Closing Bell: Sensex up 102 pts, Nifty above 24,750; FMCG, media gain, realty drags

Indian benchmark indices ended higher in the volatile session on August 21. At close, the Sensex was up 102.44 points or 0.13 percent at 80,905.30, and the Nifty was up 71.37 points or 0.29 percent at 24,770.20.

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.

The markets edged higher, gaining nearly half a percent, continuing the ongoing trend. Following a flat start, the Nifty traded within a narrow range but saw selective buying in the final hour, pushing the index to close near the day’s high at 24,770. The sectoral trend remained mixed, with FMCG, pharma, and metal sectors posting decent gains, while profit-taking in banking and financial majors limited the upside. Meanwhile, buoyancy in the small-cap space contributed to positive market breadth, settling on the advancing side.

Rotational buying in heavyweights across sectors is aiding the index's gradual climb, though inconsistency in the banking majors is keeping participants cautious. On the index front, Nifty may pause around 24,850 before moving towards the 25,000+ level. In the event of a dip, we expect the index to find support in the 24,450-24,600 zone. In addition to domestic factors, we recommend closely monitoring the US markets for further cues.

Nifty opened on a flat note and consolidated during most part of the day. A late surge helped the Nifty to close with gains of ~71 points. On the daily charts we can observe that the Nifty is heading towards 24830 – 24900 zone. Sector rotation is helping the Nifty to stay at elevated levels.

A negative divergence is developing on the momentum indicator, so the upmove is likely to be slow and might encounter intraday pullbacks. In terms of levels, 24550 – 24500 shall act as a crucial support zone and on the upside 24900 – 24960 shall act as an immediate hurdle from short term perspective.

The Bank Nifty witnessed an intraday dip towards the crucial support zone 50350 - 50300 and witnessed buying interest. So, until this zone is not breached we can expect a rally in the Bank Nifty which could take it to levels of 51000 – 51500 from short term perspective. A stoploss of 50300 should be maintained for the long positions.

The Indian market traded on a tight range with a positive bias supported by strong DII flows. While defensive sector outperformed due to a continued shift in portfolio towards FMCG, consumer, commodities, and pharma.

Global markets exhibited a mildly cautious tone ahead of the release of the FOMC minutes later today. Currently, the expectation of a rate cut remains high, given the fall in US inflation and moderation in overall growth.

The upside momentum with range bound action continued in the market on Wednesday and Nifty closed the day higher by 71 points. After opening with a positive note, the market shifted into a range-bound action for better part of the session. Fresh intraday upmove has emerged towards the end and Nifty closed near the highs.

A reasonable positive candle was formed on the daily chart that has surpassed the previous down gap hurdle of 5th August around 24700 levels. Another hurdle of daily 10- and 20-day EMA has also been taken out on the upside.

The short term trend of Nifty continues to be positive with range bound action. The market is now set to challenge another opening down gap resistance of 2nd August around 24960. Hence, one may expect Nifty to move towards 24960 and 25100 levels in the next one week. Immediate support is placed at 24650 levels.

After a knee-jerk reaction in the opening trade, the Index gradually compounded its gains to end the trade at 24,770.20 with gains of 71.35 points. Defensive FMCG was the top gainer by soaring over 1.30% followed by Media (+1.20%) and Pharma (+0.91%); and on the flip side, Realty (1.31%) was the major loser.

Midcaps performed in line with the frontline index from the broader markets while smallcaps outperformed with gains of 1.20%.

For the Index, the view remains the same i.e. heading towards 24,870 (range breakout target) while the support level shifted higher to 24,640.

Indian rupee ended 14 paise lower at 83.93 per dollar on Wednesday versus Tuesday's close of 83.79.

Indian benchmark indices ended higher in the volatile session on August 21.

At close, the Sensex was up 102.44 points or 0.13 percent at 80,905.30, and the Nifty was up 71.37 points or 0.29 percent at 24,770.20.

Top Nifty gainers were Divis Labs, Titan Company, SBI Life Insurance, Cipla and Grasim Industries, while losers were Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, Power Grid Corp and HDFC Bank.

On the sectoral front, the Realty index shed 1.3 percent, bank index down 0.2 percent, while FMCG, pharma, metal, telecom and media up 0.5-1 percent.

The BSE midcap index rose 0.4 percent while the smallcap index added nearly 1 percent.

