The share price of Dr Lal PathLabs soared 3.46% to 2,463 following the company released its fiscal second-quarter earnings with profit at Rs 109.30 crore, up 52.4% in comparison to Rs 71.70 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 601.30 crore, up 12.6% as against Rs 533.80 crore during the quarter ended September 2022. The company’s EBITDA stood at Rs 177.8 crore, up 23.6% on-year.

“In the first half of the day, domestic benchmark indices witnessed a notable uptick of nearly 1 percent, taking cues from the positive trend in global equities. This surge was fueled by investor responses to the recent policy decisions and statements coming from the US Federal Reserve. The US monetary policymakers opted to maintain key interest rates unchanged at a 22-year high, holding steady at 5.25%-5.50% for the second consecutive time. Despite the dovish stance taken by the US Fed, it would be premature to adopt a bullish bias for the medium term. The current market upswing should be viewed as a temporary respite as the forthcoming release of crucial data such as US non-farm payrolls and Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures will be pivotal in determining a definitive trajectory. Technically, prices are likely to drift in the range of 19,000 to 19,250 with sideways to positive bias. A decisive breakthrough of upper range value may take such advance for 19,500, while on the downside, a sustainable fall below the psychological mark 19,000 may be in the range of 18,800-18,700,” said Arvinder Singh Nanda, Senior Vice President, Master Capital Services.

Britannia Industries, Adani Enterprises, Hindalco, IndusInd Bank and Eicher Motors are the leading gainers on the NSE Nifty 50.

(Source: NSE)

The stock price of Britannia Industries soared 2.46% to 4,505.30 following the company posted its fiscal second-quarter earnings with profit at Rs 586.50 crore, up 19.6% in comparison to Rs 490.58 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23, surpassing estimates.

Adani Enterprises, Britannia Industries, IndusInd Bank, Apollo Hospitals and Adani Ports are the top gainers on the NSE Nifty 50.

The stock price of Adani Enterprises surged 2.26% to 2,267.35 during the intra-day trade on Thursday. The northward trend came ahead of the company’s second-quarter results, which are to be released today.

The stock price Of Power Finance Corporation climbed 7% to hit the 52-week of Rs 259.25 during the intra-day trade on Thursday.

(Source: NSE)

“There are several factors which are causing market volatility not just in India but also globally. US Treasury yields have become attractive once again, which may cause diversion of funds from stock to bonds, the US dollar has been robust against the Indian rupee, but there are concerns with escalating inflation, lower-than-expected corporate earnings, rising interest rates, and most importantly the existing middle-eastern geopolitical tensions. Even in such a situation, the Indian economy is well insulated by regulatory oversight and I see these as minor blips before stability comes in again. Not to mention, we will soon be in the midst of a festive season which is likely to uplift the general mood of the markets.”

– Sarvjeet Virk, Co-founder & MD, Finvasia.

Sectoral indices are trading in green during the intra-day trade on Thursday. PSU Bank stocks led the gains and added 1.56%, while select Financial Services, Realty, Private Bank and Oil & Gas stocks advanced over 1% each.

“Yesterday, spot gold closed steady at $1983 . As expected, the US Federal Reserve kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50% as the Fed Chair Powell cited tighter financial conditions and high yields can serve as rate hikes. He told that they are not looking at rate cuts and the rate of quantitative tightening will remain unchanged. He added that inflation still remains elevated. Today’ data include the US weekly jobless claims, factory orders and durable goods orders. Out of Europe, focus will be on Germany’s employment data, manufacturing data and the Euro-zone’s manufacturing data. Gold will find hard to rise significantly unless geopolitical tensions escalate further. Support is at $1970/$1962/$1945. Resistance is at $2010,” said Praveen Singh – Associate VP, Fundamental Currencies and Commodities, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

“In line with consensus expectations, the Federal Reserve kept the rates unchanged. This resulted in lower bond yields and a rise in stock prices. While the Federal Reserve is more likely to be cautious going forward in increasing rates, challenges of a higher inflation trajectory are likely to linger on. The Federal Reserve is expected to pause in December and the first half of next year, which will help the equity and bond markets, but rising term premiums could weigh on the financial markets. Overall, the macro situation remains challenging, but it will likely ease over the next 12 to 18 months,” said Naveen Kulkarni, Chief Investment Officer, Axis Securities PMS.

