Stock Market Today: Nifty Logs Best F&O Series This Year; Crosses 24,000-Mark

-The local currency strengthened by 11 paise to end at 83.46 against the US dollar.

-It closed at 83.57 on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

Benchmark equity indices saw a third day of record close today. The Nifty claimed its psychologically crucial 24,000-mark and rose the most in an F&O series this year.

Both Nifty and Sensex recorded their intraday highs of 24,087.45 points and 79,396.03 points respectively.

The Nifty closed at 24044.50 points, up 0.74% or 175.70 points and the Sensex closed at 79243.18, higher by 0.72% or 568.93 points. Intraday, both the indices rose 0.92%.

Index heavy constituents are doing well, but the broader market is starting to bleed, said Vikram Kasat, head of advisory at Prabhudas Lilladher. "Staying extremely stock-specific and nimble is the current requirement as a trader."

Nifty50 has formed 4th consecutive strong bullish candle which indicates overstretched upmove; buying on dips will be an ideal strategy, according to Aditya Gaggar director of Progressive Shares. "Now, the immediate hurdle is placed at 24,240 while a level of 23,800 will act as strong support."

Shares of Infosys Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., UltraTech Cement Ltd., and NTPC Ltd. contributed the most to the gains.

While those of Larsen & Toubro Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Shriram Finance Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. weighed on the index.

Most sectoral indices were higher at close with Nifty IT leading.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. Around 2,366 stocks declined, 1,529 stocks rose, and 113 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

Broader markets ended on a mixed note. The S&P BSE Midcap ended 0.17% higher and Smallcap ended 0.57% lower.

On BSE, 15 sectors advanced, and five declined out of 20. The S&P BSE IT was the top performing sector, and the S&P BSE Industrial was the worst performing sector.

• Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. had its 22.2 lakh shares change hands in a block trade.

• Buyers and sellers are unknown.

Source: Exchange filing

• UltraTech Cement has acquired 19.44% stake of India Cements at Rs 267 per share.

• The company is to buy additional 3.4% stake in India Cements at Rs 285 per share.

Source: Exchange filing

• Tata Motors Ltd.'s 15.22 lakh shares or 0.04% equity changed hands in a large trade.

• The shares changed hands at Rs 954.5 per share. Buyers and sellers are unknown.

Source: Cogencis

• Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. has received a Letter of Acceptance from the North Central Rail for providing electronic interlocking based automatic signaling.

• The work is expected to be executed in 455 days in Dhaulpur-Gwalior section of Jhansi division of North Central Railway.

• The order value is Rs 72.73 crore.

Source: Exchange filing

The NSE Nifty IT rose 1.88% to 36,031.80, marking the highest level in three months. It was trading 1.81% higher at 36,036.45 as of 12:56 p.m., as compared to 0.53% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

• Axis Bank Ltd.'s 91.62 lakh shares changed hands in a block trade at Rs 1,294.6. 

• Buyers and sellers are unknown.

Source: Cogencis

• Indian Oil Corp aims to have 20 million ton per annum LNG portfolio by 2030, the director said.

Source: Bloomberg

• The NSE Nifty marked the fastest 1,000-point rally since 2021

• In 2021, the index crossed 17,000 in 19 sessions

• Nifty 50 added 1,000 points in 23 sessions.

Top Gainers amid Nifty's 1,000 point rally

• Shriram Finance Ltd. gained 23%

• UltraTech Cement Ltd. gained 12%

• HDFC Bank Ltd. gained 12%

• Divi's Laboratories Ltd. gained 10%

• Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. gained 10%

The NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.61% to a record high of 24,015.15. The index was trading 0.55% higher at 23,997.75 as of 12:18 p.m.

• Om Prakash Bhatt ceases to be Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.'s Independent Director.

• Bhatt concluded its second term as independent director on June 26, 2024.

Source: Exchange filing

• The US Food and Drug Administration's inspection indicates 'Voluntary Action Indicated' for Aurobindo Pharma's Telangana facility.

• Alert: US FDA inspected the company's Telangana facility from Feb 19-29.

Source: Exchange filing

• Kalpataru Projects International's board approved prepayment of non-convertible debentures worth Rs 198 crore.

Source: Exchange filing

• Citi Research has rated 'Buy' on PI Industries

• The brokerage has set the target price at Rs 4,350, which implied a 15.2% upside

• Acquisition of Plant Health Care contingent on approval of >75% shareholders

• Approval expected to be completed by Q2FY25

• Acquisition price represents premium of 57% to closing price of June 25

• Acquisition price reflects premium of 95% to past 3M volume weighted average price

Shares of Ramky Infrastructure Ltd. is up over 7% on Thursday after receiving orders worth 131 crores from the PowerGrid Energy Services Ltd.

