Equity Alert
Adani Ports up 3%;co plans iron ore blending unit at Gangavaram
This story was originally published at 12:39 IST on 23 February 2026
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Equity Alert: Adani Ports up 3%; co plans iron ore blending unit at Gangavaram
MUMBAI--1233 IST--Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone rose 3.5% to an intraday high of INR 1,564.50. The company, through its subsidiary Adani Gangavaram Port, has signed a memorandum of understanding with NMDC and Brazil-based Vale S.A to set up an integrated iron ore blending facility and a special economic zone at the Gangavaram Port in Andhra Pradesh. The rise in shares has helped erase the fall in the company's stock price over the last three days.
As part of this plan, fully mechanised berthing and cargo-handling facilities capable of accommodating Valemax vessels of 400,000 tonnes capacity will be set up. The capacity of Gangavaram Port will increase to 75 million tonnes with this development, Adani Ports said in a press release. The port's capacity was 60 million tonnes per annum in 2023.
At 1233 IST, shares of the company were 2.5% higher at INR 1,548.50. Over 1.96 million shares of the company were traded on the bourse so far, higher than the nearly 511,000 shares traded at the same time Friday. All seven brokerage reports on the company available with Informist have a 'buy' recommendation with an average target price of INR 1,877. (Akshat Saksena)
Equity Alert: Downgrade by Jefferies shakes IT stocks; Infosys, Wipro down 2%
MUMBAI--1213 IST--Shares of information technology companies fell further as the threat of artificial intelligence tools hurting the long-term prospects of these companies continued to spook investors. The latest trigger for this decline was a slew of rating downgrades by global brokerage Jefferies, which said that competition from AI is likely to shift the revenue mix of IT companies toward consulting and implementation work, according to an NDTV Profit report.
The brokerage warned that AI could structurally alter business models and compress valuations, even as stocks have rebounded this year. The brokerage downgraded Infosys, HCL Technologies and Mphasis to 'hold', and Tata Consultancy Services, LTIMindtree and Hexaware Technologies to 'underperform'. Coforge is the among the brokerage's top picks in this sector.
At 1213 IST, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Tech were down 1–2% and were among the worst hit stocks in the Nifty 50 index. Outside the 50-stock index, Persistent Systems, MPHASIS, and Coforge were down 1–3%.
The Nifty IT index was down nearly 1.2% at 31620.25 points. The sectoral index had fallen to an over 10-month low of 31607.75 points earlier in the day. (Eshitva Prakash)
Equity Alert: Indices off highs as select stocks fall more; HDFC Bank up 1%
MUMBAI--1142 IST--Benchmark indices came off highs as select stocks fell more. Among information technology stocks, Wipro fell nearly 3% and was worst hit in the index. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Technologies fell 1-2%. Shares of Jio Financial Services, Bharat Electronics, ITC, Trent, and Hindalco Industries were down 0.5-1.0%.
However, a near 1% rise in index heavyweights HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank held the Nifty 50 up. At 1142 IST, the Nifty was at 25667.10 points, up 95.85 points or 0.4%. The BSE Sensex was at 83176.01 points, up 361.30 points or 0.4%.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone rose over 2% and was top gainer among the Nifty 50 constituents. Axis Bank, SBI Life Insurance Co., HDFC Life Insurance Co., Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Shriram Finance rose 1-2%. State Bank of India was up over 1%.
IT stocks fell after the global brokerage Jefferies downgraded them saying that there are risks as the industry requires a change in operating model. Artificial intelligence may structurally change the IT business mix towards consulting and implementation while shrinking managed services, Jefferies was quoted as saying by CNBC-TV18.
Broader market indices were mixed, with Nifty small-cap indices up 0.2?ch and Nifty mid-cap indices down 0.3-1.0%. Nifty Smallcap 50 rose 0.1% and was supported by gains in Neuland Laboratories. The stock rose 4%. The Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 0.6% aided by an over 9% surge in the shares of Aegis Vopak Terminals. The stock was among the top gainers in the Nifty 500 constituents as well.
Among the sectoral indices, Nifty PSU Bank was the top gainer, up nearly 2%. Shares of Indian Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab National Bank, and Indian Overseas Bank rose 2–4%. On the other hand, Nifty IT was the worst hit, down over 1%. An over 2?ll in the shares of LTIMindtree dragged the index down.
Shares of ITC Hotels and Indian Bank were the top gainers in the Nifty 200 index. They were up nearly 4?ch. Indian Bank hit an all-time high of INR 985.80. IDFC FIRST Bank and UPL remained the worst hit in both the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 indices. They were down over 16% and over 13%, respectively. (Adhithya Aji)
Equity Alert: Cipla dn; US FDA's 'official action indicated' for key supplier
MUMBAI--1120 IST--Shares of Cipla fell over 2% to an intraday low of INR 1,308.80 after the company Saturday said the US Food and Drug Administration issued 'official action indicated' against Pharmathen International S.A., which is a supplier of lanreotide injection to the company's wholly-owned subsidiary Cipla USA. The US FDA conducted a good manufacturing practices inspection at Pharmathen International's manufacturing facility at Rodopi in Greece in November.
