Stock Market Today: Financial Stocks Help Sensex, Nifty Resume Weekly Rally

The NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex ended Friday's session in loss as Reliance Industries Ltd., and ITC Ltd. declined. However, the benchmarks recorded most weekly gains since June end.

The Nifty 50 ended 32.40 points or 0.13% lower at 25,356.50, and the BSE Sensex settled 71.77 points or 0.09% lower at 82,890.94.

Intraday, the Nifty 50 index declined as much as 0.38% to 25,292.45, and the Sensex fell 0.37% to 82,653.22.

On Thursday, the benchmarks posted fresh high during the second half of the session.

"For short term now, 25,225-25,000/82,500-82,000  would be the key support zones while 25,500-25,700/83,500-84,000 would be the crucial resistance areas for the bulls. However, below 25,000/82,000 uptrend would be vulnerable," said Amol Athawale, vice president, technical research, Kotak Securities.

For NSE Nifty Bank as long as it is trading above 50-day simple moving average or 51,350  the bullish formation is likely to continue. On the higher side, it could move up to 52,250-52,700. On the other side, below 50-day SMA or 51,350 traders may prefer to exit out from the trading long positions, Athawale added.          

The NSE Nifty 50 ended with 2.03% gain, and the BSE Sensex ended with 2.10% rise, marking their biggest gain since the week ended in June 30.

ITC Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Infosys Ltd., and ICICI Bank Ltd. weighed on the NSE Nifty 50 index.

Bajaj Finance Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., Wipro Ltd., Bajaj Finserve Ltd., and Tata Steel Ltd. limited losses in the benchmark.

In the week ended on Sept 13, 11 sectors ended higher, and one declined out of 12. The NSE Nifty FMCG rose the most, and the NSE Nifty Oil and Gas declined the most.

Broader indices outperformed. BSE Midcap ended 0.48% higher and BSE Smallcap closed 0.95% higher.

Seven of the 20 sectoral indices on the BSE ended lower and 13 rose. BSE Realty rose the most.

Market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers. As many as 2,483 stocks rose, 1,473 fell, and 111 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Rupee strengthened by seven paise to close at 83.90 against the US dollar. It closed at 83.97 on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex recouped weekly losses in the week ended on Sept 13. 

• The NSE Nifty 50 and Sensex ended lower tracking losses in ITC Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd.

• The Nifty 50 moved in 138.05-point range, and the Sensex moved in 439.71 points. 

• The NSE Nifty IT rose 0.97% to a life-time high of 43,571.65. Wipro Ltd., Infosys Ltd. were top leader in the index.

• The NSE Nifty Pharma rose 0.28% to a fresh high of 23,495.65. Sanofi Consumer Healthcare India Ltd., and Mankind Pharma Ltd. were top leader in the index. 

• The NSE Nifty FMCG rose 0.16% to a fresh high of 65,616.25. Varun Beverages Ltd., and Nestle India Ltd. contributed the most. 

• The NSE Nifty 150 Midcap index rose 0.88% to a fresh high of 22,241.45. IDBI Bank Ltd., Linde India Ltd. were the top gainers in the index. It ended 0.65% higher at 22,190.35.

• The NSE Smallcap 250 index ended 0.88% higher at 18,543.15.

Thermax Ltd. has signed a pact with Thermax Babcock and Wilcox Energy Solutions Ltd. for Rs 250 crore loan. The company will avail the loan in one or more tranches from its wholly-owned subsidiary, it said in an exchange filing Friday.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. has approved to expand into mortgage business, the company said in the exchange filing. As part of the expansion plan, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services will provide housing finance, top-up loans, lease, rental discounting, construction finance, and more.

InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. has diverted its flight from Mumbai to Phuket to Penang, Malaysia after taking into account the weather conditions, it said in a press release Friday. The move the airline took to ensure safety of its passengers.

IndiGo informed passengers about unexpected detour, and provided With refreshments. The flight's journey will resume once weather conditions permit safe operations, the airline said.

The NSE Nifty Pharma rose 0.28% to a fresh high of 23,495.65. Sanofi Consumer Healthcare India Ltd., and Mankind Pharma Ltd. were top gainers. The index was trading 0.21% higher at 23,484.25 as of 2:21 p.m., as compared to 0.04% decline in the NSE Nifty 50.

