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Indian equity markets ended the weekly options expiry session on a weak note, ending near the lowest point of the day, led lower by banks and metal stocks.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.82% lower at 38,979 while the NSE Nifty 50 index managed to hold on to the 11,500 mark, ending 0.76% lower at 11,516.
Real Estate stocks were the top laggards in today's session. The index ended 1.7% lower. The other major laggards were metal stocks, with the metal index ending lower by 1.4%. Losses on the Metal index were mainly led by Hindalco, which ended 4% lower and as the top laggard on the Nifty 50 index.
Both Nifty Bank and the PSU Bank index ended with losses of over 1% in today's session.
Nifty Pharma, Media bucked the trend in today's session, ending with gains of 0.4%, as did the Nifty I.T. index, ending off the day's high but with gains of 0.2%.
Broader markets remained subdued in today's session as well. The Midcap index ended 0.25% lower while the smallcap index fell 0.5%.
The India Volatility Index ended 2.1% higher, above the mark of 20, at 20.08.
Market breadth stayed in favour of the laggards. 1,132 stocks on the NSE ended with losses while 690 stocks managed to end with gains.
The new listing on the bourses - Happiest Minds Technologies, ended with gains of 123.7% at Rs 371.35, as compared to its issue price of Rs 166.
Hindalco Industries has signed an agreement for the long-term purchase and sale of nearly 60% of Hindustan Copper's copper concentrate production.
The pact will help Hindalco, which is India's largest copper producer, cut down on its imports, it said in a statement.
Hindalco also supplies over 50% of the domestic refined copper requirements.
Shares of Hindalco remain the top laggards on the Nifty 50 index, down 4.4% at Rs 175.8. Shares of Hindustan Copper are off the day's high, trading 2.5% higher at Rs 37.25.
After concluding a round of Open Market Operations today, The Reserve Bank of India has announced another round on September 24.
Under this Open Market Operation, the RBI will purchase government securities worth Rs 10,000 crore, according to a central bank statement.
Securities maturing in September 2026, October 2029 and September 2031 will be purchased in this round of the OMO.
The company has signed an agreement with Arla Foods - the world's largest producer of organic dairy products.
The order pertains to modernising and transforming Arla Foods' multi-country payroll operations on Ramco's global payroll platform.
Arla Foods will implement the company's global payroll & HR software to streamline multi-country payroll and time & attendance operations across five middle east countries on a single platform, the exchange filing said.
Shares gained as much as 3.8% to Rs 356.3, post the announcement and are up for the fifth straight day. The stock trades at a two-year high.
The company has informed the exchanges that it has secured Railway Electrification Works for various routes worth nearly Rs 1,900 crore.
The orders were won on a competitive bidding basis among PSUs.
The tenure for execution of the projects varies from 15-20 months from the date of signing of the agreements with the Zonal Railways.
The company will execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the concerned zonal railway, the exchange filing said.
Shares gained as much as 4.2% to Rs 86.8, post the announcement. The stock trades at the highest level in two weeks.
Let's take a look at how benchmark indices across Europe have opened:
India Inc. has raised about Rs 4,000 crore or $54.2 billion through local notes since April 1, the best start ever to a new financial year, Bloomberg reports.
This comes after unconventional stimulus steps by the authorities drove spreads on AAA rated three-year corporate bonds to the lowest in nearly 15 years.
Bloomberg reported last month that first time bond issuers are rushing into India's debt markets after borrowing costs were down to the lowest since 2005.
The then average yield on the top-rated three-year notes was 5.09%, 221 basis points cheaper than loans of similar tenor at State Bank of India.
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Citi has raised its price target on the stock to Rs 50 from the earlier Rs 40.
Other brokerages like Emkay too have maintained their buy rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 43. Motilal Oswal has maintained its neutral rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 42.
Shares gained as much as 3.9% to Rs 39.5, but are now cooling off to trade with modest gains.
The Metallurgical and Material Handling business of L&T Construction has secured an order from Nothern Coalfields, a subsidiary of Coal India.
The order pertains to a coal processing and load out package to be installed at the Dudhichua Mines in Uttar Pradesh, the exchange filing said.
The scope of work involves EPC for a double stream coal sizing & transportation system covering semi-mobile sizing system, high capacity special conveyors and an automated loading system.
The business has also secured new and add-on orders from its existing customers, the statement added.
L&T has termed this contract as 'significant' which means it will be valued between Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore, as per the company's classification of orders.
Shares are recovering from the day's low after declining as much as 1.3% to Rs 910.
