Closing Bell: Nifty above 21,600, Sensex up 272 pts led by IT, metal, pharma

Indian benchmark indices ended on positive note for the third consecutive session on January 10. At close, the Sensex was up 271.50 points or 0.38 percent at 71,657.71, and the Nifty was up 73.90 points or 0.34 percent at 21,618.70.

We wrap up today's edition of the Moneycontrol live market blog, and will be back tomorrow morning with all the latest updates and alerts. Please visit https://www.moneycontrol.com/markets/global-indices/ for all the global market action.

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities:

Markets were extremely volatile but ended higher on selective buying in late trades as investors await the US inflation data on Thursday, which will provide some hint on Fed's interest rate decision going ahead. Helping positive sentiments were improving European stock markets in the backdrop of negative US Treasury bond yields which were seen weighing on the US Dollar. From a technical perspective, Nifty’s aggressive upside targets are still seen at the psychological 22000 mark, with confirmation of strength only above the 21836 mark.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services:

The weakness in global indices continued to weigh down the domestic indices with every up move. The market is looking for fresh triggers for a direction, and the release of US and Indian inflation data may provide a near-term direction in the market. The investor's focus will be shifted to the earnings season, on a sequential basis, the earnings growth is likely to be lower, while the expectations for auto, capital goods, and cement will remain strong.

Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking:

Markets traded volatile for yet another session and ended marginally higher amid mixed cues. After the flat start, Nifty hovered in a narrow range for most of the session however buying in select heavyweights aided recovery in the final hour. Eventually, it settled at 21618.70; up by 0.34%. Meanwhile, a mixed trend on the sectoral front kept the participants occupied wherein metal, IT and media were among the top performers. The broader indices also traded in tandem wherein midcap managed to edge higher.

We are seeing a balancing act by select heavyweights amid the mixed trend in banking and IT majors. And, indications are in the favor of prevailing consolidation to continue in the index thus participants should maintain their focus on stock selection and risk management.

Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst, LKP Securities:

The Nifty index bounced back strongly from its important support at 21,500, indicating that the bulls are quite active at this level. The Nifty closed at 21,623, near its resistance. If it manages to close above 21,700-21,750 levels, we might see the Nifty reaching 22,000.

For those looking to buy Nifty, the recommended range is between 21,550-21,600. Set a stop loss at 21,480 and aim for a target of 21,750.

The Bank Nifty index experienced a volatile trading session on the day of weekly expiry, but the bulls successfully defended the crucial support level of 47000. Despite this, the overall market sentiment remains in "sell on rise" mode. The immediate hurdle for the index is at 47500, where the highest open interest is concentrated on the call side. To initiate a short-covering move and potentially target the 48000 mark, the index needs to convincingly surpass the level of 47500 on a closing basis.

Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas:

The Nifty witnessed yet another volatile day of trade today. It witnessed wild swings in both directions however, the Bulls managed to defend support zone and the Nifty closed in the green up ~80 points. On the daily charts we can observe that the Nifty has held on to the support zone of 21500 – 21460 where support in the form a Fibonacci retracement level and the crucial 20-day moving average (21489) was placed.

Buying interest has emerged from crucial support zone and the hourly momentum indicator has triggered a positive crossover which is a buy signal. Thus, both price and momentum indicator are suggesting continuation of the positive momentum. On the upside initial hurdle is placed at 21730 – 21750 while immediate support is placed at 21520 – 21500.

Bank Nifty witnessed a gap down opening however it lacked follow through selling pressure. In fact it witnessed buying interest from the support zone 46900 – 47000 and closed in the green. We expect the Bank Nifty to continue with the positive momentum going ahead. Initial hurdle is placed at 47550 – 47680 while support zone is placed at 47100 – 47000.

Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst, LKP Securities:

Rupee experienced volatility, ranging between 83.18 (on the weaker side at the opening) and 82.95 (on the higher side after an initial dip below 83.15). The rupee gained 0.10, with buyers becoming more assertive within the range-bound movements.

The overall trend remains sideways, and rupee movements are influenced by range-bound volatility. The upcoming US CPI data, scheduled for tomorrow evening, is expected to play a crucial role in determining the trend of the US dollar, with potential effects on the rupee as well.

Aditya Gaggar Director of Progressive Shares

For most of the time, the Index remained in the range of 21,470-21,560, and in the last hour of trade, a sudden rise in heavyweight stocks helped the Index to settle the day at 21,618.70 with gains of 73.85 points.

