Share Market Today: Sensex Hits Record High, Nifty Posts Best Close; Apollo Hospitals, HDFC Life Top Gainers

Yield on the 10-year bond fell 3bps to 7.25% at the close on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg

The local currency appreciated by 22 paise to close at 81.62 on Thursday. It opened at 81.68 before gaining 24 paise to 81.60 during the day.

It closed at 81.85 on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

India's stock benchmarks closed near all-time high with Sensex hitting its record high, led by broad-based gains amid sentiments on lower interest rate hikes by Federal Reserve.

Sensex closed 1.38% higher at 62,362.44 after hitting a all-time high of 62,412.33. Nifty 50 ended up 1.39% to 18,520.40 after hitting a 52-week high of 18,527.25.

Among Nifty 50 constituents, 44 stocks advanced and five declined and one remained unchanged. Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, HDFC Life Insurance Co, Bharat Petroleum Corp, Infosys, Tata Consumer Products were the top Nifty 50 gainers.

While, Cipla, Coal India, Kotak Mahindra Bank,Tata Motors and Bajaj Finance were the top laggards.

The broader indices underperformed their larger peers, with the mid-cap and small-cap indices gaining 0.52% and 0.42%, respectively.

Eighteen out of the 19 sectoral measures complied by BSE Ltd. advanced, with BSE Information & Technology and Teck gaining the most over 2%.

The market breadth is skewed in favour of the bulls. About 1,941 stocks rose, 1,557 fell and 137 remained unchanged.

• Benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 1.3% to 62,298.3, a fresh record.

• The previous record was 62,245.43.

• Nifty is about 100 points off its record high.

Source: Exchanges

• Benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose over 1% to 62,168.17, a fresh 52-week high.

• The NSE Nifty 50 too rose over 1% to 18,461.15

Source: Exchanges

HDFC Life Insurance Co. Ltd. has inked a pact to acquire 11% total  paid‐up  capital in a joint venture between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

The company will buy roughly 5,500 equity shares of face value Rs. 10 each, aggregating to Rs 55,000.

In a separate exchange filing earlier today, ICICI Bank said it will invest Rs 50,000 as seed capital to take up 10% equity in the joint venture of Indian Oil Corporation and Chennai Petroleum Corporation.

Source: Exchange filing

KPI Green Energy surged after the company said its board of directors will meet on Nov. 30 to consider the proposal for issue of bonus equity shares.

The stock gained as much as 7.39%, the most since Nov. 9. Total traded volume is 3.6 times the 30-day average. It is currently up 5.71%.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filings

India's benchmark indices extended gains led by advances in information technology, capital goods and oil and gas stocks.

At 12:52 p.m., the Sensex traded with 0.68% gains at 61,930.95 on the BSE, while the Nifty 50 advanced with similar magnitude to 18,393.65 on the NSE.

Among Nifty 50 constituents, 35 stocks advanced and 15 declined. Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, HDFC Life Insurance, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Power Grid Corporation of India and HCL Technologies were the top Nifty 50 gainers.

While, Coal India, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel were the top laggards

The broader indices underperformed their larger peers, with the mid-cap and small-cap indices gaining 0.33% and 0.45%, respectively.

Sixteen out of the 20 sectoral measures complied by BSE Ltd. advanced, with BSE Information & Technology and Teck gaining the most over 1%.

The market breadth is skewed in favour of the bulls. About 1,978 stocks rose, 1,394 fell and 151 remained unchanged

Shares of Easy Trip Planners gained as much as 9.70% after company said it will mull proposal for an acquisition.

The board of Easy Trip Planners will meet on December 1 to consider a proposal for an acquisition.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Shares of IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd. gained after the Government of India granted patent for developing drugs used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure.

The stock rose as much as 7.76%- the most since Aug.18. Total traded quantity is 7.9 times the 30-day average.

The company received the patent for an "improved safe process for preparation of Sartan drugs of formula I," it said in a stock exchange filing.

The company added that Valsartan, Losartan, Irbesartan, Olmesartan, Candesartan and other Sartan drugs are a class of medicines known as angiotensin II receptor blocker used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure.

Of the two analysts tracking the company, both maintain 'buy'. The return potential of the stock indicates an upside of 44%.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filings

Shares of Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd. clocked a record high on Thursday after multiple large trades.

The stock rose as much as 8.38%- the most since Nov. 16 to its highest ever share price of Rs 31.7 per piece. It is now up 7.52%.

At least 62.2 lakh shares change hands in at least four bunched trades, according to Bloomberg data.

Total traded quantity is 6.6 times the 30-day average. The relative strength index is 91, suggesting that the stock might be overbought.

Source: Bloomberg

• Tata Consumer has said it is in discussions with various parties, including Bisleri International, as it evaluates various strategic opportunities for growth and expansion.

