On Tuesday, Indian share markets extended losses as the session progressed and ended the day on a weak note.
Equity markets plunged to one-month lows on Tuesday as selling in financial, and FMCG shares dent the sentiment.
At the closing bell on Tuesday, the BSE Sensex closed down by 1053 points (down 1.5%).
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 333 points (down 1.5%).
Cipla, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank were among the top gainers.
IndusInd Bank, ONGC and Coal India on the other hand, were among the top losers.
Broader markets ended on positive note. The BSE MidCap index and BSE SmallCap index ended 2.7% lower.
Barring healthcare sector, sectoral indices ended negative with stocks in realty sector and metal sector and oil & gas sector witness selling pressure.
The rupee was trading at 83.17 against the US$.
Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX were trading marginally higher at Rs 62,035 per 10 grams at the time of Indian market closing hours on Tuesday.
At 7:50 AM today, the Gift Nifty was trading 64 points or 0.3% higher at 21,534 levels.
Indian share markets are headed for a positive note opening today following the trend on Gift Nifty.
Speaking of stock markets, ndia's three leading exchanges, BSE, MCX and IEX operate in different genres.
One is a stock exchange (operating in financial sector).
The second is a commodity exchange (operating in manufacturing sector).
The third is an energy exchange (operating in infrastructure sector).
All three exchanges are listed. Also, they are perceived by investors as the gateway to the long-term prosperity of the underlying sector they operate in.
Which one could be a future multibagger?
Tanushree Banerjee co-head of research at Equitymaster, answers these questions in below video.
VST Industries share price will be in focus today.
VST Industries shares fell 4% today after the tobacco player's net profit tanked 32% for the October-December quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24.
The net profit for the December quarter came in at Rs 537.2 m, compared to Rs 789.8 m in the same quarter in FY23.
Hero MotoCorp will also be a top buzzing stock.
Shares of Hero MotoCorp traded 3.1% higher after the company announced the launch of two new bikes, the Xtreme 125R and a special collector's edition named 'Hero Forever'.
The new Xtreme 125R is available at Hero MotoCorp dealerships in two variants, priced at Rs. 95,000 for IBS and Rs. 99,500 for ABS.
Axis Bank reported a net profit of Rs 60.7 bn for the October-December quarter of the financial year 2023-24, up 4% from the year-ago period.
The net profit, at Rs 60.7 bn, is slightly missing the market estimate of Rs 61.1 bn.
Its net interest income (NII), the difference between the interest earned from lending activities and the interest paid to depositors, came in at Rs 125.3 bn. It is almost in line with the market estimate of Rs 125.6 bn.
During the quarter, the lender made a provision on its entire alternative investment funds (AIF) aggregating Rs 1.8 bn. The net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter stood at 4%.
The bank's gross non-performing asset (NPA) stood at 1.6%, down from 2.4% recorded in the same quarter last year. On the other hand, the net NPA for the quarter remained flat at 0.3%.
Total deposits of the lender stood at Rs 10 trillion (tn) and grew by 18% YoY, of which savings and current account (CASA) deposits grew 16% and 5%, respectively. The total term deposits grew 24%. The share of CASA deposits in total deposits stood at 42%.
The bank's advances grew 22% YOY and stood at Rs 9.3 tn. Retail loans of the lender grew 27% to Rs 5.5 tn. Out of this, the share of secured retail loans was around 75%, with home loans comprising 30% of the retail book.
Rallis India's net profit rose 9% on-year to Rs 240 m in the December quarter of the financial year 2023-24, helped by a fall in input costs.
The agrochemical company's revenue, however, was down 5% at Rs 5.9 bn, the firm told exchanges on 23 January.
The net profit rose due to falling raw material costs, which slid to Rs 3.3 bn from Rs 3.8 bn last year.
Net profit and revenue, however, were sharply lower from the previous quarter. The company reported a revenue of Rs 8.3 bn and Rs 820 m net profit in the July-September period.
Rallis India is adding capacity at the Pendimethalin Plant at Dahej. It plans to add 2000 MT per annum to the current capacity of 5,000 MT. The company will invest Rs 150 m for the expansion through its internal accruals.
The expansion is expected to be completed in a phased manner by FY25.
Sugar companies were trading down on 23 January after the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) said the sweetener production was down compared to the previous year.
Sugar production in the current marketing year, till 15 January, was 149.5 lakh tons against 157.9 lakh tons in the year-ago period.
The sugar marketing year runs from October to September.
Shree Renuka Sugars, the most valued sugar manufacturer, was down about 2%. Balrampur Chini Mills, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, Dalmia Sugar, Dhampur Sugar and DCM Shriram Industries were down up to 4%.
The recent weather has been favourable for the standing cane crop. Cane commissioners of major producers such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka had revised their sugar production estimates for 2023-24 by 5-10% each.
Even after allowing additional sugar for the production of ethanol, the closing balance should be sufficient to cater a couple of months into the next season.
In December, the government allowed - after banning briefly - the use of sugarcane juice as well as B-heavy molasses to produce ethanol but capped the diversion of sugar at 17 lakh tons. The cap will stay for the 2023-24 supply year that ends in September.
The ban had come as sugar prices inched up and there were production concerns as well.
Higher sugarcane supply, along with the cap, will likely mean more sugar production, which will bring the price down, resulting in lower revenue for mills.
The government recently announced incentives for ethanol made from maize. ISMA, however, argued that since the cane crop was more efficient in terms of water, nutrients and land use, it should get more support from the government.
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