AT Railway Sub Systems, wholly owned subsidiary of Sidwal Refrigeration Industries, [the wholly owned material

subsidiary of Amber Enterprises i.e. Amber Enterprises India alongwith Yujin Machinery ., a South Korea Based Company has incorporated a Joint Venture Company in India, on 20th August 2024, namely “Yujin Machinery India Private Limited”, to carry on the business of manufacturing of all types of Driving Gears, Couplers, Pantograph and Brakes for various rolling stocks,

including all types of wagons, trams, Vande Bharat trains, Indian Railways products, high speed and metro trains, regional rapid transit systems, etc, in India or such other places agreed between the Joint Venture Partners.

Indian Rupee declined today on recovery in US Dollar index and US treasury yields. FII outflows also weighed on the Rupee. However, weak crude oil prices cushioned the downside. US Dollar declined to a fresh seven-month low on Tuesday amid rising odds of a rate cut by the Fed in September.

We expect Rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on recovery in the US Dollar and geopolitical tension in the Middle East. FII outflows may further pressurise the Rupee. However, mixed to positive domestic equities and rise in risk appetite in global markets may support the Rupee at lower levels.

Investors may remain cautious ahead of PMI data from US and Fed Chair Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole Symposium over the weekend for any cues on rate cuts by the central bank. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 83.70 to Rs 84.20.

Central Bank of India has been declared as Successful Bidder by Committee of Creditors (CoC) for the sale of Category 1 assets of Future Enterprises (FEL) (i.e. stake held by FEL in Future Generali India Life Insurance Company and Future Generali India Insurance Company )

The board of directors of ONGC at its meeting held on 21.08.2024, has, considered and approved payment of balance call money of Rs 86.281 crore (at Rs 0.25/ per warrant) with respect to share warrants subscribed by the company and conversion of said warrants into equity shares; and buy-back of Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) issued of Rs 7,778 crore in 3 tranches by OPaL from Financial Institutions/ Banks/ Mutual Funds and other holders on or before put/ call/ buy option dates

of respective tranche(s) and conversion of said CCDs into equity shares.

The company holds equity stake of 49.36% in the share capital of OPaL.

In addition, conversion of “warrants into equity shares” would enhance equity stake to 81.28% and subsequent

“conversion of CCDs into equity shares” would further enhance the equity stake to 92.27% in diluted share

capital of OPaL.

Raymond has demerged its lifestyle division into Raymond Lifestyle in Q1 of the current financial year, with plans to list the new entity within the next 2-3 weeks. Amit Agarwal, Group CFO of Raymond in a CNBC TV interview, highlighted that the demerger will result in a net debt-free lifestyle business, positioning it as an attractive pure-play entity. Agarwal also noted that the first quarter's subdued performance was due to seasonal factors, such as fewer weddings, extreme weather, and the impact of general elections.

The USFDA issued a warning letter to Aurobindo Pharma's Eugia Unit-3 in Hyderabad following a January 2024 inspection that identified nine violations, including incomplete lab records, inadequate batch documentation, and poor microbiological controls. This plant, the largest of five Eugia units, contributes 30% of Eugia's revenue and 5% of Aurobindo's total revenue, with the highest number of injectable filings in the US originating from this site, CNBC TV reported.

Increase FY26E P/E multiple to 25.0x (earlier 24.0x), on the back of a) higher capacity addition from acquired entities, b) increased capacity utilization, c) robust demand, and d) stronger growth opportunities

Increase FY26E EPS to Rs 62.1 (earlier: Rs 57.5) on the back of strong volume in coming quarters

Raise target price to Rs 1,552 (earlier: Rs 1,379) and retain 'buy' rating

#1 Channel checks indicate strong demand

#2 DMart store visits indicate strong footfall and sales growth

Engineers India, Bharat Bijlee, Emami Paper Mills, Gateway Distriparks, Hindustan Aeronautics, India Glycols, ISGEC Heavy Engineering, ITD Cementation, KPI Green Energy, Linc, Credo Brands Marketing, Pfizer, Rajapalayam Mills, Satia Industries, Snowman Logistics, Sumedha Fiscal Services, Symphony, Uniparts India, Vidhi Specialty Food Ingredients

The Bombay High Court has quashed and set aside the show-cause notice issued by the GST authorities. The company had filed a Writ Petition in the Bombay High Court against the show-cause notice issued by the Principal Commissioner of GST and Service Tax, Mumbai, regarding a service tax demand of Rs 2,237 crore on an erstwhile subsidiary for tax already paid by the company with respect to certain transactions undertaken post-demerger.

Subsidiary Reliance Jio added 19.11 lakh subscribers in June, compared to the addition of 21.95 lakh subscribers in May. Its market share was 40.71% in terms of wireless subscribers as of June 2024.

