Closing Bell: Nifty above 23,300, Sensex gains 319 pts; PSU bank, power, metals rally

Indian equity indices ended higher on third straight session on January 16 with Nifty above 23,300. At close, the Sensex was up 318.74 points or 0.42 percent at 77,042.82, and the Nifty was up 98.60 points or 0.42 percent at 23,311.80.

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.

Benchmark indices continued to trade in the positive, albeit off highs, driven by positive investor sentiment following mild US inflation data, which raised hopes for a potential rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Additionally, favourable developments in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and a reduced trade deficit further boosted the market's upward movement.

However, weak economic growth data from the UK dampened some of this optimism. Despite higher valuations compared to leading indices, the broader market saw bargain buying during the recent correction.

Markets traded within a range on the weekly expiry day and closed slightly positive, marking the third consecutive day of consolidation. The session began with an upside gap, followed by a range-bound movement, ending at 23,311.80 level. Sectoral performance remained mixed, with metals and energy showing a decent recovery, while FMCG and pharma sectors closed lower. Broader indices outperformed, registering gains between 1.1% and 1.8%.

Markets will react to the earnings reports of major index constituents such as Reliance, Infosys, and Axis Bank in early trades. While recent index movements have lacked clear direction, the resilience of the banking sector, which carries significant weight, is a positive sign. Amid these mixed signals, participants should prioritize selective stock picking and robust risk management strategies.

Nifty opened gap up and again consolidated during the day to close in the green up ~99 points. The Nifty has been in a counter trend pullback mode after a sharp decline. The range of the previous three trading sessions has broken out on the upside indicating that the bounce is likely to continue towards 23500 – 25630.

Hourly momentum indicator has a positive crossover which is a buy signal and suggests that the counter trend pullback can continue. On the downside the crucial support zone stands at 23160 – 23140.

Despite a strong opening, the Index struggled to build on the initial momentum and remained rangebound, ultimately settling the trade at 23,311.80 with modest gains of 98.60 points. In terms of sector performance, PSU Banking led with gains of over 2%, followed by the Metal and Energy sectors, while FMCG and IT were the laggards.

The broader market also saw rangebound action, but Mid and Smallcaps managed to outperform the Frontline Index.

The Index is currently facing significant resistance at the 23,360 level. A decisive move above this level is crucial for sustaining the positive momentum; otherwise, a retest of the 23,150 support level can be expected.

Indian rupee ended 19 paise lower at 86.55 per dollar on Thursday against Wednesday's close of 86.36.

Indian equity indices ended higher on third straight session on January 16 with Nifty above 23,300.

At close, the Sensex was up 318.74 points or 0.42 percent at 77,042.82, and the Nifty was up 98.60 points or 0.42 percent at 23,311.80. About 2669 shares advanced, 1132 shares declined, and 101 shares unchanged.

Biggest Nifty gainers included HDFC Life, Shriram Finance, SBI Life Insurance, Bharat Electronics, Adani Ports, while losers were Trent, Tata Consumer, Dr Reddy's Labs, HCL Tech, Wipro.

BSE Midcap index was up 1 percent and Smallcap indices rose 1.4 percent.

Among sectors, except Consumer Durables, IT, FMCG, pharma, all other sectoral indices ended in the green with metal, media, oil & gas, PSU bank, realty, auto up 0.5-2.5 percent.

#1 Q3 results were better than expected

#2 Despite softer premium growth, VNB was aided by better product mix

#3 Clarity on banca norms is limited and this will be key for visibility of growth & rerating

Indian Rupee depreciated on surge in US 10-year treasury yields and a rise in crude oil prices. Importer demand for Dollars also weighed on the Rupee. However, weak US Dollar and positive global equities cushioned the downside. US Dollar eased as US core CPI was lower than expectations, raising odds of two rate cuts in 2025.

We expect Rupee to remain weak on underlying strength in the US Dollar and rising crude oil prices. Importers may continue to buy Dollars which may further pressurise the Rupee. Traders may take cues from retail sales and weekly unemployment claims data from the US. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 86.35 to Rs 86.75.

#1 Q3 was a decent with marginal downward revision in FY25 guidance, which is challenging

#2 Intelliswift integration is margin dilutive & A downside risk to consensus

#3 Better-than-expected synergies would be a positive

#4 Think company has one of best ER&D capabilities in sector & reasonable relative valuations

#1 Sequential margin improvement was higher than expected in Q3

#2 Focus on new customer acquisition and deepening distribution should aid growth

#3 Margin has bottomed out as incremental mix change on low margin linked products would slow down

#4 Margin has bottomed out as sales of credit protection improve

#5 Margin would improve in a rate-cut cycle as they are negatively correlated

#1 Strong performance at both revenue and margin levels was seen in Q3 results

#2 Deal wins strong, pipeline is robust

#3 FY25 guidance tweaked to 8 percent organic growth (from 8-10 percent earlier)

#4 EBIT margin to improve gradually over FY26-27

#5 Stock currently trades at 27.8x FY27 EPS

A premium project in Central Mumbai received occupation certificate [OC] and sold 5 apartments at an average of Rs 72 crore each. The company has already received Rs 175 crore from this project. This event unlocks ~Rs 1,000 crore of collections in the next 12 months.

