Stock Market Live: Nifty Trades Near 25,000; Sensex Over 150 Points Higher

Ola Electric share price was back in the negative territory after rising in two sessions following Union Ministry of Heavy Industries' investigation into the service-related issues faced by customers of Ola Electric Mobility Ltd.

The ministry has sent a letter to the Automotive Research Association of India, or ARAI, seeking inputs on the over 10,000 complaints filed against India’s largest electric scooter maker

Bhavish Aggarwal, the founder of Ola Electric Mobility Ltd., mourned the demise of Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Tata Group, while reflecting on the titan's investment journey into his ventures.

"I’m at a loss with Ratan Tata sir’s passing," he said on X (formally Twitter), a day after his demise. "His loss feels so personal because it is for me. He was my hero growing up, like for so many others."

During the September quarter, Bank of Maharashtra total business grew 16.9% year-on-year to Rs 4.94 lakh crore, total deposits were up 15.5% to Rs 2.76 lakh crore, gross advances rose 18.7% to Rs 2.17 lakh crore, and CASA ratio was at 49.29% lower than 49.86% it reported in the year ago period.

NBCC has received work order of Rs 198 crore for supply & installation of rooftop solar system in Jharkhand, an exchange filing said. The name of client is SAIL Bokaro Steel Plant.

During September quarter, GM Breweries net profit fell 3.1% year-on-year to Rs 21.7 crore and revenue for the period was marginally up by 0.2% at Rs 149 crore.

Ebitda was down 7.4% on the year to Rs 27.5 crore and the Ebitda margin was at 18.5% as against 19.6% in year ago period.

The NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex pared most gains from the morning, tracking declines in Infosys Ltd. and Trent Ltd.'s share prices. As of 11:47 a.m., the Nifty 50 was 0.17%, or 42.50 points higher at 25,024.45, and the Sensex was up 214.98 points, or 0.26% at 81,682.08.

So far today, Nifty rose as much as 0.61% to 25,134.05, and Sensex rose 0.66% to 82,002.84. Rise in most Asian shares in the early trade also provided support to the benchmark indices.

Nifty has been trading in the range of 24,800-25,200 over the past few days and an either side breakout would decide the next leg of move from current levels, said Vikas Jain, head of research, Reliance Securities Ltd.

The relative strength index has witnessed up-move from the lower range and the brokerage expects volatility to increase with respect to the weekly expiry. Highest call open interest has moved higher to 25,300 strikes, while in the downside, the highest put OI is at 24,500 for the weekly expiry, Jain said.

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. were positively contributing to changes in the Nifty.

While those of Infosys Ltd., Trent Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Titan Co. Ltd., and Tata Motors Ltd. weighed the index.

On NSE, six out of 12 sectors advanced, four declined, and one remained flat. The NSE Nifty Energy rose the most, and the NSE Nifty Pharma declined the most.

Broader markets rose on Thursday. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 0.12% and 0.58% higher, respectively.

On BSE, 16 out of 20 sectors advanced and four declined. The BSE Utilities rose the most, while the BSE Healthcare declined the most.

Market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers. Around 2,389 stocks advanced, 1,305 stocks declined, and 160 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

Ashoka Buildcon share price surged after its JV in which it is the lead member was declared as lowest bidder for Rs 1,668 crore project for City & Industrial Development Corporation Of Maharashtra, an exchange filing said.

Suzlon Energy has partnered with Jindal Renewables for 400 MW captive wind power deal, an exchange filing said and added that partnership with Jindal Renewables to lead decarbonisation of steel production.

India's largest IT firm Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., state-owned Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. and Tata Elxsi Ltd. will kick-start India Inc.'s earnings season for the second quarter on Thursday.

As many as 12 companies, are set to announce their quarterly results for the three-month period ending September 2024.

Find out live quarterly earnings updates here.

Tata Sons' Chairman emeritus Ratan Tata's passing has caused an outpour of anecdotes from the startup industry, an ecosystem he fondly nurtured and worked with.

While the patriarch was responsible for the expansion of India's biggest conglomerate, he also watered several startups when they weren't sector leaders, such as Urban Company, CashKaro, BlueStone, CarDekho and Tracxn.

Click here to find out more.

PNC Infratech Ltd. share price rose to nearly one–month high after the company emerged as the first lowest bidder for engineering, procurement, and construction project of City & industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd. The order is jointly awarded to the company along with Aakshya Infra Projects Pvt. Ltd, PNC Infratech said in an exchange filing.

