Stock Market Updates: Top News Today; RVNL, DOMS Industries in Focus

Sandip Das

The Indian stock market closed in the green after a volatile morning session on December 19, 2023. At close, Sensex was up 122 points at 71437 mark while Nifty added 34 points and ended the session at 21453 mark.

Around 1255 stocks advanced and 1258 declined and 103 remained unchanged.

Among the sectors, the FMCG index added over 1 percent followed by the PSU Bank index which gained half a percent.

Technical Analysis:

On the technical front, Nifty formed a small-bodied Bearish candlestick pattern with a long lower shadow on the daily charts, indicating the support is being held and the buying interest at lower levels.

Global Markets Updates:

Asian shares rise

Asian shares tracked Wall Street higher on Wednesday as US rate cut fever lingered near the year’s end, while oil held onto gains from the past two days after attacks by Houthi militants on ships in the Red Sea disrupted maritime trade.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6%. Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.6% to the highest in about one month, according to a Reuters report.

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

US Markets end higher as rate-cut fever lingers

Wall Street extended its rally on Tuesday as last week’s dovish policy pivot from the Federal Reserve continued to reverberate and investors looked ahead to crucial inflation data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 251.9 points, or 0.68%, to 37,557.92. The S&P 500 gained 27.81 points, or 0.59%, to 4,768.37. The Nasdaq Composite added 98.03 points, or 0.66%, to 15,003.22.

GIFT Nifty

Trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a positive start for the broader index in India. It was up  87.50 points or 0.41 percent. 

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 601.52 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 294.35 crore worth of stocks on December 19.

Stocks in News

• Bharat Petroleum Corporation: The company has received board approval for setting up a polypropylene (PP) unit for the production of polypropylene at Kochi Refinery at a gross project cost of Rs 5,044 crore.
  
  
• Varun Beverages: The company’s board has approved to acquire Beverage Company, South Africa (Bevco), for Rs 1320 crore with an option to accept minority co-investment from a large equity fund. Bevco manufactures and distributes PepsiCo’s own-branded non-alcoholic beverages in South Africa.
  
  
• IT stocks will be in focus

          Accenture has projected second-quarter revenue below estimates. It expects Q2 revenue in the range of                          $15.40- 16 billion against $16.20 billion, estimated by analysts polled by LSEG.

• Rail Vikas Nigam Limited: The firm and Kerala Rail Development Corporation JV emerged as the lowest bidders to upgrade and redevelop the Varkala Sivagiri Railway station in Kerala. The project costs Rs 123.26 crore, and the time period for the project is 30 months.
  
  
• Embassy Office Parks REIT: Blackstone plans to exit Embassy Office Parks REIT, India’s first publicly traded real estate investment trust, through a mega block deal of $833 million, multiple industry executives familiar with the development told Moneycontrol. 

           Blackstone intends to sell their entire 23.6 percent stake in the firm through the block deal route. The floor                   price is Rs. 310 per share.

Bulk Deals

Jindal Saw Limited: Cresta Fund Limited sold 20,00,000 shares at Rs 429.1 per share

Apollo Tyres: White Iris Investment Limited sold 2,85,79,542 shares at Rs 448.35 per share while Nippon India Mutual Fund bought 1,20,44,000 shares at Rs 448.35 per share

Oil prices edge up

Oil prices ticked higher on Monday over global trade disruption and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Brent crude futures edged up 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $79.29 a barrel by 0137 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $74.11 a barrel, up 17 cents, or 0.2%.

Stock under F&O ban on NSE

The NSE has added Delta Corp, Indus Towers, IRCTC, Piramal Enterprises, and RBL Bank, to its F&O ban list for December 20. It retained Balrampur Chini Mills, Manappuram Finance, National Aluminium Company, SAIL and Zee Entertainment Enterprises in the said list. Hindustan Copper and India Cements were removed from the said 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.}