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Informist, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Equity Alert: Small finance banks up after on-year rise in gross advances 

MUMBAI--1245 IST--Shares of small finance banks such as Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, and AU Small Finance Bank were up 2–4% Monday after they released their gross advances data as of Dec. 31. 

Ujjivan Small Finance reported a gross loan book of INR 370.55 billion, up 21.6% on year as of Dec. 31. The bank's total deposits were at INR 422.19 billion, up 22.2% on year. At 1218 IST, shares of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank were over 4% higher at INR 58.08 on the National Stock Exchange. So far, nearly 28 million shares of the company have changed hands on the NSE, higher than over 11 million shares traded till the same time Friday.

All the 11 brokerage recommendations available with Informist on the company have a 'buy' recommendation on the stock with an average target price of INR 54.

Equitas Small Finance Bank's gross advances were at INR 432.69 billion as on Dec. 31, up 15.86% on year. The total deposits of the bank stood at INR 436.68 billion, up 7.24% on year. At 1226 IST, shares of the company traded nearly 4% higher at INR 66.55 on the NSE. So far, over 6 million shares of the company have changed hands on the exchange, higher than nearly 3 million shares traded till the same time Friday.

Of the 12 brokerage recommendations available with Informist on the company, six have a 'buy' recommendation with an average target price of INR 75. Four have a 'hold' recommendation with an average target price of INR 65 and the remaining two have a 'sell' recommendation on the stock. 

AU Small Finance Bank reported gross advances of INR 1.25 trillion as on Dec. 31, up 24% on year. Its total deposits stood at INR 1.38 trillion as on Dec. 31, up 23.3% on year. At 1230 IST, shares of the company traded over 1% higher at INR 1,010.60 on the NSE. So far, over 1 million shares of the company have changed hands on the NSE, higher than nearly 352,000 shares traded till the same time Friday.  

Of the 15 brokerage recommendations available with Informist on the company, 10 have a 'buy' recommendation with an average target price of INR 852. Four have a 'sell' recommendation with an average target price of INR 693 and the remaining one has a 'hold' recommendation on the stock.  (Arundathi A R)

Equity Alert: Indices remain flat; IT co losses offset by gains in auto, FMCG

MUMBAI--1203 IST--Indices remained flat as the losses incurred by information technology companies were offset by gains in automobile and fast-moving consumer goods stocks. The heavyweight stock ICICI Bank was up over 1%, whereas HDFC Bank was down nearly 2%. Shares of Reliance Industries hit an all-time high of INR 1,611.80. The stock was marginally down. 

At 1158 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 26331.60 points, up 3.05 points, and the BSE Sensex was at 85729.32 points, down 32.69 points.    

Bharat Electronics was the top gainer in the Nifty 50 index, up 3%. Maruti Suzuki India and Eicher Motors rose during the first hour of trade and were up nearly 2% each. Fast-moving consumer goods stocks, Nestle India and Hindustan Unilever, were up nearly 3% and over 1%, respectively. Banking stocks such as State Bank of India and Axis Bank were up around 1% each.

Information technology stocks such as Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro were down around 1-2%. Shares of these companies fell after domestic and global brokerages said that tier-1 companies are likely to report muted financial results due to seasonal furloughs, little increase in discretionary spending, and a slow demand environment for IT services. Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corp. were down nearly 2%. 

Solar Industries was the top gainer in the Nifty 200 index, up over 4%. Netweb Technologies rose nearly 11% to be the top gainer in the Nifty 500 index. Premier Energies was the worst hit in the Nifty 200, down over 5%. Shares of Dhanlaxmi Bank hit a one-month high of INR 26.95 after the bank reported nearly 24% on-year rise in its gross advances to INR 140.94 billion as on Dec. 31.  (Adhithya Aji)

Equity Alert: RIL rises to new high; Jefferies sees co's crude oil cost down

MUMBAI--1200 IST--Shares of Reliance Industries rose over 1% Monday to hit an all-time high of INR 1,611.80 on the NSE. Stocks of the company have risen for four consecutive sessions, advancing as much as 4.6% during this period. Global brokerage Jefferies is positive on oil companies such as Reliance Industries and Oil and Natural Gas Corp. following US intervention in Venezuela. The brokerage sees the company sourcing crude oil at a discount of $5–$8 per barrel to Brent Crude oil, according to a CNBC TV-18 post on X. The March future contract of Brent Crude oil traded 0.6% lower at $60.38 on the Intercontinental Exchange.