Customer collections from real estate business at Rs 1,033 crore compared to Rs 879 crore, an exchange filing said. It added that total Sales rose 18% to Rs 1,331 crore compared to Rs 1,128 crore (QoQ).

Narayan Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, lamented the loss, describing Ratan Tata as calm and courteous. Co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, Bill Gates wrote about his memories with Tata.

Read more here.

In Q2, JSW steel's consolidated production grew 7% to 6.77 MT and total combined volumes grew 6% to 6.77 MT. During the quarter, the company recorded highest ever quarterly Indian operation’s crude steel production at 6.63 MT in Q2 FY25, an exchange filing said.

Shares of Tata Technology Services Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., Tata Chemicals Ltd. and group stocks of the conglomerate held steady after its former Chairman, Ratan Tata, passed away on Wednesday.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. has cancelled its September quarter earnings press conference and interviews scheduled later on Thursday after the demise of Ratan Tata.

The IT giant, however, will release the Q2 financial results and analyst call on Thursday, Oct. 10, after the board meeting, as decided earlier.

Star Health and Allied Insurance share price fell Thursday following a statement by the company, which confirmed that a 'targeted malicious cyberattack' resulted in unauthorized and illegal access to certain data of the company.

Meanwhile, JM Financial initiated coverage on the stock as well as ICICI Lombard noting that they are market leaders in the largest segments of motor and health, respectively, with a positive stance.

JP Morgan, in a report on telecom industry said it has upgraded Vodafone Idea to 'Neutral' from 'Underweight' and raised its target to Rs 10 from Rs 7, implying upside of 8.3%.

The brokerage's new pecking order is Indus towers, Bharti Airtel, Bharti Hexacom and Vodafone Idea. The brokerage said unfavourable AGR ruling necessitates annual tariff hikes for Vodafone Idea and tariff repair is needed to reach average trend of Asian peers.

The brokerage has baked in tariff hikes of 15% in FY27 for all three telcos. Bharti Airtel is top telco pick, rated overweight and a revised target of Rs 1580, implying downside 6%

Indus towers is also JP Morgan's top overall pick in telcos and tower companies and has been rated overweight with higher target of Rs 525 from Rs 500, implying upside of 41%.

Share price of Tata Consultancy Services snapped their two-session fall and rose as investors await the company's results for the quarter ended Sept. Consensus estimates suggest the company's revenue to grow 2.7% sequentially to Rs 64,308 crore and net profit to rise by 4.9% to Rs 12,634 crore.

Benchmark equity indices tracked their global peers and opened higher ahead of the release of US CPI as shares of HDFC Bank and Airtel led gains.

At pre-open, Nifty 50 was at 25067.05, up 0.34% or 85.10 points and Sensex was at 81839.56, up by 0.46% or 372.46 points. According to Sameet Chavan, head of research at Angel One, "Even though there is an insignificant alteration in the price action on a closing basis, sustainability at higher levels seems challenging, curating a more complex market environment. "

He added that the steep correction from the higher zone signifies a lack of confidence among the bulls for now.

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., and Axis Bank Ltd. contributed the most to the gains. While those of Infosys Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., Adani Enterprises Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., and Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd capped the upside.

All sectoral indices opened higher with Nifty Realty gaining the most.

At pre-open, Nifty 50 was at 25067.05, up 0.34% or 85.10 points and Sensex was at 81839.56, up by 0.46% or 372.46 points. In a report, SBI Securities said that currently for Nifty 24870-24850 will act as an important support & till 24850 holds, we can see index move towards 25200-25220.

"A surge above 25220, index can move towards 25290-25310 zone,"the report said. "On breakdown & sustenance below 24850, further correction up to 24720-24700 will be on the cards."

The yield on the 10-year bond opened flat at 6.77%. It closed at 6.77% on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

Rupee strengthened by 2 paise to open 83.94 against the US dollar. It closed at 83.96 on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

Jefferies estimates a modest Q2FY25 for our SMID coverage, with 13% year-on-year PAT growth. It said that while B2C & rural offtake is likely weak, B2B traction seems steady. The brokerage estimates healthy volumes in Polycab, Finolex cables, Supreme Industries and Astral and strong year-on-year traction in Kaynes and Dixon led by strong order book and customer adds.

For Crompton, it has estimated 6% YoY sales growth due to higher B2C mix and Pidilite on likely price rollbacks. Festive demand will be key to watch out for, it said.

