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Informist, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025

By Akash Mandal

MUMBAI – The Nifty 50 during the day made a partial recovery from its support level of 22800 points but failed to sustain the momentum and ended slightly down at 22945.30 points. Gains in select large caps including NTPC, HDFC Bank and information technology stocks helped the market recover from intraday lows, but the fall in select fast-moving consumer goods and large banks pushed the indices down.   

The Nifty 50 ended at 22945.30 points, down 14.20 points or 0.1%, and the BSE Sensex closed slightly lower at 75967.39 points, down 29.47 points. The Nifty 50 and the Sensex had fallen as low as 0.7% earlier in the session. Broader market indices were mixed as the midcap indices ended either flat or marginally down, while the smallcap indices ended sharply down 1.0-1.6%. Market breadth was negative with almost 72% of the stocks traded on the National Stock Exchange ending in the red. While only 14 stocks hit a 52-week high during the session, 635 stocks fell to their 52-week lows.

IndusInd Bank and Trent were the worst hit and ended 2.3% and 1.9% lower, respectively. Tech Mahindra was among the top performers in the index and ended up 2.4% after brokerage CLSA maintained its 'outperform' rating on the company with a target price of INR 2,030, reiterating the stock as its 'top pick' in the large-cap IT space. NTPC and Wipro were other top gainers and ended 2-3% higher.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT was the top gainer and ended 1% higher. Persistent Systems and LTIMmindtree ended nearly 5% and 4% higher, respectively. L&T Technology Services also ended over 2% higher. Oil and gas was the only other sector with significant gains. GAIL (India) and Mahanagar Gas ended around 2% higher. Oil and Natural Gas Corp., Petronet LNG, and Indraprastha Gas all gained over 1%.

The Nifty FMCG index extended its losing streak to 12 session, losing over over 10% over the period.

Among other stocks, ABB India lost all intraday gains and closed nearly 2% down, extending losses for the fourth straight session. Post market hours Monday, the company reported a net profit of INR 5.28 billion, beating analysts' estimate of INR 4.57 billion.  

Maruti Suzuki India ended slightly up after rising almost 1% in early trade. Global brokerage Citi maintained the stock as the top pick in the automobile sector with a target price of INR 14,500 due to a better product mix, lower discounts, and strong outlook on volumes, according to an ET Now report. The brokerage also increased the earnings estimates for the company by 5-7% over 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) to 2026-27, as per the report. Gillette India snapped a six-day losing streak and gained over 10% to end as the top gainer in the Nifty 500. Intra-day, the stock had recouped most of the losses it had made in the previous six sessions but ended off-highs.

Shares of ACC ended nearly 2% lower after global brokerage Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to 'underweight' from 'equalweight' and trimmed the target price to INR 1,670 from INR 2,510. PTC Industries, ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems India, and Carborundum Universal all ended 7-10% lower and were the worst hit in the Nifty 500. 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 24 rose and 26 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 16 rose and 14 fell

* On the NSE, 713 stocks rose, 2,124 fell, and 81 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,032 stocks rose, 2,918 fell, and 114 were unchanged

* Nifty Consumer Durables: down 1.4%; Nifty FMCG: down 0.9%; Nifty IT: up 1%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 75967.39 points, down 29.47 points        Nifty 50: 22945.30 points, down 14.20 points

End

US$1 = INR 

Edited by Saji George Titus

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