Sensex Today | Share Market Live Updates: Sensex up 120pts, Nifty above 22,410; O&G surges 2%, IT, Auto, FMCG, fall

Sensex Today Live : Following in the footsteps of the JSW Group in 2019 and Pidilite in 2023, the Aditya Birla Group has made its entry into the paints industry via its flagship firm Grasim Industries with the brand Birla Opus. Notably, this marks the group’s first significant diversification effort in nearly 15 years. The group plans to invest ₹10,000 crore and anticipates increasing the industry capacity by approximately 40%. Despite the recent downturn in the stocks of major paint companies, their long-term growth trajectory justifies this rush to enter the business.

Interestingly, since March 2015, a paint stocks index has yielded a compounded annual return of 16%, outperforming the Sensex’s 11% return. This is in spite of the price-earnings ratio of paint stocks being significantly higher than that of the Sensex, indicating a higher cost. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Across sectors, the Oil & Gas index emerged as the biggest leader, gaining nearly 2%, while Media, FMCG, IT, Metal, and Auto indices were in the red. 

Sensex Today Live : In the broader market, the MidCap index was up 0.27%, while the SmallCap index was down 0.64%.

Sensex Today Live : On the Nifty 50, Eicher Motors, JSW Steel, SBI Life, Mahindra & Mahindra and Apollo Hospital Enterprises, were the top losers, while NTPC, HDFC Life, Power Grid Corp., ONGC, and BPCL, were the top gainers. 

Sensex Today Live : NTPC, Power Grid Corp., Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and ICICI bank, were the top gainers on the Sensex, while JSW Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, and Infosys, were the top losers. 

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices were trading range-bound, after having erased their early gains on Monday.

At 3 pm, Sensex was up 107.18 points, or 0.15%, at 73,913.33, and Nifty was up 74.90 points, or 0.16%, at 22,413.65.

Sensex Today Live : Despite being India’s largest public sector general insurance company, The New India Assurance Co. Ltd trails its biggest private sector counterpart, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, in market capitalization.

The most recent market capitalization figures show New India Assurance at approximately ₹43,500 crore, while ICICI Lombard is nearly double at ₹80,700 crore. Interestingly, New India Assurance holds a market share of 16%, which is twice that of ICICI Lombard’s 8%.

A detailed analysis of their financial comparisons provides insight into this discrepancy. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : On Monday, the share price of Gulf Oil Lubricants India saw a significant rise of over 7% following the initiation of coverage on the stock by ICICI Securities with a ‘Buy’ rating. The shares of Gulf Oil experienced a spike of up to 7.7%, reaching ₹1,076.90 each on the BSE.

ICICI Securities has set a target price of ₹1,250 per share for Gulf Oil Lubricants India, suggesting a potential increase of 25% from the closing price on Saturday.

Gulf Oil Lubricants India is the second-largest player in the petroleum lubricant sector, boasting an estimated market share of 7-8% in its key segments of automotive and industrial lubricants. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : The surge in power demand has positively impacted the stock performance of companies in the power sector, including power generators, distributors, and financing firms. These companies have seen their stock prices reach unprecedented levels in recent months. Notably, Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (RECL) have provided exceptional returns over the past year, more than doubling the wealth of their investors. Specifically, REC shares have seen a 300% increase, while PFC shares have risen by 245% within a year. (Read the full story here.)

Indian benchmark indices were trading range-bound, after having erased their early gains on Monday.

At 2 pm, Sensex was up 42.36 points, or 0.06%, at 73,848.51, and Nifty was up 57.10 points, or 0.08%, at 22,395.85.

Sensex Today Live : In the fiscal year 2023, India’s major ports achieved a record-breaking cargo handling of 795 million tonnes, marking a significant year-on-year growth of over 10%. This upward trend is anticipated to persist in the coming years, propelled by the expansion of global trade and a high demand for imports. Leveraging its extensive coastline of 7,500 km, India aims to capitalize on this growth by augmenting its cargo handling capacity from the existing 2,600 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 10,000 MTPA. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) and JSW Infrastructure, two leading entities in this sector, are poised to reap the benefits of this expansion. Let’s compare both companies on various parameters to see which one is better. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : This year, India’s leading IT services firm is set to experience its most sluggish growth. However, the company has ambitious plans for a rapid expansion in the coming year. Last week, K. Krithivasan, the CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the chairman of Tata Sons, convened a meeting with the top 800 executives of the company to outline a comprehensive strategy for the future, according to two executives who attended the meeting in Abu Dhabi.

