Top Stock Market News Today: UltraTech Cement, LIC in Focus

The Indian equity market managed to close in the green on the first day of 2024 amid volatility. At close, Sensex added 31 points and closed the session at 72,271.94 mark. Nifty gained 10 points and ended at 21741 mark.

On the sectoral front, PSU Bank and pharma indices added 0.5 percent each, while Bank Nifty shed 0.5 percent.

Around 1645 stocks advanced and 906 declined while 129 remained unchanged.

Technical Analysis:

On the technical front, Nifty formed a Spinning Top or High Wave kind of candlestick pattern on the daily charts, indicating indecision among buyers and sellers about further market trends. The market seems to be maintaining a consolidation phase for a few more sessions before getting into a firm trend on either side of the 21,550-21,850 range.

The index has been residing in the overbought zone for the past couple of weeks, and there are indications of negative divergence in the daily RSI which calls for a cautious approach in the market.

Going forward, the zone of 21550-21500 will act as immediate support for the index. Asustainable move below the level of 21500 will lead to profit booking in the index. While, on the flip side, 21830-21860 will act as crucial resistance for the index. Any sustainable move above the level of 21860 will lead to the extension of the upside rally
upto the level of 22050, followed by 22200 in short-term.

GIFT Nifty

The GIFT Nifty indicates a marginally positive start for the broader index with a gain of 20 points.

Asian Markets

Asia-Pacific markets were mixed on the first trading day of the year. China’s CSI 300 index opened 0.64 percent lower Tuesday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 0.58 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 percent, hitting more than two year highs. South Korea’s Kospi inched 0.1 percent higher.

Also read: Top 2 Buy Ideas for New Year 2024 Which Can Fetch Up To 15% Return

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 855.80 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 410.46 crore worth of stocks on January 1.

Stocks in the news

• UltraTech Cement: The company has recorded a 6 percent YoY (2 percent QoQ) growth in consolidated sales volume at 27.32 million metric tonnes, with India sales volume growing 5 percent YoY (2 percent QoQ) to 26.06 million metric tonnes.
• Coal India: The company said coal production in December 2023 increased by 8.2 percent YoY to 71.9 million metric tonnes, and the same between April and December 2023 grew by 11 percent to 531.9 million metric tonnes compared to the year-ago period. The offtake rose by 6.1 percent year over year to 66.6 million metric tonnes during December 2023, while the offtake in the nine months ending December 2023 grew by 8.7 percent to 552 million metric tonne compared to the corresponding period last year.
• APL Apollo Tubes: The firm registered a sales volume of 6,03,659 metric tonne in Q3 FY24, down 0.2 percent compared to 6,05,049 metric tonne in Q3 FY23 and down 10.5 percent compared to sales of 6,74,761 metric tonne in Q2 FY24. The Q3 FY24 sales volume declined QoQ due to channel de-stocking in anticipation of a steel price correction.
• Power Grid: The company has been declared a successful bidder to establish an inter-state transmission system for the evacuation of power from REZ in Rajasthan (20GW) under Phase III, Part D, Phase I, on a build, own, operate, and transfer (BOOT) basis. The scope of the project comprises the establishment of 765 kV D/C transmission lines traversing Rajasthan and Delhi, along with associated bay extension works at existing substations located in Rajasthan and Delhi.
• Life Insurance Corporation of India: The firm has received a demand order of Rs 806.3 crore for the collection of GST along with interest and penalty for Maharashtra state from the Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, Mumbai. The demand order cum penalty notice is for FY2017–18, including GST of Rs 365 crore and a penalty of Rs 404.77 crore.

Stock under F&O ban on NSE

The NSE has added Balrampur Chini Mills to its F&O ban list for January 2. It retained Hindustan Copper to the list.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment or trading advice. The author is not a financial advisor and does not have any professional qualifications in this area. The author does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided. Any action you take based on the information in this blog post is done at your own risk. Please consult with a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.