Axis Asset Management Co. sees early signs of pick-up in consumption, said Ashish Gupta, chief investment officer said to NDTV Profit. Some interesting consumption trends are appearing which could be long lasting. Investors have to be careful about changing consumption patterns in FMCG.

Uptrend in the premiumisation segment of consumption is here to stay. No dispute that valuations optically look expensive against historic averages. Broader markets see even higher valuation multiples, which were supported by earnings growth over the past few years

• Max Healthcare Institute Ltd. partnered with Lakshdeep Group For Revival & Turnaround Of Jaypee Healthcare.

• The company is in an agreement to acquire 64% Equity Stake Of Jaypee Healthcare.

Source: Exchange filing

• The premium watch retailer is eyeing 45% revenue growth in India, led by the festive season.

• With the launch of 41 SKUs, U-Boat will be available in stores across the top 10 cities.

• These cities include Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

• Helios currently has 240 stores. It plans to open 50 more outlets this fiscal.

• The entry price of U-Boat is Rs 1.22 lakh

Source: Press conference

• Ford Motor Co. signed a letter of intent with Tamil Nadu to utilise the Chennai plant.

• The move is part of the American carmaker’s Ford+ growth plan.

Source: Company statement

India's benchmark indices traded lower on Friday after seeing record highs in the previous session, as consumer stocks weighed. This comes a day after foreign investors pumped in record liquidity to trigger a sudden spike.

At 11:29 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 25 points, or 0.1% lower at 25,363, and the S&P BSE Sensex was down 62 points, or 0.08% at 82,900. Both Nifty and Sensex fell as much as 0.37% and 0.38% during early trade on Friday.

Foreign portfolio investors mopped up stocks worth Rs 7,695 crore on Thursday, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

DIIs, who bought when FIIs sold, are now selling back to FIIs at a higher price the same shares which they sold earlier, according to VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services Ltd. "In the tug-of-war between FIIs and DIIs, which has been happening over the last more than two years, DIIs have been winning consistently."

Jefferies upgraded Bharti Hexacom Ltd.'s rating to 'buy' from 'hold' and sees a 29.45% upside on the stock. The company will benefit the most from the expected tariff hikes over the next few years among its peers, the brokerage said.

Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s stock also received a target price hike from Jefferies on expectations of a better competitive advantage and likely telecom tariff hikes in the next two years that will boost earnings.

Fundamentally strong large-caps like Bharti Airtel Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., ITC Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd., Infosys Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. have the potential to take the market forward, Vijayakumar said. "But higher levels can attract selling by DIIs and profit booking by individual investors."

Shares of Bajaj Finance Ltd., Wipro Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., and Axis Bank Ltd. were contributing to gains in the Nifty 50.

While those of ITC Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. were weighing the index.

On NSE, 10 of the 12 sectors declined, with Nifty Realty and Media advancing the most during the session. The Nifty FMCG slipped the most on Friday.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices, with the Midcap and Smallcap trading 0.55% and 0.97% higher, respectively, through midday on Friday.

On BSE, 18 of the 20 sectors advanced, with BSE Realty and Metal leading gains.

Market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers. Around 2,563 stocks rose, 1,183 stocks declined, and 154 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The NSE Nifty IT index rose 0.75% to 43,474.05, the highest level since its incorporation. Wipro Ltd., Infosys Ltd. gained which supported the index's rally. The Index was trading 0.66% higher at 43,427.35 as of 12:19 p.m., as compared to 0.06% decline in the Nifty 50.

• Zen3 Infosolutions is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TMA.

• Both the companies are wholly- owned subsidiaries and hence there will be no cash consideration or issue of new shares involved under the plan of merger.

Source: Exchange Filing

• The order comprises power transformers and is expected to be delivered by the next financial year.

• RRVPNL stands for Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Ltd.

Source: Exchange filing

• The NSE Nifty FMCG index rose 0.16% to a fresh high of 65,616.25 as Nestle India Ltd., and Varun Beverages Ltd. rose.

• The index erased all gains to trade 0.55% down at 65,150.00 as of 11:57 a.m., compared to 0.09% decline the NSE Nifty 50 index.