Bernstein has downgraded India to 'Underweight' on higher valuations and potential market vulnerability. The brokerage also noted that the pace of rating & earnings downgrades are increasing and said only utilities, tech, and energy are showing some rise in rating & earnings upgrades. The brokerage said that it finds SIP flow showing signed of moderation

Strategy for Indian markets

The brokerage prefers quality, low volatility, and large caps and suggests reducing exposure towards high volatility stocks along with reducing exposure towards small and mid caps. The brokerage firm believes earnings cycle heading towards downgrade.

Ratan Tata, the Indian business leader who served as chairman of the Tata Group from 1991 to 2012, has passed away on Wednesday. He was 86. Born on Dec. 28, 1937, in Bombay (now Mumbai), Tata graduated from Cornell University in 1962 with a degree in architecture and later attended Harvard Business School.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday said industrialist Ratan Tata will be accorded a state funeral. Talking to reporters, Shinde said Tata's relatives have informed that his mortal remains will be kept at the NCPA in south Mumbai from 10 am to 4 pm on Thursday for people to pay respect.

Click here to read more.

Bharat Petroleum Corp's stock is expected to rise after the announcement of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu regarding investment of Rs 85,000 crore on a refinery in the state. Adani Enterprises share price will react to the fund raise news. While Star Health and Allied Insurance Co is likely to fall after data breach issue. Britannia Industries will rise on opening cheese factory in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra, dedicated to producing The Laughing Cow products and GR Infraprojects will rise on the news of order win.

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Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., DMart-parent Avenue Supermarts Ltd., Tata Elxsi Ltd. and Anand Rathi Wealth will kick-start the earnings season for the second quarter.

GTPL Hathway- Q2FY25 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue at up 9.8% Rs 855.56 crore vs Rs 779.20 crore

• Ebitda down 13.64% at Rs 107.37 crore vs Rs 124.32 crore

• Margin at 12.55% vs 15.95% down 340 bps

• Net profit down 61.69% at Rs 13.74 crore vs Rs 35.87 crore

Western Carriers Q1FY25 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 5.26% at Rs 422.71 crore vs Rs 401.57 crore

• Ebitda up 13.22% at Rs 35.46 crore vs Rs 31.32 crore

• Margin at 8.38% vs 7.79% up 58 bps

• Net profit up 8.24% at Rs 18.9 crore vs Rs 17.46 crore

Comex Gold December futures contract traded flat at $2,626.60 after it fell for the sixth straight session Wednesday amid advancing dollar and less expectations for a larger rate cut in November.t

Macquarie continues to see earnings expectations fatigue and downside to the consensus forecast and sees more misses than beats in 2Q, particularly in sectors including consumer discretionary, materials and financials. It said it continues to forecast a 15% two-year EPS CAGR for MSCI India. On revenue side it sees limited potential for positive surprises following sharp upward revisions and on margins side it sees upside potential in IT. Margins side concerns about the operating leverage gains assumed for Autos and Industrials, it said.

November futures contract of the WTI Crude traded 0.4% higher at 7:32 a.m. at $73.53 a barrel and Brent Crude December futures rose 0.4% to $76.88 a barrel.

On Wednesday, it had closed lower amid uncertainty over the middle east conflict, which has been driving the rally in prices.

Indices in the Asia were higher at open tracking record closing of the Wall Street as investors await US CPI data. At 7:18 a.m., Japan's Nikkei was 0.5% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose more than 2%, and Australia's ASX 200 was 0.64% higher.

Indices in the US ended higher Wednesday as traders prepared for inflation data. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 at 5,792.04 and Dow Jones Industrial Average settled 1.03% higher at 42,512, there highest close. Nasdaq Composite ended 0.71% up. The US September’s CPI report, due Thursday, will provide clues for Fed action.

GIFT Nifty was trading at 25,206.50 up by 18 points or 0.1% as of 06:31 a.m. and share prices of BPCL, Star Health, Vedanta, and Britannia India will be in focus tracking news flow.

On Wednesday, India's benchmark equity indices were back in the red after one session of ending higher as they erased gains in the last hour to close near Wednesday's lowest levels.

Intraday, the indices had risen as much as around 1.2% after the RBI's monetary policy meeting changed the liquidity stance to 'neutral' from 'withdrawal of accommodation earlier, signalling a potential rate cut. The weekly futures contract of Nifty Bank closed flat on expiry day.

The Nifty ended 0.12% or 31.20 points lower at 24,981.95 and Sensex lost 0.21% or 167.7 points down at 81,467.10.

Overseas investors remained net sellers of Indian equities for the eighth consecutive session on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 3,508.61 crore.

According to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange, FPIs offloaded stocks worth Rs 4,562.71 crore.

The Indian rupee closed flat at 83.96 against the US dollar.