the week with the NSE Nifty 50 scaling fresh high as HCL Technologies Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd. lead.

As of 09:17 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was 61.55 points or 0.25% higher at 24,563.70, and the S&P BSE Sensex was 191.87 points or 0.24% higher at 80,711.21.

The Nifty 50 has witnessed a breakout above 24,400 levels and could test the higher range of 24,650 levels on the higher side from its 250-point range breakout, said Vikas Jain, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

The breakout of 24,400 levels from its inside range has extended the up move as expected and now on the downside 23,300 will be the reversal point. RSI is reversing from its average line, and crossover of the same would confirm a strong uptrend in the coming days. Highest call OI has moved higher to 24,500 strikes while the downside the highest put OI is at 24,000 for the weekly expiry, Jain added.

HCL Technologies Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., and UltraTech Cement Ltd. added to the index.

Asian Paints Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., and ITC Ltd. weighed on the benchmark.

On NSE, 10 sectors advanced, and two declined out of 12. The NSE Nifty IT lead gains among other sectoral indices, while the NSE Nifty Realty gained the least.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap were trading 0.15% and 0.11% higher, respectively.

On BSE, nine sectors declined, and 11 advanced out of 20. The S&P BSE IT index was the top performer, and the S&P BSE Realty declined the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 1,860 stocks rose, 1,175 stocks declined, and 144 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

At pre-open, the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 0.35% or 85.45 points higher at 24,587.60. The S&P BSE Sensex was trading 0.21% or 167.20 points higher at 80,686.54.

• The yield on the 10-year bond opened flat at 7.00%.

• It closed at 6.99% on Friday.

Source: Cogencis

• The local currency opened flat at 83.54 against the US dollar.

• It closed at 83.53 on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

• State Bank of India raised marginal cost of funds based lending rates by 5-10 bps for most tenors.

Source: Lender's website

• ISG-One index call highlighted the continued weakness in discretionary spending and Managed Services

• It flagged potential for a strong BFSI recovery in 2025

• ISG-One observed 30% in cost savings from Gen Ai based projects in ADM and Infra

• For now, the sector is celebrating the lower revenue leakage on the book

• However a bigger recovery is more likely in 2025

• ISG-One has cut it growth forecast for managed services to 2% vs 3% earlier

• Data suggests that Managed Services reduction in pricing is slowing.

• Limited upside triggers in cement

• Medium term outlook remains robust

• Demand led margin expansion story intact

• Stocks with capacity and cost improvement capability will do well

• Ultratech and Ambuja to see strong additions

• Margin expansion to continue for Ultratech and Ambuja

• Raise our bull case weight on both stocks

• Ultratech remains top pick

• Citi Research maintained a 'Neutral' on Coal India at Rs 460 target, which implied a 7% downside

• Impact of Changes in E- auction process

• Firm asks subsidiaries to increase share of e-auction sold coal to 40% of production

• Enhanced coal availability in spot market to result in lower premium of e-auction coal

• Impact on Coal India's profitability to depend on quantum of additional sales

• 1% change in e-auction pricing impacts EBITDA/PAT by 0.4%

• 1% change in e-auction volumes impacts EBITDA/PAT by 0.15%

• Maintain Market-perform with a target price Rs. 1,520 from Rs. 1460), which implied a downside of 2.6%

• In-line quarter, revenue growth muted across segments

• FY25 revenue and margin guidance maintained

• Products and Platforms business was flat, services revenue was lower QoQ

• Update FY26 earnings by 0.7%

• Maintain PE multiple at 21 times

• Maintains hold revised target price of Rs. 5,091 from Rs. 4,821 earlier, which implied 3% upside

• Building in 45 stores for FY25

• Q1FY27E earnings at an unchanged 75x PE

• Store productivity remains below pre-covid average

• DMart sustained improving trajectory of GM&A

• Expects Slight improvement in store productivity

• DMart Ready growth was stable at 27% YoY.