• It added that it will make appropriate announcements as and when any requirement arises.

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of PB Fintech surged as much as 11.6%, the most this week after multiple large trades.

Total traded quantity was 6.5 times the 30-day average.

At least 1.6% equity changed hands in at least two bunched trades, according to data on Bloomberg.

Of the 11 analysts tracking the company, 10 maintain 'buy', one suggests 'hold' and none recommends 'sell'. The return potential of the stock indicates an upside of 56.3%.

Source: Bloomberg

• B2B e-commerce unicorn Udaan has raised an undisclosed amount from debt financing platform EvolutionX.

• Though the amount was undisclosed, EvolutionX said it has committed about Rs 680 crore in aggregate between Udaan and Pharmeasy parent API Holdings in November 2022.

• EvolutionX is a pan-Asia debt fund founded by DBS and Temasek.

Source: Press release

Shares of Indian Oil Corporation and Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd. gained after ICICI Bank Ltd. said it will invest in a proposed joint venture of the two companies.

Indian Oil shares gained as much as 3%. Total traded quantity is 3.8 times the 30-day average.

Of the 36 analysts tracking the company, 23 maintain 'buy', seven suggest 'hold' and six recommend 'sell'. The return potential of the stock indicates an upside of 10.3%.

Meanwhile, Chennai Petroleum Corp surged as much as 7.52%, the most since Oct. 28. The total traded volume is 2.3 times the 30-day average.

ICICI Bank said it will invest Rs 50,000 as seed capital to take up 10% equity in a joint venture of Indian Oil Corporation and Chennai Petroleum Corporation.

The JV will implement a 9 MMTPA refinery at Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu in which IOCL and CPCL will hold 50% equity stake (25% each) and balance would be held by other partners.

The refinery will produce petroleum and petrochemical products such as polypropylene.

ICICI Bank said it does not have any obligation to fund the future requirements of the project, beyond initial seed capital.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

• ICICI Bank will invest Rs 50,000 as seed capital to take up 10% equity in a joint venture of Indian Oil Corporation and Chennai Petroleum Corporation.

• The JV will implement a 9 MMTPA refinery at Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu in which IOCL and CPCL will hold 50% equity stake (25% each) and balance would be held by other partners.

• The refinery will produce petroleum and petrochemical products such as polypropylene.

• ICICI Bank said it does not have any obligation to fund the future requirements of the project, beyond initial seed capital.

Source: Exchange filing

• Shares of Rustomjee parent Keystone Realtors listed at Rs 555 per share on the BSE and NSE, a premium of 2.59% to its IPO price of Rs 541.

• Its IPO was subscribed 2.01 times.

Source: BSE, NSE

Neuland Laboratories Ltd. shares gained after the company's board appointed Abhijit Majumdar as chief financial officer and key managerial person.

The stock rose as much as 2.28%.

The board also approved transfer of company’s property spanning 1.75 lakh square feet in Nanakramguda, Hyderabad to various parties via perpetual lease for an overall consideration of Rs 117.96 crore.

Of the three analysts tracking the company, two maintain 'buy', none suggest 'hold' and one recommends 'sell'. The potential downside of the stock is 0.1%.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filings

The shares of Tata Consumer Products Ltd. gained after The Economic Times reported that the company will buy Bisleri International for up to Rs 7,000 crore.

The stock advanced as much as 3.19%, rising the most since Sept. 13, and leading the Nifty 50 pack. Total traded volume was 14.3 times the 30 day average.

Of the 25 analysts tracking the company, 20 maintain 'buy', four suggest 'hold' and one recommends 'sell'. The return potential of the stock is 8.8%.

Source: Bloomberg

India's stock benchmarks opened higher on Thursday, led by a global rally, with most gauges heading towards highest level in over two months, after Federal Reserve's minutes of meeting showed support for slower interest rate hikes.

Sensex rose 0.24% to open at 61,656. While the Nifty 50 gained 0.32% to open at 18,326.10.

Among Nifty 50 stocks, 40 stocks advanced and nine declined, while one remained unchanged.

Tata Consumer Products Ltd., UPL Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., HDFC Life Insurance Co. Ltd. , Hindalco Industries Ltd. were the top Nifty 50 gainers. Adani Enterprises Ltd., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., and ONGC Ltd. were the worst performers.

The mid-cap almost mirrored the benchmarks with 0.30% increase, but the small-cap index outperformed the larger peers with a gain of 0.46%.

The large-cap index was up 0.19%.

Sixteen of the 19 sectoral measures complied by BSE advanced, with BSE Oil and Gas and Utilities leading the pack.

The market breadth is skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,845 stocks rose, 810 fell and 125 remained unchanged.

Yield on the 10-year bond fell 3bps to 7.25% at the open on Thursday.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian currency appreciated by 16 paise to 81.68 at the open against the greenback on Thursday. It closed at 81.85 on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The U.S. FDA, following an inspection conducted in May 2022, has issued a warning letter to Glenmark’s Goa facility.

