The benchmark indices ended with limited losses on Thursday, breaking a two-day gaining streak. The Nifty closed a tad below the 19,800 level after hitting the day's high of 19,843.30 in early afternoon trade. Media, oil & gas and auto stocks advanced. On the flip side, IT, realty and PSU bank shares declined. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 64.66 points or 0.10% to 66,408.39. The Nifty 50 index lost 17.35 points or 0.09% to 19,794.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.30% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.60%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,171 shares rose, and 1,497 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 3.34% to 10.62.

New Listing:

Shares of Plaza Wires were closed at Rs 80.23 on the BSE, representing a premium of 48.57% as compared with the issue price of Rs 54.

The scrip was listed at Rs 84, exhibiting a premium of 55.56% to the issue price.

So far, the stock hit a high of Rs 84 and a low of Rs 75. On the BSE, over 6.08 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter so far.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index fell 1.67% to 32,003.60. The index lost 1.74% in two trading sessions.

Tech Mahindra (down 2.53%), Infosys (down 1.92%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.87%), HCL Technologies (down 1.66%), LTIMindtree (down 1.45%), Wipro (down 0.96%), Coforge (down 0.87%), L&T Technology Services (down 0.42%) and Mphasis (down 0.25%) slipped.

Tata Consultancy Services fell 1.87%. The IT major's consolidated net profit rose 2.42% to Rs 11,342 crore in Q2 FY24 as against Rs 11,074 crore reported in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations rose marginally to Rs 59,692 crore during the quarter from Rs 59,381 crore posted in Q1 FY24. On a year on year (YoY) basis, the IT firm's net profit increased 8.73% and net sales grew by 7.92% in Q2 FY24. Constant currency revenue grew 2.8% YoY in the quarter ended 30 September 2023.

The company's order book total contract value (TCV) stood at $11.2 billion as on 30 September 2023 and the book to bill ratio was at 1.6. The board has declared a second interim dividend of Rs 9 per equity share.

Meanwhile, the IT firm said that its board has approved a share buyback of upto Rs 17,000 crore at a price of Rs 4,150 per equity share through tender offer route, on a proportionate basis.

HCL Technologies declined 1.66% while Infosys slipped 1.92%. Both these IT majors will today, 12 October 2023 announce financial results for the quarter ended 30 September 2023.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Grasim Industries gained 1.17%. A meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 16 October 2023 to consider and approve the proposal for raising of fund by way of equity shares or other securities through rights issue, qualified institutions placement, preferential issue or any other method.

Delta Corp shed 1.26%. The gaming and casino firm's consolidated net profit grew 1.74% to Rs 69.44 crore in Q2 FY24 as compared to Rs 68.25 crore in Q2 FY23. Net revenue rose marginally to Rs 270.59 crore during the quarter as against Rs 269.97 crore posted in the same quarter last year.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) added 0.03%. The company said that it has emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) for a tender floated by the Northeast Frontier Railway and the project cost of the same is Rs 28.73 crore.

JSW Steel rose 0.82% after the steel major said that it has been declared as preferred bidder by Department Of Mines And Geology for mining project in Karnataka.

IndusInd Bank added 0.20%. The bank informed that the RBI has accorded its approval to SBI MF for acquiring up to 9.99% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights in the bank. SBI MF has been advised by RBI to acquire the aforesaid major shareholding in the bank within a period of one year i.e. by 10 October 2024.

HDFC Asset Management Company shed 0.14%. The company's net profit grew 20.17% to Rs 437.56 crore on 17.92% increase in total income to Rs 765.22 crore in Q2 FY24 over Q2 FY23. The AMC had a QAAUM (quarterly average assets under management) of Rs 5,24,700 crore as of 30 September 2023 compared to Rs 4,29,300 crore as on 30 September 2022 and its market share was 11.2% in QAAUM of the mutual fund industry.

Patanjali Foods advanced 1.18%. The FMCG company said that it had registered an uptick in edible oil sales volume with a single-digit YoY growth in Q2FY24 and double-digit YoY growth during H1 FY24.

Sula Vineyards rallied 3.06%. India's largest and only listed wine producer said that its net revenue has increased by approximately 11% year on year (YoY). The company's own brands sales stood at Rs 116.2 crore in Q2 FY24, recording a growth of 14% YoY, with Elite and Premium brands leading with around 18% growth in Q2 FY24. Wine tourism business jumped 26% to Rs 12.1 crore in the September quarter as against Rs 9.6 crore reported in Q2 FY23.

Global Markets:

European stock markets advanced as they built on positive global momentum this week. Their Asian peers also advanced on Thursday as investors looked ahead to key U.S. consumer inflation data, which will inform the Federal Reserve's rate decision in its policy meeting beginning October 31.

Focus has been on whether the U.S. Federal Reserve may be through with interest rate hikes after a series of dovish remarks from officials, even as the producer price index came in hotter than expected.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is due to publish minutes from the September policy meeting today.

Elsewhere, figures published Thursday morning showed the U.K. economy grew 0.2% month-on-month in August, in line with widely reported market expectations. The July reading was revised lower, from a 0.5% to 0.6% contraction.

US stocks ended Wednesday as traders awaited the release of new US consumer inflation numbers and Treasury yields continued to retreat.

Federal Reserve officials at their September meeting differed on the need for more policy tightening, but indicated rates would need to stay elevated until the policymakers are convinced inflation is heading back to 2%. One more hike would be likely, minutes released Wednesday showed.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News