The domestic equity benchmarks closed with modest gains on Thursday, buoyed by a firmness in IT stocks. Optimism surrounding increased artificial intelligence (AI) spending in the United States fueled the sector's rise. Shares of consumer durables, and media companies also performed well. On the other hand, energy and private banks shares declined.
The broader market also witnessed a strong recovery after a period of selling pressure. The Nifty 50 index settled above the 23,200 mark, recovering from an early low of 23,090.65. Trading was volatile due to the weekly expiry of Nifty options contracts.
The S&P BSE Sensex rose 115.39 points or 0.15% to 76,520.38. The Nifty 50 index added 50 points or 0.22% to 23,205.35.
UltraTech Cement (up 6.81%), Grasim Industries (up 3.02%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 2.03%) boosted the indices.
The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 1.78% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rallied 0.67%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,119 shares rose and 1,842 shares fell. A total of 106 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, shed 0.46% to 16.70.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 1.91% to 6.847 as compared with previous close 6.829.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 86.4750, compared with its close of 86.3550 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2025 settlement shed 0.07% to Rs 79,509.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.06% to 108.20.
The United States 10-year bond yield fell 0.13% to 4.568.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2025 settlement lost 29 cents or 0.29% to $78.77 a barrel.
Global Markets:
Most shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Thursday as investors looked ahead to President Donald Trump's keynote speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Participants and observers around the world will be listening to his speech carefully for any more details on his widely discussed proposal to introduce universal tariffs on goods imported to the United States, and for his position on major geopolitical and economic issues such as the Ukraine-Russia war, the future of Israeli-Palestine relations and economic rivalry with China.
However, Asian investors remain cautious as they assess the implications of US President Donald Trump's early days in office, which have sent mixed signals. While Trump reiterated tariff threats against China, fears of an escalation in the trade war have largely been avoided, leaving the world's second-largest economy somewhat unscathed for now.
In China, investors are considering additional measures from Beijing to stabilize its stock market. On Wednesday, the government introduced a series of policies, including plans to increase the portion of pension funds that can be invested in listed companies, aiming to shore up market confidence.
South Korea's economy grew by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2024, according to preliminary data from the central bank. On a year-on-year basis, GDP growth slowed to 1.2% from 1.5%, reflecting challenges in the broader economic environment.
Meanwhile, Japan posted a surprising trade surplus of 130.9 billion yen ($840 million) in December, beating expectations for a deficit of 55 billion yen. This marked a significant turnaround from November's 110.3 billion yen deficit, supported by strong exports, according to government data released Thursday.
Further, the Bank of Japan is holding its next policy meeting today and tomorrow, where the BOJ governor Kazuo Ueda had signaled intentions to hike rates.
Singapore's core CPI, a key indicator that excludes private road transport and accommodation costs, rose by 1.8% in December compared to the same month last year. This marks a slight decrease from the 1.9% growth recorded in November.
In the US, the S&P 500 came close to a record high on Wednesday, boosted by a surge in tech stocks and AI-related companies. The rally followed President Trump's announcement of a $500 billion initiative to enhance domestic AI development.
Netflix shares soared nearly 10% after the company reported a record-breaking addition of 19 million new subscribers in Q4 2024, surpassing market expectations by a wide margin.
The S&P 500 briefly touched an all-time high of 6,100.81 points before trimming gains to close 0.6% higher at 6,086.28 points. The NASDAQ Composite gained 1.3% to reach 20,009.34 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.3%.
New Listing:
Shares of Stallion India Fluorochemicals was locked in upper circuit of 5% at Rs 125.99 on the BSE, representing a premium of 39.99% as compared with the issue price of Rs 90.
The scrip was listed at Rs 120, exhibiting a premium of 33.33% to the issue price. The stock has hit a high of 125.99 and a low of 120 On the BSE, over 8.45 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter.
