Stock Market News Today: Nestle, Vedanta in focus

Sensex and Nifty closed in the red as the Indian equity market ended its 3-day winning run amid profit booking. At close, Sensex was down 168.66 points at 71315 level while Nifty shed 38 points and closed the session at 21418 mark.

Around 1886 shares advanced and 1478 shares declined while 124 stocks remained unchanged.

Among the sectors, pharma added 1 percent while capital goods index added 0.7 percent. On the other hand, the realty sector shed 1 percent. Bank Nifty slipped 0.5 percent.

Technical Analysis:

On the technical front, Nifty formed Doji kind of candlestick pattern formation though sentiment remains robust as the index maintains a position comfortably above crucial moving averages.

The significant opening upside gap of recent session if remains intact and doesn’t get filled in the next 2-3 sessions, then one may presume Nifty in a middle of a sharp uptrend.

Gift Nifty

Trends on Gifty Nifty indicates a flat start to Indian indices. The index was trading at 21,481, down 3 points or 0.01 percent at 8:16 AM.

Asian stocks in cautious mode

Asian shares and the yen steadied early on Tuesday as traders’ focus turned on Japan’s central bank and whether it might edge further away from its ultra-easy monetary policy, while global equities continued to cheer the prospect of US rate cuts.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat and just below a four-month high.

Top 2 stocks by Ashika Research which can return up to 19%

Stocks in the news

Nestle India: The firm fixed January 5, 2024, as the record date for determining the entitlement of equity shareholders for sub-division of existing equity shares of the company.

Vedanta: The company approved the second interim dividend of Rs 11 per equity share.

Biocon: Subsidiary Biocon Biologics has completed the transition of the acquired biosimilars business in around 120 countries across advanced and emerging markets, a year ahead of schedule. Over 10 emerging markets, along with Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, have transitioned in this final phase of the integration of the biosimilars business acquired from Viatris.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries: The company has entered into an agreement to acquire 16.7 percent shares in Lyndra Therapeutics Inc., a company based in Massachusetts, for $30 million. Lyndra is engaged in the business of developing novel delivery technology for long-acting oral (LAO) therapies.

NHPC: The company said the board members will be meeting on December 22 to consider the monetisation of future cash flow (consisting of return on equity) of one or more power station(s) of the company for suitable tenure. This is part of the funding plan of Capex for the company for FY24 or beyond.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 33.51 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 413.88 crore worth of stocks on December 18.

Bulk Deals

Pricol Limited: Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund bought 14,40,922 shares at Rs 347

Archean Chemical Industries: Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio bought 6,23,609 shares at Rs 600

Sapphire Foods India: HDFC Mutual Fund bought 22,00,000 shares at Rs 1400. Also, Government of Singapore bought 10,05,582 shares at Rs 1400

Stock under F&O ban on NSE

The NSE has added National Aluminium Company to its F&O ban list for December 19. It retained Balrampur Chini Mills, Hindustan Copper, India Cements, Manappuram Finance, SAIL and Zee Entertainment Enterprises in the said list.

Oil prices extend gains as Red Sea attacks disrupt supply chains

Oil prices advanced on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session. As attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants on ships in the Red Sea disrupted maritime trade and forced companies to reroute vessels.

Brent crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $78.12 a barrel at 0112 GMT. The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude futures contract, which expires on Tuesday, rose 14 cents to $72.61 a barrel. The more active second-month contract rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $72.91.

_{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.}