Sensex Today | Share Market Live Updates: Sensex plunges 550 points, Nifty below 19550; TechM, Asian Paints drag

Co-founder and non-executive director of Asian Paints Ashwin Dani passed away on Thursday, reported CNBC-TV18.

Earlier on 23 June, the Asian Paints board approved the appointment of Deepak Satwalekar as chairman of the board, saying Dani shall continue to be on the board of directors of the company as a non–executive/promoter director. (Read more) 

European shares edged lower for a sixth straight day on Thursday in choppy trading. The pan-European STOXX 600 index reversed early gains and slipped 0.2%.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 1.6%.The Hang Seng index, Sydney’s S&P/ASX also fell. Only Shanghai Composite was up.

Current account deficit widened to 1.1% of GDP in the June quarter from 0.2% in the preceding quarter, though it was lower than 2.1% seen in Q1FY23.

India’s Adani group has switched the auditor of its main UK subsidiaries to the smaller London-based firm Ferguson Maidment & Co after previous auditor Crowe UK resigned in March, FT reported.

Global oil prices surged on Thursday as a slump in crude stocks in the US exacerbated concerns over tight global supplies amid OPEC output cuts led by Saudi Arabia.

At 1113 am, the November Brent contract on the Intercontinental Exchange traded at $97.34 per barrel, up 0.82% from its previous close. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures on NYMEX traded at $94.59 per barrel, a rise of 0.97% from previous close.

As per a Bloomberg report, Vedanta’s aluminum, oil and gas, iron ore, and steel businesses will be separately listed. The move could help tycoon Agarwal manage his metals-to-energy empire’s debt load.

MCX is set to launch a new commodity derivatives platform on 3 October. The mock session ahead of the launch has been fixed for 2 October.

ICICI Lombard gets show-cause notice from DG GST for a tax demand of ₹1,728.9 crore

China’s Evergrande Group suspended trading in Hong Kong, along with its property services and electric vehicle units. No reason was given for the halt in a notice to the stock exchange on Thursday. (Bloomberg)

Tyre stocks have been on a roll. Shares of Apollo Tyres Ltd, MRF Ltd, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd, Ceat Ltd and Balkrishna Industries Ltd have gained about 36-71% over the past one year. Tyre companies had hiked prices and input costs were softening, which together meant a sharp expansion in margins. But now, the outlook on both factors has turned adverse. (Read more)

Oil prices surged nearly $1 per barrel on Thursday, reaching its highest level in over a year driven by a significant decrease in crude oil inventories in the US, intensifying concerns about global supply shortages due to OPEC-led production cuts. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) surpassed the $95 mark for the first time since August of the previous year. WTI stood at $94.60 per barrel, up 1%.

“Nifty after the slide witnessed in the morning session took support near the significant and crucial zone of 19,550 levels as we have been mentioning in the last 2-3 sessions and gave a decent pullback to improve the bias and sentiment significantly. The index ending above the 19,700 zone is a good positive sign and further a decisive breach above 19,850 levels would once again turn the trend overall positive to anticipate for further rise till 20,200 levels.

Bank Nifty in a similar way, maintained the support near 44,200 levels and recovered to close near the 44,600 zone to improve the bias and further ahead, a decisive breach above 44,800 levels of the important 50EMA zone, shall turn the trend positive to anticipate for further upward move with 45,000 acting as the psychological barrier,” said Parekh adding, “The support for the day is seen at 19,600 levels while the resistance is seen at 19,850 levels. Bank Nifty would have the daily range of 44,300 to 45,000 levels.”

Stocks to buy today:

– BHEL: Buy at ₹126.90, target ₹135, stop loss ₹123;

– Lemon Tree: Buy at ₹118.35, target ₹126, stop loss ₹115; and

– Birlasoft: Buy at ₹491.50, target ₹520, stop loss ₹483.

Cipla Ltd’s promoters are in advanced talks with two consortiums—one led by Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd, with the participation of prominent family offices, and the other a group of buyout firms led by BPEA EQT and General Atlantic—to sell a controlling stake in India’s fourth-largest drugmaker for $6-7 billion, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Mint. (Full report)

Cipla, Dixon Tech, Oberoi Realty, Tata Power, Barbeque Nation, NBCC, Vedanta, Vodafone are among the Stocks to Watch today

Meanwhile, Delta Corp and India Cements are part of the F&O ban list by the National Stock Exchange for Thursday.

Asian stocks declined as investors confronted the anticipation of elevated interest rates and surging oil prices, following the extension of crude oil reaching a one-year high. 

In Japan and New Zealand, equity indices registered declines, while Australian stocks made modest gains. In Hong Kong, futures on equity saw a drop. This global market downturn persisted on Wednesday as crude oil prices and US Treasury yields continued to rise. US stock markets closed mixed overnight.