Lanreotide accounted for nearly 12% of Cipla's sales in the US in 2025. The company on Jan. 23 had lowered its 2025-26 (Apr-Mar) earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin guidance to 21.00% from 22.75?rlier on the back of a persistent lanreotide supply issue.
Pharmathen had already paused lanreotide production after the US drug regulator's observations in November. Cipla is exploring multiple options, including alternative production sites, to reduce supply risk for the hormone and tumour drug, its management said at a post-earnings press conference.
Brokerage Jefferies has retained its 'underperform' rating on the stock as it sees a meaningful downside risk from Lanreotide supply woes, according to a social media post by NDTV Profit. The brokerage expects these supply issues to extend into FY28. Earlier, Cipla's management had said that lanreotide supply will resume in the first half of FY27.
Of the 12 brokerage reports available with Informist on the stock, eight have an average target price of INR 1,560, while three have a 'sell' call and one brokerage says 'hold'. (Eshitva Prakash)
Equity Alert: UPL down 13%; Nuvama downgrades it to 'hold', ups target price 1%
MUMBAI--1007 IST--Shares of UPL fell more than 13% to a low of INR 650. Nuvama Institutional Equities has downgraded the stock to 'hold' from 'buy' but raised its target price by over 1% to INR 816 from INR 806. The board of UPL Friday approved a group reorganisation plan which will be carried through a composite scheme of arrangement and will consolidate the company's India and international crop protection businesses under a new listed entity called UPL Global Sustainable Agri Solutions. Subsequently, the India crop protection business will be vertically demerged into UPL Global.
The recent run-up in the stock and unresolved concerns over leverage and post-restructuring dilution have led Nuvama to reduce its recommendation and target price on the stock, according to a report from the brokerage. The restructuring aims to gain administrative and business synergies and unlock value as the individual businesses gain industry standard valuation. However, even after the restructuring the net debt is similar despite being redistributed between the two entities, the brokerage said. According to the brokerage, net debt of UPL Global should be around 190 billion and net debt of its stand-alone business should be around INR 32 billion. The deleveraging from now is dependent on the cash flow generation and working capital management, which according to the brokerage, is neutral.
The brokerage has revised its valuation method to more accurately reflect the likely perception of UPL as a holding company after the restructuring. "We are factoring in an estimated (around) INR25bn (billion) cash inflow from an (around) 8?vanta stake sale post IPO, arriving at a revised TP of INR816/share," Nuvama said. Limited visibility on deleveraging, which is dependent on the future cash flow and accounting for the dilution from the UPL Global Sustainable Agri Solutions merger, were reasons given by the brokerage to downgrade the stock.
At 0956 IST, shares of the company were down over 12% at INR 659.05. Over 5 million shares of the company were traded on NSE so far, over 10 times the number of shares traded at the same time Friday. Out of the six brokerage reports on the company with Informist, three have a 'buy' recommendation with the lowest target price at INR 798 and the highest price at INR 860. The remaining three have a 'hold' recommendation with the lowest target price at INR 712 and the highest price at INR 816. (Akshat Saksena)
Equity Alert: IDFC First Bk plummets 20% as co discloses INR 5.90 bln fraud
MUMBAI--1005 IST--Shares of IDFC FIRST Bank fell 20% to an over eight-month low of INR 66.80 after the company disclosed a fraud worth INR 5.90 billion. The discrepancy involved an account of the Haryana government, likely originating from fraudulent activities carried out by some employees at the bank's Chandigarh branch. While the lender has said this is unlikely to have a major impact on its costs and deposits, brokerage firms believe this fraud will likely to translate into near-term provisioning pressure.
On Saturday, the bank said it had received a request from a Haryana government department for closure of its account and transfer of funds to another bank. In the process, the lender observed differences in the balances in the account and the balances mentioned by the Haryana government department in the Chandigarh branch.
"The incident raises concerns around internal controls and governance oversight, with the around INR 5.90 billion reconciliation gap likely to translate into near-term provisioning pressure and heightened regulatory scrutiny," ICICI Securities said. For the quarter ended December, the lender had reported a net profit of INR 5.03 billion and its provisions for bad loans were at INR 13.98 billion. The bank will see continued deposit growth despite the fraud incident, its management said in a conference call.
