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BAROMETERS TURN RANGEBOUND, BAJAJ TWINS SLIDE

Published on Oct 18, 2023 13:34

The headline equity indices traded in a narrow range with modest losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered near the 19,700 level. Pharma, healthcare and media stocks advanced while banking, financial services and consumer durables shares declined.

At 13:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 436.33 points or 0.66% to 65,991.76. The Nifty 50 index lost 109.20 points or 0.55% to 19,702.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.78% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.39%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,363 shares rose and 2,259 shares fell. A total of 154 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Cipla (up 3.52%), Dr Reddy`s Laboratories (up 2.13%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.58%), Tata Motors (up 0.78%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.63%) were major Nifty gainers.

Bajaj Finance (down 2.06%), Bajaj Finserv (down 1.97%), LTIMindtree (down 1.97%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.45%) and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (down 1.29%) were major Nifty losers.

Bajaj Finance slipped 2.06%. The non-banking financial company reported 27.7% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,550.80 crore on a 34.16% increase in total income to Rs 13,381.75 crore in Q2 FY24 as compared with Q2 FY23.

Meanwhile, the company has entered into a binding term sheet with Pennant Technologies, a technology product company, for acquisition of up to 26% equity stake on a fully diluted basis for an aggregate amount of approximately Rs 267.50 crore. The transaction is expected to be completed on or before 30 December 2023, subject to satisfaction of the conditions to be set out in the definitive agreements to be entered.

Stocks in Spotlight:

L&T Technology Service dropped 4.83%. The company`s consolidated net profit rose marginally to Rs 315.4 crore in Q2 FY24 as against Rs 311.1 crore recorded in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations grew by 3.7% quarter on quarter (QoQ) to Rs 2,386.5 crore in Q2 FY24.

Titan Company shed 0.64%. The Tata Group company on Tuesday announced that its board has approved a proposal to raise upto Rs 2,500 crore via unsecured non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company declined 2.62 %. The life insurer`s net profit jumped 22.4% to Rs 244.25 crore in Q2 FY24 as against Rs 199.48 crore posted in Q2 FY23. Total income dropped 22.3% year on year to Rs 17,952.98 in the quarter ended 30 September 2023.

Global Markets:

Markets in Europe declined across the board while Asian stocks traded mixed on Wednesday as a blast at a Gaza hospital dealt a blow to hopes for containing the crisis.

Economic data from China showed stronger-than-expected growth. China posted 4.9% growth in the July to September quarter from a year earlier, according to a release from China`s National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. However, this figure was lower than the 6.3% year-on-year expansion seen in the second quarter.

US stocks closed near the flat line on Tuesday as investors analyzed the latest bond yield moves and the corporate earnings season gained steam.

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