• Radhakishan Damani and his entities sold stake in the India Cement to Ultratech Cement.

• Alert: Ultratech has acquired 23% equity stake in India Cements at Rs 267 per share.

Source: People In The Know To NDTV Profit

• UltraTech Cement Ltd. has acquired 23% equity stake in India Cements at Rs 267 per share.

• Works out at $90 per ton

• Total investment is Rs 1,890 crores with acquisition of 7.06 crore shares of ICEM

• Indicative time for completion of this non-controlling financial investment is one month

• No indication of acquisition for controlling stake in ICEM

• India Cements has 14.5 million ton per annum cement capacity along with 11.13mtpa clinker capacity

• Ultratech has 2mtpa in Telangana, 5mtpa in Tamil Nadu, 10.6 million ton per annum in AP

• India Cement sold 9.8 million ton in FY23 and promoters hold 28% stake.

• Deal can be mutually beneficial for both, according to the brokerage.

• UltraTech can work of strategic cement supply agreement to gain market share in undersupplied AP/Telangana belt

• India cement financial performance can also improve as volume improves

• Believe consolidation is expected to continue in cement space

• Industry leaders have strong balance sheets

• Near term demand remains muted and expected to improve post monsoon

• Pricing is also expected to improve once demand recovers substantially from 2HFY25E

• Remain positive on industry leaders; expect both Ultratech and Ambuja will gain market share

• Intraday, the local currency gained 11 paise against the US Dollar to 83.46.

• It closed at 83.57 on Wednesday.

Source: Cogencis

• Will shut 6 million ton per annum crude unit at Kochi refinery In September-October, said G. Krishnakumra, chairman, Bharat Petroleum Corp.

• Expect to complete Bina refinery expansion mid-2027

• To expand Bina refinery capacity to 11 MTPA from 7.8 MMTP

• Bina petrochemicals project to be completed by mid-2028

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Whirlpool of India Limited surged to the highest level in over two years on Thursday after Reuters reported that Robert Bosch GmbH may try to buy the appliance giant.

The NSE Nifty Financial Services scaled a fresh high of 23,763.20 as shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. rose.

• Bharti Airtel Ltd., Dialog Axiata Plc & Axiata Group, Berhad successfully completes share swap transaction of Bharti Airtel Lanka on June 26.

Source: Exchange filing

The NSE Nifty Bank rose 0.59% to 53,180.75, the highest level since its inception on Sep 15, 2003. It was trading 0.49% higher at 53,128.30 as of 10:08 a.m., as compared to 0.34% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

• Asia Opportunities sells 2.46% stake in PNB Housing Finance Ltd. on June 20.

• Asia Opportunities stake falls to 5.19% from 7.65%.

Source: Exchange filing

Dr Reddy's Laboratories' shares hit their highest level in a month following the news of its Switzerland subsidiary acquiring consumer healthcare brands in the nicotine replacement therapy from Haleon Group.

Sahres of KEC International Ltd. rose to Rs 950.00, the highest level since its listing on March 10, 2006. The company has bagged an order worth Rs 1,025 crore for its transmission and distribution and cables business.

Shares of India Cements hit a 52-week high after the shared charged hand, while that of UltraTech Cement rose to a life high.

It has risen 33% in the last 12 months and 9.3% on a year-to-date basis. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 394 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 78.

one out of the seven analysts tracking the company recommend a 'hold' and six suggest a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential downside of 40%.

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd. rose to a fresh high of Rs 3,045.50 on Thursday. Its market cap rose Rs 8,829.85 crore to Rs 2.06 lakh crore as of 09:37 a.m.

Shares of India Cements Ltd. and UltraTech Cements surged after the leading cement maker launched an offer to buy a non-controlling stake in N Srinivasan's India Cements.

Indian benchmarks erased gains right after opening higher on Thursday with the S&P BSE Sensex hitting a life high, tracking gains in HDFC Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd.

As of 09:20 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 19.25 points or 0.1% lower at 23,849.55, and the Sensex was trading 86.45 points or 0.11% down at 78,587.80.

Shortly after open, the Sensex scaled a fresh high of 78,771.64.