At 1143 IST, shares of the Nifty 50 heavyweight were off their intraday highs, but still traded slightly up at INR 1,594.80. Its stocks have risen over 3% in the last seven days and nearly 4% in the last 30 days. Around 3.50 million shares of the company have exchanged hands so far on the NSE, up 66% from the number of shares traded till the same time Friday. Jefferies sees a potential US takeover could lift sanctions on Venezuelan crude exports and allow Reliance to purchase the commodity at cheaper rates, which may boost its gross refining margin.  

All the 15 brokerage reports available with Informist on the stock have a 'buy' call with an average target price of INR 1,684, indicating an upside of 5.6% from its current target price. (Eshitva Prakash)

Equity Alert: ONGC gives up early gains; more oil supply to pressure prices

MUMBAI--1130 IST--Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corp. shed their earlier gains after hitting a one-month high at INR 246.80. The stock was up in early trade following the report by Financial Express that the US has captured Venezuela's oil assets which may help unlock $1 billion in long-pending dues for India's state-run hydrocarbon explorer's subsidiary, ONGC Videsh. On the flip side, broking firm Jefferies said in its note that a medium-term risk for ONGC would be a revived Venezuelan output, which could pressure global crude prices, CNBC-TV 18 said quoting the brokerage.

"A US takeover of Venezuela's oil industry could mean the lifting of sanctions on Venezuelan crude sales, although US President Donald Trump has reiterated that the sanctions remain on Venezuela's oil industry for now," CNBC-TV 18 reported. If sanctions are lifted and more supply comes into the market, there would be more supply pressure on prices, according to the news report.

At 1118 IST, shares of the company traded nearly 2% lower at INR 237.46 on the National Stock Exchange. So far, 14 million shares of the company have changed hands on the NSE, higher than over 2 million shares traded till the same time Friday. 

Of the 14 brokerage recommendations available with Informist on the company, 10 have a 'buy' recommendation with an average target price of INR 301. Two have a 'sell' recommendation and the remaining two have a 'hold' recommendation on the stock.  (Arundathi A R)

Equity Alert: Dhanlaxmi Bk shrs up; gross advances up 24% on yr as on Dec 31

MUMBAI--1120 IST--Shares of Dhanlaxmi Bank rose a little over 5% Monday to an over one-month high of INR 26.95 on the NSE after the company said its gross advances as on Dec. 31 rose nearly 24% on year. According to provisional numbers released by the bank, its gross advances stood at INR 140.94 billion as of the end of December.

At 1110 IST, the company's shares were slightly off their day's high at INR 26.20. Over q million shares of the company have changed hands on the NSE so far, up fivefold from the number of shares traded till the same time in the previous session. According to provisional numbers, the bank's total deposits grew more than 18% on year to INR 178.39 billion.

The company's gold loans were up over 50% on year at INR 53.61 billion and its current account and savings account rose over 9% on year to INR 50.18 billion.  (Eshitva Prakash)

Equity Alert: Indices open slightly higher tracking rise in Asian markets

MUMBAI--1039 IST--Benchmark indices opened a tad higher before falling slightly, weighed down by a fall in information technology stocks. Later, however, the indices gained some momentum and were largely flat. While index heavyweight ICICI Bank drove the gains in the Nifty 50, HDFC Bank weighed on it, keeping it flat.

At 1039 IST, the Nifty 50 index was at 26359.00, up 30.45 points or 0.1% and the BSE Sensex was at 85836.04 points, up 74.03 points or 0.1%. Healthy quarterly updates by most banks aided sentiment. However, uncertain global cues after US President Donald Trump Saturday said the US had captured Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, along with rising crude oil prices, limited the rise in the domestic market. 

Defence stock Bharat Electronics was the top gainer in the Nifty 50, up nearly 3%, followed by Tata Steel, which rose over 1%. Oil and Natural Gas Corp. of India was higher at open, but came off highs later. The company is set to benefit from the US strikes on oil-rich Venezuela, as it might help unlock $1 billion in long-pending dues for the company's subsidiary, ONGC Videsh from the country, Financial Express reported. The stock is down over 1%. Information technology companies HCL Technologies, Infosys, and Wipro were the worst hit in the Nifty 50, down around 3% each. 

FSN E-commerce Ventures rose nearly 2% after the company said its consolidated net revenue growth for the December quarter was expected to be at the upper end of mid-twenties. This reflects a slight acceleration from the mid-twenties growth maintained over the past several quarters, the company said. 

Defence stocks such as BEML, Bharat Dynamics, Hindustan Aeronautics, Cochin Shipyard, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers were up 1-3%. Among sectoral indices, the Nifty IT was the worst hit, down over 2%, with most of its constituents trading in the red. Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank were up 2-3%.                 

