Indian equity market is seen opening flat-to-higher on Thursday, tracking a muted trend from the GIFT Nifty as well as the overseas market. With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to present the Interim Budget 2024 in Parliament today, the market may see volatility today amid diverse reactions to budget announcements, ranging from highly positive to negative.
At 8:12 AM, the GIFT Nifty was trading a tad higher at 21,827.5, as compared to Nifty futures’ previous close of 21,794.5, indicating a tad higher opening for the domestic bourses.
The negative closing on Wall Street overnight, followed by weak cues from Asian peers after the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement also indicated a subdued opening for the the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty. The U.S. Fed kept its key policy rate unchanged at 5.25%-5.50%, citing that it would be appropriate to reduce the target range until the central bank gains greater confidence that inflation.
The market will also react to Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections data for January, core sectors as well as fiscal deficit figures released last evening. The participants will also keep an eye on manufacturing PMI data slated to be released today.
Meanwhile, on the last day of January month and one day before budget day, the market witnessed storing buying. The BSE Sensex gained 0.86% to close at 71752, and the Nifty settled 0.95% higher at 21,726.
Outperforming the benchmark indices, the broader market ended with solid gains. The BSE Midcap rose 1.57 %, while the BSE Smallcap jumped 1.83 %.
On the sectoral front, all indices ended in green, barring capital goods, while healthcare and realty were top gainers, rising 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively.
On the BSE Sensex pack, all stocks ended higher, except L&T and Titan Company. The top five gainers on the BSE Sensex pack were Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki India, and State Bank of India (SBI).
Top stocks to watch today
One 97 Communications (Paytm): The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday took major action against Paytm Payments Bank, directing the bank to stop to onboarding new customers with immediate effect. The central bank has also asked the payments bank to stop taking deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups in any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTags, NCMC cards, etc. after February 29, 2024.
Mankind Pharma: The pharma major released its December quarter earnings post market hours yesterday. The company’s consolidated net profit jumped 55% YoY to ₹460 crore for the third quarter ended December 2023, while revenue from operations rose to ₹2,607 crore in the period under review from Rs 2,091 crore in the year-ago period.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals: The drug maker has entered into a partnership with Pfizer to launch Abrocitinib in India. Developed by Pfizer, the drug is used for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.
Godrej Consumer Products: The FMCG company has posted a 6.4% YoY growth in consolidated profit at ₹581 crore in Q3 FY24, while consolidated revenue from operations increased by 1.7% to ₹3,660 crore compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal.
Corporate earnings: Among the key players, Titan Company, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Abbott India, Aditya Birla Capital, Bata India, City Union Bank, Deepak Fertilisers, Indian Hotels Company, India Cements, Dr Lal PathLabs, Mphasis, Raymond, RITES, Thyrocare Technologies, and Tube Investments of India will release their quarterly earnings today.
Auto stocks: Shares of heavyweights Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Ashok Leyland, TVS Motor Company, Eicher Motors, and Escorts will be eyed as they will release monthly sales numbers for January 2024.
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