Muhurat Trading Session | Indian Share Markets Finish Strong on Diwali Day | Banking Stocks Rally

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Samvat 2079 began on a positive note for Indian share markets today as the auspicious Muhurat trading session ended on a strong note.

Benchmark indices kickstarted Samvat 2079 on a firm note as index heavyweight stocks witnessed heavy buying.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 525 points (up 0.9%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 154 points (up 0.9%).

Nestle, ICICI Bank, and L&T were among the top gainers today.

HUL and Kotak Bank, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The BSE MidCap index ended higher by 0.5% while the BSE SmallCap index ended higher by 1%.

Smallcap stocks have seen a sharp run-up in recent days so keep the best smallcap stocks on your radar.

Barring FMCG, all sectoral indices ended in the green with stocks in the banking sector, finance sector, and capital goods sector witnessing most of the buying.

Shares of Nestle and Cipla hit their 52-week highs today.

LIC share price which was falling, also bucked the trend and rose 2%.

The rupee is trading at 82.78 against the US$.

As the rupee falls, check out these five companies which stand to gain big from a weakening rupee.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.2% at Rs 50,525 per 10 grams.

Speaking of stock markets, Co-head of Research at Equitymaster Tanushree Banerjee talks about a green energy stock that trumped Voltas and Bluestar, in her latest video.

In news from the FMCG sector, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) share price was in focus today.

Share price of HUL dropped more than 3% during the Muhurat trading session as the company posted a contraction in its EBITDA margins for the September quarter.

The company's net profit grew 19.6% year-on-year to Rs 26.2 bn in the quarter ended September. Revenue increased 15.9% YoY to Rs 147.5 bn during the quarter.

The company's managing director Sanjiv Mehta said India is unlikely to face a recession and the country remains a bright spot, sounding a note of cheer amid a mostly grim global economic commentary.

Comments from the top FMCG company's MD come at a time when 66% of CEOs in India are anticipating a recession in the next 12 months, compared with 86% CEOs globally.

HUL, the maker of Rin detergent and Dove soap, posted 16% growth in sales, fuelled by price increases and not demand as volumes-or the products consumers actually buy-expanded 4%.

HUL is India's largest FMCG company. Over the past few years, HUL has innovated across value chains to enable greater agility, flexibility and efficiency.

For example, it has set up three nano factories that allow production in batches of kilograms rather than tonnes and help in faster product rollouts. This is being introduced in other Unilever markets to bring innovation lead times and cost down.

To know more, check out HUL's 2021-22 annual report analysis.

Moving on to news from the banking sector, banks have had the best quarter in years in financial performance, with private sector lenders leading the way with record-high profit margins.

ICICI Bank reported a 31-basis-point increase in NIM to 4.31% in the September quarter from a year earlier.

The improvement in NIM was across the board, with Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and IDBI Bank also reporting strong expansion in profitability.

For HDFC Bank, the NIM remained unchanged at 4.1%.

An increase in lending rates helped banks get higher yields on loans, even as the cost of funds remained relatively low as they have managed with smaller increases in deposit rates.

Fiscal second-quarter results show private sector banks have all reported a strong increase in net interest margins (NIM) along with robust loan growth, especially from retail loans.

Note that rising interest rates have affected the share market by a large extent. A similar rise in interest rates was also seen in 1989.

Years 1989 and 2022 both disappointed investors resultantly pushing them away. But ace investor Warren Buffett says,

• "Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful,"

Warren Buffett has taught what he preached. In 1989 when everyone was running from stock market, he invested a huge amount in Wells Fargo - an American financial company.

Over the years, Fargo has gone far up and generated handsome returns for Buffett.

This begs the question: is it the right time to invest in banking stocks?

Read out editorial to know more: Bank Stocks in 2022 Mirror Warren Buffett's 1989 Wells Fargo Investment.

Moving on, Reliance share price was also in focus today.

Reliance Industries rose 1% today after the company over the weekend said that it will demerge and list its financial services business housed under Jio Finance Services.

On 21 October, the company announced that shareholders will get one share of Jio Financial Services for every share held in the company by them.

Jio Financial Services intends to become a financial technology major leveraging the Reliance's digital capability and focus on the delivery of digital lending services. The company will launch consumer and merchant lending products along with expand into insurance, stock broking, and asset management services over the coming years.

It remains to be seen how the above developments pan out.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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