India is one of the most expensive equity markets globally, trading at over 20 times the forward price-to-earnings compared with an average valuation of 15.1 times across key global markets tracked by Bernstein, said Venugopal Garre, director of research for India, Bernstein Research. The global brokerage has downgraded its stance on Indian equities to 'neutral', CNBC TV-18 reported.  

Premier Energies was the worst hit among the Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 constituents, down nearly 7%. Reliance Infrastructure hit the 5% lower circuit at INR 156.32.  (Adhithya Aji)   

Equity Alert: IT cos fall; brokerages see tier-1 cos Dec performance muted

MUMBAI--1033 IST--Shares of information technology companies fell in early trade Wednesday. Domestic and global brokerages expect tier-1 companies to report muted financial results due to seasonal furloughs, little increase in discretionary spending, and a slow demand environment for IT services. Global brokerage CLSA has downgraded HCL Technologies to 'hold' from 'outperform' and cut Tech Mahindra to 'Outperform' from 'High Conviction Outperform', according to a CNBC-TV 18 report. Brokerages expect banking, financial services, and insurance vertical to perform relatively better than other verticals and for tier-2 companies to continue outperforming their tier-1 peers. Brokerages have also said that cost-takeout deals made up the bulk of incremental wins for IT companies in the December quarter. At 1031 IST, the Nifty IT index was almost 2% lower at 37705.85 points. Shares of Wipro, HCL Technologies, Infosys were trading 2–3% lower on the NSE. 

Brokerage CLSA has turned cautious on the Indian IT sector, recommending that investors reduce positions after the recent rally, as December quarter earnings are expected to remain largely soft, according to a CNBC-TV18 report. The brokerage removed Tech Mahindra from its 'focus list', citing concerns that the company's revenue growth recovery over the past 18 months has not been in line with its own expectations or broader Street estimates, the report said. In terms of stock preferences, CLSA continues to favour Persistent Systems and Coforge among mid-cap IT stocks, while Infosys and Tech Mahindra remain its preferred picks in the large-cap space. The brokerage expects Persistent Systems to remain relatively insulated from macro headwinds, supported by strong capabilities and consistent execution.

JM Financial Institutional Securities has lowered its 2025-26(Apr-Mar) to FY28 earnings per share estimate by 0.2% on average for most IT companies under its coverage to factor in slower demand recovery going forward, it said in a report. The brokerage expects the impact due to furloughs on IT companies to be similar to that in the year-ago quarter and expects no change in demand compared to the start of the December quarter. It also sees "no pick-up" in discretionary spending for information technology services, the report said. JM Financial expects the banking, financial services, and insurance vertical to remain relatively better as compared to other verticals, and for the automobile vertical to continue being under pressure in the December quarter. Rupee depreciation will likely aid margins, but will be partly offset by lower growth in a seasonally soft quarter and due to wage hikes, the brokerage said.

It expects the December quarter IT services revenue growth in constant currency terms to range from a fall of 2.6% to a rise of 5% on year for the top six companies. The brokerage is concerned about the increased competition in a tough demand environment, higher productivity demand in existing work due to artificial intelligence, and global capability centres, which are doing relatively better than IT services. The brokerage prefers Infosys in the top 6 companies and Mphasis among tier-2 companies. It expects a constant currency revenue growth of 3.3% to 19% on year for these companies, led by Persistent.

Nuvama is positive on the IT sector from a medium to long-term perspective and expects the trend of tier-2 companies outpacing tier-1 companies to continue. Engineering research and development companies such as L&T Technology Services and Cyient are likely to post stable growth, the brokerage said in a report. Among small cap companies, Firstsource is likely to lead the pack, it said. The brokerage expects limited currency tailwinds in the December quarter. It continues to expect a recovery in discretionary spending in 2026, as enterprises look to restart spending on modernising legacy IT systems, according to the report. The brokerae was positive on Tier-2 companies like LTIMindtree, Coforge, Persistent, Mphasis, and Hexaware and select Tier-1 companies such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services. "While macro and tariff-related uncertainty is likely to persist, we envisage little impact from the H1B visa changes," Nuvama added. 

Most information technology companies are expected to report a moderate growth in their revenue sequentially in the December quarter, while year-on-year revenue growth will likely improve, Emkay Global Financial Services said in a report. Seasonal furloughs and fewer working days compared with the September quarter will likely keep revenue growth muted for these companies in Oct-Dec, while continued demand in the BFSI vertical, fewer deferrals, steady deal momentum, and revenue conversion, are likely to push on-year revenue growth higher for these companies.  (Eshitva Prakash)

Equity Alert: Indices seen higher on positive cues from Asian markets

MUMBAI--0840 IST--Benchmark equity indices are likely to extend gains Monday, mirroring a rise in Asian indices. All indices in Asia were sharply up in early trade Monday after US President Donald Trump Saturday said the US had captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Rising geopolitical tensions between the US and Venezuela led to an uptick in global crude oil prices.

