Stock Market Highlights: Sensex ends 385 points higher, Nifty reclaims 17,000; ITC, Infy up 2%

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HDFC AMC attractive even at current levels, target price Rs 2,800: Ambareesh Baliga

Independent market expert Ambareesh Baliga likes KPIT from the midcap spae from a medium- as well as long-term perspective. "If you're talking large caps, I will still go with TCS and Infosys although I find them a bit expensive at these levels. If you need exposure to IT, I think these are the best two stocks to be there. I don't see an immediate sort of a move. I think this move will be limited to the time when we see the Q3 results in early January but after that, I think we could see some correction. I won't like to really go out and buy immediately but on a correction," he said. 

HDFC AMC attractive even at current levels, target price Rs 2,800: Ambareesh Baliga

Independent market expert Ambareesh Baliga finds HDFC AMC shares attractive even at the current levels. "This is quite a profitable mutual fund and you have an AUM of about Rs 4.4 lakh crore as of September, and this AUM grew about 23 percent YoY. They have a market share of about 12 percent. It has a very strong brand franchise of HDFC as such... extremely good distribution strength, operational capabilities are extremely good because of which you normally get a premium valuation for the stock. We've seen some amount of weakness in the past couple of months. That's what makes it interesting at these levels," he said.  

"If you look at the SIP flows, they've increased for about Rs 980 crore in Q1 to about Rs 1,080 crore in Q2. They recently launched a new scheme, HDFC Multicap Fund, which means that the flows for third quarter will be better than what we've seen the second quarter. They have been able to keep the cost low because of digitalisation. If you look at the dividend, it's been a healthy dividend payout, about 52 percent of the profits are paid out. So I'm expecting EPS of about Rs 80 for FY23. We should see levels of about Rs 2,800 - although we have seen the stock about Rs 3,000 but I'm keeping a target of Rs 2,800," he added.

IT big theme of 2022: Pashupati Advani  

Pashupati Advani of Global Foray believes IT is going to be in fashion. "It is being helped by the fact that the rupee is getting weaker. IT has gone out of favour and then it is coming back slowly; people are coming back into TCS, Infosys and Wipro. They are also looking at midcap tech stocks... Today our IT is considered world class like before," he said. 

"That is a big, big change in people's perceptions. TCS is like a household name all over the world. I think that has made a big difference, and we will see it in this cycle. As long as we are able to deliver and with all the companies needing AI, they are coming to us, and that business is going to come. So, you know, I am quite bullish on that sector simply because of what is going on. I think that there are opportunities there. Again I think it will be midcap IT that will get absorbed, or will die. They will either lose their business or get acquired. So I think that is the space to look into," he added.

Rupee ends higher at 75.24 against US dollar

The rupee closed at 75.24 against the greenback as against its previous close of 75.55.

Market At Close | Sensex, Nifty rise for 3rd day as Omicron concerns ebb

Here are some highlights: 

--PSU stocks, ITC, Infosys lift market; banks drag

--Nifty Bank gains 162 points to 35,191; midcap index rises 268 points to 29,927

--Tech stocks continue to gain momentum; Infosys, Tech Mahindra hit record highs

--PVR rises 3% ahead of big movie release on Friday

--Divi’s, JSW Steel, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Maruti top Nifty losers

--Zee falls 4% despite positive note by brokerages post-Sony deal

--Firstsource, Birlasoft, Cholamandalam Investment, Crompton top midcap gainers

--Metropolis, L&T Infotech, SAIL, MCX, Dixon, JK Cement top midcap losers

--Biocon rises 4% ahead of company’s corporate announcement

--Jubilant FoodWorks up 3% on reports of price hike

--PSU bank stocks rise as reports suggest government mulling reducing stake to 26%

--Market breadth favours bulls; advance-decline ratio at 2:1

Market At Close | Power Grid, Indian Oil, ONGC, ITC, Bajaj Finance top blue-chip gainers

On the other hand, Divi's, JSW Steel, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, UltraTech, Maruti Suzuki and Hindalco were the worst hit among the 15 laggards in the index.

