Stocks to buy: Raja Venkatraman's top picks for 8 December

Extending gains to the second consecutive session, the Sensex ended the day with a healthy gain of 447 points, or 0.52%, at 85,712.37, while the Nifty 50 settled at 26,186.45, up 153 points, or 0.59%. The BSE Midcap index ended with a modest gain of 0.21% but the Smallcap index fell 0.67%.

Gains in large and mid-caps lifted the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms to nearly ₹471 lakh crore from ₹470 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors richer by about ₹1 lakh crore in a session.

Three stocks to trade, recommended by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman:

ICICI PRU Life Insurance (current price ₹626.05) - Buy above ₹627, stop loss ₹610, target price ₹657 (Multiday)

• Why it’s recommended: ICICIPRULI is a major Indian life insurance company and a publicly traded joint venture between ICICI Bank and Prudential Corporation Holdings Limited. A strong long body bullish candle seen on Friday has ignited some strong bullish sentiments. With the RSI taking support at the neutral zone and rising we can look at possibility of more upside in the coming days. A dip into the cloud region and a rebound augurs well for a revival. Consider going long.
• Key metrics:
  • P/E: 68.91,
  • 52-week high: ₹701.40,
  • Volume: 386.46K.
• Technical analysis: Support at ₹600, resistance at ₹700.
• Risk factors: Investment Risk Born by Policyholder, Credit/Default Risk, and intense market competition.
• Buy : above ₹627.
• Stop loss: ₹610.
• Target price: ₹657 in 2 months.

Britannia Industries Ltd (current market price ₹5961) - Buy above ₹5970, stop loss ₹5870, target price ₹6270 (Multiday)

• Why it’s recommended: Britannia Industries Ltd is a leading Indian food company, established in 1892, known for its iconic bakery and dairy products. With FMCG showing signs of revival, we can observe that the last few days the counter has been consolidating at the cloud support region at the KS line and has shown some strength. Also, the RSI is seen holding and a fresh uptick in momentum is witnessing an upward charge that can help the trends sustain and move ahead.
• Key metrics:
  • P/E: 62.26,
  • 52-week high: ₹1086.50,
  • Volume: 474.60K.
• Technical analysis: Support at ₹821, resistance at ₹925.
• Risk factors: Volatility in raw material prices, potential demand slowdowns (especially in urban areas), and valuation concerns.
• Buy : above ₹5970.
• Stop loss: ₹5870.
• Target price: ₹6270 in 2 months.

Eicher Motors (current market price ₹7208.10) - Buy above ₹7220, stop loss ₹7120, target price ₹7390 (Intraday)

• Why it’s recommended: Eicher Motors Ltd (EICHERMOT) is an Indian multinational automotive company known primarily as the parent company of the iconic Royal Enfield motorcycle brand and for its joint venture with the Volvo Group, VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV). Post some reaction into the cloud support region we are now noticing that the trends are showing some revival. The support from the RSI is also seen helping the prices. Look to go long.
• Key metrics:
  • P/E: 42.10,
  • 52-week high: ₹7287.60,
  • Volume: 501.04K.
• Technical analysis: Support at ₹6900, resistance at ₹7500.
• Risk factors: Raw material price volatility, working capital management, and potential project delays in its capital expansion plans.
• Buy : above ₹7220.
• Stop loss: ₹7120.
• Target price: ₹7390.

Stock market performance 5 December

Bullish resolve is helping the Nifty sustain the strong upward drive but the trends are currently taking a breather in the recent moves. The sudden intraday collapse is attracting some bearishness.

Currently overall momentum and sentiment is buoyant but the unexpected stretch of positive vibe has begun attracting some hesitation. The absence of any news triggers has curtailed the broader indices over the last two days and has led to some stock specific action. However, the bullish camp has managed to revive the bullish bias despite the minor hiccups.

The Indian equity market ended the week of 5 December on a flat note despite heightened volatility and a sharp rally in Friday’s session, triggered by the Reserve Bank of India’s unexpected interest rate cut alongside an upward revision of the FY26 GDP forecast to 7.3% and a downward adjustment in inflation expectations. The Nifty50 closed at 26,186.45, little changed overall, though it touched a fresh record high of 26,325.8 during the week.

Large-cap indices mirrored this muted trend, balancing steep declines in select stocks with notable gains in others. Waaree Energies, Bajaj Housing Finance, Interglobe Aviation, Max Healthcare Institute, JSW Energy, and Hindustan Unilever slipped between 5–9 percent, reflecting sectoral pressure. In contrast, Vodafone Idea, Info Edge India, Wipro, Swiggy, TVS Motor Company, Indus Towers, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Asian Paints, LTIMindtree, and Tata Consultancy Services advanced 3–8%, underscoring resilience in IT and telecom.

Outlook for Trading

It has been one more week of advances and ever since November, the run has taken on an acceleration that has left many participants quite breathless. The pace and consistency has been largely owing to the continued inflow of foreign funds which now etched up new records. In the face of this avalanche of money, the trend seems to be quite unstoppable. Valuations are going for a toss and almost every metric of measurement is saying that a reaction is now overdue. However, the market doesn’t seem to be in any kind of mood to oblige.

The Nifty Bank made it past the 60,000-levels and managed to hold on to those levels since. This is a positive. As discussed earlier, the topping of previous highs is still in balance for the Nifty Bank. Even the small and midcap indices or the NS 500 are all quite near the previous highs. So, continuation is being watched for. PSU banks were in great form during the week and sped higher but what move the needle for the Nifty Bank are the private banks and those were seen somewhat contained in their bullishness, for whatever reasons.

Raja Venkatraman is co-founder, NeoTrader. His Sebi-registered research analyst registration no. is INH000016223.

Investments in securities are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Registration granted by Sebi and certification from NISM in no way guarantees performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.