• The vessel will be delivered to the new buyer, an unaffliated third party, by the third quarter of fiscal 2025.

Source: Exchange Filing

The IPO has been subscribed 0.26 times as of 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

• Institutional investors: Nil.

• Non-institutional investors: 0.06 times or 6%.

• Retail investors: 0.49 times or 49%.

Shares of Patanjali Foods Ltd. fell by more than 4% on Friday following a large trade. At least 1.1 crore shares, or 3% of the company's equity, changed hand, according to Bloomberg.

Shares of Tata Power rose as much as 2.21% to the highest level since Aug. 5, before paring gains to trade 1.86% higher at Rs 448.10 apiece, as of 10:31 a.m. This compares to a 0.09% decline in the NSE Nifty 50.

The stock has risen 69.09% in the last 12 months. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 0.62 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 60.

Out of 22 analysts tracking the company, 12 maintain a 'buy' rating, one recommends a 'hold' and nine suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month analysts' consensus price target implies a downside of 10.2%.

BLS International Services Ltd.'s share price rose to record high on Friday after the company announce to buy stakes in Citizenship Invest DMCC, a UAE-based company to expand its immigration services.

BLS International Services Ltd. rose 3.75% to Rs 474.40, the highest level since its on June 14, 2026. It erased gains to trade 3.17% lower at Rs 442.75 a piece as of 11:04 a.m., as compared to 0.07% decline in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

The scrip gained 64.44% in 12 months, and 38.76% on year to date basis. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 2.7 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 59.22.

One analysts tracking the company maintain a 'buy' rating, according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an upside of 16.5%

• Tata Electronics is making huge investments and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. will have huge opportunity to work with them.

• TCS will be working with lot of fab companies including Tata Electronics.

• TCS will play great amount if work in design for semiconductors as well.

• Semiconductor is not new to TCS. In front end TCS is looking of research and development of the manufacturing of the chips.

• TCS is building smart meters for utility industry. TCS is working with automotive companies for autonomous driving applications as well.

Source: Regu Ayyaswamy, vice president, global head, internet of things and digital engineering, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. to NDTV Profit.

• The liquidity stuck, which was stuck in Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd.'s initial public offer could have been released in second half Thursday or today.

• Emkay Investment Managers is seeing more interest in large caps. Power of liquidity and movement seen.

• Now is not a right time to take a market call, better to take more stock specific action. Currently, markets are trading at trading 22x FY26 estimates.

• Sectoral allocations can be taken in banks, insurance, IT companies and Pharma space, according to Emkay Investment Managers. Housing and building material companies could be interesting as well.

• Over the last few years FII have been net sellers. Power of markets has been led by retail investors.

• There is interest in India. Plenty of liquidity is waiting to come to India. First allocation for flows in India would be in large caps.

Source: Manish Sonthalia, director and chief investment officer, Emkay Investment Managers Ltd. to NDTV Profit

Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. Ltd. rose today after an exchange filing by Life Insurance Corp said it has increased its shareholding in equity shares in the former from 5.82 crore shares to 7.43 crore shares over Dec 16, 2022 and Sept. 11, 2024.

Shares of Nazara Technologies Ltd. surged to an all time high as the company announced an investment in Moonshine Technology Pvt., the parent company of PokerBaazi.

The scrip rose as much as 4.03% to Rs 1,048.80 apiece, marking their highest ever level. It pared gains to trade 0.91% lower at Rs 999.90 apiece, as of 09:31a.m. This compares to a 0.26 decline in the NSE Nifty 50 Index.

It has risen 15.79% on a year-to-date basis. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 1.45 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 61.92.

Out of 11 analysts tracking the company, four maintain a 'buy' rating, three recommend a 'hold,' and four suggest 'sell,' according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an downside of 15.2%.

India's benchmark indices fell Friday right after opening as decline in ICICI Bank Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd. weighed. However, the NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex recorded their highest opening levels on the back of gains it witnessed in the last leg of the trade in previous session.

As of 09:21 a.m., the Nifty 50 was trading 38.95 points or 0.15% lower at 25,349.95, and the Sensex was trading 112.83 points or 0.14% down at 82,849.88.