The GIFT Nifty indicates a sharp rise in the Nifty 50 Monday as the indicator is over 200 points higher than the Nifty 50's previous close. At 0823 IST, the GIFT Nifty's January contract was at 26551.50 points, up 18.50 points from its last close. Analysts expect the Nifty 50 to test fresh lifetime highs in the near term as the trend remains positive. 

On Friday, the 50-stock index ended at a record closing high of 26328.55 points, up 0.7%. The index is seen rising towards 26500-26600 points as long as it is above 26100-26000 points on a closing basis, Vipin Kumaar, derivatives and technical analyst at Globe Capital Market said. 

On the global front, Venezuela accused the US of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states and Maduro had termed the attacks an attempt by the US to take his country's oil and minerals. Following this, global crude oil prices rose slightly.

Shares of oil companies will be in focus after an uptick in global crude oil prices. At 0823 IST, the March contract of Brent Crude Oil traded marginally higher at $60.84 per barrel on the Intercontinental Exchange.  (Arundathi A R)

Equity Alert: Indices in Asia higher; KOSPI, TOPIX touch all-time high

MUMBAI--0823 IST--Indices in Asia were higher on Monday, with South Korea's KOSPI reaching an all-time high of 4424.26 points. Japan's Nikkei 225 traded higher for its first trading session in 2026, snapping the two-day losses it saw for the last trading sessions in 2025 and the TOPIX First Section index touched an all-time high as well. Investors in the region are analysing the consequences of the US' attack on Venezuela. 

The indices in the region traded on a stronger note after the US said it had attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro, a report from CNBC said. President Maduro along with his wife were flown to New York and charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy along with other crimes. Prices of Brent Crude fell more than 1%, the report said. The founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Venezuela, holds the biggest proven crude oil reserves in the world. The country holds 303 billion barrels, or around 17% of the total crude oil reserves around the world, according to US Energy Information Administration, CNBC said.   

Japan's Nikkei gained for its first trading session of the year along with the Topix that reached an all-time high of 3486 points. Gains in the country's indices were helped by stocks of defence companies, CNBC said. Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries traded over 6% and over 8% higher, respectively. Shares of South Korea's defence companies also gained, the report said. Shares of Hanwha Aerospace Co. and Poongsan Corp. were up over 4% and nearly 1%, respectively. 

Following were the levels of key Asian indices at 0820 IST: 

(Akshat Saksena)

Equity Alert: S&P 500, Dow Jones end higher Friday, snap 4-day losing streak

MUMBAI--0743 IST--The S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher on Friday, snapping a four-day losing streak, while the NASDAQ Composite fell for the fifth consecutive session. 

Chip stocks were the highest gainers, with the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index gaining 4%, according to a report by Reuters. The S&P 500 Utilities and the S&P 500 Industrials gained over 1% and nearly 2%, respectively. Gains in construction and mining company Caterpillar and Boeing Co., up 4.5% and 4.9%, respectively, helped lift the Dow Jones Industrial index, the report said. Losses in shares of heavyweight companies Apple and Microsoft kept the gains in check for the S&P 500 index. 

The NASDAQ and S&P 500 indices were under pressure due to losses in consumer discretionary stocks such as Amazon, Reuters said. Shares of Tesla fell 2.6% after the company reported lower annual sales for the year. The company ceded its position as the top electric vehicle maker to China's BYD, with the latter outselling the former for the first time. Tesla delivered sales of 1.64 million units in 2025, against 1.79 million units recorded in 2024, slightly lower than the 1.65 million sales estimated for 2025 by analysts polled by Visible Alpha, Reuters reported. 

The market is seeing a period in which investors are profiting from short-term market volatility by timing their exit and entry points through a "buy the dip, sell the rip," trading mentality, Joe Mazzola, head of trading & derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab, told Reuters. For the year ahead, markets are expected to focus on the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy as Chairman Jerome Powell's tenure comes to an end. Investors are pricing in further rate reductions due to recent economic data and as the next Federal Reserve chairman is expected to be more 'dovish' than Powell, according to a report by Reuters. Labour market data would be a key highlight in January, the report added. 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Friday:

(Akshat Saksena)

US$1 = INR 90.29

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

Edited by Avishek Dutta

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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