Stock Market Live: Nifty, Sensex Trade Higher As Infosys, Airtel Lead

Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd. is to consider stock split proposal n October 15, it said in an exchange filing

• NCLT Ahmedabad approved the delisting of ICICI Securities from stock exchanges.

• Objections from minority shareholders were rejected by the NCLT Ahmedabad bench.

• NCLT Mumbai gave a similar ruling last month.

• Shareholders of ICICI Securities will receive 67 ICICI Bank shares for every 100 ICICI Securities shares.

• ICICI Securities will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICICI Bank after the scheme is implemented.

• This is the largest IPO globally in 2024 so far.

• ⁠First automaker to list in India in over two decades.

• Company has sold 12 million cars in India so far.

Vedanta Ltd. received Rs 92 crore penalty and Rs 10 crore fine from Customs Department. The company will decide next course of action in due course, the company said in an exchange Filing.

India's benchmark stock indices were trading off their intraday high by midday on Wednesday as the initial reaction to the Monetary Policy Committee meeting outcome faded. The MPC held the RBI's key lending rate steady at 6.5% on Wednesday in line with market expectation.

As of 12:23 p.m., the Nifty 50 was trading 100.50 points, or 0.40%, higher at 25,113.65, and the Sensex gained 268.66 points, or 0.33%, to trade at 81,903.47. The Nifty had surged 0.88%, or 220.90 points, to 25,234.05, and the Sensex rose 0.84% to 82,319.21 after the monetary policy announcement.

"A close above 25,200/82,200 (for Nifty/Sensex) would bring positive surprises, while negative surprises could occur below 24,700/81,000 levels," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities. "The strategy should be to reduce long positions between the 25,150 and 25,200 levels for Nifty. Short-term traders may consider trading long if Nifty sustains above 25,200 with a stop loss below 25,000," Chouhan said.

Infosys Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., State Bank of India, Axis Bank Ltd., and ICICI Bank Ltd. added to the gain in Nifty.

Nestle India Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., and ITC Ltd. weighed on the index.

On NSE, nine out of 12 sectors advanced while three declined. The NSE Nifty FMCG declined the most, and the NSE Nifty Realty rose the most.

The NSE Nifty Pharma rose 1.76% to a record high of 23,178.35, tracking gains in Divi's Laboratories Ltd.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 1.10% and 1.35% higher, respectively.

On BSE, 17 sectors advanced, and three declined out of 20. The BSE Power was the top performing sector, while the BSE FMCG declined the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,913 stocks rose, 871 stocks declined, and 111 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

Happiest Mind Technologies Ltd. introduced Secureline360, a packaged Managed Detection and Response. The service offering is powered by Generative Artificial Intelligence, it said in an exchange filing.

JSW Infrastructure Ltd. received a Letter of Intent from Maharashtra Maritime Board for Development and Operation of all Weather and Multipurpose Port in the state, it said in an exchange filing.

Glenmark Life Sciences Ltd.'s board approved to change the name of the company to Alivus Life Sciences Ltd, it said in an exchange filing.

Honasa Consumer Ltd.'s MamaEarth partnered with Meesho to amplify reach in Tier 3 and beyond. The company targets Rs 100 crore ARR in one year. The ARR Stands For Annual Recurring Revenue, the company said in an exchange filing.

TVS Motor Co. Ltd. partnered with Ecofy to transform EV Three-Wheeler financing in India, it said in an exchange filing.

Ceinsys Tech Ltd. received an order worth Rs 331.6 crore From Maharashtra Government, it said in an exchange filing.

Ajmera Realty & Infra India Ltd.'s share price rose over 4% after the company's second quarter sales and collections rose. Its total sales stood at Rs 254 crore, a marginal increase of 1% compared to the same period last year. While, its total collections were up 20% year-on-year at Rs 133 crore.

Kalpataru Projects International Ltd. entered into a pact to sell 100% stake in unit Vindhyachal Expressway for enterprise value of Rs 775 crore. The company will sell unit to Actis Atlantic Holdings, it said in an exchange filing.

The yield on the 10-year bond declined by 6 bps to 6.74%, according to Bloomberg. It closed at 6.80% on Tuesday.

