Closing Bell: Nifty above 20,250, Sensex up 493 pts; FMCG, power gain, autos drag

Swapnil Shah, Director - Research, StoxBox

With exit polls of the recent state elections showing an upper hand to BJP, markets have reacted positively to the development today. If the final results of elections which are scheduled on Sunday are also on the same lines, we expect markets to further cement gains. The image of the BJP as a pro-reformist and the performance of the economy on various fronts, especially during the COVID period and gloomy global economic situation, have provided market participants confidence that a dual-aided right-wing government is beneficial in the longer term.

As we move closer to the 2024 general elections, we believe that any decisive win by the BJP in key states would send a strong message to investors betting on India’s rising growth potential and position the country on a stronger footing as compared to its peers.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities

Frenzied buying on the back of renewed optimism from the FIIs and positive European market cues lifted benchmark Nifty to a fresh record high. India remains a bright spot in an uncertain global economy as the recent data indicators such as strong GDP and manufacturing numbers along with external factors like falling US bond yields are keeping markets in good stead.

The good news is that the short-term technical outlook for Nifty continues to be in favor of the bulls, with support seen at 20089-19909 and resistance at 20500-20751.

Dhruv Mudaraddi, Research Analyst, StoxBox

The dispatches from PV OEMs in November displayed flattish growth despite the festive period owing to sustained weakness in the entry level portfolio. The utility portfolios of all OEMs showed healthy growth driven by the solidifying premiumization trend. The OEM’s had offered 25-30% higher discounts for lower end models but unexpectedly uneven monsoons deteriorated semi-urban and rural markets even further.

We expect discounts to increase in December, but will be more towards entry-level models and not on the premium ones. The EV car demand was stagnant, with Tata Motors’ EV portfolio growing by 7% YoY. PV exports saw a revival as foreign markets start looking up due to inflation around the globe cooling further. Going forward, we expect the small car portfolio to see a revival following the onset of the wedding season in December and anticipate some pre-buying from dealers due to the scheduled price hikes post January.

Shrey Jain, Founder and CEO SAS Online:

A reason to celebrate as Nifty reaches historic highs today! The Mid-Small Cap segment is also on the rise, fueled by faster-than-expected economic growth in the September quarter and increased optimism regarding the global interest rate outlook.

Nifty concluded at 20,267.90, marking a gain of 134.75 points or 0.67%, while Sensex reached 67,481.19, climbing 492.75 points or 0.74%, just 446 points away from its all-time high of 67,927.23. Although today's figures could have been higher, investors exercised caution due to the upcoming election results scheduled for Sunday.

Data signals a potential rally for Nifty, projecting an upward move to 20,600 in the coming sessions, with a robust support level at 20,150. However, there might be a pause in case of unfavorable election results. The overall trend remains positive, painting an optimistic picture for the market.

Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking:

Markets edged higher for yet another session and gained over half a percent. Among the benchmark indices, Nifty made a new record high at 20,291.55 and finally settled at 20,267.90 levels. Most sectors contributed to the move wherein FMCG, realty and metal were among the top gainers. The broader indices too continued their positive trend and settled higher in the range of 0.50%-1.05%.

The rotational buying across the key sectors is helping the index to inch higher and we are now eyeing 20,500 in Nifty ahead. Apart from the domestic factors, upbeat global cues, especially the performance of the US markets, are further adding to the positivity. We thus recommend continuing with a “buy on dips” approach with a focus on stock selection.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services:

Better-than-estimated India GDP numbers will raise the growth outlook for FY24 and provide cheer for the market to continue its upward momentum. The capex by the government and the pickup in manufacturing activity, led the capital goods and infra stocks to outperform.

The global market too rallied on hopes that the ECB has completed its rate-hiking cycle on the back of easing inflation and ahead of the FED chair speech today. Oil prices continued to move on the downside despite the OPEC+ supply cut, which will support the H2FY24 operating margins of the corporations. The auto sales numbers witnessed a festival cheer, while the premium valuation restricted the upside potential.

Rupee Close:

Indian rupee ended 11 paise higher at 83.29 per dollar versus previous close of 83.40.

Market Close: Benchmark indices ended higher for the fourth consecutive session on December 1 with Nifty above 20,250.

At close, the Sensex was up 492.75 points or 0.74 percent at 67,481.19, and the Nifty was up 134.70 points or 0.67 percent at 20,267.90. About 2041 shares advanced, 1566 shares declined, and 132 shares unchanged.

Biggest gainers on the Nifty included NTPC, ITC, L&T, Britannia Industries and Axis Bank, while losers were Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Life, Wipro, M&M and SBI Life Insurance.

Except Auto, all other sectoral indices ended in the green with Capital Goods, FMCG, Metal, Power and Realty up 1-1.5 percent each.