"The breakout of 25,150 will now act as the next band of support and the current momentum can extend up to the higher range of 25,700-25,800 levels. RSI is piercing upwards crossing its average line to test the higher band of 70 levels and on intraday basis could witness some minor pullback. Highest call OI is at 25,600 strikes while the downside the highest put OI at 25,100 for the weekly expiry," said Vikas Jain, head, research, Reliance Securities.

ITC Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd. pressured the Nifty 50 index.

Tata Motors Ltd., Bajaj Auto Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., and JSW Steel Ltd. limited losses in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index.

On NSE, four sectoral indices opened higher, five declined, and three remained unchanged out of 12. The NSE Nifty Oil & Gas declined the most compared to other sectoral indices on news that the Indian oil refiners may cut fuel prices if brent crude's price remained lower for a longer time.

The NSE Nifty Media rose the most.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading 0.39% and 0.68% higher respectively.

The BSE Metal index was leading the gains among 13 sectors which were trading high during open. Meanwhile, out of 20 sectors, BSE compiles, seven declined. The BSE FMCG declined the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,155 stocks advanced, 796 declined, and 108 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

At pre-open, the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 0.16% or 41.55 points higher at 25,430.45, and the BSE Sensex was trading 0.16% or 128.84 points higher at 83,091.55.

• The yield on the 10-year bond opened flat at 6.81%.

• It closed at 6.80% on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Rupee strengthened by 5 paise to open 83.92 against the US dollar.

• It closed at 83.97 on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Maintains buy with a target price of Rs. 335, which implied a 23% upside

• Gross order value (GOV) likely to ramp up at a CAGR of 20%

• Restaurant take rates largely optimized at 22% of GOV

• Margins should still improve steadily to 4-5% of GOV

• Dark stores could eventually expand to service 4000 orders per day vs 1560 currently

• Dark store achieves breakeven at 1,200 orders per day

• Competition in the short term mat put pressure on growth and margins

• Jefferies upgrade to 'Buy' with a target price Rs 1,600, which implied a 29% upside.

• Jio’s growth target may require multiple tariff hikes

• Its recent lead indicates step in this direction

• Its rising focus on monetisation gives indication of another hike in mid 2025

• Vodafone Idea’s revenue market share has fallen further

• By the time Vodafone Idea completes network investments, it may see further decline in market share

• It would therefore require more tariff hikes to bridge the gap between cashflows and dues payable

• Build two tariff hikes in forecast: 2QFY26 and 2QFY27

• Over FY24-27 expect Bharti Hexacom to deliver 19/25% CAGR in revenues/ EBitda

• Its faster growth to Airtel, keeps valuations at premium to Airtel’s India operations

• Value Bharti Hexacom at 14.5x Ev/Ebitdaa

• Motilal Oswal Financial Services reiterated 'Buy' with a target price of Rs 680, which implied 20% upside potential.

• The brokerage expects 36% earnings CAGR over FY24-26

• The US Food and Drug Administration issued Form 483 with 6 observations at Gagillapur site:

• Cleaning/maintenance issues.

• Inadequate root-cause analysis.

• Document management problems.

• In-process controls lacking.

• Air purification units concerns.

• Awaiting USFDA classification to assess long-term compliance.

• No major product approvals pending from this site.

• Gagillapur inspected 6 times

• Previous inspections resulted in VAI or NAI classifications.

• Management working to resolve USFDA issues within the timeframe.

• Focus on niche pipeline (oncology, innovative products)

• Granules India's 36% earnings CAGR expected over FY24-26.

• Gagillapur inspection a near-term hurdle for US growth.

Jefferies maintains Buy with a target price at Rs 1970, which implied a 20.5% upside.

Jio’s growth target may require multiple tariff hikes

Its recent lead indicates step in this direction

Its rising focus on monetisation gives indication of another hike in mid 2025

Vodafone Idea’s revenue market share has fallen further

By the time Vodafone Idea completes network investments, it may see further decline in market share

It would therefore require more tariff hikes to bridge the gap between cashflows and dues payable

Build two tariff hikes in forecast: 2QFY26 and 2QFY27

Over FY24-27 expect Bharti to deliver 17/19% CAGR in India revenues/ Ebitda

Jefferies expects deleveraging by $9.5 billion over FY25-27

• Nazara Technologies Ltd. is likely to invest Rs 982 crore in Moonshine Technology, online poker gaming platform ‘PokerBaazi’.