During the annual strategic meeting, aptly named “Blitz”, CEO Krithivasan expressed his desire for TCS to achieve a minimum of double-digit revenue growth in the fiscal year 2024-25. This implies a growth rate exceeding 10%, which is twice the 5.2% dollar growth projected for the fiscal year 2023-24. The slowest growth rate since the company’s public listing in 2004 was 5.3%, recorded in the fiscal year ending March 2010. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices were continuing their volatile way up, after having erased their early gains on Monday.

At 1 pm, Sensex was up 47.52 points, or 0.06%, at 73,853.67, and Nifty was up 64.15 points, or 0.11%, at 22,402.90.

Sensex Today Live : Auto sales trends were maintained, with Passenger Vehicle (PV) and Two-Wheeler (2W) segments showing positive momentum.

Commercial Vehicle (CV) and tractor segment sales continued to be weak.

PV segment volumes saw a low double-digit year-on-year (yoy) improvement in February 2024.

Domestic 2W wholesale volumes witnessed more than 20% yoy growth, driven by a recovery in the rural segment.

CV segment volumes declined in the low single digits yoy.

Tractor volumes declined in the high teens.

Domestic PV industry wholesale volumes increased in the low double digits yoy, driven by steady demand trends and channel filling.

Domestic 2W wholesale segment volumes came in marginally above expectations, with growth of more than 20% yoy.

Domestic tractor industry volumes saw a high-teen decline yoy, owing to the tapering of agriculture activities.

Maruti Suzuki’s wholesales market share stood at approximately 42.8%. Tata Motors reported a 19% yoy improvement in PV volumes, whereas M&M’s volumes increased by 40% yoy in February 2024. Hyundai Motors reports 7% yoy growth, whereas Toyota witnessed strong growth of 52% yoy in February 2024.

Sensex Today Live : Global PV volume growth to moderate

Key takeaways

1) impending threat of Chinese OEM in EV and their better cost and scale advantage

2) the slowing pace of EV adoption in the past few months (although penetration continues to increase) and better growth for hybrids

3) EV price wars and profitability cause for concern for legacy OEM and would be forced to undertake sharp cost reduction & innovative ways to manufacturing

4) slowing global PV growth.

Read-through for India listed companies under our coverage

The commentary of improved outlook toward hybrids bodes well for Maruti Suzuki.

While slowing global PV growth is cause for concern for companies, such as SAMIL and Sona BLW, among our coverage universe, inorganic expansion (SAMIL) and order wins from EV (Sona BLW) should aid them in significantly outperforming the industry.

Further, as highlighted in the LACE Effect 2.0, they continue to be beneficiaries of the key megatrends for the long term.

Sensex Today Live : While most of the sectoral indices were trading in the red, and the Bank Nifty was flat, Nifty Oil & Gas was the biggest gainer, up 1.59%, followed by Pharma, which was trading up 1.26%.

In the broader market, while the MidCap index had made up some of its losses and was trading up 0.27%, the SmallCap index had extended its losses to trade down 0.69%.

Sensex Today Live : JSW Steel, SBI Life, Eicher Motors, Tata Steel, and Infosys, were the top losers on the Nifty 50. 

Sensex Today Live : NTPC, Power Grid Corp., Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and Reliance Industries were the top gainers on the Sensex, while, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, and UltraTech Cement, were the top losers. 

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices were continuing their volatile way up, after having erased early gains on Monday.

At 12 pm, Sensex was up 49.12 points, or 0.07%, at 73,855.27, and Nifty was up 64.85 points, or 0.11%, at 22,403.40.

Sensex Today Live : The Adani Group has started promoting a bond sale worth $409 million, marking its first dollar note offering since a report by Hindenburg Research last year. This move indicates a resurgence in investor trust. The group’s solar power division, Adani Green Energy Ltd., along with its affiliated companies, are proposing an 18-year note with an initial price guidance around 7.125%, as per an anonymous source who is privy to the details but wishes to remain unidentified due to the confidential nature of the information. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Sector View: Attractive

Key takeaways on deposit trends

The key takeaways on deposits:

(1) the market share split between public banks and private banks is ~60:35

(2) households dominate deposits at ~60%

(3) public banks have ~70% share of their deposits coming from households, while for private banks it is 55%

(4) there is a marginal shift in government deposits to private banks, while the share in corporate and household remains unchanged

(5) private banks have ~85% of their deposits coming from metro/urban regions, while that for public banks it is 70%

(6) the share of individual and non-individual deposits is unchanged at ~50%

Individual deposits are higher for public and non-individual share is higher for private banks

Sensex Today Live : 11 Indian benchmark indices were continuing their volatile way up, after having erased early gains on Monday.

