More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024

By Alina Geogy

MUMBAI – Key domestic indices ended marginally lower Tuesday, extending losses for the third consecutive session. Investors are on the sidelines owing to caution after the sharp decline in the previous session, analysts said. Now, there are concerns among investors over a deeper correction in the market over the next few days amid a temporary "overbought" situation.

Tuesday, the Nifty 50 ended at 25796.90 points, down 13.95 points or 0.1%, while the Sensex ended at 84266.29 points, down 33.49 points. In comparison, the broader market indices were better off, with the Nifty small-cap and mid-cap indices ending 0.3-0.9% higher. Despite marginal losses in the benchmark indices, the market breadth leaned towards gains as 57% of stocks traded on the NSE ended up Tuesday.

The indices were higher in early trade as investors tracked largely positive cues from global markets. However, they soon fell and were mostly lower for the rest of the session. In just two sessions this week, the Nifty 50 has erased most gains it made last week, a period when the 50-stock index clocked new record highs in all five trading sessions.

The weekly expiry of derivative contracts of Nifty Bank was shifted to Tuesday as a result of the market holiday Wednesday on account of Gandhi Jayanti. "Today is T-1 for the expiry, so there is rollover happening today," Vinit Bolinjkar, head of research at Ventura Securities, said while talking about the choppy nature of the indices in the session Tuesday.

Shares of automobile companies were in the limelight as they released the vehicle sales data for September. Shares of Tata Motors turned negative and ended nearly 1% lower after the automaker reported an on-year decline in both its commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle categories.

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra gained after the company's total vehicle sales for September rose 16% on year and 14% on month to 87,839 units. The stock ended 2.3% higher and was the second-best performer in the Nifty 50 index. Shares of Atul Auto rose 5% and hit an upper circuit after the three-wheeler manufacturer's domestic sales and exports in September rose over 26% on year, supported by strong sales of its electric vehicle models.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Media and Nifty IT indices were the top gainers, whereas the Nifty Energy and Nifty Oil & Gas were the worst hit. In the Nifty IT index, all 10 stocks ended up, with Tech Mahindra being the top gainer.

Shares of information technology major Tech Mahindra rose over 3% after brokerage firm CLSA upgraded the stock to 'outperform' from 'hold' earlier, and set a target price of INR 1,749 for the stock, implying an upside of nearly 11% from the previous close. CLSA said Tech Mahindra's target of 15% for earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, margin by 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) is achievable and not an ambitious target. The financial services, healthcare, and manufacturing verticals will drive the majority of the company's growth, the brokerage firm said.

Shares of Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance ended around 2-4% lower after the Reserve Bank of India flagged several irregularities by select gold financiers and advised entities to comprehensively examine their gold loan policies and processes. Brokerage firm Jefferies said tighter processes by the RBI may weigh on growth of gold financiers, but large gold non-banking lenders such as Muthoot Finance should be better placed, according to a CNBC TV18 report.

The RBI had found several shortcomings related to sourcing and appraisal of loans and valuation of gold in the customer's absence. A slowdown in the growth of gold loans for banks, financial technology providers, and smaller non-banking lending firms is likely to benefit Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance, Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities said in a report. The brokerage firm said, as per channel checks, that various lenders such as Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance were transparent while dealing with customers, having their own in-house valuers and the required infrastructure for gold lending. Shares of Muthoot Finance were the second-worst hit among Nifty 200 constituents.

Shares of airline companies SpiceJet and Interglobe Aviation rose after oil marketing companies cut prices of aviation turbine fuel by nearly INR 6,000 per kilolitre. This cut in prices can help reduce fuel expenses, which form a significant part of the operating expenditure for airlines. Gains in shares of SpiceJet extended after Plutus Wealth Management acquired a nearly 0.7% stake in the company through a bulk deal, as per news reports.

Among other stocks, shares of Blue Dart Express and BASF India were among the top gainers in the Nifty 500 index, ending over 5% and 7.2% higher, respectively. Shares of Blue Dart Express rose after the company said it would increase the average shipment price by 9-12%, effective Jan. 1, depending on product and shipping profile. Meanwhile, shares of BASF India extended gains for the fifth straight day since the company's Germany-based parent firm announced a new corporate strategy last week. The parent company had said its coatings business would be transferred to BASF India Coatings, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF India, by the end of 2024.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 20 rose, 29 fell, and 1 was unchanged

* Of the Sensex stocks, 13 rose and 17 fell

* On the NSE, 1,639 stocks rose, 1,137 fell, and 98 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,296 stocks rose, 1,668 fell, and 90 were unchanged

* Nifty Energy: down 0.8%; Nifty Oil & Gas: down 0.7%; Nifty Media: up 1.6%

BSE                                               NSE
Sensex: 84266.29, down 33.49 points or 0.04%      Nifty 50 25796.90, down 13.95 points or 0.05%

End

Edited by Manisha Baxla

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.