The NSE Nifty 50 extended the up move to 23,850 levels and we continue to remain positive with the breakout of 23,700 move extended near to 23,950 -24,000 levels, said Vikas Jain, senior research analyst, Reliance Securities.

On the downside 23,350-23,500 will act as strong support and trend reversal point from current levels. RSI has moved higher to the range of 67 levels, and we believe the higher band of average will be a strong resistance level. Highest call Open interest has moved higher to 24,000 strikes while the downside the highest put OI is at 23,500 for the weekly expiry, Jain added.

HDFC Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., and Mahindra & Mahindra weighed on the benchmark index.

UltraTech Cement Ltd., NTPC Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., Tata Steel Ltd., and Grasim Industries Ltd. limited losses in the benchmark.

On NSE, seven sectors declined, four advanced, and one remain flat. The NSE Nifty IT declined the most, and the NSE Nifty Metal rose the most.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap were trading 0.46% and 0.35% higher respectively.

On BSE, nine sectors declined, 11 advanced out of 20. The S&P BSE Commodites rose the most among other sectors, and S&P BSE TECK declined the most.

Market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers. Around 1,751 stocks advanced, 1,182 stocks declined, and 119 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

At pre-open, the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 0.04% higher at 23,881.51, and the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 0.11% higher at 78,587.676.

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

• It closed at 7.00% on Wednesday.

Source: Cogencis

• The local currency strengthened by 4 paise to open at 83.53 against the US dollar.

• It closed at 83.57 on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The India Cements Ltd. has 6.02 crore shares or 19.4% equity change hands in pre-market two large trades on BSE.

Source: Cogencis

• CSB BANK 1.66 crore shares or 9.6% equity change hands in a pre-market large trade.

Source: Bloomberg

• Price target of Rs 2,373, which implied 35-38% upside

• Stock on verge of break out of trading range placed since 2021

• Close above Rs 1,717-Rs1,734 resistance, would mark a major bullish event

• Will lead to an end of a period of over two years of ranging price action

• Breakout would suggest upside price target of Rs 2,373

• Citi Research maintained a 'Sell' and set the target price Rs 4,825, which implied a downside of 9.4%.

• The brokerage maintains FY27 target of $2 billion revenues and operating margin improvement of 150-250 basis points.

• The demand environment has improved vs start of the quarter.

• The first quarter of FY25 revenue growth will likely be similar to the Jan-March of FY24 levels.

• The second quarter of FY25 growth will be healthy largely due to pick up in deals.

• Cigniti acquisition is on track and will likely be consolidated from July 1st, 2024.

• Wage hikes for most employees will likely be deferred to 2Q & lower than usual

• Valuations are at 30 times 1-yr forward consensus EPS

• U.S. Dollar Index at 105.96

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 4.34%

• Brent crude down 0.40% at $84.91 per barrel

• Bitcoin was down 0.06% at $60,919.00

• Ganesha Ecosphere made an investment of Rs 100 crore in wholly-owned unit Ganesha Ecopet Pvt. Ltd.

Source: Exchange filing

• Jefferies downgraded Bharti Hexacom to 'Hold'

• However, the brokerage revised price target to Rs 1,290 from Rs 1,200. The price target implies 1% upside.

• Bharti Hexacom unexpectedly acquired spectrum worth Rs 1,000 crore, should help augment data services

• Jefferies cut earnings estimates by 4% to factor in spectrum spends

• The brokerage maintains 17%/23% revenue/Ebitda CAGRs over FY24-27

• Trades at over 20% premium to Bharti Airtel's India operation - which limits upside

• Equirus Securities initiated a 'Buy' on FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd.

• The brokerage set the price target of Rs 240, which implied a 37% upside.

• Equirus expects sales CAGR of 26% over FY24-FY29.

• Nykaa BPC commands 38% market share and boasts of strong prospects

• The brokerage sees strong growth trajectory over next decade with $31bn opportunity by CY27E

• Believes attractive valuations with stock trading at FY28E P/E of 58x

• Estimate ROE/core ROIC to reach 37%/38% in FY28E

The Indian rupee weakened 14 paise to close at 83.57 against the US dollar.

• Nifty June futures up by 0.55% to 23,867.95 at a discount of 0.85 points.

• Nifty June futures open interest down by 26%.

• Nifty Bank June futures up by 0.24% to 52,877.10 at a premium of 6.6 points.

• Nifty Bank June futures open interest up by 42%.

• Nifty Options June 27 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 24,000 and maximum put open interest at 23,000.

