Stock Market Live: GIFT Nifty Points To Negative Open For Nifty, Sensex; Brent Crude Near $102 A Barrel

Citi retained its Buy rating on Swiggy as it expects growth acceleration and improving contribution margins.

Citi on Swiggy

• Maintain Buy.
• Target price at Rs 390.
• Reiterated existing guidance of accelerating growth.
• Growth aided by step-up in new user acquisition and retention, dark store openings and differentiated selection.
• Existing guidance of 80bps contribution margins, likely from Q3, owing to domestic ownership.
• Sees food delivery as a value-play that is as much defensive versus new competition.

Jefferies expects competition in gold loans to increase as lenders accelerate branch expansion.

Jefferies on Gold Financiers

• Gold loan growth stays strong, but competition should rise as new players double branch additions in FY27.
• Bajaj Finance is driving 35% of the additions.
• New branches are mostly in non-south states and are also widening penetration.
• Incumbent gold NBFCs gain from execution and trust advantages and have widened product variants to defend share.
• Yield pressure has been limited.
• Gold prices remain the key swing factor.
• Retain Buy on Manappuram Finance and see balanced risk reward for Muthoot.

Citi retained its Sell rating on HCL Technologies, citing an unchanged demand environment and valuation concerns.

Citi on HCL Tech

• Maintain Sell.
• Target price at Rs 1,110.
• Demand environment remains largely unchanged; seasonality trends usual.
• Advanced AI new total addressable market; making good progress.
• Engineering services impacted by auto & telco verticals in Q1; should stabilise going forward.
• Software impacted by macro, decline in some parts of portfolio and shift towards term licences.
• Datacentre business – HCLT sees better value capture as a full stack player.
• Progress on advanced AI is encouraging, but HCL trades at decent premium to large cap peers.

CLSA retained its positive stance on Coforge and said the chairman's resignation does not constitute a red flag.

CLSA on Coforge

• Maintain High Conviction Outperform.
• Target price at Rs 2,170.
• Chairman resignation not a red flag.
• Several facts underscore no major governance lapses at Coforge.
• Notes proactive exchange filing by Coforge management.
• Coforge books are thoroughly scanned by current and previous private equity investors and KPMG.
• Number of independent directors has gone up since FY24.
• Sees strong growth ahead on the back of revenue synergies from Encora.

Jefferies retained its positive stance on Adani Energy Solutions as merchant power prices rise and trading tie-ups expand.

Jefferies on Adani Energy

• Maintain Buy.
• Target price at Rs 2,060.
• Increasing tie-ups in the trading segment are in line with management vision.
• Merchant power prices are up 2.1x YoY in Sept 2026 till date.
• Sees the company locked in for double-digit medium-term growth.

Jefferies expects Adani Enterprises to see an EBITDA inflection as its multiple growth platforms expand.

Jefferies on Adani Enterprises

• Maintain Buy.
• Target price at Rs 3,830.
• Calls the company a national champion with multiple growth platforms.
• Current value captures only part of the story.
• EBITDA inflection likely ahead, with an estimated 23% EBITDA CAGR over FY26-31.
• Airports, data centre and ANIL are the largest contributors.

Nomura has raised its target price on Ather Energy, citing the potential contribution from the Konarc launch and faster EV adoption.

Nomura on Ather Energy

• Maintain Buy.
• Target price raised to Rs 1,926 from Rs 1,714.
• Konarc launch to drive more upside.
• Faster EV adoption strengthens Ather's outlook.
• EV 2W expected to touch 22.0% by FY30F.

Jefferies has initiated coverage on Vodafone Idea with a positive view on its potential turnaround.

Jefferies on Vodafone Idea

• Initiate Buy.
• Target price at Rs 20.
• Sees a high-beta turnaround opportunity in Indian telecom.
• Expects subscriber stabilisation to support an 11% revenue CAGR over FY26-29.
• Strong operating leverage expected to drive a 25% cash EBITDA CAGR and a sharp ROIC inflection through FY31.
• Premium multiples expected to sustain during the turnaround.
• Every 10% tariff hike potentially driving 34% equity upside.
• Risks include execution and funding

Bernstein retained its positive view on Adani Ports, citing growth in power and container demand.

Bernstein on Adani Ports

• Maintain Outperform.
• Target price at Rs 1,973.
• Adani Ports is top pick in coverage.
• Rising power demand to increase coal demand, with Adani Ports a clear beneficiary.
• Sees the company as a structural winner in containers and dollar revenue.
• Notes Mundra port concession, AB Ports acquisition overhang and group health as risks that have been mitigated.

Natco Pharma has moved ahead with plans to raise capital through a proposed rights issue.

Natco Pharma

• Files draft letter of offer for proposed rights issue of equity shares.
• Proposed rights issue size up to Rs 1,300 crore.

Enviro Infra Engineers' subsidiary has received an LOI for EPC works on a 180 MW wind power project in Maharashtra.

Enviro Infra Engineers

• Subsidiary Suyog Urja receives LOI worth Rs 224.19 crore from Tata Power Renewable Energy.
• LOI awarded for EPC turnkey works for 180 MW NTPC wind power project at Parli, Maharashtra.
• Order to be executed by 31 Mar. 2027.
• Scope includes WTG foundation works, balance of plant works and 33 kV transmission line works.
• Project includes foundation works for 58 wind turbine generators.
• Also covers construction and commissioning of 33 kV transmission line and installation of STATCOM/harmonic filter systems.

Shakti Pumps has received a large Maharashtra order for off-grid solar photovoltaic water pumping systems.

Shakti Pumps

• Receives order from MSEDC for 10,000 off-grid solar photovoltaic water pumping systems.
• Empanelment covers 3 HP, 5 HP and 7.5 HP solar water pumps across Maharashtra.
• Order value at Rs 236 crore.
• Order to be executed within 60 days from issuance of work order/notice to proceed.
• Scope includes design, manufacture, supply, transport, installation, testing and commissioning of solar water pumping systems.

Dilip Buildcon has received a major long-duration project from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board.

Dilip Buildcon

• Order value at Rs 1,800 crore.
• Order is for laying an LPG pipeline.
• Execution period is 3 years.
• Operation period is 25 years.

The Dow fell more than 400 points, or 0.8%, on Wednesday. The S&P 500 declined 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.6%.

Dow futures rose 0.1%, or 54 points, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.04%. Nasdaq-100 futures were marginally lower after Wall Street’s major indices declined for a third straight session.

Brent crude moved towards $102 a barrel, extending gains for a fifth straight session after settling above $100 for the first time since July. West Texas Intermediate traded near $97 a barrel.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.38%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.71%. South Korea’s KOSPI slipped 0.50%.

Rising crude prices and escalating US-Iran tensions kept investors cautious.

GIFT Nifty fell 81.20 points to an implied 23,471, indicating a weak start for Indian equities on Thursday.