• The company is to acquire 47.7% stake in Moonshine Technology for Rs 832 crore through secondary transaction.

• Nazara Technologies is likely to inject Rs 150 crore in primary capital into Moonshine via compulsory convertible preference shares.

Source: Exchange filing

• U.S. Dollar Index at 101.03

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 3.65%

• Brent crude rose 0.44% at $72.29 per barrel

• Nymex crude rose 0.49% at $69.31 per barrel 

• Bitcoin was down 0.20% at $58,077.45

• The GIFT Nifty was trading 0.05% or 13.50 points lower at 25,392.00 as of 8:10 a.m.

The Indian rupee closed flat against the US dollar on Thursday as the market participants awaited US Producer Price Index data. The Indian unit touched a fresh low of 83.9912 against the US dollar during the session.

The rupee closed little changed at Rs 83.96 after opening at Rs 83.97 against the US dollar, according to Bloomberg data. The domestic currency had closed at Rs 83.98 on Wednesday.

• Nifty September futures up by 1.61% to 25,339, at a discount of 50 points.

• Nifty September futures open interest up by 11.37%.

• Nifty Bank September futures up by 1.16% to 51,715.85 at a discount of 56.55 points.

• Nifty Bank September futures open interest down by 10.4%.

• Nifty Options Sept. 19 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 26,000 and maximum put open interest at 24,500. 

• Bank Nifty Options Sept. 18 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 54,000 and maximum put open interest at 49,000.

• Securities in ban period: Aarti Industries, Aditya Birla Fashion Retail, Balramur Chini Mills, Bandhan Bank, Chambal Fertilisers, Granules, Hindustan Copper and RBL Bank.

• Kotak Mahindra Bank: To meet analysts and investors on Sept. 18.

• Gland Pharma: To meet analysts and investors on Sept. 13.

• Advanced Enzyme Technologies: To meet analysts and investors on Sept. 18 and 19.

• TBO Tek: To meet analysts and investors on Sept. 17.

• Paisalo Digital: Promoter Equilibrated Venture Cflow bought 13.32 lakh shares on Sept. 12.

• Pidilite Industries: Promoter Neerav Parekh sold 47,747 shares on Sept. 11.

• Salasar Techno Engineering: Promoter Shikar Gupta sold 2 lakh shares on Sept. 12, while Promoter Tripti Gupta sold 1 crore shares. Promoter Tripti Gupta sold 10 lakh shares on Sept. 10.

• Wardwizard Innovations & Mobility: Promoter Yatin Sanjay Gupte created a pledge for 9.25 lakh shares on Sept. 12.

• Ex/record AGM: Krsnaa Diagnostics, Ami Organics, Landmark Cars, Amines & Plasticizers, Fedbank Financial Services, BEML, Precision Wires, Sunflag Iron & Steel, Jagran Prakashan, HBL Power, Arihant Superstructures.

• Ex/record dividend: Prudent Corporate Advisory Services, CCL Products, Precision Wires, HUDCO, HBL Power, Krsnaa Diagnostics, Ami Organics, and Landmark Cars.

• Ex/record split: Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences.

• Price band change from 10% to 5%: Panacea Biotec.

• Moved into short-term ASM Framework: Prism Johnson

• Moved out of short-term ASM Framework: Bhageria Industries, Globus Spirits, J.G. Chemicals.

• P N Gadgil Jewellers: The public issue was subscribed to 59.41 times on day 3. The bids were led by qualified institutional investors (136.85 times), non-institutional investors (56.09 times) and retail investors (16.58 times).

• Western Carriers (India): The company will offer its shares for bidding on Friday. The price band is set from Rs 163 to Rs 172 per share. The Rs 492.88-crore IPO issue is a combination of a fresh issue for Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale. The company raised Rs 147.8 crore from anchor investors.

• PNB Housing: Asia Opportunities V (Mauritius) Ltd. sold 16.22 lakh shares (0.62%) at Rs 1,097.3 apiece, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte.- Odi bought 0.92 lakh shares (0.04%) at Rs 1,097.3 apiece; the Government of Singapore bought 13.16 lakh shares (0.5%) at Rs 1,097.3 apiece; and the Monetary Authority of Singapore bought 2.13 lakh shares (0.08%) at Rs 1,097.3 apiece.