India's near term inflation environment is vulnerable to oil prices. Upside risks to food inflation on weather events need to be kept in mind. Shift to neutral sets up expectations for a cut in December, said Katrina Ell, director, economic research Moody’s Analytics.

The RBI has set the stage for a rate cut in December, but risks from changes in external conditions remain, Ell said.

SKF India's share price jumped more than 6% after the company approved the demerger of its industrial business. The name of the new company will be “SKF India (Industrial) Ltd” or “SKF (Industrial) India Ltd” or such other as may be approved by the concerned central registration centre.

Torrent Power Ltd. share price rose to the record high on Wednesday as the company received a letter of award from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. for long–term supply of 2,000 megawatt energy storage capacity.

The Indian unit was trading flat at 83.95 against the US dollar as of 10:16 a.m. after the RBI held rate steady at 6.5%. The Indian unit opened 4 paise higher at 83.92 a dollar on Wednesday, according to data on Cogencis.

The NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex extended gains after the Reserve Bank of India kept its benchmark repo rate unchanged at 6.5% in line with market expectation. The Nifty 50 and Sensex were trading 0.45% and 0.33% higher, respectively as of 10:08 a.m.

SpiceJet Ltd. settled $131.9 million dispute with Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management. The dispute with Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management resolved for $22.5 million, it said in a press release.

The NSE Nifty Pharma rose 1.36% to a fresh high of 23,581.35 as Divi's Laboratories Ltd., and Cipla Ltd. led gains. The index was trading 1.31% higher at 23,614.00 as of 09:37 a.m., as compared to 0.20% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

The NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex opened higher on Wednesday before the announce of monetary policy decision from the Reserve Bank of India. Infosys Ltd., and State Bank of India were top leaders in the index.

As of 09:17 a.m., the Nifty 50 was trading 0.19% higher at 25,058.45, and the Sensex was trading 0.21% higher at 81,82.39.

The Nifty 50 has recovered the previous day loss and made a higher bottom at 24,800 levels which will be key to hold for an up move near to 25,500 levels. It has closed in an inside range of the previous day and would give a breakout from current levels on crossover of 25,200 of the range, said Vikas Jain, head, research at Reliance Securities.

RSI has witnessed up move from the lower range and other key technical indicators are showing positive traction from current levels. Highest call OI has moved higher to 25,300 strikes while the downside the highest put OI is at 24,500 for the weekly expiry, Jain said.  

Infosys Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., State Bank of India, and Bharti Airtel Ltd. added to the Nifty 50 index.

Nestle India Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. weighed on the index.

On NSE, 10 sectors advanced, two declined out of 12. The NSE Nifty Metal was the top leader, and the NSE Nifty Metal declined the most.

Broader markets rose. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 0.90% and 1.20% higher, respectively.

On BSE, 18 sectors advanced and two declined out of 20. The BSE Healthcare rose the most, and the BSE Metal declined the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,384 stocks advanced, 489 stocks declined, and 90 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

The NSE Nifty 50 was trading 0.21% higher at 25,065.80, and the BSE Sensex was trading 0.39% higher at 81,954.58.

The yield on the 10-year bond opened flat at 6.80%. It closed at 6.79% on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

Rupee strengthened by 4 paise to open 83.92 against the US dollar. It closed at 83.96 on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Buy, TP Raised to Rs 2920 from Rs 1710

• Board approval for Rs 10 bn fund raise, which believe is aimed at capitalizing on inorganic growth opportunities as well as new lines of biz

• Increase FY25/ 26/ 27 EPS est by 3%/ 8%/ 18%

The US FDA Inspection ended with zero observations for oncology formulation facility in Gujarat. The US FDA Inspection Was Conducted On October 7 And 8, according to an exchange filing

• Downgrade from Outperform to Underperform with TP 188 from 258 earlier, Downside 15%

• Subdued demand and subsequent de-rating driving downgrade

• Believe 10% decline in domestic truck sales in 1HFY25 signals start of CV down cycle

• Fleet owners are showing preference for used truck purchases versus buying new trucks