Against a targeted collection of Rs 3,750 crore in Q3FY25 from the legacy book, the Company saw collections in excess of Rs 3,900 crore. This strong collection traction from the legacy book builds on the Rs 5,864 crore of collections in H1FY25.

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) has signed a lease agreement with NTPC for eight BOBR rakes amounting to Rs 250 crore in the first phase. The IRFC Board had approved financing for 20 BOBR rakes procured under the General Purpose Wagon Investment Scheme (GPWIS) of Indian Railways to NTPC for up to Rs 700 crore on a finance lease basis in October 2024.

The Board has approved the appointment of Soma Sankara Prasad as (Additional) Non-Executive Independent Director of RBL Bank for a period of four years, effective January 15. Soma Sankara Prasad previously led UCO Bank as its MD & CEO.

QIB – 0.01 times

NII - 3.80 times

Retail – 5.12 times

Overall – 3.37 times

#1 Recent NPCI approval released a major regulatory overhang

#2 Company which should be able to rebuild the MTU base in the next 12-18 months

#3 Company is on the early path to profitability by FY26, with acceleration thereafter

#4 Believe company’s cash/mcap provides strong margin of safety & can be used to accelerate business

#5 Further easing of regulatory stance via potential approval for aggregator license could be positive catalyst

#1 HDB Fin’s Q3 credit cost is inching up

#2 PpOP growth for HDB Fin was in line with loan growth

#3 Believe the increase in credit costs could be probably attributed to stress in unsecured segment

#4 There is some stress in the commercial vehicle and construction equipment portfolio

#5 Credit Cost trends for players with high unsecured & CV/CE exposure has seen rising trajectory in H1

IntellectAI and Confianza announced a partnership to transform the submission and quoting process.

With this partnership, Confianza’s predictions and risk scores enhance the underwriting process within IntellectAI’s digital underwriting platform by providing carriers and MGAs with a way to assess and segment risk earlier and faster than ever.

Rajiv Kumar has resigned as Vice President - Cane of the company, effective January 15, due to personal reasons.

The company has received Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the USFDA for Dundigal Facility, Hyderabad.

The company board approved sub-division of equity shares of company's one equity share of face value of Rs 10 each into ten equity shares of face value of Re 1 each.

Also, approved raising of funds through issuance and allotment of equity shares having face value of Rs 10 for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs

49,00,00,000.

The company has announced its intent to acquire a 70 percent equity stake in Satcom Infotech, a distributor specializing in cybersecurity solutions.

The company has invested Rs 150 crore in its subsidiary, Exide Energy Solutions, via the subscription of equity share capital on a rights basis. With this investment, the total investment made by the company in Exide Energy Solutions stands at Rs 3,302.23 crore. There is no change in the shareholding percentage of the company in Exide Energy Solutions due to this acquisition.

TARO Pharmaceuticals Inc., a subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has entered into an agreement with Antibe Therapeutics Inc., Canada, pursuant to which Sun Pharma has agreed to acquire 100% stake in Antibe Therapeutics Inc.

QIB – 0.00 times

NII - 2.63 times

Retail – 3.73 times

Overall – 2.43 times

The company announced a collaboration with Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam to deploy an innovative GenAI conversational interface.

Reliance Industries, Infosys, Axis Bank, LTIMindtree, Alok Industries, Havells India, Bhansali Engineering Polymers, D B Corp, Hatsun Agro Product, Kesoram Industries, Mastek, Metro Brands, Mudra Financial Services, Plastiblends India, Shemaroo Entertainment, Spencers Retail, Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy, and Waaree Renewable Technologies will release quarterly earnings scorecard on January 16.

Following the onboarding of the Group CFO, Abhishek Kapoor has resigned as Group CFO (Additional Charge) of the company, effective January 15.

Shyamakant Giri assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer of the company, effective January 16. Srinivas Sadu will continue to serve as the Executive Chairman and support the company’s next phase of growth.

The Sensex was up 221.58 points or 0.29 percent at 76,945.66, and the Nifty was up 77.35 points or 0.33 percent at 23,290.55. About 2663 shares advanced, 647 shares declined, and 98 shares unchanged.

Gensol Engineering and Refex Green Mobility announced a strategic tie-up for the transfer of 2,997 electric four-wheelers (e4Ws).

This strategic tie-up will involve Refex eVeelz assuming Gensol’s existing loan facility amounting to nearly Rs 315 crore, streamlining operations, and enhancing the deployment of e4Ws across key markets, including Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune where Refex eVeelz currently operates.

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) has signed a lease agreement with NTPC for eight BOBR rakes amounting to Rs 250 crore in the first phase. The IRFC Board had approved financing for 20 BOBR rakes procured under the General Purpose Wagon Investment Scheme (GPWIS) of Indian Railways to NTPC for up to Rs 700 crore on a finance lease basis in October 2024.

#1 Q3 revenue & EBIT were slightly better than expected

#2 Forward looking indicators include revenue guidance (including acquisition)

#3 Revised organic guidance is also forward looking

#4 Highest ever large deal bookings, as per management, on back of a weak Q2