Market Closing: Sensex, Nifty end a tad higher in volatile trade; auto cos shine

Market Closing: Sensex, Nifty end flat in volatile trade; auto cos shine; Reliance top gainer

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher on Thursday after erasing a chunk of the gains made earlier in the day. Sensex closed at 71,721.18, up 63.5 points, while the Nifty ended 0.2% higher at 21,661.25. The Indian rupee ended flat at 83.03 per US dollar. Reliance, Ultratech and Axis Bank were the best gainers, while Wipro and HUL lagged on the 30-share index.

Midcaps and smallcaps outperformed the benchmarks with 0.7% gains. Auto stocks were the chart toppers with Nifty Auto gaining over 1%. IT stocks were weak amid caution ahead of earnings announcement by TCS and Infosys. Asian shares rose on Thursday tailing Wall Street’s climb with Nikkei gaining 2%.

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Sensex Today Live: IRB Infra well-placed to ride NHAI’s monetization plan

IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd’s new year has begun well with its shares gaining 11% already in 2024 so far. This is after a 43% appreciation in 2023. The road and highway developer saw nearly 26% year-on-year growth to ₹488 crore. However, any unexpected rise in debt levels would be detrimental. (Read more)

Sensex Today Live: Jefferies says weakness likely to continue in specialty chemicals

Jefferies anticipates a potential upswing in demand during the second half of fiscal year 2025 (2HFY25E), with a particular focus on the recovery of crop protection demand during the same period. As per the brokerage, recent industry insights suggest that inventory rationalisation is expected to persist until the first half of the calendar year 2024, with growth normalising towards historical averages by the end of CY24.

Sensex Today Live: Sebi looking to bring finfluencers under regulatory ambit, says Kamlesh Varshney, whole time member, Sebi, at Mint BFSI Summit

Varshney reiterated that Sebi was not against short selling, however naked short selling cannot be allowed in India. He also added the markets regulator is mindful that sometimes too many changes to rules may create fatigue and Sebi is looking to tweak the rules only in areas where there is immediate risk.

Sensex Today Live: Indians placed 6.5 million food-delivery orders online on New Year’s Eve

Indians placed a record 6.5 million food-delivery orders online on New Year’s Eve 2023, 18% more than last year, according to data released on Thursday by Redseer Strategy Consultants.

Zomato said orders on its app on New Year’s Eve 2023 touched an all-time high. “The company has fulfilled nearly as many orders on New Year’s Eve 2023 alone as the combined total of orders from New Year’s Eves 2015 through 2020,” the company said on 1 January. An estimated 3.2 lakh delivery partners were deployed across its food-delivery and quick-commerce platforms, the company said.

Sensex Today Live: Global markets rally ahead of the release of US inflation data, Nikkei surges 2%

Asian shares rose on Thursday tailing Wall Street’s climb to a near-record high. Tokyo’s benchmark hovered near its highest level since 1990. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.3%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3%. Australia shares gained 0.5% and South Korea’s was flat.

European stock markets gained following Asia and Wall Street, as investors awaited the release of US inflation data. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index and Paris CAC 40 climbed 0.5% each and Frankfurt’s DAX won 0.6%.

Sensex Today Live: India-Japan Fund to invest ₹400 cr in M&M subsidiary Mahindra Last Mile Mobility

India-Japan Fund will invest ₹400 crore in Mahindra Last Mile Mobility Limited, a subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra, at a valuation of up to ₹6,600 crore

The deal, which marks the fund’s first investment since it was set up in August 2023, will see IJF holding 6-8% stake in Mahindra Last Mile Mobility

Sensex Today Live: GST authorities drop plans to enforce stricter e-way bill norms

GST authorities have dropped a plan to block generation of goods transportation permits, or e-way bills, from 1 March for companies that fail to produce ‘e-invoices’ for their wholesale transactions through designated portals. These portals aid in more accurate data capturing across various tax forms using a standardized invoice. (Full report)

Sensex Today Live: Vedanta’s Cairn Oil & Gas submits FDP to commence gas production from Jaya, Gujarat; shares up 3%

Sensex Today Live: Nifty Auto jumps 1.3%; financials and PSU banks shine; Nifty IT, pharma and realty lag among sectors

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Sensex Today Live: 4 interesting things RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on UPI at Mint BFSI Summit 

I would not look at UPI as a monopoly.

The success of UPI in a large measure also owes a lot to the private sector payment players.

Private sector companies have had a major role in making India a world leader in the UPI Payment system.

 UPI is perhaps the best in the world and should become a world leader.

Sensex Today Live: Oil ticks higher amid Red Sea crisis and weak dollar

Oil prices rose on Thursday as tensions in the Middle East persisted withe the Red Sea crisis, and the US dollar weakened ahead of inflation data. Global benchmark Brent moveed toward $78 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate advanced toward $72 a barrel.

Sensex Today Live: Gold Outlook for 2024: Colin Shah, MD, Kama Jewelry

Gold prices have been on an upward trajectory in 2023 and this momentum is expected to continue in 2024. Internationally, the volatility of the yellow metal prices will continue and will be triggered by various factors including the on-going geo-political scenario, strengthening of USD against INR and a pessimistic approach towards the growth of global economy.

Domestic demand for the yellow metal is expected to outgrow and may touch the 70k mark on a domestic level. This rally will be driven by robust demand in the domestic market owing to the rising income levels and the inclination towards yellow metal. On the global level, we expect prices to hover in the range of $1850-2050. Irrespective of the price movement, consumer demand will continue to grow during the year backed by strengthened purchasing power, and the change in perspective towards gold as lifestyle statement, thus driving sales across along all ticket-sizes.”

Sensex Today Live: RBZ Jewellers hits  20% upper circuit for second consecutive day 

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Sensex Today Live: Infosys down 1% ahead of December quarter earnings

The second…