The drugmaker announced the launch of the Over-the-counter (OTC) Olopatadine Hydrochloride Opthalmic Solution USP, 0.2% and 0.1%.
The solution is the store-brand equivalent of Pataday Once Daily Relief and Pataday Twice Daily Relief in the U.S. market.
The solution is used in the temporary relief of itchy eyes due to pollen, ragweed, grass, animal hair and dander.
The Pataday brand had U.S. sales of approximately $31 million since its launch in March 2020, according to IRi.
Shares gained as much as 2.6% to an all-time high of Rs 4,750. The stock is up for the third straight day.
The commercial vehicle manufacturer has received a large order from Procure Box - a logistics start-up company.
Procure Box has placed an order of 1,400 Intermediate Commercial Vehicles (ICVs) for its fuel distribution business, the company said in an exchange filing.
The order is for Ashok Leyland's Ecomet trucks and will be executed in the next five to six months, the statement said.
"With this order, our order book for ICVs has enhanced significantly and is a testament to the realiability, durability and robustness of our vehicles," Anuj Kathuria, Ashok Leyland's Chief Operating Officer said.
Shares recovered from the day's low to gain 0.4% to Rs 79.2, post the announcement. The stock is up for the sixth straight day and is trading at a seven-month high.
The company announced on Wednesday that it has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud, to deliver an accelerated business intelligence platform.
HCL Tech will bring its hybrid cloud data warehousing offering - Actian Avlanche, to Google Cloud, the exchange filing said.
"This will deliver improved business performance and the ability to increase business agility, mitigate risk and secure material cost savings in today's demanding business environment," Raghu Chakravarthi of Actian said.
HCL Tech & Google cloud in 2019 had announced the launch of HCL's Google Cloud Ecosystem to accelerate enterprise cloud adoption worldwide.
Shares gained as much as 3.6% to an all-time high of Rs 817.5. The stock snapped a two-day losing streak and is the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index.
The currency has opened with losses in today's session, reversing the recovery made on Wednesday.
The rupee opened at 73.72 against the U.S. Dollar as compared to Wednesday's close of 73.52.
As of the early minutes of trade, the rupee is the fifth worst performing currency in Asia.
Yield on the 10-year government bond opened at 5.983% as compared to Wednesday's close of 5.993%.
Bond market traders are watching for the Reserve Bank of India's Open Market Operations, in which it will buy bonds worth Rs 10,000 crore while simultaneously selling shorter tenor bonds worth Rs 10,000 crore.
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The company's Board of Directors will hold a meeting on September 21, to consider a buyback of shares.
Shares gained as much as 10.5% - the most in five months to Rs 75. The stock has gained in four out of the last five trading sessions. It has gained nearly 20% in the last five trading sessions.
The stock now trades at the highest level since July 2019.
The company informed the exchanges that it has won new orders worth nearly Rs 1,342 crore.
The civil engineering and EPC company won infrastructure projects in East Asia worth Rs 725 crore.
It has also secured water supply projects in Odisha worth Rs 471 crore and building projects in North India worth Rs 146 crore, the exchange filing said.
"We have received orders in the current year exceeding Rs 5,300 crore against the initial guidance of Rs 5,000 crore," SK Tripathi, CEO and Deputy Managing Director said.
The company has accordingly revised its order inflow target for FY21 to Rs 7,500 crore.
"Our strong and diversified order book will help us deliver on growth and profitability targets going forward," Tripathi said.
Shares gained as much as 8.2% to Rs 57.4, post the announcement. The stock snapped a two-day losing streak.
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The company informed the exchanges yesterday that it has fixed September 28, as the record date for its Rs 100 crore share buyback.
The company had approved a buyback of 10 lakh equity shares at Rs 1,000 each on July 22, which was at a near-30% premium to the previous day's closing price.
Promoters of the company will also be participating in the buyback, the release on July 22, had mentioned.
Shares gained as much as 6.6% to Rs 820 and are trading higher for the second straight day.
Indian equity markets began the weekly options expiry session on a negative note, tracking weak global cues.
The S&P BSE Sensex opened 0.46% lower at 39,120 while the NSE Nifty 50 index began trade at 11,539, lower by 0.6%.
Sentiment across the globe is subdued post commentary from U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell over uncertain times ahead.
Most sectoral indices have opened lower. The Nifty Bank and the PSU Bank index have opened nearly 1% lower, while the indices of Wednesday's outperformers - Auto and Realty have opened lower by 0.7% each.
Broader markets too have opened lower. Both Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap index have opened with losses of 0.7%.
Market breadth is nearly even. 968 stocks on the NSE opened with gains while 861 are declining.
Source: ICICI Securities
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