While maintaining its withdrawal of accommodation stance, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also highlighted that the inflation rate was persistently high above the RBI’s comfort range of 4%. On D-Street, while the Nifty PSU Bank index was trading about 3% higher led by SBI, Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto fell about 1% each. Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank led the downside with a dip of 2% each. Among auto stocks, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, and Sona Comstar fell 2% each.

Benchmark equity indices declined on Thursday, dragged by rate-sensitive sectors, following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision to keep its key interest rate unchanged for a sixth consecutive meeting, in line with expectations. As per data available on StockEdge, several midcap stocks from the Nifty200 index outperformed the benchmark Nifty50 index on a 1-week and 3-month basis as of February 7. Here's a list:

For the week, the CSI300 jumped 5.8% and the Shanghai Index advanced 5%, both booking their biggest weekly gain since November 2022. The markets will be closed for the long Lunar New Year holiday from Friday.

Indian shares declined on Thursday, dragged by rate-sensitive sectors, following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision to keep its key interest rate unchanged for a sixth consecutive meeting, in line with expectations. However, in today's trade, six BSE PSU stocks hit a new 52-week high. Here's a list:

“China seems to be divorced from the rest of the world,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. “Part of the lack of equity response is that the global economy is doing OK without China. The prior reactions occurred when China was a bastion of growth in a shakier world.”

LIC's m-cap crossed the Rs 7 lakh crore mark for the first time on Thursday to become India's fourth largest stock by beating ICICI Bank and Infosys. The value of LIC shares is now double that of its next 3 listed competitors - HDFC Life (Rs 1.3 lakh crore), SBI Life (Rs 1.49 lakh crore) and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (Rs 76,000 crore).

BAT has been an investor in ITC since the early 1990s, and it presently owns a little over 29% stake in the tobacco-to-hotels major. In December last year, BAT’s chief executive Tadeu Marroco had indicated the possibility of selling a partial stake in ITC, which has more than doubled in value in the last two years.

A short buildup is when there is a rise in open interest and volumes along with a decrease in the price of the underlying stock in the Futures and Options segment. Short buildup means more people are expecting the prices to go down and creating short positions. In Thursday’s trading session, five stocks witnessed a build of fresh short positions. Here's the list:

One day up, another day down and there is no dearth of explanation for each move of the market. After a strong run up, stock prices are bound to see some correction and the markets are likely to be volatile. First phase of volatility is always led by large caps as they have high institutional holdings. But over the long term, they tend to outperform and the drawdown is lower as compared to mid and small caps. So, at times large caps might optically appear to be underperforming and that may be an opportunity to look at some stocks with a long term perspective.

While maintaining its withdrawal of accommodation stance, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also highlighted that the inflation rate was persistently high above the RBI’s comfort range of 4%. On D-Street, while the Nifty PSU Bank index was trading about 3% higher led by SBI, Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto fell about 1% each. Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank led the downside with a dip of 2% each. Among auto stocks, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, and Sona Comstar fell 2% each.

Shares of state-owned SJVN rallied 9.5% to Rs 160.9 in Thursday's intraday trade on BSE after the company received a letter of intent from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (GUVNL) to set up a 200 megawatt (MW) solar power project.

Nestle India shares fell over 2% to the day's low of Rs 2,447 on the NSE in Monday's trade amid selling pressure in most FMCG stocks with the Nifty FMCG index as the worst-performing index. However, brokerages Citi and Nuvama remain optimistic about the stock's prospects, each recommending a 'Buy'. Meanwhile, Motilal Oswal held a neutral rating calling valuations on the higher side.

State Bank of India shares were trading amid significant volumes with more than 4.42 crore shares changing hands on the NSE around 11:30 am. With 27% returns over 1 year, the stock has underperformed many of its PSU bank peers, including Indian Overseas Bank (175%), Canara Bank (91%), and Bank of Baroda (48%).

A clear breakout from the pattern could take the stock to fresh record highs above 440 in the short to medium term, suggest experts.

Shares of General Insurance Corporation of India jumped 13.9% to a fresh 52-week high of Rs 466 while those of New India Assurance Company rallied 14.3% to a new high of Rs 311.85 on BSE.

A long buildup is when there is a rise in open interest and volumes along with an increase in the price of the underlying stock in the Futures and Options segment. The long buildup is the occurrence of a long (buying) trend in the share market. In Thursday's trading session, five stocks witnessed a build of fresh long positions. Here's the list:

The RBI on Thursday left the repo rate unchanged at 6.50% following the conclusion of its three-day monetary policy meeting. This is the sixth consecutive time the central bank has left policy rates untouched and the longest pause in rates since 2008 in a rising interest rate environment.

In all likelihood, it could be the elections rather than the central banks that will move the markets as both India and the US face elections in 2024.

Power Grid on Wednesday reported 10% growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 4,028 crore in the third quarter, compared with Rs 3,645 crore posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Fashion and lifestyle player Trent reported a 124% year-on-year (YoY) surge in consolidated net profit at Rs 374.36 crore for the quarter ended December 30. The profit stood at Rs 167 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Despite the monetary policy action being on expected lines, the equity market tumbled. Sensex lost over 700 points while Nifty slipped below the 21,750 mark. Unlike in the previous meeting, the decision to leave rates unchanged this time was favoured by 5 of the 6-member MPC panel.