• Maintain Sell with a target price of Rs 3,550 from Rs3,400 earlier, which implied a 28% downside

• Gross margin recovery to the pre-covid will take 18-24 months

• Revenue per sq ft continue to face headwinds from quick-commerce

Key concerns

• Store growth – given the ownership model

• Revenue per sq ft impacted by quick commerce

• Gross margin – slowdown in discretionary consumption

• Avenue Supermarts remains one of the best run retailers in India

• Maintain Neutral, target price revised to Rs. 1,545, downside 1%

• Unchanged guidance for FY25 is a positive

• TCV were weaker than expected

• The two largest verticals- Financials and manufacturing reported revenue declines

• Business is gradually bottoming out but recovery still slow.

• Management highlighted competitive intensity driving irrational behavior in deal renegotiations

• Maintain Buy and raised the target price to Rs. 1,720 from Rs.1,700, which implied an upside of 10.2%

• Reiteration of FY25 guidance does not factor in improvement in discretionary demand

• Seeing signs that discretionary demand may have bottomed out, but it is too early to call with certainty

• Discretionary demand is unlikely to worsen further based on G2000 database

• Expect Q2 growth across verticals and geographies to be better than Q1 expect financial services

• Maintain Hold with a target price revised to Rs 1,630, which implied an upside 4%.

• Revenue declined across key markets due to productivity benefits being passed

• Management highlighted that spending continues on cost efficiency programs

• Seen some weakness in Auto segment in Europe

• Expect HCL to deliver at midpoint of guided range in FY25

• Expect HCL to deliver 18% margins in FY25

• See limited scope for re rating as the stock is trading at 26x PE multiple for its services business

• U.S. Dollar Index at 104.26

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 4.18%

• Brent crude up 0.08% at $85.10 per barrel

• Nymex crude up 0.06% at $82.26 per barrel 

• Bitcoin was up 2.34% at $61,518.95

• The GIFT Nifty was 4.5 points or 0.02% higher at 24,607.50 as of 07:47 a.m.

• Nifty July futures up by 0.6% to 24,529 at a premium of 26.85 points.

• Nifty July futures open interest up by 3.03%. 

• Nifty Bank July futures down by 0.13% to 52,372 at a premium of 93.1 points.

• Nifty Bank July futures open interest up by 0.56%.

• Nifty Options July 18 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 25,000 and maximum put open interest at 24,000. 

• Bank Nifty Options July 16 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 54,000 and maximum put open interest at 50,000.

• Securities in ban period: Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, Balrampur Chini Mills, Bandhan Bank, Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals, GMR Airports Infrastructure, GNFC, IEX, India Cements, Indus Tower, Piramal Enterprises, and RBL Bank.

The Indian currency strengthened by 3 paise to close at 83.53 against the US dollar.

• Hindustan Oil Exploration: Pandarinathan Elango sold 8.69 lakh shares (0.65%) at Rs 232.2 apiece.

• Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy: Promoter Kainaz Khurshed Daruvala created a pledge for 10 lakh shares on July 9.

• Price Band change from 20% to 10%: HPL Electric & Power.

• Price Band change from 5% to 10%: Inox Wind Energy.

• Ex/record Dividend: JITF Infralogistics, K.P.R. Mill, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Rane Brake Lining, Siyaram Silk Mills, ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems India.

• Ex/record AGM: K.P.R. Mill, Rane Brake Lining, Siyaram Silk Mills.

• Moved in short-term Framework: HPL Electric & Power, Rane Holdings.

• Moved out short-term Framework: D-Link (India), Gujarat Industries Power Co., Kingfa Science & Technology.

Angel One, Hatsun Agro Product, HDFC AMC, HDFC Life Insurance Co., Jio Financial Services, Bank of Maharashtra and SpiceJet.