At 11 am, Sensex was down 32.23 points, or 0.04%, at 73,773.92, and Nifty was up 43 points, or 0.01%, at 22,381.75.

Sensex Today Live : Global ratings agency Moody’s has revised its GDP growth forecast for India in 2024 to 6.8%, up from the previous estimate of 6.1%. Furthermore, the agency predicts a GDP growth rate of 6.4% for India in 2025, a slight increase from the earlier projection of 6.3%.

Moody’s stated, “As global headwinds subside, we anticipate the Indian economy to comfortably achieve a real GDP growth of 6-7%. Consequently, we project a growth rate of approximately 6.8% for the calendar year 2024, followed by 6.4% in 2025. The robust growth outcomes in 2023 can be attributed to significant government capital expenditure and strong manufacturing activity. We foresee policy consistency post the general elections and a continued emphasis on infrastructure development. Considering the robust growth dynamics and inflation exceeding the 4% target, we do not anticipate any policy easing in the near future.” In Q3FY24, India’s GDP growth surged to 8.4%.

Sensex Today Live : Under the leadership of CEO Sudhir Sitapati, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) is anticipated to outperform its peers in terms of earnings growth. The company is strategically enhancing its portfolio in India and abroad. A key part of this strategy is strengthening the financial standing of the GAUM (Godrej Africa, USA, and Middle East) segment, which contributed over 24% to GCPL’s consolidated revenue in the nine months ending December (9MFY24).

To achieve this, GCPL is restructuring its business model in Eastern Africa. It has recently declared the divestment of its stake in its wholly-owned subsidiary, Godrej East Africa Holdings Ltd, Mauritius, along with its step-down subsidiaries. This move comes in light of the negative sales growth and reduced profitability witnessed in the Eastern Africa business. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live 

– Long : Short Ratio is at 35% : 65%

– VIX at 14.99

– FIIs outlook positive for indices & FnO stocks

– Highest OI for Nifty is at 23000 CE & 22000 PE each with more than 1.45 L contracts indicating a trading range of 22000 to 23000

– Immediate support in range of 22300/200 & resistance at 22450/500

– All spot levels

View: Nifty at all time highs is on expected lines. Positional view is positive to test 23,000 as long as 22,000 holds

Actionable (Intraday): Buy on small declines towards 22300 with 22200 & TGT 22500/600 (spot levels)

Sensex Today Live : Whether it’s apples, cashews, or even weather patterns, you might soon have the opportunity to trade based on their prices on an exchange platform. Finance ministry’s recent decision to broaden the range of commodity derivatives that can be traded on national stock exchanges will soon enable this.

The finance ministry has added 13 new commodities to the list of tradable derivatives. This list includes manganese, various types of freight (road, shipping, and airways), weather, cement, bitumen, apple, cashew, garlic, skimmed milk powder, white butter, timber, bamboo, and palladium. The objective of this expansion is to offer a more diverse price risk management mechanism to Indian companies and other market participants. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices had erased early gains to slip into the red on Monday.

At 10 am, Sensex was down 7.63 points, or 0.01%, at 73,798.52, and Nifty was down 31.35 points, or 0.04%, at 22,370.

Sensex Today Live : Real estate firm Signature Global announced on Sunday that it has sold over 1,000 apartments in its luxury housing project in Gurugram, generating more than ₹3,600 crore. This success is attributed to the robust demand for residential properties, particularly in the luxury segment. In a regulatory filing, the company disclosed that it has achieved pre-launch sales exceeding ₹3,600 crore for its latest premium residential development project, ‘DE LUXE-DXP’, located in Sector 37D of Gurugram.