Here's how the Sensex pack fared:

Closing Bell | Sensex up 385 points at 57,315, Nifty50 reclaims 17,050

The 30-scrip index ended 384.7 points or 0.7 percent higher at 57,315.3 and the broader Nifty50 benchmark settled at 17,051.8, up 96.4 points or 0.6 percent from its previous close. (Read more on the closing bell)

Corporate Affairs Ministry approves change in 'Shriram Transport Finance Company' name to Shriram Finance 

Shriram Transport Finance shares were up 3.1 percent at Rs 1,208.3 apiece minutes before the closing bell. 

Dish TV receives copy of petition filed by group of shareholders against company, Yes Bank

Dish TV shares were down 0.3 percent at Rs 17.6 apiece on BSE. Yes Bank was down 0.9 percent at Rs 13.6 apiece. 

Carborundum Universal to acquire Germany-based Awuko Abrasive's assets 

Carborundum Universal will acquire the main assets of Germany-based Awuko Abrasive for 6 million euros. Carborundum Universal shares were down 0.8 percent at Rs 921.6 apiece on BSE.

Hero MotoCorp to hike prices by up to Rs 2,000 from January 4

Hero MotoCorp shares were up 1.9 percent at Rs 2,395 apiece on BSE in the final minutes of the session. 

SEBI chairman has suggestions on new listings; here's what he says

At a time when the market is gripped by the IPO fever, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Ajay Tyagi said that the interest of investors must be protected during primary listings. In order to do so, companies should give a better rationale behind deciding the issue price and greater transparency from merchant bankers and issuers would be needed.

Market Watch: Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder of Zerodha and Co-Founder and CIO of True Beacon

On investments in various asset classes

I think gold is becoming interesting, all of a sudden. At any point when actual yield, actual interest rates are negative, it's a good time to be in gold. From a more holistic standpoint, I think crypto and things like Bitcoin, I would not want to comment on because the regulation around it is not out yet. I am fairly conservative and the peak at which we sit today, notwithstanding the little bit of correction we have witnessed in the last month or two, I would lean more towards safer investment classes possibly debt, things with a sovereign guarantee, tax free bonds, gold and a small amount of allocation to equity, and probably build a conservative portfolio at the current juncture when things are quite expensive from a valuation or a multiple standpoint.

GAIL board approves interim dividend of Rs 4 per share

GAIL's board gave nod to an interim dividend of Rs 4 per equity share for FY22, according to a regulatory filing. A record date of December 31 has been fixed for the dividend, it said. 

GAIL shares were up 1.5 percent at Rs 132.2 apiece on BSE after the announcement. (Read more on GAIL dividend)

Supriya Lifescience IPO share allotment today, here's how to check application status

Shares of Supriya Lifescience, whose initial share closed last week, will list on the bourses on December 28. The share allotment, however, is expected to be finalised today and investors can check the status on the issue's registrar Link Intime as well as on BSE. 

Here's how you can check the allotment status

GMR Infra gets NCLT nod for demerger of non-airport business

GMR Infra shares were down 0.7 percent at Rs 42.6 apiece on BSE in late afternoon deals, having risen as much as 2.3 percent to Rs 43.9 apiece earlier in the day. 

Before market hours on Thursday, the company said the NCLT had approved a composite scheme of arrangement for certain group companies. The tribunal gave nod to GMR Infrastructure for the demerger of its non-airport business. GMR Power Infra, GMR Infrastructure and GMR Power & Urban Infra will apply to the tribunal for directions necessary to implement the scheme.

Discussing more expansion plans with clients: Janumahanti Laxman Rao of Mold-Tek Packaging

Market Watch | Buy HDFC Bank, TCS: Himanshu Gupta, Globe Capital

- HDFC Bank is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 1,440 and a target of Rs 1,475

- Tata Consultancy Services is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 3,642 and a target of Rs 3,700-3,72

Buy ICICI Prudential Life Insurance shares | Target price: Rs 654 | Stop loss: Rs 525  

The stock appears to be in a strong uptrend on major timeframes. ICICI Prudential Life shares have made a bullish candle pattern on the daily chart, suggesting more upside. Technical indicators such as the Directional Movement and Average Directional indices indicate the bulls to be in control. The stock has been forming higher tops and higher bottoms on the weekly chart. One can initiate a 'buy' on ICICI Prudential Life for a period of up to three months. (Analyst: Nayak Ajit Srinivas, HDFC Securities)

Jubilant FoodWorks stock rises 5.5%; Here's what Morgan Stanley says

Shares of Jubilant FoodWorks rose as much as 5.5 percent on Thursday as Morgan Stanley's upbeat commentary cheered investors. At 12:46 pm, shares of Jubilant FoodWorks, operator of Domino's Pizza and Dunkin Donuts in India, were trading 3.3 percent higher at Rs 3,543.2 on BSE.

