Market snaps 3-day losing run; Nifty closes near 24,300; VIX drops 13.72%

The domestic equity benchmarks ended with robust gains on Wednesday, snapping a three-day declining streak. The Nifty settled near the 24,300 level. All the sectoral indices on NSE ended in the green with oil & gas, metal and media shares gaining the most.

As per provisional closing, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 874.94 points or 1.11% to 79,468.01. The Nifty 50 index gained 304.95 points or 1.27% to 24,297.50.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 2.63% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 2.39%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,988 shares rose and 945 shares fell. A total of 98 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, dropped 13.72% to 16.17.

IPO Update :

The initial public offer (IPO) of Brainbees Solutions received 1,24,09,504 bids for shares as against 4,96,39,004 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 11:15 IST on Tuesday (06 August 2024). The issue was subscribed 0.25 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Tuesday (06 August 2024) and it will close on Thursday (08 August 2024). The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 440 to Rs 465 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 32 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

The initial public offer (IPO) of Unicommerce eSolutions received 12,66,99,042 bids for shares as against 1,40,84,681 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 11:15 IST on Tuesday (06 August 2024). The issue was subscribed 9 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Tuesday (06 August 2024) and it will close on Thursday (08 August 2024). The price band of the IPO is fixed between Rs 102 to Rs 108 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 138 equity shares and in multiples thereof.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas index gained 3.06% to 12,973.85. The index tumbled 5.16% in the past three trading sessions.

Oil India (up 8.52%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 7.84%), Castrol India (up 5.79%), GAIL (India) (up 4.73%) and Indian Oil Corporation (up 3.17%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 2.73%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 2.73%), Mahanagar Gas (up 2.63%), Indraprastha Gas (up 2.33%) and Petronet LNG (up 2.2%) advanced.

On the other hand, Gujarat State Petronet (down 1.12%), Gujarat Gas (down 1.05%) and Aegis Logistics (down 0.2%) edged lower.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Power Company declined 1.37% after the company’s consolidated net profit decreased marginally to Rs 970.91 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 972.49 crore in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations grew 13.67% to Rs 17,293.62 crore during the first quarter as compared with Rs 15,213.29 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Lupin rallied 4.69% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 76.01% to Rs 801.31 crore during the quarter as compared with Rs 452.26 crore posted in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations increased 16.28% YoY to Rs 5,514.34 crore during the quarter.

Gland Pharma slipped 4% after the company’s consolidated net profit declined 25.94% to Rs 143.76 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 194.10 crore in Q1 FY24. Revenue from operations jumped 15.97% YoY to Rs 1,401.70 crore in Q1 FY25.

Bata India fell 3.61%. The company’s consolidated net profit surged 62.84% to Rs 174.06 crore in Q1 FY25 as against Rs 106.89 crore posted in Q1 FY24. However, revenue from operations declined 1.41% year on year (YoY) to Rs 944.63 crore in the quarter ended 30 June 2024.

Gulf Oil Lubricants India surged 6.17% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 28.89% to Rs 88.02 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Rs 68.29 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations increased 9.04% YoY to Rs 885.07 crore during the quarter.

PI Industries gained 3.82% after the pesticides maker registered 17.21% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 448.8 crore on 8.3% rise in revenue to Rs 2,068.9 crore in Q1 FY25 as compared with Q1 FY24.

Pidilite Industries added 3.20% after the company’s consolidated net profit jumped 21% to Rs 571.27 crore during the quarter as compared with Rs 473.69 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations increased 3.67% YoY to Rs 3,395.35 crore during the quarter.

Cummins India jumped 6.17% after the company’s standalone net profit increased 33% to 419.8 crore on 4.02% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,262.03 crore in Q1 FY25 over Q1 FY24.

Alembic Pharmaceuticals advanced 2.74% after the company received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (US FDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) Acitretin Capsules.

Global Markets:

European and Asian stocks advanced on Wednesday, recovering from sharp losses earlier in the week.

Japan's markets surged following encouraging comments on interest rates from the Bank of Japan. However, lingering concerns about a global economic slowdown tempered overall sentiment.

Bank of Japan (BoJ) Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said on Wednesday the central bank won't raise interest rates when financial markets are unstable.

Regional markets drew support from a strong Wall Street close, though the U.S. recovery remained fragile after Monday's steep decline. Recent comments from Federal Reserve officials alleviated immediate recession fears, boosting investor confidence. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied 1% on Tuesday, erasing some of the previous day's losses.

The Fed has indicated that interest rate cuts might be necessary to prevent a recession, indicating a cautious outlook. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 294.39 points to close at 38,997.66, while the S&P 500 rose 53.7 points to 5,240.03. The Nasdaq Composite added 166.77 points, ending at 16,366.86.