Sensex Today | Share Market Live Updates: Sensex down 200 points; Nifty around 20,800; IT stocks lag

The manufacturer of commercial vehicles said it has acquired a 12.21% stake in TP Surya Ltd for ₹2.68 crore, marking its entry into the into the renewable energy sector. TP Surya Ltd, a fully-owned subsidiary of Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd, operates as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) dedicated to developing ground-mounted solar photovoltaic power projects in Maharashtra.

“We remain positive innovation and digitization led strategy with sustained growth and 100% jump in ROCE of non-cigarette businesses and overall Rs947bn cash generation in last 10 years. ITC trades at 24.9/22.9x FY25/FY26 EPS with ~3% dividend yield and 9.7% EPS CAGR over FY23-26. Maintain Accumulate with SOTP based target price of Rs492.”

Key Highlights:

§ Demand: Urban remains resilient however rural is still under pressure although some green shoots are emerging. Next two quarters to see better trajectory

§ New FMCG – ITC is targeting 80bps-100bps margin improvement every year led by premiumisation (30/40bps), scale (20bps), 100bps over time in ICML, freight and cost optimisation

§ Foods – New experience business/sunrise/noodles continue to see market share gain with current market share being 60%/53%(north east and WB)/20%. ITC sees huge opportunity in premium food product led by protein bar, yoga bar will be distributed with existing distributors network.

§ Personal care remains challenging segment with difficult in scaling this business. Turnaround is likely in medium term with portfolio refresh & exploring new segments and innovations.

§ Paper and Paperboard – The business is looking at capacity expansion and sustainable packaging, profitability should improve as pricing pressure due to Chinese dumping and low waste paper price seems over

§ Hotels – ITC is poised for sustained growth given strong trends in ARR/ Occupancy, 20% capacity with less than 5-year linage, target to open 25 hotels in 2 years and target of 200 hotels with 18000 rooms with 2/3rd managed hotels.

§ Agri Business – Agri business has identified Nicotine as a big export opportunity with huge demand supply gap and 50% contribution margin.

§ ITC Infotech – ITC Infotech has 18-20% margins and bagged two big deals from BAT and PTC last year, Digitisation and emerging segments are likely to be key growth drivers while inorganic acquisitions will boost growth.

§ Food tech – ITC’s pilot in Food tech segment under 3 brands of ITC Master Chef, Sunfeast Baked creations and Aashirvaad soul creations has been a success with more than 1mn orders in Bangalore. ITC has now entered Chennai market and plans to enter in other metros gradually.

§ ITC is seeing good traction in digital channel/ MT/ in-house app with each contributing 16%/15%/6% to overall trade.

§ Capex – ITC CAPEX is aimed at 1) innovation 2) new growth vectors 3) sustainable packaging & food tech 4) M&A. Management has guided an annual capex of Rs30-Rs32bn out which ~40%/~35%/25% to be utilized towards FMCG /Paper/ technology and Agri business

The state-owned company has announced the temporary halt of activities at its pellet manufacturing facility in Mangalore, starting Tuesday due to the lack of availability in iron-ore fines, which are essential for the plant’s functionality.

The pharma company said its fully-owned subsidiary Laurus Synthesis Private underwent a thorough inspection by the US FDA from 4 to 12 December, following which the FDA issued a Form 483 that contained five observations.

Smallcap and Midcap indices outperform benchmark Sensex which saw minor cuts in early trade as investors booked profit in heavyweights.

DOMS Industries garnered ₹537.7 crore in capital via an anchor book process ahead of its opening on Tuesday. This process involved a total of 55 anchor investors, including several prominent participants such as Goldman Sachs, Theleme India Master Fund, Ashoka Whiteoak Emerging Markets, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Optimix Wholesale Global Emerging Markets, Fidelity Funds, and Belgrave Investment Fund, who contributed to the public issue’s anchor book. The company has fixed the price at ₹750 to ₹790 per equity share.

Nifty IT slips 0.7% as heavyweights Infosys, TCS lag; Wipro bucks trend

At 0924 am, Sensex is down 100 points at 69,426 as TCS, Infosys HDFC Bank drag. NTPC, ITC lead among gainers

At 0902 am, the Sensex was at 69,717.64, up 166.61 points. Wipro, Cummins, Force Motors, Laurus Labs, Indian Bank, Mankind Pharma and Axis Bank are in focus today

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold stocks of Indian companies worth ₹ 15,960.23 crore and bought stocks for ₹ 16,037.09 crore, resulting in an inflow of ₹ 76.86 crore, according to NSE data.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹ 12,206.24 crore and offloaded shares worth ₹ 10,282.92 crore, resulting in an inflow of ₹ 1,923.32 crore, the exchange data showed. On Monday, FIIs’ net inflow was recorded at ₹1,261.13 crore, while DIIs’ net outflow was recorded at ₹1,032.92 crore.

The New Year will begin with many automobile companies raising prices of their vehicles. Tata Motors Ltd will also raise prices of its commercial vehicles (CVs) by up to 3% from 1 January. The spotlight is on Tata Motors’ British subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc (JLR), which contributed about 68% and 75% of consolidated revenues and pre-tax profit in Q2FY24. Remember, shares of Tata Motors have raced ahead in 2023, gaining as much as 84% so far. (read more)

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are expected to start Wednesday’s trading session on a positive note, with the GIFT Nifty showing an uptick. It is currently up around 42 points from the previous close, amid mixed signals from global markets. Presently, the GIFT Nifty is hovering around the 21,067 mark. The Nifty and Sensex broke their two-day run of gains on Tuesday, as market participants took to profit-taking in several key stocks. Sensex ended at 69,551.03, down 0.54%, while Nifty ended 91 points lower at 20,906.40.

Wipro, Cummins, Force Motors, Laurus Labs, Indian Bank, Mankind Pharma, Axis Bank, Allcargo Terminals are some stocks that will be in focus on Wednesday.

Industrial output growth accelerated to a 16-month high of 11.7% in October driven by mining, manufacturing and electricity, and the statistical effect of a low base, while retail inflation in November rose at the fastest pace in three months. 

Meanwhile, consumer price index-based inflation stood at 5.55% in November, up from 4.87% in October and 5.02% in September; the figure is higher than RBI’s target of 4%, but still remains within its tolerance range of 2-6% for the third consecutive month. In November 2022, retail inflation was reported at 5.88%.

In Asia, stock markets showed mixed performances following subdued activity on Wall Street, as investors awaited the final Federal Reserve decision of the year. This anticipation was heightened by lackluster US inflation figures, which fueled concerns that the Federal Reserve might not be quick to declare a win in its policy efforts. Wall Street experienced a significant surge, reaching its highest level in nearly 23 months, and came close to surpassing its record peak.