BSE Midcap index added 1 percent, while smallcap index up 0.5 percent.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Morgan Stanley View On Tata Chemicals:

-Equal-weight call, target Rs 1,028 per share
-Cut India soda ash prices by 4 percent
-This is fifth price cut since April, implies a cumulative price cut of $90/T since April
-Company’s India soda ash makes up 12-15 percent of total basic chemistry volumes
-India contributes 30 percent of consolidated F24 EBITDA
-See limited upside to pricing and margins in near term
-See limited upside amid well supplied markets and competition from imports
-Costs and demand greenshoots will be key to watch

Sensex Today | BSE FMCG Index gained 1.5 percent supported by S H Kelkar, Agro Tech Foods, Andrew Yule:

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Macquarie View On LTIMindtree

-Outperform call, target Rs 7,050 per share
-NDR takeaways show company expects to improve cross-selling
-NDR takeaways show increase number of services used by a client to 5-6 versus 2-3 currently
-NDR takeaways show company to grow its top-100 accounts to drive 70 percent of revenue
-Manufacturing, energy, travel & insurance segments expected to see better growth versus other segments
-M&A might be an option for the healthcare vertical as it is currently small

Sensex Today | Mohammed Imran - Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas:

We see crude oil prices falling under $70 in coming sessions as the OPEC+ conclusion lacks clarity on the quota of members oil cuts, which largely remain a voluntary discretion of members. Eight members of OPEC+ decided to announce further additional cuts totalling almost 2.2mbpd for 1Q24. However, this includes the rollover of Saudi Arabia’s current additional voluntary cut of 1mbpd, as well as Russia’s export cut of 500mbpdd.

We expect oil market balance to remain in surplus in Q12024 at the present level of productions cuts from OPEC+. On the other hand, EIA reported US production to have hit all time high of 13.24 mbpd last week. Overall demand has been weakening in Q4, while supplies are becoming plentiful from non-OPEC nations.

The economic data from US signals slowdown in coming quarters and China remain sluggish. We remain bearish on crude oil with prices testing the support of $72 and $70 in short term.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Morgan Stanley View On UltraTech Cement

-Overweight call, target Rs 9,300 per share
-Company announced acquisition of Kesoram's cement business
-Acquisition of Kesoram's cement business is incrementally positive for the industry
-UltraTech’s acquisition of Kesoram reduces the risk of excess organic supply medium-term
-The acquisition also positive for the company given its increased footprint in the South
-Acquisition should help drive economies of scale and thus potential operating synergies

TVS Motor Company November Auto Sales | Total sales up 31 percent at 3.64 lakh units versus 2.77 lakh units, YoY.

Sensex Today | Oil prices recover from slump after underwhelming OPEC+ cuts

Oil prices pared losses on Friday, after falling sharply in early trade and by over 2% on Thursday on perceptions that the voluntary oil output cuts agreed by OPEC+ producers were underwhelming.

Brent crude futures for February rose 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $80.92 a barrel by 0820 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $76.13.

OPEC+, which pumps over 40% of the world's oil, is focusing on reducing output as prices have fallen from about $98 in late September amid concerns over weaker economic growth in 2024 and expectations of a supply surplus.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and other members of OPEC+ agreed to voluntary output reduction of 900,000 bpd in addition to extending 1.3 million bpd in production cuts already in place. Delegates had earlier discussed as much as 2 million bpd in new output curbs.

Sensex Today | CEAT has informed that, due to certain exigencies the Investors/Analysts meet scheduled on Monday, December 4, 2023, at 4 P.M, stands cancelled.

Sensex Today | Market at 3 PM

The Sensex was up 481.21 points or 0.72 percent at 67,469.65, and the Nifty was up 136.10 points or 0.68 percent at 20,269.30. About 1996 shares advanced, 1208 shares declined, and 102 shares unchanged. 

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Morgan Stanley View On Hindustan Aeronautics

-Overweight call, target Rs 2,182 per share
-DAC cleared acceptance of necessity worth Rs 2.23 lakh crore with 98 percent indegenisation
-HAL products include LCA MK1A, LCH and Su-30 upgrades
-The combined HAL produces are estimated at approximately Rs 1.11 lakh crore
-Rs 1.11 lakh crore value includes 97 units of LCA MK1A 156 units of LCH (Rs 45,000 crore)
-Rs 1.11 lakh crore value includes 12 units of SU-30 MKI upgrades (Rs 11,000 crore)
-Clarity on ordering and execution time line are still to come

Sensex Today | BSE Auto index down 0.4 percent dragged by Ashok Leyland, UNO Minda, Tube Investment:

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Indian Oil set to deploy 4,000 fast EV chargers with Rs919.78 cr investment

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Sharika Enterprises gains 10% after Rs 61.4 crore order win

Shares of Sharika Enterprises jumped over 10 percent after the company said it got an order for turnkey project worth Rs 61.4 crore from J&K Power

Sensex Today | KRChoksey View on Laurus Labs

Laurus Labs is gearing up to transform itself from a pure ARV API and FDF player to more of a valued CDMO and non ARV API and FDF player. For this the company has been investing heavily over the last 3 years at an estimated cost of Rs 26.0 – Rs 27.0 billion across FDF, API and CDMO segments as also to take advantage of the favorable trend taking shape towards contract manufacturing for both bulk and finished formulations.