• The company said the warning letter wouldn’t disrupt supplies or existing revenues from operations of the facility.

• It said it will implement all necessary corrective actions required to address concerns.

Source: Exchange filing

• U.S. Dollar Index at 106.07

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 3.69% on Wednesday

• Brent crude down 0.2% to $85.41 per barrel

• Nymex crude at $77.63 per barrel

• SGX Nifty up 0.25% to 18,300 as of 6:20 a.m.

• Bitcoin rose 0.42% to $16,541.1.

• Keystone Realtors: The equity shares of the company will be listed on the exchanges on Nov. 24. Its IPO price was Rs 541 with face value of Rs 10 each. The issue was subscribed 2.01 times during its course from Nov 14-16. The QIB portion was subscribed 3.84 times, non-institutional investors’ basket was subscribed 3.03 times and the retail portion was subscribed 53%.

• Biocon: The company entered a semi-exclusive partnership agreement with European pharmaceutical company Zentiva for the commercialisation of its vertically integrated, complex formulation, Liraglutide, a drug-device combination for the treatment and management of type 2 diabetes and obesity. The company has also issued commercial papers worth Rs 2,250 crore on private placement basis at a coupon of 7.75%.

• Tamilnad Mercantile Bank: The bank has entered into corporate agency agreement with Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company and Max Life Insurance Company for marketing, distribution and selling life and general insurance products.

• SBI Cards and Payment Services: Aparna Kuppuswamy, chief risk officer of the company, has tendered her resignation. Her last working day with the company will be Feb. 10, 2023.

• Neuland Laboratories: The board appointed Abhijit Majumdar as chief financial officer and key managerial person. The board also approved transfer of company’s property spanning 1.75 lakh square feet in Nanakramguda, Hyderabad to various parties via perpetual lease for an overall consideration of Rs 117.96 crore.

• Raj Rayon Industries: The company commenced commercial production of textured yarn at its Silvassa plant.

• Fusion MicroFinance: The board will convene on Nov.8 to raise funds by issue of NCDs aggregating up to Rs 145 crore on private placement basis.

• IIFL Wealth Management: Public shareholders—General Atlantic Singapore Fund and FIH Mauritius Investments—completed the sale of 2.22 crore shares to BC Asia Investments X, pursuant to the share purchase agreement dated March 30, 2022. The board also approved the appointments of Pavninder Singh and Rishi Mandawat as additional, non-executive, non-independent directors.

• Life Insurance Corporation of India: The insurer increased its shareholding in Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services to 7.02% from 5.01%. It decreased its shareholding in HEG to 4.84% from 6.85%.

• Poonawalla Fincorp: The company clarified that the statement by Poonawalla Housing Finance’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Manish Jaiswal quoted in the media report of its housing arm being put on the block was in the context of the earlier in-principle approval granted by the board for raising funds in the unit.

• Zee Entertainment Enterprises: The company said the petition filed against it by Invesco and OFI before the NCLT has been dismissed.

• Can Fin Homes: The company’s board will meet on Nov. 28 to consider an interim dividend for the current fiscal.

• HG Infra Engineering: The company received a letter from Adani Road Transport regarding declaration of appointed date by authority as Nov. 3 to execute civil and associated works on EPC basis for developing an access-controlled six lane road in Uttar Pradesh on DBFOT (Toll) basis.

• Reliance Industries: Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of the company, launched 5G services in Pune.

• PVR/Inox Leisure: The Mumbai bench of NCLT will take up hearing and final disposal of PVR-Inox Leisure merger on Dec. 15, 2022.

• Shoppers Stop: The company has made an investment of Rs 4.95 crore in wholly owned subsidiary Global SS Beauty Brands under an earlier commitment to inject Rs 20 crore in the unit.

• Adani Enterprises/Tata Power: Supreme Court upheld Aptel order on Rs 7,000 crore transmission contract awarded by MERC to Adani Electricity Mumbai Infra. Tata Power had challenged this order in April 2021

Global stocks headed for the highest level in more than two months on Thursday after Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed increased support for tapering interest rates.

At 8:15 a.m., the Singapore-traded SGX Nifty -- an early barometer of India's benchmark Nifty 50 -- rose 0.47% to 18,340.

Crude dropped in anticipation of a higher-than-expected price cap on Russian oil and a rise in U.S. product stockpiles. Gold rose 0.3%, while Bitcoin rose 1.6% to trade near $16,400-level.

Domestic benchmarks indices maintained their upward movement for a second day even after paring gains from early trade. The rise in banking, metals, and oil and gas stocks was offset by a decline in information technology and FMCG stocks.

The rupee dropped against the U.S. dollar to close at the day’s low, a day after it closed higher.