HCLTech Q1 FY25 (Consolidated, QoQ)

• Revenue down 1.6% at Rs 28,057 crore versus Rs 28,499 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 28,028 crore)

• EBIT down 4.6% at Rs 4,795 crore versus Rs 5,024 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 4806.4 crore)

• EBIT margin at 17.1% versus 17.6% (Bloomberg estimate 17%)

• Net profit up 6.6% at Rs 4,259 crore versus Rs 3,995 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 3,846.1 crore)

• Company declared a dividend of Rs 12 per share.

IREDA Q1 FY25 (YoY)

• Revenue up 32% at Rs 1,511 crore vs Rs 1,143 crore.

• Net profit up 30% at Rs 384 crore vs Rs 295 crore.

Avenue Supermarts Q1 FY25 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Net profit rose 17.5% to Rs 774 crore from Rs 659 crore

• Revenue rose 18.6% to Rs 14,069 crore from Rs 11,865 crore

• Ebitda rose 18% to Rs 1,221 crore from Rs 1,035 crore

• Margin at 8.7%, flat

• Lupin: The US FDA inspection at the Dabhasa manufacturing facility in Gujarat ended with no observations and received an establishment inspection report with the 'no action indicated' classification.

• Alembic Pharmaceuticals: The pharmaceutical company received tentative US FDA approval for Selexipag injection.

• Sunteck Realty: The real estate company, in its first quarter, reported pre-sales at Rs 502 crore, up 30% year-on-year, and collection at Rs 342 crore, up 19% year-on-year.

• EMS: The company headquartered in Delhi received an LOA worth Rs 140 crore from Uttarakhand Power Corp. to supply installation services contracts for the execution of distribution infrastructure development.

• General Insurance Corp.: Radhika CS takes charge as executive director.

• RVNL: The construction arm of the Ministry of Railways received a LoA from Central Railways for a Rs 133-crore project in Maharashtra.

• Apollo Micro Systems: The company received the Make II project from the Indian Army for the supply of a vehicle-mounted counter-swarm drone system.

• GTPL: The aerospace and defence company received the I&B Ministry's nod for providing headend-in-the-sky services.

• Central Bank of India: The bank is in a co-lending partnership with Shriram Housing Finance to offer MSME loans and a co-lending partnership with Arka Fincap to offer MSME loans.

• Piramal Pharma: The US FDA pre-approval was inspected at the Ahmedabad facility and closed with zero observations.

Asian markets were trading on a mixed note on Monday as investors await China's third plenum and on bets on Donald Trump becoming US president.

The S&P ASX 200 was 73.30 points or 0.92% higher at 8,032.60, and the 1.46 points or 0.1 lower at 2,855.54 as of 06:49 a.m.

Financial markets were closed in Japan for observance of Marine Day.

US stocks closed the week positively following encouraging economic data that strengthens expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September.

Approximately 85% of stocks in the S&P 500 saw gains, pushing the index back above the 5,600 level after a decline in the previous session. Technology stocks rebounded, although smaller companies continued to outperform large-cap stocks.

However, banks faced challenges at the start of the earnings season, as results from Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Citigroup Inc. did not provide significant momentum for the sector.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose over 0.55% and 0.62%, respectively, as of Friday.

Brent crude was trading 0.55% lower at $84.56 a barrel. Gold fell 0.18% to $2,407.12 an ounce. The GIFT Nifty was trading 9 points or 0.04% higher at 24,612.00 as of 06:52 a.m.

The Indian benchmark indices recovered from a two-day decline to end sharply higher on Friday as information technology stocks soared after Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. surprised the market with its quarterly earnings.

The NSE Nifty 50 closed 186.20 points or 0.77%, higher at 24,502.15 and the S&P BSE Sensex ended 622.00 points or 0.78%, up at 80,519.34. On a weekly basis, the benchmarks have recorded the best stretch of gains in seven months.

Overseas investors became net buyers of Indian equities after a day on Friday. Foreign portfolio investors mopped up stocks worth Rs 4,022 crore, while domestic institutional investors turned net sellers for the fourth session and offloaded equities worth Rs 1,652 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.