Sensex Today | Share Market Live Updates: Sensex climbs 400 pts; Wipro shines

Norwegian industrial investment company Orkla ASA, which owns MTR Foods and Eastern Condiments, on Wednesday announced the reorganization of its Indian operations under one business entity, Orkla India.

Orkla, which operates in the country’s packaged spices and convenience foods markets, forayed into India in 2007 through the takeover of MTR Foods. In 2020, it picked up a majority 67.8% stake in Kerala-based spice maker Eastern Condiments Pvt. Ltd. (Read More)

Dialysis service chain Apex Kidney Care has raised $10 million ( ₹83.3 crore) in a mix of primary and secondary investment as part of its funding round from Tata Capital Healthcare Fund, the healthcare-focused arm of private equity firm Tata Capital Ltd. The Mumbai-based healthcare chain will use the fresh money to expand its dialysis services across the country.

Notably, this is the second transaction in the nephrology space in the last month. In September, Asia Healthcare Holdings (AHH) acquired a majority stake in the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology (AINU) for ₹600 crore ($72.1 million) through a mix of primary and secondary investments. (Read More)

Avdhut Bagkar, Derivatives & Technical Analyst, Stoxbox on Bank Nifty Weekly Expiry Outlook: Banknifty is exhibiting weakness near the spot 44600 level, with 44600 CE and 44500 CE sighting writing post the morning session.

Option data also rules out Bank Nifty settling around the 44600 mark. If the index fails to garner accumulation over 44550 mark, we expect it to expiry below or at least near 44,500.

Our bias remains fragile on Banknifty for this weekly expiry and advocate taking short position retaining 44,600 – 44650 as hurdle.

Tea major Goodricke Group Ltd, a part of the UK-based Camellia Plc, is hoping to return in black this fiscal and looking to diversify into the hospitality sector with an aim at offsetting its losses in the plantation business in Darjeeling, Managing Director and CEO Atul Asthana said.

The company, however, is expecting a flat growth in tea production this year to around 32 million kgs, including the output of its three subsidiaries, and is likely to witness a de-growth in revenue in the current fiscal as “subdued tea prices” remain a concern for it, he said.

The group will look for acquisitions of gardens in Assam in near future, particularly after the industry gets rid of the “current difficult phase”, he said. (PTI)

Kroll Pte. Limited (“Kroll”) on Wednesday announced that Cosimo Borrelli and Jason Aleksander Kardachi were appointed to safeguard the charged assets of Great Learning Education Pte. Ltd. (“Great Learning”) and Byju’s Pte. Ltd. (“BPL”).

The appointment was made on behalf of secured creditors of BYJU’s Alpha Inc, as part of the secured lenders’ exercise of their security rights following defaults by BYJU’s Alpha Inc. (Read More)

Oil edged higher on Wednesday as investors grappled with the prospect of supply disruptions due to the Middle East turmoil.

Brent crude rose 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $87.90 a barrel by 0550 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 24 cents, also 0.3%, to $86.21 a barrel.

Brent and WTI surged more than $3.50 on Monday as the military clashes raised fears that the conflict could spread beyond Gaza, but settled lower in Tuesday’s session. (Reuters)

Tokyo’s Nikkei stocks index advanced on Wednesday following gains on Wall Street with semiconductor and blue-chip shares attracting buyers.

The benchmark index added 0.60 percent, or 189.98 points to 31,936.51 but the broader Topix index dropped 0.19 percent or 4.35 points to 2,307.84. (AFP)

Bank of Baroda’s stock price experienced a nearly 4% decline during the morning trading session on Wednesday, October 11. This drop occurred a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed the bank to immediately halt any further customer onboarding on its ‘bob World’ mobile app.

The stock began the trading day at ₹209.60, a decrease from the previous closing price of ₹214.20, and subsequently fell by 3.7% to reach an intraday low of ₹206.25 on the BSE. (Read More)

Jignesh SHIAL and Mayank AGARWAL from InCred Equities views on Finance Companies: Ears to the ground: Bounces under check

Overweight – Maintained

■ We recently hosted a large recovery and collection agency based in Mumbai to understand the current trend of slippages & recoveries for the sector.