Morgan Stanley has an 'overweight' rating on shares of Jubilant FoodWorks with a target price of Rs 5,000 - a 46 percent upside from Wednesday's closing price.

Market Watch | Buy TCS, Axis Bank: Jay Thakkar, Marwadi Shares & Finance

- Buy TCS with a stop loss of Rs 3,570 and a target of Rs 3,800-3,850.

- Buy Axis Bank with a stop loss of Rs 660 and a target of Rs 705-720.

Market Watch | Buy L&T Financial, LIC Housing: Mitessh Thakkar, earningwaves.com

- Buy L&T Financial Holdings with a stop loss of Rs 81.20 and a target of Rs 88-90.

- Buy LIC Housing Finance with a stop loss of Rs 359 and a target of Rs Rs 384.

Market Watch | But Tata Chem, Lupin: Prakash Gaba, prakashgaba.com

- Buy Tata Chemicals with a stop loss of Rs 870 and a target of Rs 900 and Rs 920.

- Buy Lupin with a stop loss of Rs 885 and a target of Rs 940.

Market Watch | Buy Tata Steel, Nalco: Mitessh Thakkar, earningwaves.com

Buy Tata Steel with a stop loss of Rs 1,114 and a target of Rs 1,175.

Buy NALCO with a stop loss of Rs 101 and a target of Rs 108.

Buy Eicher Motors with a stop loss of Rs 2,460 and a target of Rs 2,540.

Buy Aurobindo Pharma with a stop loss of Rs 708 and a target of Rs 736.

Market size is big, expect it to be Rs 2 lakh crore by the end of 2025. Not all competitors will have the benefit of distribution & retail, says Gangadi Madhukar Reddy of Med Plus India.

Siddarth Bhamre, Director - Alternate Investment & Research at InCred Equities on Hindalco

“Hindalco would be preferred name for us because that is where we have seen the formation of long positions. Aluminium prices have also gone up and long positions plus a breakout on charts has closed above 50-day moving average (DMA) and among mid-cap space, watch out for stocks where the formation of long has taken place like India Cements, SRF, these are the names we will be concentrating on.”

Jubilant Foodworks stock is expensive but I suggest to ‘hold’: Mehraboon J Irani, Market Expert

The market has taken it as an unlock trade for the last one to one and a half year and this may vary. I think this is a stock to be in. Many of us have always been sceptical about valuations that Jubilant Foodworks has commanded but the company has made the right moves on a regular basis at regular intervals. That is why the company is where it is, the stock is where it is. Is it expensive in terms of valuations? My answer would be yes. Will I advise anybody to sell off? My answer would be no. There are stocks which are expensive and you have to live with it. I am very positive on the stock and I continue to remain positive on the stock. I know it's expensive. I still want to hold on to this stock. There are unlock trades – there are interesting stocks, Jubilant is one of them, I would go with my favorites - Delta Corp, which I believe should come with wonderful numbers for the quarter.

Buy MCX gold futures, target Rs 48,400: Motilal Oswal Financial Services' Amit Sajeja

Amit Sajeja, VP-Technical Commodities and Currencies Analyst, Commodities, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, recommends buying MCX gold futures (February) at Rs 47,800 for a target of Rs 48,400 with a stop loss at Rs 47,500. 

Gold is steady as the recent hawkish commentary from the US central bank has kept the price rise in check, he said. "Gold prices likely to take cues from US macroeconomic data and any rise in inflationary concerns is likely to provide support at lower levels," Sajeja added.

Bond Deals | SBI Cards, L&T Finance, ICICI Home Finance in focus

--SBI Cards & Payment Services accepts bids worth Rs 650 crore on three-year bonds at a 5.82 percent coupon. 

--L&T Finance accepts bids worth Rs 300 crore on three-year and one-month bonds at a 6.15 percent coupon. 

--ICICI Home Finance accepts bids worth Rs 150 crore on three-year and six-month bonds at a 6.12 percent coupon. (Catch other key bond deals today)