Indian benchmark equity indices settled lower for the third consecutive session on Monday, amid weak trends in global markets and surge in Brent crude oil prices due to geopolitical tension in the Middle East.
The BSE Sensex fell 115.81 points or 0.17 per cent to settle at 66,166.93. The NSE Nifty declined 19.30 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 19,731.75.
“Markets continued to witness range-bound trend with a negative bias amid weak Asian cues as selective profit-taking was seen in banking, realty and IT stocks, whereas buying in metal, auto and consumer durable stocks helped markets curb losses. Investors are trading cautiously in an uncertain global environment as ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict coupled with weak overseas fundamentals and persistent FII selling have dampened sentiment,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.
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“Technically, the Nifty hovered between 19700 to 19780, and has formed an inside body candle formation which is indicating incisiveness between the bulls and bears. For the bulls, 19800 would be the immediate breakout level, above the same the index could rally till 19850-19880. On the flip side, below 19700, the selling pressure is likely to accelerate and could retest the level of 19640-19620,” he added.
Top Stocks To Watch On 17 October:
HDFC Bank
The country’s largest private bank reported a standalone profit of Rs 15,976 crore for the July-September quarter, up 50.6 per cent compared to year-ago period, beating analysts’s estimates. Net interest income (NII) rose by 30.3 per cent to Rs 27,385 crore. The core net interest margin (NIM) at 3.65 per cent and the reported NIM of 3.4 per cent for the quarter.
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Gross advances and total deposits rose by around Rs 1.1 lakh crore to Rs 23.54 lakh crore and Rs 21.72 lakh crore. Gross NPA stood at 1.34 per cent and net NPA at 0.35 per cent for September quarter FY24.
Jio Financial Services
The demerged Reliance entity has reported healthy growth for the July-September quarter with profit increasing 101.3 per cent QoQ to Rs 668.18 crore. The revenue from operations rose 46.8 per cent QoQ to Rs 608.04 crore. The board of directors has appointed AR Ganesh as Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the company, with effect from October 16.
Ceat Tyres
The tyre company announced a consolidated profit of Rs 208 crore for the second quarter FY24, increasing significantly compared to Rs 7.8 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, on the back of healthy operating numbers and a fall in input costs. Revenue from operations jumped 5.5 per cent YoY to Rs 3,053.3 crore for the quarter.
SBI Cards and Payments
Amit Batra has stepped down from position of Executive Vice President and Head of Open Market and Corporate Sales of the company citing personal reasons, with effect from December 26.
JK Paper
The board has approved the acquisition of Manipal Utility Packaging Solutions for Rs 88.7 crore. The acquisition is expected to be completed within six weeks of the execution of a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with the target entity.