Britannia Industries posted its fiscal second quarter earnings with profit at Rs 586.50 crore, up 19.6% in comparison to Rs 490.58 crore during the corresponding quarter of FY23, surpassing estimates. It posted revenue from operations at Rs 4,432.88 crore, up 1.2% as against Rs 4,379.61 crore during Q2FY23. The company’s EBITDA stood at Rs 872.4 crore. According to a CNBC TV18 poll, Britannia was expected to record Q2 profit at Rs 544 crore and revenue was expected to be at Rs 4,511 crore.

Nifty PSU Bank index soared 1.38% during the early trade on Thursday. PNB led the gains and added over 2%, while Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Bank of Maharashtra also rallied over 1% each.

“Nifty weekly contract has highest open interest at 19,100 for Calls and 18,800 for Puts while monthly contracts have highest open interest at 20,000 for Calls and 19,000 for Puts. Highest new OI addition was seen at 19,100 for Calls and 18,850 for Puts in weekly and at 19,100 for Calls and 0 for Puts in monthly contracts. FIIs increased their future index long position holdings by 19.32%, increased future index shorts by 5.61% , decrease in index options by 8.99% in Call longs, 8.72% decrease in Call short, 30.93% decrease in Put longs and 31.64% decrease in Put shorts,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Nifty IT index surged 1.08% during the early trade on Thursday. LTIMindtree, Tech Mahindra, Mphasis, Infosys, TCS and TCS advanced over 1% each.

The NSE Nifty 50 opened at 19,120 up 0.68%, while the BSE Sensex opened at 64,033.40 up 442.07 points.

“The current market landscape reflects the Federal Reserve maintaining its benchmark lending rate between 5.25% and 5.5%, resulting in Wall Street indices mostly gaining amid signs of elevated inflation and economic expansion. The focus is now on the upcoming jobs report for October. On the positive side, WTI Oil prices dropped below $81 a barrel despite Middle East tensions, and the Federal Reserve, while hinting at future rate hikes, has left markets speculating on the end of the current hiking cycle. Technical analysis indicates downside risks for Nifty and Bank Nifty, and Nifty’s options data suggests a trading range between 18,500 and 19,200,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

“The USD/INR 28 November futures contract traded in a tight range. As per the daily technical chart, the pair is trading above its moving average trendline support level of 83.18 and the RSI is above 50 levels. MACD is showing positive divergence and the pair has crossed 83.30 levels. The pair has support at 83.18-83.05 and resistance at 83.50-83.66. If the pair sustains above 83.30 levels, it could show further strength towards 83.50-83.66. Support is placed at 83.18-83.05. We expect the pair to trade in the range of 83.18-83.66 in today’s session,” said Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities.

“Even though the pause decision of the Fed was on expected lines, the commentary was not hawkish as the market feared. The Fed chief Jerome Powell’s comment that “despite elevated inflation, the longer term inflation expectations remain well anchored” was taken by the market as a slightly dovish statement. The implication of this statement is that the Fed may not hike rates again in this rate hiking cycle. Consequently the bond yields declined sharply. The benchmark 10-year bond yield declined 17 bp to 4.75 percent and the equity markets responded positively. In the near-term, the dollar index at 106.3, Brent crude at around $85 and the 10-year US bond yield at 4.75 % are favourable for stock markets. There is a possibility that the FIIs who were sustained sellers in October may turn buyers and if that happens, short-covering can take markets higher despite the uncertainty surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict. From the valuation and growth perspective, leading banks provide good buying opportunities. IT can stage a comeback,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The NSE has added Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals to its F&O ban list for November 2, 2023.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded shares worth net Rs 1,816.91 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) added shares worth net Rs 1,622.05 crore on November 1, 2023, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

WTI crude prices are trading at $81.38 up 1.18%, while Brent crude prices are trading at $85.56 up 1.10% on Thursday morning.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but left the door open to a further increase in borrowing costs in a policy statement that acknowledged the US economy’s surprising strength, but also nodded to the tighter financial conditions faced by businesses and households, reported Reuters.

Wall Street’s major indices closed higher on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 210.23 points or 1.64% to 13,061.47. The S&P 500 surged 44.06 points or 1.05% to 4,237.86, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 221.71 points or 0.67% to 33,274.58.