Informist, Thursday, Jan 11, 2024

By Anshul Choudhary

MUMBAI – Indices have largely remained unchanged in the run-up to the Oct-Dec earnings season as all positives have been priced in. Investors are now waiting for the numbers and management commentary of companies.

Today's story was no different, with the Nifty 50 closing up 28.50 points, or 0.1%, at 21647.20 points, after briefly rising above the resistance of 21700 points. So far this month, the index has faced selling pressure at higher levels due to profit booking after the sharp rally in November and December, and fallen 80 points or 0.4%.

"Markets are waiting for results," Mugilan K., technical analyst at Cholamandalam Securities, said. Another technical analyst with a top brokerage house said markets are consolidating before the earnings, with investors taking the "buy-on-dips" approach. This year, even a slight fall has led to buying interest. However, investors are cautious due to high valuations. Some analysts said the earnings must catch up with stock prices, making the Oct-Dec quarter earnings an important event.

Shares of Reliance Industries were in focus as they have risen over 5% in two sessions, hitting fresh lifetime highs. This was after a slew of announcements by the company's Chairman Mukesh Ambani at the Vibrant Gujarat Event. Ambani said the company is set to commission the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat, in the second half of this year. The project will be built over 5,000 acres. 

Mugilan sees the stock rise to around 2,900 rupees in the next 2-3 weeks or until the quarterly earnings are released. Today, the stock ended at its lifetime closing high of 2,719.8 rupees, up 2.6% from Wednesday.

Apart from RIL, rise in shares of automobile companies prevented the Nifty 50 from closing in the red, as at one point, the index had slipped into the negative territory. Shares of Hero MotoCorp ended nearly 5% higher at 4,342.20 rupees on talk around its new motorcycle. The company said on X that its new bike, based on the Harley-Davidson X440, will likely be launched on Jan 23. Shares of other two-wheeler makers also rose, with those of Bajaj Auto rising 3.5% and Eicher Motors rising 1.2%.

Shares of information technology companies ended lower ahead of Oct-Dec earnings of Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, which were announced post market hours. Shares of Infosys fell 1.7% and those of Wipro fell 1.2%. Owing to this, Nifty IT was among the worst hit sectoral indices, down 0.3% at 34735.25 points.

The consolidated net profit of TCS for the December quarter fell quarter-on-quarter to 110.58 bln rupees. The net profit was lower than the consensus estimate of 115.39 bln rupees. Infosys' consolidated net profit was also lower than expectations. Its consolidated net profit for the quarter was 61.06 bln rupees while an average of estimates by 12 brokerage houses pegged it at 61.67 bln rupees.

Polycab India hit the lower circuit three times today and finally ended 21% lower at 3,878.45 rupees. The stock tumbled after several media reports said the income tax department has detected "unaccounted cash sales" of about 10 bln rupees following a raid on the company premises.

According to a release by the government, posted on Press Information Bureau website on Wednesday, search and seizure operations were conducted on Dec 22 on more than 50 premises of a group engaged in the manufacture of wires and cables and other electrical items. According to the release, a large number of "incriminating" evidence for the modus operandi of tax evasion adopted by the group has been seized. The release did not name the company.

On Tuesday Polycab had denied rumours of tax evasion after the BSE sought clarification following news reports by several media houses.

The broader market saw a lot of action, with shares of Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals ending nearly 20% higher at 160.60 rupees and those of East Trip Planners closing 17% higher at 51.80 rupees. Omkar Patil, technical and derivatives analyst at Ashika Stock Broking, said MRPL has broken out from its 20-year high of 150 rupees, aided by good sectoral support, which has attracted new buyers.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 25 rose and 25 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 12 rose and 18 fell

* On the BSE, 2,317 stocks rose, 1,522 fell, and 98 were unchanged

* Nifty Oil & Gas: Up 1.5%; Nifty Energy: Up 1.3%; Nifty Media: Down 0.4%

BSE                                                NSE
Sensex: 71721.18, up 63.47 pts, or 0.1%            Nifty 50: 21647.20, up 28.50 pts, or 0.1%

S&P BSE Sensitive Index                            Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 72561.91 (Jan 1, 2024)           :  Lifetime High: 21834.35 (Jan 1, 2024)
Record Close High: 72410.38 (Dec 28, 2023)      :  Record Close High: 21778.70 (Dec 28, 2023)

2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan 1)            :  2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan 1)
2024 Closing High: 72271.94 (Jan 1)             :  2024 Closing High: 21741.90 (Jan 1)

2024 Closing Low: 71355.22 (Jan 8)              :  2024 Closing Low: 21448.65 (Jan 10)

2024 High (intraday): 72561.91 (Jan 1)          :  2024 High (intraday): 21834.35 (Jan 1)

2024 Low (intraday): 71110.95 (Jan 10)           : 2024 Low (intraday): 21448.65 (Jan 10)

2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan 2)            :  2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec 28)            :  2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec 28)

2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb 27)             :  2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct 17)

2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec 28)         :  2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec 28)

2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan 30)          :  2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan 17)

2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan 3)            :  2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec 1)             :  2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec 1) 
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun 17)             :  2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec 1)          :  2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec 1)

2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun 17)          :  2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct 14)            :  2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct 14) 
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan 29)             :  2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct 14)         :  2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan 29)          :  2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan 29)-

2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec 31)            :  2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar 23)             :  2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec 31)         :  2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar 24)          :  2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec 20)         :  2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb 19)          :  2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug 28))         :  2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar 23)           :  2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec 26)         :  2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec 26)

End

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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