■ Our discussions indicate that the fresh slippage trend for most players (banks/NBFCs) across products (secured/unsecured) continues to remain low.

■ The trend is expected to improve in 2HFY24F amid stringent underwriting practices of the lenders as well as the intention of renowned borrowers to pay.

The rupee opened 5 paise higher against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking cues from positive equity markets and a weaker American currency against major rivals overseas. The local currency opened at 83.20 a dollar as against previous close of 83.25.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05% lower at 105.77.

On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 83.25 against the US dollar. (Read More)

Krishan Parwani of JM FInancial Institution Sector Update on India Chemicals: 

Prices of several basic chemicals are relatively flat in Oct’23 but have shown a decent uptick in the last 3 months. Phenol spreads are down ~12% in October (phenol prices have been coming in with a lag) but have risen sharply (by ~38%) in the last 3 months owing to a gradual increase in phenol/acetone realisations. Ethylene oxide prices have been relatively flat in Oct’23, which bodes well for Aether that has a lot of products on ethylene oxide chemistry. On the agrochemicals front, IGC’s robust grain production outlook, strong global grain consumption expectations in MY23/24 and firm grain and oilseed price index indicate a positive environment for innovative agrochemicals. But we continue to believe that the pressure on generic agrochemicals from excess supply by China might continue, although it would be slightly blunted vis-à-vis the last quarter. We prefer SRF, Deepak Nitrite, and Archean.

Laxmi Organic’s stock price surged by more than 8% during Wednesday’s trading session following the company’s successful fundraise of ₹259.1 crore through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP). The share price of Laxmi Organic Industries Ltd began the day at an intraday low of ₹274.50 per share on the BSE but later reached an intraday high of ₹300.85.

According to an official filing by the company, the Fund Raising Committee of Directors authorized the issuance and allocation of 9,625,579 equity shares to qualified institutional buyers who meet the necessary criteria. These shares were allotted at a premium of ₹267.20 per equity share, totaling ₹269.20 per share, during the meeting held on Tuesday, October 10, resulting in a fundraise of ₹259.1 crore. (Read More)

Exxon Mobil is in talks to buy US rival Pioneer Natural Resources for about $60 billion, Reuters reported. The deal would be the largest acquisition by any company this year and Exxon’s biggest since it purchased Mobil Oil in 1998 for $81 billion.

Exxon is expected to make a pure stock offer valued at more than $250 a share for Pioneer, the Reuters report said, quoting people aware of the deal. (Read More)

India and the United Kingdom are poised to finalize a proposed free-trade agreement (FTA) by the end of October 2023, as reported by the Economic Times. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed a strong commitment to strengthening ties between the two nations, including the establishment of an FTA.

Official figures from the UK Department for Business and Trade (DBT) indicate that bilateral trade between the UK and India was estimated at £36 billion in 2022, underlining the significant economic relationship between the two countries. (Read More)

Sunita Tools Limited shares made a decent debut on BSE SME today. On BSE, Sunita Tools Limited share price today was listed at ₹155 per share, 6.9% higher than the issue price of ₹145.

Sunita Tools public issue was offered at a fixed price of ₹145 per equity share of face value of ₹10 each. Sunita Tools Limited lot size stood at 1000 equity shares and in multiples of 1000 equity shares thereafter. The issue price was 14.5 times the face value of the equity shares. Sunita Tools Limited opened for subscription on Tuesday, September 26, and closed on Tuesday, October 3rd . (Read More)

Goyal Salt Ltd, a producer of raw salts, marked a robust entry on Dalal Street with a remarkable debut. Goyal Salt shares were listed at ₹130 each on the NSE SME, reflecting a substantial premium of 242% compared to the issue price of ₹38 per share.

The initial public offering (IPO) of Goyal Salt Ltd, valued at ₹18.63 crore, garnered an outstanding response from investors. This SME IPO was open for public subscription from September 26 to October 3. (Read More)

Global brokerage firm CLSA has upgraded India to ‘overweight ‘ and increased its India portfolio allocation to 20 per cent above the MSCI benchmark versus 40 per cent ‘underweight’ earlier, according to CNBC-TV18. The brokerage firm said the previous contrarian underweight position worked between late October 2022 and March 2023.

