Informist, Saturday, Jan 20, 2024

By Anshul Choudhary

MUMBAI – Benchmark indices failed to sustain opening gains, with the Nifty 50 ending the session nearly 150 points lower from the day's high it touched at today's open. Reliance Industries fell after its Oct-Dec consolidated net profit missed analysts' estimates, and Hindustan Unilever fell after its revenue declined on year, which affected sentiments in the market.

The Nifty 50 closed 50 points or 0.2% lower at 21571.80 points, managing to hold on to the support of 21550 points as cited by some analysts. The Sensex ended 260 points or 0.4% lower at 71423.65 points.

Shares of the index-heavyweight RIL ended 0.8% lower at 2,713.30 rupees. The company reported a consolidated net profit of 172.65 bln rupees for Oct-Dec, which was slightly lower than analysts' estimate of 172.72 bln rupees. Revenue from operations rose 3.5% on year to 2.28 trln rupees, which was also lower than analysts' estimate of 2.31 trln rupees. Foreign brokerage firm Citi has downgraded the RIL stock to "neutral" from "buy" but raised its share target price to 2,910 rupees from 2,600 rupees, ET Now reported. The report mentioned that the stock has been downgraded on "balanced risk/reward".

Shares of Hindustan Unilever ended 3.8% lower at 2,468.90 rupees. The losses in the stock had a wider effect on other fast-moving consumer goods companies, most of which declined. The Nifty FMCG fell 1.2% to 55976.65 points, with 11 out of 15 stocks in the sectoral index ending lower. IDBI Capital cut HUL's target price by 100 rupees to 2,700 rupees due to pressures on demand. It said that the stock may see de-rating if volume recovery remains elusive in 2024-25 (Apr-Mar). "Capturing demand pressure, we have revised our topline expectations down by 3%, which led to a 3% cut in earnings. We are now 6-7% below consensus expectations for FY25 and FY26," the brokerage said. The brokerage maintained its "add" rating on the stock.

HSBC cut Hindustan Unilever's rating to "reduce" with a share target price of 2,350 rupees, CNBC-TV18 reported. HSBC said in its report that HUL's earnings were below their expectations and outlook for the company appears uncertain and growth is lacklustre.

Shares of information technology companies fell, with Tata Consultancy Services declining 2%, and Wipro and HCLTech falling 1.5% each. IT stocks have been under selling pressure in the latter half of this week due to profit booking. These stocks had risen significantly on Monday and Tuesday after investors felt that the management's commentary post earnings of Wipro and HCLTech showed no negative developments in terms of demand, analysts had said then.

On the upside, shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank rose after the bank reported a 7.6% year-on-year rise in net profit to 30.05 bln rupees. However, the earnings came in lower than expectation. As per the average of estimates from 10 brokerage firms, the private bank's net profit was seen at 31.82 bln rupees. The bank's net interest margin in Oct-Dec was 5.22%, unchanged from a quarter ago. The net interest margins came in flat, but they were still better than projections of analysts, who had expected NIMs to decline on quarter.

Shares of Coal India were up for the second consecutive session, rising over 6% during this period to close at 398.80 rupees today. Informist had reported on Friday that the company is in talks with the coal ministry for for licensing a lithium block for exploration. The company will likely invest 2-3 bln rupees for the exploration, a senior company official told Informist.

Adani Enterprises, and Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone rose sharply in the final hour of the session and ended 3.5% and 2.5% higher, respectively. Other Adani group stocks also rose, with Adani Energy Solutions and Adani Green Energy rising 7% each.

In the broader market, mid-cap and small-cap indices fared better than large-caps. Nifty Midcap 50 was the only index in the broader market that declined. Nifty Smallcap 250 and Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.5% each. Railway stocks were the top performers in the broader indices yet again. Rail Vikas Nigam and Indian Railway Finance Corp hit their 10% upper circuit at 320.35 rupees and 176.25 rupees, respectively, which were their lifetime highs as well.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 16 rose, 32 fell, and 2 were unchanged

* Of the Sensex stocks, 6 rose, 24 fell

* On the BSE, 2,063 stocks rose, 1,748 fell, and 97 were unchanged

* Nifty FMCG: Down 1.2%; Nifty IT: Down 1%; Nifty Bank: Up 0.8%

BSE                                                NSE
Sensex: 71423.65, down 259.58 pts, or 0.4%         Nifty 50: 21571.80, Down 50.60 pts, or 0.2%

S&P BSE Sensitive Index                            Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 72720.96 (Jan 12, 2024)          :  Lifetime High: 21928.25 (Jan 12, 2024)
Record Close High: 72568.45 (Jan 12, 2024)      :  Record Close High: 21894.55 (Jan 12, 2024)

2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan 1)            :  2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan 1)
2024 Closing High: 72568.45 (Jan 12)            :  2024 Closing High: 21894.55 (Jan 12)

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

2024 High (intraday): 72720.96 (Jan 12)         :  2024 High (intraday): 21928.25 (Jan 12)

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 Tanima Banerjee

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