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Informist, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Equity Alert: Indices open positive on New Year's day; fincl svcs cos gain 

 

MUMBAI--1005 IST—Domestic benchmark equity indices opened on a positive note on New Year's Day helped by gains in financial services and oil companies stocks. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank rose nearly 2%, supporting the Nifty 50 to remain in the green.   

 

At 0946 IST, the Nifty 50 index was at 26169.05 points, up 39.45 or 0.2% and the BSE Sensex was at 85383.02 points, up 162.42 points or 0.2%. 

 

Adani Enterprises rose nearly 2% to be the top gainer in the Nifty 50 index, followed by Eternal which rose over 1%. 

Mahindra & Mahindra, InterGlobe Aviation, and Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone were up 1?ch. 

 

Shares of ITC were the worst hit in the index, down 5%. The stock fell after the government imposed an excise duty on cigarettes in the range of INR 2,050-INR 8,500 per thousand sticks. The duty will be based on the length and type of the product, effective from Feb. 1, the finance ministry said in a notification late Wednesday. In a separate notification, the ministry also notified that goods and service tax compensation cess levy on tobacco and related products would be discontinued from Feb. 1. Cigarette-maker Godfrey Phillips India fell to a six-month low of INR 2,535 following the reports of imposition of excise duty on tobacco products. The stock was the worst hit in both the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 indices. 

 

Shares of Vodafone Idea rose nearly 4?ter the company revised its agreement with the UK-based Vodafone Group originally signed in March 2017. Post the amendment, the company stands to receive INR 58.4 billion from the promoter group. As part of this, Vodafone Group promoters will release INR 23.1 billion over the next 12 months. Along with shares of Vodafone Idea, shares of Indus Towers, which is the telecom tower operator of the former, also rose nearly 2%.  

 

Shares of Adani Total Gas and Adani Total Gas were the top gainers in the Nifty 200 index, up nearly 8% and 5%, respectively.  

Blue Dart Express rose nearly 6% in the Nifty 500 index after the Goods and Services Tax adjudicating authority reduced the tax demand against the company's arm, Blue Dart Aviation, to INR 6.5 million from INR 4.21 billion.  (Adhithya Aji)

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Equity Alert: Cigarette cos down after govt places excise duty on cigarettes

MUMBAI--1001 IST--Shares of cigarette companies slumped in the opening minutes of trade after the government imposed excise duty on cigarettes in the range of INR 2,050-INR 8,500 per thousand sticks based on the length and type of the product, effective from Feb. 1. The ministry also notified that goods and services tax compensation cess levy on tobacco and related products would be discontinued from Feb. 1.

 

At 0948 IST, shares of ITC were down nearly 5%, the worst hit among Nifty 50 constituents. Shares of the company hit an 18-month low at INR 383.70. Its peer Godfrey Phillips India was down 9%, hitting an over eight-month low at INR 2,512.70. The GST Council had on Sept. 3 agreed to overhaul the indirect tax structure by slashing rates on a host of common and daily-use items. The council also introduced a new GST rate of 40% on luxury goods to subsume the GST compensation cess that some of the items in the 28% GST bracket attracted. However, the council decided to continue the compensation cess on tobacco-related products till the GST-related loans are repaid. 

 

ICICI Securities, which had earlier recommended going long on ITC January futures, advised investors to close their positions at current levels as a stop-loss is triggered. ITC has been under consistent selling pressure, but levels near INR 400 have seen strong, with delivery-based buying limiting the downsides, the brokerage said in a note. On the futures front, the stock has seen aggressive short open interest addition, pushing futures open interest to a one-year-high. Elevated open interest amid muted price action suggests the possibility of a short-covering rally, according to the brokerage.

 

Of the 21 brokerage reports available with Informist on ITC, 19 have a 'buy' call on the stock with an average target price of INR 504, while one brokerage has a 'sell' and another has a 'hold' call.  (Eshitva Prakash)

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Equity Alert: Vodafone Idea relief not enough for debt, capex plans - Emkay

 

MUMBAI--0925 IST--The relief provided to Vodafone Idea might not be enough to address the company's high leverage even without its adjusted gross revenue dues due to its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation being insufficient to meet spectrum payment obligations and capital expenditure plans, brokerage Emkay Global said in a report.

 

The Union Cabinet, in its meeting, decided to provide Vodafone Idea relief on its AGR dues of INR 877 billion by granting a 5-year moratorium on the dues before 2017-18 (Apr-Mar), according to Emkay Global. This will be payable over FY32 to FY41, while AGR dues pertaining to FY18 and FY19 shall be payable over FY26 to FY31 without any change, Emkay said citing media reports. Despite the Street's expectations of at least a 50% waiver on AGR dues, the government did not provide any waivers to the company. Vodafone Idea could see further reduction in its AGR as the Department of Telecommunications will form a committee to recalculate and revaluate the dues, the brokerage said.

 

Despite having its AGR dues addressed, Vodafone Idea has deferred spectrum payment obligations of around INR 1.2 trillion and capital expenditure plans of INR 75 billion to INR 80 billion for FY26, making the relief granted insufficient due to the company's insufficient earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation, the brokerage said. As of the September quarter, the company's annualised EBITDA is INR 8.98 billion, which is 6.7% of its spectrum debt, along with a cash balance of INR 30.80 billion. The brokerage believes that more capital infusion along with the restructuring of the company's spectrum liabilities is crucial for its long term sustainability. "...leverage remains high even without AGR dues, and the government will need to consider a plan for reducing spectrum debt," the brokerage said. 

 

The brokerage is of the opinion that the government is taking enough steps to ensure that the company remains solvent. However, the government will have to make deeper reforms to make Vodafone Idea into a strong company with manageable leverage. At 0915 IST, shares of the company traded 2.5% higher at INR 11.03 on the National Stock Exchange. (Akshat Saksena)

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Equity Alert: Indices seen opening higher Thu, gains likely to be limited

 

MUMBAI--0850 IST--Benchmark equity indices are likely to extend gains Thursday, after ending higher in the previous session. However, analysts expect the gains to be limited as all global markets are shut on the occasion of New Year. The GIFT Nifty indicates a rise in the Nifty 50 as it is over 200 points higher than the Nifty 50's previous close.

On Wednesday, the 50-stock index closed 0.7% higher at 26129.60 points. The BSE Sensex closed over 500 points higher at 85220.60. The 50-stock index is expected to face resistance at 26200-26285 points and find support at 25975 points, Anshul Jain, technical analyst at Laxmishree Investments and Securities, said.

 

Market participants await the release of data on goods and services tax collections for December later in the day. They will also focus on automobile stocks as auto companies will declare their monthly sales data for December. Analysts see the GST data showing an improvement in demand and helping cover tax-collection shortfalls.

 

All benchmark indices on Wall Street ended lower for the fourth straight session on Wednesday, while equity markets in Asia were closed Thursday on account of the New Year holiday.  (Arundathi A R)

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Equity Alert: US indices fall for 4th straight session Wed, S&P 500 down 1%

 

MUMBAI--0740 IST--US equity indices closed lower for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday, defying expectations of a 'Santa Claus rally'. Over the last four sessions, the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 1%, and the tech-laden NASDAQ Composite was down nearly 2%. Equity markets in Asia were closed on Thursday on account of New Year's Day.  

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was able to achieve gains on a monthly basis, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite fell nominally, according to a report by Reuters. However, the three indices have recorded double-digit gains in 2025, making it the third consecutive year of gains, boosted by an 'insatiable appetite' for artificial intelligence stocks, Reuters reported. The Dow Jones Industrial Average index recorded eight consecutive months of gains, its longest streak since 2017-2018. The S&P 500 was also on track for eight consecutive months of growth just before the closing bell but could not manage to do so, ending slightly lower in December, the report said. 

 

Energy stocks and technology stocks were among the worst performers during the session, with Microsoft falling 0.8%, Reuters said. Shares of energy company EQT Corp. fell nearly 2% during the session as well. Shares of NVIDIA, which have gained 39% this year, have been one of the beneficiaries of AI trade, becoming the first company to hit $5-trillion market capitalisation, Reuters said. Shares of NVIDIA ended nearly 1% lower during the session. 

 

The communication services index was the highest gainer for the year due to a 65% rise in Alphabet, Reuters said. Shares of storage chip-makers Micron Technology, Western Digital, and Seagate exceeded their S&P 500 peers as they tripled in value in 2025. Nike rose 4?ter CEO Elliott Hill reported that he bought about $1 million worth of shares recently. Shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals surged after the company received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for its drug meant for the prevention of motion-induced vomiting, Reuters said. Shares of the company jumped over 25% during the trading session. 

 

Trading volumes remained low in the holiday-truncated week, with the market closed for New Year on Thursday. "Volume on US exchanges was 11.17 billion shares, compared with the 15.80 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days," Reuters said. The monteary policy of the US Federal Reserve is likely to set the tone for 2026. Investors have started pricing in further reductions after recent economic data and expectations of a new 'dovish' Federal Reserve chairman, Reuters said.       

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Wednesday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6845.50	(-)0.74
NASDAQ Composite	23241.991	(-)0.76
Dow Jones Industrial Average	48063.29	(-)0.63

 

(Akshat Saksena)

 

US$1 = INR 89.95

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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