Stock Market News Today Live Updates: Nifty, Sensex Off Opening Highs As Brent Crude Rebounds To Above $104 A Barrel

>>

>>

>>

>>

• Carnelian Asset Management founder Vikas Khemani said higher bond yields and oil prices are not sustainable for the Trump administration.

• Khemani said supply chain disruptions could affect earnings in Q4FY26 and Q1FY27.

• He said banks could recover quickly after the war and added that PSU banks have valuation comfort. He also said India’s macro position is stronger than that of many other countries.

>>

Brent crude rebounded and gained as much as 4.3% to $104.29 a barrel.

Kalpataru Projects International rose as much as 5.4% to Rs 1,073 after the company announced new orders worth Rs 4,439 crore in its transmission and distribution business.

The order wins include a 400 kV transmission line project in Africa, transmission line projects in India, and a substation project in Sweden

• Tata Power said it has executed a supplementary power purchase agreement with GUVNL for the Mundra plant.
• The pact follows the suspension of operations at the Mundra unit.
• The company also said it will execute power purchase agreements with Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

• HDFC Bank rose as much as 3.2% to Rs 767.75, snapping a four-day losing streak.

• The bank said it has appointed external law firms to carry out a review of the resignation of part-time chairman and independent director Atanu Chakraborty, according to an exchange filing.

• Chakraborty, who joined HDFC Bank in 2021, resigned last week and cited ethical differences with the way the bank operates. The stock had fallen nearly 12% since the announcement before Tuesday’s market open.

• Power Grid was the only stock in the Nifty trading in the red.
• The stock fell 3.88 points, while the rest of the index stayed in positive territory.
• HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, L&T, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel were among the main contributors to the index gains.

>>

• Nifty gained 1.2% to 22,786 at the open, while Sensex rose more than 1,000 points to 73,700.
• In intraday trade, Nifty rose as much as 1.7%.
• Sensex also extended gains and climbed as much as 1,516 points.

Two Indian-flag LPG carriers, Jag Vasant and Pine Gas, are carrying 92,612.59 MT of LPG, according to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

• Motilal Oswal has initiated coverage on Urban Company with a Neutral rating and a target price of Rs 125.
• It said the company operates an online home services marketplace and that adjacencies such as Native support ecosystem expansion.
• Motilal Oswal said InstaHelp is at an early stage and may weigh on near-term profitability. It added that the stock offers a balanced risk-reward at current valuations.

• The rupee opened 30 paise stronger at 93.67 against the US dollar.
• It extended gains in early trade and appreciated as much as 34 paise to 93.63.

• Nifty rose more than 500 points to trade near 22,900.
• Sensex surged over 1,700 points in the session.

• SEBI has approved a wider set of regulatory changes covering market intermediaries, foreign investors, alternative funds and governance norms.

• The board cleared a conflict-of-interest framework for SEBI board members and officials. The changes include tighter disclosure rules, trading curbs, recusal norms, a digital system to track conflicts, and an Office of Ethics and Compliance.

• Foreign portfolio investors will be allowed to settle funds on a net basis for outright cash market trades. The move is expected to reduce fund blockage, especially on index rebalancing days.

• SEBI approved measures to ease operating rules for REITs and InvITs. These include flexibility for InvITs to continue holding certain SPV investments after project completion, a wider set of liquid mutual fund options, limited greenfield exposure for privately listed InvITs, and more borrowing flexibility in some cases.

• The regulator has revised the fit-and-proper criteria for intermediaries. The filing of an FIR or chargesheet alone will not lead to automatic disqualification, while convictions for economic offences will be covered under tighter norms.

• SEBI has cut the minimum investment amount for social impact funds to Rs 1,000 from Rs 2 lakh to widen participation.

• The board also allowed more flexibility for AIFs in winding up schemes and surrendering registration. It introduced an inoperative fund category with lower compliance requirements for funds that are no longer actively managing investments.

• Kalpataru Projects said it has secured orders worth Rs 4,439 crore in its transmission and distribution business.
• The new wins include a 400 kV transmission line order in Africa and transmission line projects in India.
• The company has also received an order for a substation project in Sweden, according to an exchange filing.

• Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Fractal Analytics with an Overweight rating and a target price of Rs 964.
• It said the company is positioned as a challenger in technology services, with a focus on data, analytics and a platform-led approach to agentic AI services.
• The brokerage expects Fractal’s revenue growth to stay ahead of the industry and said the EBIT margin gap with peers could narrow over the next few years.

• Goldman Sachs maintained its Neutral rating on ITC and cut the target price to Rs 330 from Rs 385. It lowered earnings estimates to reflect calibrated price increases, a bigger impact on cigarette margins and higher input costs in the FMCG business.

• UBS maintained its Buy rating on ITC with a target price of Rs 395. It said ITC’s pricing strategy across key variants should help protect volumes and limit the impact on demand.

• UBS added that the company could perform better than bearish consensus expectations for FY27.

• Macquarie maintained its Outperform rating on Asian Paints with a target price of Rs 3100. It said the company’s 6-8% price hike in two phases supports its view that paint makers retain pricing power and that margin pressure from input costs may be near term.

• Morgan Stanley maintained its Underweight rating on Asian Paints with a target price of Rs 2126. Dealer checks showed a 6-8% price increase is likely in two parts, with a steeper rise in thinner prices.

• Morgan Stanley said paint demand remains weak across markets, with slow retail sales, higher discounts and stronger competition. It added that Berger has raised prices on some solvent-based products and Asian Paints continues to offer dealer and painter incentives to regain retail share, especially in western markets.

• Jefferies said India’s dependence on the Middle East for key chemical feedstocks is disrupting supply chains.
• It said fertilisers face the highest impact, followed by plastics, paints, adhesives, explosives and consumer durables.
• The brokerage said crop protection companies may protect export margins through cost pass-through clauses in term contracts, while Refgas could face input cost inflation. It added that the March quarter may see inventory gains, but operating rate cuts and margin pressure could follow from April if the conflict continues.

Shares of Ivalue Infosolution and GK Energy are on the watchlist due to lock-in expiry.

Epack Durable and LG Electronics are on the watchlist after a tax demand.

Balkrishna Industries plans to raise Rs 750 crore. The fund raise will be through non-convertible debentures.

• G R Infraprojects has received a letter of award from NHAI.
• The order is valued at Rs 2440 crore.

GOCL Corp is on the watchlist after a Bengaluru land monetisation transaction worth Rs 2261 crore.
 

• ACME Solar is on the watchlist after the commissioning of its battery energy storage system project.
• The update keeps the company in focus.

Promoter buying has put Electrosteel Castings and HCL Tech in focus.

The government plans to deploy 10,000 air-conditioned electric buses by 2030 and Olectra Greentech, JBM Auto and Ashok Leyland are on the watchlist on the update.

• Coal India plans to divest a 25% stake in its arm, Mahanadi Coalfields.
• The stake sale is planned through an offer for sale.

• The government has restored full RoDTEP benefits.
• Welspun Corp, Gokaldas Exports and Pearl Global are on the watchlist after the move.

Brent crude has fallen below $100 a barrel. The move puts oil marketing companies and Reliance Industries, IOCL, BPCL and HPCL on the watchlist.

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.2% and the Topix gained 2.47% after inflation eased for a fourth straight month.
• Australia’s ASX 200 advanced 0.74%.
• Hang Seng futures traded at 25,020 versus the last close of 24,382.47.
• South Korea’s Kospi index rose about 2.01%.

Japan’s consumer price index dropped to 1.3% last month, its lowest level since March 2022.