Among the sectors, Media was the top performer of the day by ending the session with gain of 3.47% while FMCG was the major laggard. Buying traction was witnessed in the Metal and IT stocks as well.

By retesting its dual support of 21,470 as well as 21DMA, the Index has formed a piercing candlestick pattern which is bullish and indicates a resumption of the current uptrend. A zone of 21,430-21,470 will act as a strong support while the immediate resistance comes at 21,725-21,750.

Rupee Close:

Indian rupee ended higher at 83.04 per dollar versus previous close of 83.11.

Market Close: Indian benchmark indices ended on positive note for the third consecutive session on January 10.

At close, the Sensex was up 271.50 points or 0.38 percent at 71,657.71, and the Nifty was up 73.90 points or 0.34 percent at 21,618.70. About 1772 shares advanced, 1495 shares declined, and 75 shares unchanged.

Top gainers on the Nifty included Cipla, Reliance Industries, Adani Enterprises, HCL Technologies and Adani Ports, while losers were ONGC, Divis Labs, BPCL, NTPC and Power Grid Corporation.

Among sectors, Healthcare, Information Technology and Metal up 0.4 percent each, while Oil & Gas index down 0.5 percent.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended marginally higher.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | CLSA View On Tata Motors

-Buy call, target raised to Rs 955 per share
-Europe, UK and China led significant growth in volumes in Q3
-JLR volume jumped 27 percent YoY in Q3FY24
-JLR product mix improved QoQ, which should lead to higher EBIT margin
-Company raised JLR EBIT margin guidance to 8 percent from 6 percent for FY24
-Company expects EBIT margin to reach 10 percent by FY26
-JLR expects to reduce net debt to £1 billion by the end of FY24 & turn to net cash by FY25-end

Sensex Today | Sharad Chandra Shukla, Director at Mehta Equities:

The current Budget is a vote of account so expecting any major announcement ahead of the forthcoming general elections seems highly unlikely. But taxpayers expect some populist announcements like increase in the basic exemption & house rent allowance exemption under both regimes. Income Tax structure has remained more or less the same, but the number of tax return filed has gone up significantly. By exempting the lower income group from income tax will reduce the work for the govt. machinery and in turn they can focus on greater compliance in the higher income group.

Expecting income tax cuts looks difficult due to the fiscal constraints. Enhancements of limits under Section 80C and 80D is possible due to adjustment for inflation rate. Government also indicate steps being proposed to take the glide path towards 4% fiscal deficit to GDP ratio. From the equity market point of view seems that it will be a non-event.

Sensex Today | Nifty Media index up 3 percent led by Network 18 Media & Investments, TV18 Broadcast, Dish TV

Sensex Today | BSE Healthcare index up 0.4 percent led by AstraZeneca Pharma, Gujarat Themis Biosyn, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals:

HSBC View On Life Insurance

-Individual APE increased by 9 percent YoY for the industry and 11 percent YoY for private insurers
-In individual APE, SBI Life reported robust growth
-Growth recovered for ICICI Prudential but HDFC Life reported a decline
-Industry’s individual APE growth was supported by a rise in ticket size
-The number of policies declined 3.8 percent YoY

Sensex Today | Anuj Choudhary - Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas:

Indian Rupee appreciated by 0.12% on recovery in the domestic markets and a soft US Dollar. A slight decline in crude oil prices also supported Rupee. World Bank retained India’s growth rate projection for FY24 and FY25 to 6.3% and 6.4% respectively.

The US dollar gained on Tuesday on easing expectations of a rate cut by the Fed in March 2024. The odds of a rate cut in March 2024 fell to 38% from 89% last week. Asian markets closed in the Red tracking decline in European and US markets on Tuesday after the World Bank projected global growth to slow down to 2.4% in 2024 from 2.6% in 2023.