Stocks in Spotlight:
UltraTech Cement jumped 6.81% after the cement major's consolidated net profit rallied 79.19% to Rs 1,469.51 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 820.04 crore posted in Q2 FY25. Revenue from operations increased 9.96% to Rs 17,193.33 crore in the December 2024 quarter as against Rs 15,634.73 crore reported in the preceding quarter of the same year.
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) shed 0.86%. The company reported a 19.13% jump in standalone net profit to Rs 3,001 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 2,519 crore in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations rose 1.79% to Rs 15,195 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 14,928 crore in Q3 FY24.
Pidilite Industries rallied 5.57% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 8.22% to Rs 552.42 crore on 7.63% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 3,368.91 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) declined 2.36%. The company reported a 36.85% jump in standalone net profit to Rs 4,649.20 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 3,397.27 crore posted in Q3 FY24. Net sales (excluding excise duty) declined 2.02% year on year (YoY) to Rs 1,13,135.8 crore in the December 2024 quarter.
Persistent Systems surged 10.57% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 14.77% to Rs 372.99 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 325 crore in Q2 FY25. Revenue from operations increased 5.7% QoQ to Rs 3,062.28 crore in Q3 FY25.
Cigniti Technologies surged 11.80% after the company's consolidated net profit jumped 32.33% to Rs 63.57 crore on 10.34% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 516.40 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
Coforge zoomed 11.33% after the company reported 9.5% rise in net profit, excluding minority interest, to Rs 255.9 crore in Q3 FY25 from Rs 233.6 crore in Q2 FY25. The company's gross revenues increased by 8.4% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 3,318.2 crore in the December 2024 quarter.
Alivus Life Sciences jumped 4.51% after the company's consolidated revenue jumped 15.33% to Rs 136.96 crore on 12.05% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 641.84 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
Rajratan Global Wire dropped 4.27% after the company's consolidated net profit tumbled 52.64% to Rs 9.32 crore on 6.16% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 218.36 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
MPS soared 9.92% after the company reported 36.93% increase in net profit to Rs 40.71 crore on a 39.27% rise in reported revenue to Rs 186.36 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Q3 FY24.
Paras Defence and Space Technologies gained 4.84% after the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Maharashtra to develop an optics park project in Navi Mumbai.
Biocon advanced 2.10% after its board is scheduled to meet on Monday, 27 January 2025, to consider and approve the raising of funds on a private placement basis.
Strides Pharma Science surged 8.03% after the company has received the final listing and trading approval for equity shares of OneSource from the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and BSE on Wednesday, 22 January 2025.
Jagsonpal Pharmaceuticals climbed 11.98% after the company's net profit zoomed 707.8% to Rs 31.99 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 3.96 crore posted in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations surged 56.7% to Rs 74.03 crore recorded in the quarter ended 31 December 2024.
Zensar Technologies soared 11.66% after the company's consolidated net profit climbed 2.63% to Rs 159.8 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 155.7 crore in Q2 FY25. Revenue from operations increased 1.35% QoQ to Rs 1,325.6 crore in Q3 FY25.
Go Digit General Insurance jumped 14.29% after the company's net profit zoomed 176.46% to Rs 118.52 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 42.87 crore in Q3 FY24. Total income increased 7.11% YoY to Rs 2,371.9 crore in Q3 FY25.
Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) rose 0.3%. The company has reported a net loss of Rs 315.11 crore in Q3 FY25 as compared with Rs 307.69 crore posted in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations grew by 12.41% year on year (YoY) to Rs 332.77 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2024.
IPO Update:
The initial public offer (IPO) of Denta Water and Infra Solutions received bids for 26,58,10,750 shares as against 52,50,000 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 17:00 IST on 23 January 2024. The issue was subscribed to 50.63 times.
The issue opened for bidding on 22 January 2024 and it will close on 24 January 2024. The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 279 and Rs 294 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 50 equity shares and in multiples thereof.
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