Sensex Today Live : The real estate developer has finalized agreements to construct a township project in North Bengaluru. The project, which spans across a 62-acre land parcel, will operate under a profit-sharing model. It is expected to provide 5.6 million square feet of saleable area and is projected to have a booking value of ₹5,000 crore. The company anticipates initiating the first phase of development on this land in the forthcoming fiscal year.

Sensex Today Live : Across sectors, Media, Consumer Durables, Metal, FMCG, Auto and IT stocks were under selling pressure. 

Sensex Today Live : The broader market was under some pressure, with the MidCap index down marginally, and the SmallCap index down 0.34%.

Sensex Today Live : JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Eicher Motors, Tata Consumer Products and Titan, were under pressure on the Nifty, while NTPC, Power Grid Corp., Bajaj Auto, Adani Ports & SEZ, and Coal India, were leading the charts. 

Sensex Today Live : NTPC, Power Grid Corp., Sun Pharma, Airtel, and Maruti Suzuki India, were leading on the Sensex, while Tata Steel, JSW Steel, HCL Tech, Titan and TCS, were under pressure. 

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices opened in the green on Monday, led by positive cues from global peers.

At opening bell, Sensex was up 153.60 points, or 0.21%, at 73,959.75 and Nifty was up 62.25 points, or 0.1%, at 22,401.

Indian benchmark indices were green at pre-open on Monday, following a rally in global markets with the Japanese Nikkei breaching the 40,000-mark for the first time.

Sensex was up 96.94 points, or 0.13%, at 73,903.09 and Nifty was up 25.10 points, or 0.11%, at 22,403.50 during pre-open.

Sensex Today Live : Market analysts have noted that the Nifty 50 index has surpassed the significant threshold of 22,200 and is on track to reach the 22,500 mark. They further added that the overall market trend is bullish and projected that this upward trend could potentially elevate the Nifty 50 index to the 22,800 level. Regarding stock recommendations for today, experts have identified four stocks — Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Data Patterns, Birlasoft, and IEX — as potential buys or sells. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Last month, the primary market saw significant activity with numerous listings in both the main board and the SME segments, keeping investors busy with subscriptions and listings. As we move into the first week of March, the market continues to buzz with new listings and IPOs open for subscription.

Currently, the IPOs of Mukka Proteins and M.V.K. Agro Food are open and will close for bidding on March 4. This week also sees several companies opening for subscription, along with a few that are set to be listed on the stock exchanges. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : The Sensex rose by 60.80 points, marking a 0.08% increase, and ended at 73,806.15. Concurrently, the Nifty 50 saw an uptick of 39.65 points or 0.18%, closing at 22,378.40.

Santosh Meena, Head of Research at Swastika Investmart Ltd, commented on the market trends. He noted that the Nifty is regaining its bullish momentum following a two-month consolidation phase. He identified 22,500 as the immediate target level, with 22,750 being the subsequent target. He also highlighted that Banknifty is gathering momentum and is poised to outperform in the future. He pointed out that 47,500 is an immediate obstacle; surpassing this could lead to a surge towards 48,000 / 48,800 levels. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : On Monday, the domestic equity indices are anticipated to start on an upbeat note, influenced by encouraging signals from global markets. Asian markets, including Japan’s Nikkei 225 which surpassed the 40,000 mark for the first time, traded in the green. Concurrently, US stock market indices reached new record highs, setting the stage for a week that includes a congressional testimony by Jerome Powell, the US Federal Reserve chair, and China’s National People’s Congress.

Globally, investors’ attention will be drawn to China’s “Two Sessions” meetings commencing today. These simultaneous annual meetings involve China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Gift Nifty futures were trading nearly 150 points ahead of Nifty’s Saturday’s special live trading session’s close of 22,378.40, indicatating a strong start for the Indian markets.

Asian share markets firmed on Monday as the Nikkei reached another new high and investors braced for a week packed with central bank events and major data that will refine market wagers for when interest rates will start falling.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index surpassed the 40,000 mark for the first time on Monday following gains on Wall Street.

The Nikkei added 0.84 percent, or 334.87 points, to 40,245.69 shortly after the opening bell, while the broader Topix index rose 0.30 percent or 8.07 points to 2,717.49.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2%, after snapping a five-week winning streak with a slight drop last week.

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were trading near flat, having made record closing highs on Friday on upbeat earnings and enthusiasm for all things AI.

Brent rose 2 cents to $83.57 a barrel, while U.S. crude edged down 5 cents to $79.92 per barrel.