“A strong credit impulse, favourable energy pricing, improving external balance dynamics, robust GDP and EPS growth, increasing profitability, a supportive macro outlook, and additional capacity for non-resident asset accumulation will sustain the Indian equity momentum trade into 2024,” CLSA said in its note. (Read More)

MCX’s share price reached a 52-week high following the announcement of the launch date for its commodity derivatives platform. MCX shares surged by up to 2.86%, reaching a 52-week high of ₹2,158.90 per share on the BSE. The Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), the nation’s largest commodity exchange, has confirmed that it will launch its new commodity derivatives platform (CDP) on October 16, 2023. (Read More)

Ameya Ranadive CMT CFTe, Research Analyst, Choice Broking: On October 11, the benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are poised for a slightly higher opening, in line with the positive indications from the GIFT Nifty. This optimistic start mirrors the upward trajectory seen in Asian stock markets, following the gains on Wall Street. This surge is attributed to a slip in Treasury yields and a marginal easing in crude oil prices.

Encouragingly, Indian equity benchmarks demonstrated significant gains on the preceding Tuesday, propelled by favorable global cues. The domestic markets opened on a positive note and progressively ascended throughout the session. This upbeat sentiment was further buoyed by a moderation in crude oil prices post a Monday rally. Noteworthy sectoral indices on the NSE, including Realty, PSU Bank, and Metal, saw substantial advances. Market breadth showcased a positive trend, with 1843 shares advancing and 592 shares experiencing declines on the NSE. Additionally, the broader markets outperformed the benchmarks, with the Nifty mid and small-cap indexes posting gains of 1.36 percent and 1.20 percent, respectively.

Looking ahead, it will be pivotal for Nifty to maintain levels above 19650, empowering bullish sentiments in building their positions. A swift ascent above 19700 in the initial hour of trade could potentially trigger an unwinding of calls, propelling the index to higher levels. Immediate support is situated at 19550 levels. Following a sharp surge on Monday, the volatility index, often referred to as the ‘fear gauge’, exhibited a decline on Tuesday, indicative of a market recovery. It concluded at 11.27 points, down by 1.1 percent. Notably, today marks the expiry of Bank Nifty options, and there may be an observed short covering if the level of 44450 is surpassed in today’s trading session.

The IRM Energy IPO is set to be open for subscription from Wednesday, October 18, until Friday, October 20. Prior to that, the allocation to anchor investors is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, October 17. The IPO’s price range is fixed between ₹480 and ₹505 per equity share, with a face value of ₹10.

The floor price of the IRM Energy IPO is 48.0 times the face value of the equity shares, while the cap price is 50.5 times the face value. Based on diluted earnings per share (EPS) for fiscal 2023, the price-to-earnings ratio at the floor price is 22.93 times, and at the cap price, it is 24.13 times.

Investors can subscribe to the IRM Energy IPO in lots of 29 equity shares and in multiples of 29 equity shares thereafter. (Read More)

Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services: Stock market has a unique ability to climb many walls of worries. If the undertone of the market is bullish the market will climb worrying walls which may appear formidable. It is important to appreciate the fact that even in the midst of the West Asian crisis, markets are resilient, globally. The fundamental support to the market comes from the resilience of the US economy, the declining US bond yields and the hope that the Israel-Hamas conflict will remain a localised crisis which will not impact crude prices. However, investors should remain cautious since the situation taking a turn for the worse cannot be ruled out.

The fact that Nifty is just 2.5% away from the all-time high indicates the strength and resilience of the market. Even though FIIs are sustained sellers in the market, buying by DIIs, HNIs and retail are counterbalancing the selling and supporting the market. Safety is in large caps.

Sarvjeet Virk, Co-Founder & MD, Finvasia on Israel-Hamas War: How Will It Impact Indian Stock Market: The Israel-Hamas conflict, though intense, is limited to a very specific area and is unlikely to trigger an immediate market reaction. During geopolitical turmoil, investors tend to make safer choices and gravitate towards precious metals. At the same time, they do not abandon equities either, as they expect them to perform better once stability returns. Specifically, from an Indian market perspective, economic growth remains robust. Investors may view any market dip as an opportunity.”

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