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PremiumStock Market Close: Benchmark Sensex surged over 400 points on Thursday amid positive cues, while Nifty ended near the 19,550 mark. Banks, IT and realty topped among sectors, while FMCG, pharma, PSU banks dragged. The Indian rupee ended flat at 83.25 per dollar even as Asian peers moved higher. Asian markets posted modest gains on Thursday, rebounding from previous losses after a strong lead from Wall Street. Crude oil prices stabilised following a sharp one-day decline amid indications of reduced demand and easing worries about global economic slowdown.
Benchmark indices ended with robust gains on Thursday, driven by IT and financial sectors, and a relief rally prompted by a decline in crude oil prices. Sensex closed at 65,631.57, up 405.53 points, while Nifty 50 settled at 19,544.70, up 108 points. Among sectors banks & financials, auto, IT and realty gained, while FMCG, metal, pharma and PSU banks ended with losses. Broad market indices were largely in green though midcaps ended on a flat note. L&T, M&M, Titan and TCS were the top gainers among the 24 stocks that ended in the green on Sensex, while Power Grid and Nestle were the main laggards. The Indian rupee ended flat at 83.25 per dollar on Thursday.
Asian and European markets posted modest gains Thursday, rebounding from previous losses after a strong lead from Wall Street. Tokyo, Hong Kong closed higher. Shanghai was closed for a holiday. European shares regained after a three-day selloff with the STOXX 600 index rising 0.3%.
The July-September quarter earnings of the Indian banking sector may show decent growth on a year-on-year basis with private and PSU banks likely to post earnings growth of about 25% and 20% YoY, respectively, even though there could be some compression in net interest margin, said a report from Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
“We expect the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (RBI MPC) to keep the REPO rate unchanged to remain supportive of growth. However, the central bank will likely maintain a precautionary stance because of the inflationary pressure arising from external factors such as rising crude prices and Indian currency, which is at an all-time low. A pause will be supportive of the real estate sector in maintaining its current momentum. With the last few revisions, the REPO rate has gone up by 250 BPS, resulting in 160bps hike in the base lending rate, with the last three revisions being completely passed on to the home buyers. This has started to impact housing demand, especially in the affordable segment. The mid segment too has seen growth moderating in the last few quarters. A further increase in the REPO rate could potentially dampen buyers’ sentiment and impact housing affordability."
“We initiate coverage on Indian Hotels Company with a ‘buy’ recommendation, on Lemon Tree Hotels also with a ‘buy’, and on Chalet Hotels with a ‘hold’ amid limited upside. All three players have a strong pipeline of room additions, with room-count CAGR of 10-13% over FY23-26E. All three players will gain from further margin improvement and deleveraging by FY26, given increase in revenue and focus on cost reduction," said Emkay Global Financial Services in a recent report.
Poonawalla Fincorp's total disbursements during Q2FY24 rose 149% YoY and 10% QoQ to a record ₹ 7750 crore. AUM grew by 53% YoY and 13% QoQ
Indian Energy Exchange: The company posted around 13% growth in overall trade volume to 9,147 million units (MU) in September. IEX saw 9,147 MU overall volume, including green market trade of 230 MU, 5.15 lakh renewable energy certificates, and 1.06 lakh energy saving certificates.
Today, spot Nifty 50 has a hurdle at the 19,600 level, with support emerging closer to 19,450. Despite the index starting on a strong note, option data advocates mediocre writing in 19500 PE and 19,550 PE. The bias infers that getting to 19,600 will be difficult.
Only a decisive move over 19,600 could see 19,500 PE and 19,550 PE trigger an upside rally, and assist the index to expire over 19,600.
We anticipate Nifty weekly expiry to be in the zone of 19,600 to 19,500 levels.
“We cut FY24/25 EPS by 8.4/7.4% respectively although we remain positive on long-term growth story given brand moat and huge scope to increase penetration. WFL has bucked the trend of demand slowdown from the past few quarters, however there has been some softening in demand off late as consumers cut back on spending amidst higher food inflation. WFL is on a path of sustained growth with 1) success of Mcsaver value meal 2) sustained traction in chicken business in south and 3) ability to provide all day menu across breakfast, snack and meals. WFL is looking at makeover of McCafe with more food options and accelerated innovations in its core segments of Burgers, Chicken and coffee in 2H24 which is expected to provide sustained traction in festival season. We estimate Sales/EPS CAGR of 18.2%/30.6% over FY23-26. We assign DCF based target price of ₹958 ( ₹932 earlier) with Hold rating (Accumulate earlier) with positive bias in LT."
In the financial year 2022-23, India's largest non-banking financial company disbursed 29.6 million (m) loans. For Bajaj Finance, it was the highest ever, representing a growth of 20% over the previous year. (Full report)
The lender said it has recorded a 9.7% year-on-year surge in its total deposits during the September quarter, reaching ₹13.1 trillion compared to ₹11.9 trillion in the previous year. The bank's current account savings account grew 2.6%.
The consumer goods manufacturer said it saw a slight dip in second-quarter revenue due to rising food prices and below normal rainfall affecting rural demand.
Berger Paints is a formidable number 2 in the paints sector. Still, rising competition, especially with Grasim Industries eyeing the No.2 spot in the coming years, means there is a looming threat to Berger’s position. (Full report)
The ministry of corporate affairs on Wednesday notified that some provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code would not apply to aircraft, engines and related parts, in a development that will significantly influence the ability of bankrupt Go First airline to take to the skies again. (Full report)
"Nifty 50 indicated further weakness with gap down opening to make new low of 19333 level and witnessed some recovery in the second half to minimise the loss to some extent with bias still maintained with a cautious approach. The index would have the level of 19,200 as the major support zone from current levels and above a decisive breach above 19,600 is necessary to improve the sentiment.
Bank Nifty breached below the 44000 zone to weaken the trend and with bias maintained with a cautious approach has next important and crucial support of 43400 zone. On the upside, a decisive breach above the 44800 zone of the important 50EMA level is necessary to improve the bias and ease out the sentiment."
PNB, Marico, Bandhan Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Exide Industries, Nazara Technologies are among the stocks in focus on Thursday. Delta Corp, Indiabulls Housing Finance, and Manappuram Finance are the three stocks that are part of the F&O ban list by the NSE today.
Crude oil prices stabilised following a sharp one-day decline amid indications of reduced demand and easing worries about global economic slowdown. West Texas Intermediate hovered around the $84 per barrel mark after a 5.6% drop on Wednesday.
Asian shares rebounded from 11-month lows on Thursday as a drop in oil prices and soft US labour data helped pull Treasury yields off 16-year peaks. Tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6%. Japan's Nikkei climbed 1.2%.