• Bank Nifty Options July 3 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 53,000 and maximum put open interest at 50,000.

• Securities in ban period: GNFC, India Cement, Indus Tower, PNB, and SAIL.

• Ex/record Dividend: Titan, Supreme Petrochem.

• Ex/record AGM: Titan, Devyani International, Supreme Petrochem.

• Ex/record Bonus Issue: Aurionpro Solutions.

• Ex/record Stock Split: Share India Securities.

• Moved out short-term Framework: Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, IIFL Securities, Marine Electricals (India), Praj Industries.

• Moved in short-term Framework: Omaxe.

• Five-Star Business Finance: To meet analyst and Investors on June 27.

• V-Mart Retail: To meet analyst and Investors on July 1.

• Tide Water Oil: Promoter Standard Greases & Specialities bought 38,762 shares on June 25.

• Salasar Techno Engineering: Promoter Kamlesh Gupta sold 21.4 lakh shares between June 19 and 24.

• KNR Construction: Promoter K Narsimha Reddy sold 4.35 lakh shares between June 24 and 25.

• Gensol Engineering: Promoter Anmol Singh Jaggi revoked a pledge for 6 lakh shares on June 25.

• Vedanta: Finsider International Co. sold 9.75 crore shares (2.63%) at Rs 427.21 apiece.

• CE Info Systems: Jayvilaskate sold 5 lakh shares (0.92%) at Rs 2,320.2 apiece.

• Anup Engineering: Aura Business Ventures LLP sold 3 lakh shares (3.02%) at Rs 1,826.14 apiece.

• Inox Green: Dovetail India Fund sold 31 lakh shares (1.05%) at Rs 166.56 apiece, while Societe Generale bought 29.49 lakh shares (1%) at Rs 166.5 apiece.

• Wardwizard Innovations & Mobility: Wardwizard Solutions India sold 20 lakh shares (0.76%) at Rs 60.08 apiece.

• Affle India: Affle Holdings sold 25 lakh shares (1.78%), while ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought 7.75 lakh shares (0.55%), and the and the Monetary Authority of Singapore bought 16.16 lakh shares (1.15%) at Rs 1,290 apiece.

• Paisalo Digital: Ebisu Global Opportunities Fund bought 1.48 crore shares (1.65%), while Nomura Singapore sold 1.48 crore shares (1.65%) at Rs 75.47 apiece.

• Titagarh Rail Systems: Rashmi Chowdhary sold 26.93 lakh shares (1.99%), while Blackrock Global Funds bought 21.73 lakh shares (1.61%) and BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought 5.2 lakh shares (0.38%) at Rs 1,618 apiece.

• Neuland Laboratories: Smallcap World Fund Inc. bought 1.3 lakh shares (1.01%), while Malabar India Fund sold 1.3 lakh shares (1.01%) at Rs 7,400 apiece.

• Hindustan Foods: Infinity Consumer Holdings sold 31 lakh shares (2.70%), Jwalamukhi Investment Holdings sold 62.81 lakh shares (5.48%), Konark Trust sold 2.36 lakh shares (0.2%), Sixth Sense India Opportunities 11 sold 7 lakh shares (0.61%), Westbridge Aif I sold 23.98 lakh shares (2.09%), while ICICI Prudential Life Insurance bought 56.77 lakh shares (4.95%), Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance bought 29.88 lakh shares (2.60%), Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore Pte bought 10.7 lakh shares (0.93%), and Samsung India 2.0 Equity Master Investment Trust bought 8.3 lakh shares (0.72%), among others, at Rs 502 apiece.

• Sharda Motors: Mala Relan sold 25 lakh shares (8.4%), while ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought 5.13 lakh shares (1.72%), Nippon India Mutual Fund bought 4.13 lakh shares (1.39%), HDFC Mutual Fund-HDFC Manufacturing Fund bought 3.11 lakh shares (1.04%), Axis Small Cap Fund bought 2.58 lakh shares (0.86%), HSBC Mutual Fund bought 1.85 lakh shares (0.62%) at Rs 1996.1 apiece, Axis India Manufacturing Fund bought 1.54 lakh shares (0.52%) and among others at Rs 1,996.1 apiece.

• Allied Blenders & Distillers: The public issue was subscribed to 1.52 times on day 2. The bids were led by institutional investors (0.14 times), non-institutional investors (2.98 times), retail investors (1.65 times) and a portion reserved for employees (5.09 times).

• Vraj Iron and Steel: The public issue was subscribed to 3.47 times on day 1. The bids were led by institutional investors (0.61 times), non-institutional investors (3.53 times) and retail investors (5.07 times).

• Dr Reddy's: The company's Switzerland subsidiary will acquire NorthStar Switzerland and related portfolios from Haleon for an upfront cash consideration of £458 million. It will pay an additional performance-based contingent of £42 million in 2025 and 2026.

• Telecom Stocks: Bharti Airtel acquired the 97 MHz spectrum in the 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz and 2,100 MHz frequency bands for Rs 6,857 crore over a period of 20 years. Reliance Jio bought 14.4 MHz of spectrum worth Rs 974 crore and Vodafone Idea bagged 30 MHz of spectrum worth Rs 3,510 crore.

• JSW Energy: Unit JSW Neo Energy signed a power purchase agreement through its subsidiaries for 1,325 megawatts of renewable energy projects likely to be commissioned in the next 21–24 months.

• ITD Cementation: The company secured a new marine contract worth Rs 1,082 crore for constructing the third berth and specified additional works in Gujarat.

• KEC International: The company received a new order worth Rs 1,025 crore for its transmission and cable business.

• Ramky Infrastructure: The company received two contracts worth Rs 107 crore and Rs 23 crore from PowerGrid Energy Services.

• Navin Fluorine: The board will meet on June 29 to discuss the Rs 750 crore fundraise.

• Patanjali Foods: Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna received notice from Kozhikode court over advertisements relating to ayurvedic medicines from Divya Pharmacy. Ramdev and Balkrishna have been asked to appear in person or through counsel before the court on July 6.

• PI Industries: The company announced an offer to acquire Plant Health Care Plc for a purchase consideration of about £32.8 million, proposed to be paid in cash and funded via QIP proceeds. The consummation of the proposed acquisition, subject to UK regulations, is expected to be completed by the second quarter of FY25.

• Sona BLW Precision Forgings: The company received certification for traction motors for electric two-wheelers under the PLI Scheme for the automobile and auto component industry in India from the government.

• PTC India Finance: The board appointed R Balaji as MD and CEO following RBI approval.

• RVNL: The company's JV with KRDCL received a letter of acceptance from Southern Railway for automatic signalling work in the Ernakulam-Trivandrum division in Kerala.

• SJVN: SJVN Green Energy signed an agreement with AM Green Ammonia India for cooperation on the supply and sourcing of renewable energy for green ammonia plants.

• Tata Communication: The company transferred its identified new edged digital services business to unit Novamesh effective April 1.

• Jubilant Ingrevia: The company appointed Varun Gupta as CFO effective Aug. 12.

Asia-Pacific markets fell on Thursday, taking cues from Wall Street on caution ahead of US GDP data for January-March quarter, scheduled for release later on Thursday.

The Nikkei 225 was trading 400.56 points or 1.01% lower at 39,266.51 as of 06:43 a.m. The Japanese yen slumped to160.9 against the US dollar, marking the lowest level since 1986, Bloomberg reported. This fuelled bets among traders that Japan's authority may step in to safeguard the currency.

The Kospi and the S&P ASX 200 were trading 0.81% and 1.30% lower, respectively as of 06:46 a.m.

US stocks faced challenges in the last phase of a successful quarter, where a select few high-performing technology stocks dominated. All large-cap companies, excluding Nvidia Corp., experienced an increase in their stock prices as the major chipmaker conducted its yearly shareholder meeting.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite settled 0.16% and 0.49% higher, respectively on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.04% higher.

Spot gold rose 0.01% to $2,298.35 per ounce. Brent crude traded 0.27% higher. The August contract of Brent crude on Intercontinental Exchange was 0.41% lower at $84.90.

The GIFT Nifty was trading 5 points or 0.02% lower at 23,795.00 as of 06:53 a.m.

India's benchmark equity indices extended their record run for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, ahead of the expiry of their monthly derivative contracts. The Nifty Bank, whose monthly contracts also expired in the day, recorded its highest close as well.

The NSE Nifty 50 closed 147.50 points, or 0.62%, higher at 23,868.80 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex ended 620.73 points up, or 0.8%, at 78,674.25.

Overseas investors turned net sellers on Wednesday after a day of buying. Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 3,535.4 crore, while domestic institutional investors turned net buyers after two sessions of selling and mopped up equities worth Rs 5,103.7 crore, the NSE data showed.

The Indian rupee weakened 14 paise to close at 83.57 against the US dollar.