• Build in 5% YoY decline in MHCV sales in FY25/FY26

• Falling scale and rising risk of discounts are key margin headwinds

• Forecast an FY26 Ebitda margin of 10.4% vs 12.4% in FY24

• Lower EV/ Ebitda multiple from 11x to 10x,

• Lower contribution from stake in NBFC arm from Rs23/share to Rs11/share

• Maintains 'Overweight' at Rs 3325 target, implying 21% upside

• RIL rises to #5 from #6 in brokerage's preference order

• Continues cyclical challenges in refining and retail priced in

• Expect Q2FY25 Ebitda to grow 3% QoQ, but fall on an annual basis

• Lower FY25 gross refining margin estimate by $2.7 per barrel

• Lower FY25/26 EPS estimates by 12%/7%

• Re-rating to regain traction after retail profitability improves, new energy cashflows kick in

Shortly after opening, CSI 300 index plunged over 6% on Wednesday as concerns rose that the latest stimulus announcement may not be enough to revive the world's largest economy.

The index declined 6.12% to 3,995.83 so far today. The index pared losses to trade 4.83% lower at 4,050.43 as f 08:34 a.m.

The Hang Seng continued to slid after posting its biggest drop in 16 years on Tuesday, as Bloomberg reported. The index was trading 2.19% lower at 20,468.07 as of 08:35 a.m.

• BJP’s win in Haryana should be an investor sentiment booster in the interim

• Manifesto shows that cash transfers/populism remains on the rise

• BJP’s victory provides comfort at a national level on the political front

• Politically important Maharashtra stare likely to have elections in Nov 2024

• In may 24 national elections, BJP could secure only 18 off 48 seats in Maharashtra, making upcoming states elections tough

• Haryana victory is good for capex stocks

• Both BJP/Congress have initiated income transfer schemes, targeting women

• Estimate 0.8-1% of GDP being spent on annualised basis on such scheme

The Reserve Bank of India will announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday. To track live updates click here.

Gold future prices extended its fall to sixth day while market participants await the release of US Federal Reserve's September policy meeting minutes.

The bullion continued to extend decline as expectation of aggressive rate cuts waned after Fed officials emphasised on data–based approach. Meanwhile, new job growth in the US grew the most in six months, data showed last week.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note declined in Asian trade as traders expects the Federal Reserve will likely ease monetary condition gradually. Traders priced in gradual rate cut after Fed officials expressed the need to be data dependent going forward.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was trading 0.10% down at 4.009% as of 07:58 a.m. It settled at 4.013% on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg data.

• Repo rate currently at 6.5%

• First MPC post appointment of three new external members

• External members include Ram Singh, Saugata Bhattacharya, and Nagesh Kumar.

• Some signs of a slowdown in economic growth visible

• CPI inflation at 3.65% in August, vs 3.54% in July.

• Inflation within the central bank's target of 4% aided by the base effect.

• Inflation expected at closer to 5% in September

• RBI expected to continue to focus on domestic fundamentals

After delivering the biggest intraday drop in more than a year, crude oil future prices continued to recover in Asian trade. Concerns over China's economic condition weighed on the crude oil prices on Tuesday. Intraday, oil prices plunged 5.65% to $76.36 a barrel on Tuesday.

The brent crude was trading 0.69% higher at $77.71 a barrel as of 07:28 a.m.

Most markets in Asia–Pacific rose in early trade on Wednesday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. 

The Reserve Bank of New Zealnd cut the benchmark rate by 50 basis points in line with market expectations. 

The Nikkei 225 and S&P ASX 200 were trading 0.89% and 0.41% higher, respectively as of 07:16 a.m.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.97% and 0.30% higher, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite ended 1.45% higher.

The GIFT Nifty was trading 0.14% or 35 points higher at 25,156.50 as of 06:30 a.m.

"The larger texture of the market is still in to the weak side. For the day traders now, 24,900/81,300 and 24,850/81,100 would be the key intraday supports zone. Above the same, the pullback formation is likely to continue. On the higher side, market could continue the pullback momentum till 25,150-25,200/82,000-82,300," said Shrikant Chouhan, head - equity research, Kotak Securities.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex snapped their six-session losing streak to end higher on Tuesday, led by heavyweights HDFC Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd.  

The Nifty 50 closed 0.88%, or 217.40 points higher at 25,013.15, and the Sensex gained 0.72%, or 584.81 points, to end at 81,634.81.