However, we do believe that as the CDMO custom synthesis business is undergoing R&D for several projects and has Animal Health and Crop Protection deals, which are yet to add to revenue substantially, broking house do not expect meaningful impact on profitability until after FY26E.

KRChoksey envisage an 11.6% CAGR and flat CAGR in earnings over FY23-FY26E and value the company’s shares at 26x its FY26E EPS of Rs. 15.5 and arrive at a target price of Rs 403, which is 8% above its CMP. Initiate with an ACCUMULATE rating on the shares.

Sensex Today | BSE Metal index up 1 percent supported by Vedanta, Jindal Steel, Nalco:

Stock Market LIVE Updates | UltraTech Cement to acquire cement business of Kesoram Industries on share swap basis

UltraTech Cement will acquire the cement business of Kesoram Industries on a share swap basis. Shareholders of Kesoram Industries will get one share of UltraTech Cement for every 52 shares held by them. For Kesoram Industries, the transaction will unlock the value of the cement business for the shareholders of the company and also substantially deleverage the balance sheet including reduction of debt and outflow of interest.

Sensex Today | ED's search operations for fraudulent loan is at J&K State Co-operative Bank and not J&K Bank

In a clarification note, Jammu and Kashmir Bank said the news of search conducted by the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case at six locations in Srinagar (J&K) related to fraudulent loan of more than Rs 250 crore is pertained to J&K State Cooperative Bank and is not attributable to Jammu and Kashmir Bank.

NMDC | November Production up 6.1 percent at 3.83 mt against 3.16 mt and sales were up 24.7 percent at 3.79 mt versus 3.04 mt, YoY.

Sensex Today | Amit Goel, Co-Founder & Chief Global Strategist, Pace 360:

Tata Technologies Ltd. more than doubled in its trading debut, with the surge putting the company on track to deliver the best listing gains ever for any Indian initial public offering of comparable size.
Shares gained as high as Rs 1,400 versus an offer price of Rs 500.

The engineering research unit of Tata Motors Ltd., the maker of Jaguar Land Rover cars, raised Rs 30.4 billion in an IPO that was oversubscribed 69 times. It is the first company to list from the salt-to-software Tata conglomerate since 2004.

Tata Tech is trading at a P/E multiple of 75.6x at a CMP of Rs 1,337, which appears to be comparable to its peers. We believe that these valuations are not sustainable, and we would recommend booking profits on the counter over the next couple of weeks. For long term investors we believe that there would be better entry points in the next 5-6 months when this stock could be available at cheaper valuations.

Strong optimism in the domestic market has fueled the surge in IPO listings in the last 2-3 years. A large number of IPOs have been listed at a substantial premium making IPOs an attractive method to invest in good quality companies. We see the IPO frenzy fading after a couple of months as the global economy starts slowing down in CY 2024.

Ashok Leyland November Auto Sales | Total sales were down 3% at 14,053 units versus 14,561 units, YoY.

Maruti Suzuki November Auto Sales | Total sales up 3% at 1.64 lakh units against 1.59 lakh units, YoY.

Atul Auto November Auto Sales | Total sales down 0.75% at 2,270 units against 2,253 units, YoY.

Coal India | November production up 8.8% at 66 mt and offtake up 6.2% at 63.1 mt, YoY.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | JSW Energy appoints Sharad Mahendra as Joint MD & CEO

The board of directors of JSW Energy, at its meeting held today, based on the recommendation of the Compensation & Nomination and Remuneration Committee, has approved the appointment of Mr. Sharad Mahendra as a Whole-time Director (Joint Managing Director & CEO – Designate) of the company with effect from December 1, 2023.

Eicher Motors November Auto Sales | Total CV sales up 5.9% at 5,194 units versus 4,903 units, YoY.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | PVR-Inox shares gain 2% as it opens 6-screen property at Jio World Plaza Mumbai

Shares of PVR-Inox gained 2 percent to day's high of Rs 1,755 per share on December 1 after the company opened its new 6-screen property at Jio World Plaza in Mumbai. With another Imax screen, the multiplex operator has taken the total tally of Imax screens to 4 in Mumbai and 22 in India.

In the past month, the stock of PVR-Inox has surged 8 percent as against a 6 percent rise in the benchmark Sensex.

Apart from movie offerings, PVR-Inox has also opened a bar and lounge at Mumbai's Jio World Plaza. Read More

Sensex Today | HPCL planning to kickstart operations at Chhara LNG terminal

After rising 2 percent intraday, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) shares erased the gains to trade flat on December 1.

HPCL plans to start operations at the 5 million tonne a year Chhara LNG import terminal in Gujarat in the next couple of months and has already got offers from 6-7 parties to hire capacity, a senior company official said on Thursday.

Sensex Today | BSE Midcap index gained 1 percent supported by POwer Finance, REC, NHPC: