Stock Market Today: Nifty, Sensex End Choppy Session Flat Ahead Of Powell's Speech

Overseas investors stayed sellers on Wednesday for the third consecutive day.

Foreign portfolio investors sold stocks worth Rs 2,213.56 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the eleventh day and mopped up equities worth Rs 1,102.41 crore, the NSE data showed.

Foreign institutions have been net buyers of Rs 12,801 crore worth of Indian equities so far in 2024, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd., updated till the previous trading day.

• The local currency weakened by 5 paise to close at 83.43 against the U.S. Dollar.

• It closed at 83.38 a dollar on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

India's benchmark indices ended Wednesday's choppy session flat as market participants await the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech, later today. Losses in shares of heavy-weight Reliance Industries Ltd., and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. dragged the indices.

Today, the NSE Nifty ended 18.65 points or 0.083% lower at 22,434.65, the S&P BSE Sensex ended 27.09 points or 0.037% down at 73,876.82.

They will closely monitor Powell's comments to get fresh cues about the U.S. central bank's policy outlook forward in the backdrop of robust economic data weighing on rate cut expectation.

Intraday, the NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.48% to 22,346, and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.49% to 73,540.27.

"Weak Asian and U.S. market cues coupled with caution ahead of the RBI's monetary policy announcement on Friday saw domestic equities end flattish with a negative bias. Surging crude oil prices and uptick in US bond yields are making investors nervous with FIIs offloading local shares further dampening the sentiment,” Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president research, Mehta Equities Ltd.

Reliance Industries Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd.,Nestle India Ltd., and ICICI Bank Ltd. added to the gains in the index.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., NTPC Ltd., and Bajaj Finance Ltd. limited losses in the index.

On NSE, five sectors advanced, three remained flat, and four declined. The NSE Nifty Realty fell the most among peers, while the NSE Nifty PSU Bank become the top performing sector.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap ended 0.6% higher and the S&P BSE Smallcap ended 1.18% higher.

The Nifty Midcap 150 hit a life during the day and settled higher for eight day in a row. The Nifty Smallcap 250 ended higher for nineth day in a row.

On BSE, 12 sectors advanced, and eight declined. The S&P BSE Realty index was the worst performing sector, while the S&P BSE Utilities was the top performing sector.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,803 stocks advanced, 1,051 stocks declined, and 111 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

Divi's Laboratories Ltd.'s rating has been upgraded to a 'buy' by BofA Securities due to its improving earnings outlook. The research firm has also raised the target price to Rs 4,025 apiece from Rs 3,380 earlier, implying a potential upside of approximately 11% from the current stock price.

The stock rose as much as 2.86% during the day to Rs 3,726 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 2.3% higher at Rs 3,705 per share, compared to a 0.15% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50.

The share price has risen 24.37% in the last 12 months. The relative strength index was at 66.

Twenty-one out of the 39 analysts tracking the company have a 'buy' rating on the stock, 12 recommend 'hold' and six suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential upside of 4.5%.

The joint venture between Tata Technologies Ltd. and BMW will reduce the dependence on anchor clients Tata Motors and JLR and increase client connections with other global OEMs, according to JPMorgan.

JPMorgan remains 'underweight' on the company, citing excess valuation. The brokerage has a target price of Rs 800 apiece, implying a downside of 30% from the current market price on NSE.

Shares of Tata Tech rose as much as 4.35% to Rs 1,139.50 apiece on the NSE. It was trading 3.76% higher at Rs 1,133.10 apiece, compared to a 0.22% advance in the benchmark Nifty 50 as of 1:03 p.m.

The stock has declined 13.66% since November 2023. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 5.8 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was 63.63.

Out of the six analysts tracking the stock, two have a 'buy' rating and four suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month analyst price target implies a potential upside of 12.0%.