• EPL: Ashok Goel Trust sold 88 lakh shares (2.76%) at Rs 243.18 apiece.

• Honasa Consumer: Fireside Ventures Investment Fund sold 65.83 lakh shares (2.03%), Peak XV Partners Investments VI sold 1.23 crore shares (3.81%), Sequoia Capital Global Growth Fund sold 28.71 lakh shares at Rs 495.01 apiece. India Annex Fund sold 28.71 lakh shares (0.89%), Sofina Ventures S.A. sold 60.15 lakh shares (1.86%), Stellaris Venture Partners India sold 45.30 lakh shares (1.4%) at between Rs 495.3 and 496.12 apiece, while ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. bought 28.78 lakh shares (0.89%), and Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore Pte bought 24.17 lakh shares (0.75%) at Rs 495 apiece.

• SBI Card: The company will consider raising up to Rs 9,000 crore via NCDS.

• BPCL: The company approved Rs 1,138 crore capex for pipeline expansion projects.

• Patanajali Foods: Patanjali Ayurved, Patanjali Parivahan to sell up to 1.1 crore shares in Patanjali Foods at Rs 1,815 per share, indicating a 6% discount to the current market price.

• HG Infrastructure: The company received an order worth Rs 716 crore from Central Railway.

• HPL Electric: The company received an order worth Rs 144 crore for the supply of smart meters and conventional meters.

• ONGC: ONGC Petro has allotted shares worth Rs 6,107 crore to the company. The company’s shareholding in OPaL increased to 91.2% from 81.3%.

• IRCTC: LIC increases stake in IRCTC to 9.3% from 7.3% over two years.

• Panacea Biotech: US DFC committed a $20 million loan to the company for expansion.

• Tata Power: Tata Power Renewable Energy and Tata Motors signed an MoU for 200 fast-charging stations for electric commercial vehicles.

• Intellect Design: The company introduced eMACH.ai for Sri Lanka Financial Landscape.

• Route Mobile: The company’s non-retail portion of OFS received demand of 1.38 times.

• BPCL: The company approved JV Pact with Sembcorp Green Hydrogen for renewable energy, green hydrogen and approved JV Pact with GPS Renewables for compressed biogas.

• BLS International: The company acquired UAE-based citizenship for $31 million (Rs 260 crore) via arm.

• HCL Tech: The company completed acquisition of France-based software company Zeenea SAS for 23.9-million euros.

• SBI: S&P Global affirms credit rating at 'BBB-', to company while outlook remains positive.

• Zee Entertainment: NCLT approved the settlement pact with Sony India.

• CESC: The company incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary, Redgaint Renewable Power Energy.

• Power Grid: The company gets a letter of interest for an interstate transmission system in Gujarat.

Asia-Pacific stocks rose in early trade Friday, except Japanese stocks, as share indices on Wall Street logged marginal gains overnight after latest inflation data from the US did not provide clarity over the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook post September.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was trading 49.22 points, or 0.13% lower at 36,784.05, as foreign investors continue to sell stocks noticing yen's growing strength against the US dollar, Bloomberg reported.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite settled 0.75% and 1.00% higher, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.58% higher.

Brent crude was trading 0.49% higher at $72.32 a barrel. Gold rose 0.15% to $2,561.85 an ounce.

The GIFT Nifty was trading 0.23%, or 57.50 points lower at 25,348.00 as of 06:31 a.m.

India's benchmark equity indices ended at fresh closing highs on Thursday as markets rose sharply in the last hour of trade, led by rallies in metal, auto, and banking stocks.

The NSE Nifty 50 ended 470.45 points, or 1.89% higher at 25,388.90, while the S&P BSE Sensex closed up 1,439.55 points, or 1.77% at 82,962.71, recording new highs.

Foreign portfolio investors mopped up stocks worth Rs 7,695 crore, while domestic institutional investors turned net sellers after a day of buying and offloading equities worth Rs 1,800.5 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

The Indian currency settled flat against the US dollar at 83.9650 on Thursday.