Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended higher for the third consecutive session; Most sectoral indices closed in green except the IT index; Broader market indices ended with little gains

POST-MARKET REPORT

The market extended gains on the third straight session on September 23 to hit fresh record highs with Nifty crossing 25,950 amid buying across the sectors barring Information Technology stocks.

At close, the Sensex was up 384.30 points or 0.45 percent at 84,928.61, and the Nifty was up 148.05 points or 0.57 percent at 25,939.

Top Nifty gainers were M&M, ONGC, Bajaj Auto, SBI Life Insurance, and Hero MotoCorp, while losers were Eicher Motors, Divis Labs, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra and IndusInd Bank.

Among sectors, the PSU Bank index rose more than 3 percent, the Realty index was up over 2 percent, while auto, energy, FMCG, metal, pharma, and media were up 0.5-1 percent. However, the Information Technology index shed 0.5 percent.

The BSE midcap index and smallcap indices were up 0.7 percent each.

STOCKS TODAY

Indus Towers: Shares jumped 4 percent after CITI issued a ‘buy’ call on the stock with a target price of Rs 500 per share. The recent Supreme Court dismissal of the AGR petition is not expected to have an immediate impact on Vodafone Idea’s cash flows; however, it could affect near-term stock sentiment, the brokerage said.

Adani Total Gas: Shares surged over 5 percent after the company successfully secured a financing package of $375 million from global lenders. The city gas joint venture between Adani Group and TotalEnergies of France said that this financing marks the largest global funding initiative in the CGD (city gas distribution) business.

Hind Rectifiers: Shares surged 5 percent to hit the upper circuit after the company secured a supply order worth over Rs 200 crore from Indian Railways. The order will be executed by FY26, according to the terms and conditions outlined by Indian Railways, Hind Rectifiers said in a regulatory filing.

Fusion Micro Finance: Shares crashed over 10 percent after Investec downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ and slashed the target price to Rs 300 apiece from Rs 500. The downgrade came after the company hinted at a higher estimated credit loss (ECL) provisioning for the second quarter of FY25 as compared to Q1.

Aarti Drugs: Shares rose 1 percent after US FDA issued Form 483 with seven observations for the company’s API manufacturing facility in Tarapur, Maharashtra. The inspection was conducted from September 12-20. None of the observations are related to data integrity.

Skipper: Shares rallied 15 percent after Axis Securities initiated coverage on the counter with a ‘buy’ on the counter and price target of Rs 600 per share as it sees robust growth prospects. The domestic brokerage firm forecasts an upside potential of 44 percent from the last closing price of Rs 418 on the National Stock Exchange.