We expect the Rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on risk aversion in the global markets amid the global economic slowdown and the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea and Middle East. However, FII inflows and any weakness in the US Dollar may support the Rupee at lower levels. Investors may remain cautious ahead of inflation data from India and the US later this week. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 82.70 to Rs 83.40.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | HSBC View On UPL

-Buy call, target Rs 730 per share
-Media reports suggest company set to acquire part of Mancozeb portfolio of Corteva
-Deal terms for the acquisition of Mancozeb portfolio undisclosed
-Acquisition is small but positive development
-Acquisition will enable company to strengthen market positioning in key markets, especially LATAM
-Stock currently trades at an EV to EBITDA (FY25) of 5.5x

Sensex Today | Market at 3 PM

The Sensex was up 254.30 points or 0.36 percent at 71,640.51, and the Nifty was up 66.50 points or 0.31 percent at 21,611.30. About 1546 shares advanced, 1711 shares declined, and 77 shares unchanged.

Sensex Today | Nirmal Bank View on Jyoti CNC Automation

Jyoti CNC Automation Ltd (JCAL) is one of the leading CNC machine manufacturing companies globally as well as in India with presence across the CNC metal cutting machinery value chain with well diversified global customer base spread across end user industries and focus on technology and ability to deliver innovative solutions bolstered by dedicated R&D facilities with vertically integrated operations which enables customization and production efficiencies.

At the upper price band company is valuing at P/E of 472.9x, EV/EBITDA 75.5x with a market cap of Rs 75,274 mn post issue of equity shares and return on net worth of 18.35%. Since company is using majority of its IPO proceeds to repay its debt which is going to reduce interest cost and hence it will have positive impact of profitability going
forward.

Apart from that there is revenue visibility for company due to its order book size and company operates under niche segment and majority of the revenue is from aerospace and defense industry which is high growth sector, believe that the IPO is fairly priced and recommend a “Subscribe for Long term” rating to the IPO.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | India Railway Finance has 1.17 mln shares traded in bunch: Bloomberg

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Brahmaputra Infra gets Rs 38.75 crore river protection work order

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Rail Vikas Nigam has 1.12 mln shares traded in a bunch: Bloomberg

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Antique View On Tata Power

-Buy call, target raised to Rs 450 per share
-Believe company will outperform
-Company will outperform as coastal Gujarat Power, even under section 11, continues to break
-Coastal Gujarat Power continues to break even because its share in coal profits is adjusted
-Coal profit is adjusted against tariff
-Investors fail to appreciate the possibility of optimal mix of short-term trades
-Consolidated renewable energy business can deliver Rs 10,000 crore EBITDA by FY27
- Lowest capital outlay/MW for pumped hydro entails higher platform valuation

Morgan Stanley View On Life Insurance

-Industry individual APE rose 9 percent YoY in Dec’23 versus -4 percent in Nov’23, +6 percent in Q3FY24
-Private sector rose 11 percent versus -1 percent in Nov’23, +9 percent in Q3FY24
-SBI Life reported growth of 20 percent, versus -3 percent in Nov’23, on a strong base of +31 percent YoY in Dec’22
-HDFC Life reported a decline of 5 percent versus -4 percent in Nov’23, on a base of +23 percent YoY in Dec’22
-ICICI Prudential Life reported growth of 13 percent versus -3 percent in Nov’23, on a weak base of -8 percent in Dec’22

Stock Market LIVE Updates | NBCC bags work order worth Rs 218 crore from National Institute Of Fashion Technology

Stock Market LIVE Updates | BofA Securities View On Bharti Airtel:

-Upgrade to neutral, target raised to Rs 1,145 per share
-See a meaningful tariff hike in the next 12 months
-Estimate a 20 percent+ tariff hike in CY24
-Expect faster market share shift towards Bharti & Jio Pace as 5G rollout scales up
-Capex pick-up likely as Bharti's Capex is based on improving handset penetration
-Valuation not cheap at 9.4x FY25 proportionate EV/EBITDA

Stock Market LIVE Updates | KIOCL suspends operation of Pellet Plant Unit in Mangalore

KIOCL temporarily suspends the operation of Pellet Plant Unit in Mangalore due to non-availability of iron-ore fines. The company said it will inform the exchanges when the plant will be back in operation.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Pondy Oxides signs MoU with Tamil Nadu government

Pondy Oxides and Chemicals signed MoU with the Tamil Nadu government to invest Rs 300 crore to 500 crore to set up a recycling and manufacturing plant for non-ferrous metals, lithium-ion batteries, paper, plastics and rubber. The project expects to employ 1200 people in the state.

Sensex Today | BSE Midcap index down 0.5 percent dragged by New India Assurance Company, NMDC, Oil India:

Tanla Platforms entered into its first commercial agreement with a bank in India for Wisely ATP.