The lender has appointed consultancy firm KPMG for a forensic audit into this matter. Of the eight brokerage reports available with Informist on the company, seven have a 'buy' call on the stock with an average target price of INR 92, while one has a 'hold' call. (Eshitva Prakash)
Equity Alert: Indices open higher after US court strikes down Trump tariffs
MUMBAI--0947 IST--Domestic benchmark indices opened higher Monday after the US Supreme Court Friday struck down the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on most of the country's trade partners. After the ruling, Trump invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act to impose a 15% global import tariff.
At 0938 IST, the Nifty was at 25761.20, up 189.95 points or 0.7%. The BSE Sensex was at 83425.55 points, up 610.84 points or 0.7%. Shares of financial services companies were the biggest gainers. Index heavyweights HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Reliance Industries rose around 1?ch and lent support to the 50-stock index.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone was the top gainer among the Nifty 50 constituents. The stock was up nearly 3%. Shares of Axis Bank, HDFC Life Insurance Co., Shriram Finance, SBI Life Insurance Co., Kotak Mahindra Bank, and State Bank of India rose 1-2%. On the other hand, Oil and Natural Gas Corp. was the worst hit stock in the index. It was down 2%. Among information technology stocks, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, and HCL technologies were down 0.3 to 1%. Shares of Cipla fell over 1%.
Indian Bank and ITC Hotels were the top gainers in the Nifty 200 index. They were up over 3?ch. Vedanta rose nearly 2?ter the board decided to meet on Wednesday to consider raising funds by issuing non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis.
IDFC First Bank hit a lower circuit at INR 70.98, down 15%. The stock plummeted after the bank found discrepancies in the balances of some Haryana government accounts. This matter pertains to accounts operated through the Chandigarh branch, where a fraud of INR 5.9 billion was found. The bank has suspended four branch officials and has appointed KPMG to conduct a forensic audit. The stock was the worst hit in both the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 indices.
AU Small Finance Bank was among the worst hit on both the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500. The stock was down over 7%. It fell after the bank said it was de-empaneled by the Haryana government on Feb 18. The bank said that there was no indication of fraudulent practices in the closed account of Haryana government.
UPL hit the lower circuit at INR 677.15, down 10%, after Nuvama downgraded the stock recommendation to 'hold'. The stock was among the worst hit in the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 as well. (Adhithya Aji)
Equity Alert: Most Asian mkts up amid US tariff confusion; China, Japan shut
MUMBAI--0836 IST--Equity markets in Asia rose Monday amid the uncertainty over US import tariff after the country's Supreme Court ruling against the tariffs set in place by US President Donald Trump. Saturday, Trump lifted the temporary duty to 15% from 10%, which has further raised uncertainty in global markets -- a move that has come as a surprise to some of his own officials, Reuters reported. Markets in China remained closed for the Lunar New Year holidays while those in Japan were also closed for a holiday. The South Korean KOSPI touched fresh highs yet again.
"While the Supreme Court's ruling invalidates a large share of existing tariffs and weakens the ability to target individual countries, it does not dismantle the broader tariff framework," Rystad Energy's Chief Economist Claudio Galimberti said in a note, CNBC reported. If the upper limit of the tariff is reached without the exemption from the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the average rate could climb even higher than the structure which was struck down by the US Supreme Court, Galimberti added.
The South Korean KOSPI rose to 5900 points for the first time during the session. The rise in the index was due to the US Supreme Court judgement, which ruled the reciprocal tariffs as illegal, the Chosun reported. Although uncertainty remained after Trump said he would impose global tariffs up to 15%, the improved investor sentiment on the back of New York's stock market closing higher last weekend is expected to have positively impacted South Korea's domestic markets, the report said.
Stocks in Hong Kong rose as investors diversified from US assets due to trade uncertainties arising from the US tariffs, South China Morning Post reported. Shares of video game company NetEase and short-video platform Kuaishou Technology rose over 3% and nearly 4%, respectively. Shares of Alibaba Group rose nearly 4% and those of Tencent Holding rose over 3%.
Following are the levels of key Asian indices at 0831 IST:
|
INDEX |
LEVEL |
CHANGE IN % |
|
KOSPI |
5873.84 |
1.12 |
|
FTSE Singapore Straits Times |
5036.66 |
0.38 |
|
S&P/ASX 200 Index |
9038.50 |
(-)0.47 |
| Hang Seng Index | 27115.64 | 2.66 |
| IDX Composite | 8381.59 | 1.33 |
| TAIEX | 34082.99 | 1.42 |
(Akshat Saksena)
Equity Alert: Indices to open sharply higher after US SC scraps Trump tariffs
MUMBAI--0825 IST--Domestic benchmark indices are seen opening sharply higher Monday after the US Supreme Court struck down global reciprocal tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump as illegal on Friday. After this ruling, Trump used Section 122 of the Trade Act to impose a 15% global import tariff. While analysts expect only a slight benefit to the effective import duty on India post this ruling, the judgement is expected to reduce the ability of the Trump administration to impose reciprocal tariffs at this scale again.
The extent of effective relief hinges on countries' export dependence on goods covered under Section 232 such as steel, aluminium, copper, automobile, etc., according to Emkay Global Financial Services. India's effective tariff rate is now likely to be 11–13%, as per the brokerage's calculations. Most of India's Asian peers will have similar effective tariff rates, barring China, whose effective rate is likely to be above 15%, the brokerage said. Meanwhile, after the imposition of Section 122, India will pay 10% tariffs on almost 60% of the exports to the US, Elara Securities (India) said. The brokerage sees the policy implied effective tariff rate on India to be 9.1%, compared to 13.7% in the first week of February.
However, Elara Securities also expects these developments to increase global trade uncertainties, and that tariffs will turn more sector-specific. Section 122 comes with a 150-day deadline, after which the brokerage sees two key overhangs over global trade. First, it is unclear which tariffs will be in effect and second, the rate of tariffs is also not decided, which is likely to add to uncertainties.
On Friday, equity indices in the US ended higher after the Supreme Court's judgment, which may provide relief to companies burdened by higher costs from the duties and easing concern about sticky inflation still plaguing the US economy, CNBC reported. Several markets in Asia were closed Monday on account of holidays. South Korea's KOSPI set another record high in early trade, aided by gains in index heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 2.5%, rising the most among its peers.
At 0820 IST, the GIFT Nifty 50 indicated a gap-up start for the Nifty 50, with the February contract nearly 180 points higher than the Nifty 50's previous close. On Friday, the Nifty 50 index closed 0.5% higher at 25571.25 points. The BSE Sensex closed at 82814.71 points, up 0.4%. The 50-stock index is seen facing resistance at 25850 points and expected to find support around 25400, Vipin Kumaar, derivatives and technical analyst at Globe Capital Market said. (Eshitva Prakash)
Equity Alert: US mkts end higher Fri; US Supreme Court rules against tariffs
MUMBAI--0738 IST--US indices ended higher Friday after the US Supreme Court ruled against the global tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump. The gains were led by shares of Amazon, Alphabet and other heavyweights.
The US Supreme Court ruled against the tariffs enacted last year under the federal law designed for national emergencies, Reuters reported. Calling the ruling a "disgrace", Trump imposed 10% global tariffs for a period of 150 days under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 to replace emergency duties. Investors breathed a sigh of relief as Trump's newly announced tariffs were not higher, Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, was reported as saying. On Saturday, however, Trump increased the duty to 15% from 10%, in a move that has come as a surprise to some of his own officials, Reuters reported.
Shares of Amazon rose 2.6%. The company sources 70% of its goods from China, CNBC reported, citing Wedbush Securities. Shares of Home Depot and Five Below, up 1% and 2% respectively, also benefited as investors believe the outcome would have a positive effect on these companies as well. "In the case of Amazon specifically, a lot of their stuff is imported from China, so tariffs are going to make the prices on Amazon go up for customers, and when prices go up, people buy fewer of those things," Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management was reported as saying. "No longer facing that problem is the source of excitement, I think."
"Now lower courts are going to have to figure out what's going to happen to people who paid the tariffs and the government paying out big refunds," FBB Capital Partners senior research analyst and asset allocation strategist Michael Brenner was reported as saying. "If that's out there, that would be effectively a form of economic stimulus."
On the data side, US economic growth increased 1.4% on year in the December quarter, with the government spending recording its biggest decline since 1972 due to last year's shutdown. However, steady consumer and business outlays underlined the economy's resilience, Reuters reported. The 1.4% increase was against a forecast of 3% by economists polled by Reuters and the 4.4% rise in the trailing quarter. The country's GDP rose 2.2% last year, its slowest pace in five years. The underlying inflation rose more than expected last year, with the personal consumption expenditures index exclusive of food and energy rising 0.4% against a rise of 0.2% in November. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the core personal consumption expenditure price index to rise 0.3%. In the 12 months through December, the core personal consumption expenditure rose 3% against 2.8% in November.
Shares of NVIDIA will be in focus as the company is set to announce its quarterly results Wednesday. AI-linked technology stocks have volatile in recent months due to concerns about high valuations and limited evidence that massive investments in AI are driving revenue and profit growth, Reuters said.
Following are the closing levels of US indices Friday:
|
Index |
Level |
Change in % |
|
S&P 500 |
6909.51 |
0.69 |
|
NASDAQ Composite |
22886.07 |
0.9 |
|
Dow Jones Industrial Average |
49625.97 |
0.47 |
(Akshat Saksena)
US$1 = INR 90.76
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Edited by Ashish Shirke
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.
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