An incident of a landslide occurred at NHPC's 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station (Sikkim), affecting the TRT (tail race tunnel) gate hoist structure and part of the GIS building. The power station is currently not operational and is undergoing restoration works after the flash flood of October 2023.

The company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with LTL Holdings (LTL) of Sri Lanka for the supply of LNG to LTL’s dual-fuelled power plant(s) in Kerawalapitiya, Colombo. The proposed supply of LNG from Petronet's Kochi LNG terminal would be through LNG ISO tank containers involving a multi-modal transport system. The initial term of LNG supply would be five years, extendable subject to mutual agreement.

Ola's scooters S1 X 3 kWh and S1 X 4 kWh have received Certification for Compliance with the eligibility assessment requirements as per the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the automobile and auto components industry. Both the S1 X 3 kWh and S1 X 4 kWh scooters have successfully met the stringent minimum localization criteria of 50%, as mandated by the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

Exide Industries has further invested Rs 75 crore in its subsidiary Exide Energy Solutions on a rights basis. With this investment, the total investment made by the company in the subsidiary stands at Rs 2,652.24 crore. There is no change in the shareholding percentage of the company in the subsidiary following this acquisition.

The company has received an intimation of termination of contract from Jharkhand Urja Sancharan Nigam (JUSNL project) concerning the supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of 132/33 kV GIS at Sarath, Sundernagar, and Chattarpur. There is no material impact on the financials, operations, or other activities of the company.

The third-largest telecom operator lost 8.60 lakh subscribers in June 2024, compared to a loss of 9.24 lakh users in May. Its market share was 18.56% in terms of wireless subscribers as of June 2024.

Office of the Assistant Commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax and Central Excise, Bidhannagar Division, Kolkata North Commissionerate paased an order levying penalty of Rs 5,76,295 on Bharti Airtel.

Packaging solutions provider Manjushree Technopack is planning to raise Rs 3,000 crore via initial public offering as it has filed draft red herring prospectus with the capital markets regulator on August 20.

The IPO is a combination of fresh issuance of Rs 750 crore worth equity shares, and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of equity shares worth Rs 2,250 crore by promoter.

Promoter AI Lenarco Midco holds 97.54 percent shareholding in the company.

#1 Divesting stake in Cyient DLM; proceeds to be used for M&A & debt repayment

#2 Company intends to utilise for investments in the semiconductor business

#3 Company’s DET business has USD 47 m debt as of Jun’24, we believe it can be partly repaid using sale proceeds

#4 Vertical where we believe there could be potential M&A is auto

Promoters GE Grid Alliance BV and Grid Equipments are reviewing their shareholding structure in the company to simplify it. In this regard, they will evaluate the possibility of a minority stake sale in the company.

Shares of Patanjali Foods gained over 3 percent to hit a fresh record high on August 21. There is interest in the stock as Systematix has initiated coverage on it with a 'Buy' rating and a target price of Rs 2,259, implying a potential upside of 24 percent from the previous closing price. In its coverage initiation, the brokerage highlighted Patanjali Foods' aggressive palm oil plantation strategy within its edible oils business. READ MORE

Shares of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders staged a sharp rebound on August 21, recovering from the beating it took in the past three sessions. The stock tanked over 14 percent in the last three sessions but managed to stage a comeback today, surging over 8 percent to day's high of Rs 4,560. However, the stock soon came off its day's high and at 10.40 am it was trading 3 percent higher at Rs 4,432.40 on the NSE. READ MORE

Shares of Varun Beverages (VBL), the franchise partner of PepsiCo, gained over 2 percent on August 21 as the Bank of America Securities (BofA Sec) issued a "Buy" call on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,840 per share. The international brokerage highlighted that despite a recent pullback in share price, the company's business fundamentals remain robust, presenting an enhanced buying opportunity. READ MORE

Broach Lifecare Hospital Ltd's shares made a positive debut on the BSE SME on August 21, listing at a premium of 90 percent at Rs 47.5 as compared to the issue price of Rs 25. The Rs 4.02-crore IPO was entirely a fresh issue of 16.08 lakh shares priced at Rs 25 per share. Bidding for the shares commenced on August 13 and concluded on August 16. The allotment was finalised on August 19. READ MORE

Solve Plastic Products Ltd made a decent debut on the NSE SME platform, with shares of the PVC pipe manufacturer listing at Rs 102, reflecting a 12 percent premium compared to the issue price of Rs 91. The Rs 11.85-crore IPO consisted entirely of a fresh issue of 13.02 lakh shares, with the shares priced at Rs 91 each. READ MORE

The power station is currently non-operational and undergoing restoration following the October 2023 flash flood.