Unlike the US and some other western countries, where a separate transportation index is watched very closely, in India we don't have a very popular transportation index. The reason why transportation index numbers are extremely important is because there is enough historical evidence to show that auto industry numbers lead indicators of what is happening in the economy. That is why if one looks at the history of the stock market, the rallies which are led by the transportation and auto sector are more durable rallies. Especially the ones which are led by large commercial vehicles. Demand for large commercial vehicles would only increase when there is higher economic growth as more goods get moved from one place to another when the economy is doing well. But as the stocks have done well in the recent past, it is time to be selective at least in the near term.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank also retained its stance of remaining focussed on the “withdrawal of accommodation.”

Nifty started strong and fought off all adversaries despite setbacks. It managed to close flat.

The Rs 600 crore fundraising through an IPO in India was possibly a game changing event for Yatra, according to JM Financial Institutional Securities, as that helped the management focus entirely on driving growth and market share gains through superior execution.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank also retained its stance of remaining focussed on the “withdrawal of accommodation.”

The retail arm sold over 1 crore shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) but bought 14.5 crore shares of Jio Financial Services during the quarter.

Investors are also waiting to see if the moderation in core inflation and focus on fiscal prudence in the interim budget would enable policymakers to signal a turn in the rate cycle.

Citigroup maintained a buy rating on Nestle India post Q3 results with a target price of Rs 2900. The company reported steady revenue growth and guided for a margin expansion in Q4CY23, it said.

Fashion and lifestyle player Trent reported a 124% year-on-year (YoY) surge in consolidated net profit at Rs 374.36 crore for the quarter ended December 30. The profit stood at Rs 167 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Shares of crisis-ridden One 97 Communications, which runs Paytm, dropped 9.4% to hit a low of Rs 450 on BSE. Investors lost patience after a meeting between Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI officials yielded no positive results. Paytm shares have lost about 41% of their value since the RBI's diktat on January 31.

The private lender's stock has rallied nearly 43% in three days after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) nod to HDFC Bank for acquiring up to 9.50% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights of the bank. The private lender reported robust growth in profit for the quarter ended December 2023, with the bottom line surging more than four times year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 231 crore.

Billionaire hedge fund manager William Ackman is launching a new investment portfolio in the U.S., according to a regulatory filing which suggests the fund will mimic his existing hedge fund but offering lower fees and quicker access to capital.

Arm surged more than 30% on Wednesday after the British tech company forecast quarterly sales and profit above Wall Street expectations as customers aim to design new chips for artificial intelligence work, generating higher royalties.

Alibaba executives expressed coolness about the near-term potential of IPOs for Cainiao logistics and Freshippo. Alibaba is considering selling consumer sector assets, including Freshippo, which has been engaged in a price war with Walmart's Sam's Club.

Wall Street's major stock indexes rose on Wednesday, with the benchmark S&P 500 registering a record closing high, as investors applauded overall strength in U.S. earnings and monitored Federal Reserve comments for clues on interest rates.

Most Asian markets tracked Wall Street higher on Thursday, but Chinese stocks were battling to sustain a rally after data raised concerns about deflationary pressures in China and suggested the economic slowdown may have further to run.

Stocks that were in focus included names like EIH, which rose 20%, Gensol Engineering, which increased 10%, and Trent, whose shares jumped 19.48% on Wednesday.

U.S. central bankers want to hold off on cutting interest rates until they have more confidence that inflation is headed down to 2%, and on Wednesday gave a range of reasons for feeling little urgency to start easing policy soon or to move quickly once they do.

A 40% surge in Nvidia so far in 2024 has elevated its market capitalization to $1.715 trillion as of mid-day trading on Wednesday, only about 3% below Amazon's $1.767 trillion value, and less than 6% below Alphabet's $1.812 trillion value, according to LSEG data.

“DCW stock has finally confirmed a breakout from a 16-year channel pattern on the monthly charts which can result in the start of a fresh uptrend. Traders can buy for a target of Rs 140 in the next 18-24 months,” Gaurav Bissa

Paytm Money, the wealth management entity run by One 97 Communications, is being inspected by the Central Depository Services India. Earlier, RBI asked Paytm Payments Bank to stop banking services from the end of this month. However, this order does not have any direct impact on Paytm Money, which operates independently.

The bonds have step-up pricing such that the real estate company will pay investors 17.25% for 12 months and 20.25% between 13 and 15 months, stated a term-sheet circulated by the company. At the same time, the company will have the right to redeem the bonds at the end of 12 months. In the event of default, the company will pay 24% to the investors.

For April-January period, SBI Life reported 29.63% increase in income. ICICI Prudential reported 8.6% increase in January premium to ₹1,564 crore against ₹1,439 crore. During the year to January, the insurer reported 2.87% increase.

The average analyst price target on Navin Fluorine available by Bloomberg after the third quarter results stood at ₹3,472, implying an upside of 12.47% from Wednesday's closing.

India is an under penetrated market when it comes to retail credit, even when Indian Fintech companies are witnessing substantial growth in loan disbursals. In the first quarter of this fiscal, these Fintech companies disbursed a total of 22.2 million loans, growing 30.6% from the previous year, said a report by Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE).

Asset management company Artisan Partners on Wednesday divested a 1.2% stake in telecom infrastructure major Indus Towers for Rs 717 crore through an open market transaction.

The Punjab government has finalized the payment of ₹1,426 crore to banks, including IDBI, to acquire the debt-ridden 540-MW GVK Power's Goindwal Sahib thermal power plant. This settlement, equivalent to 43% of principal dues, marks a significant recovery for banks involved. Litigation delays with the plant owners have now been resolved, facilitating the transaction.

Banks are urging for incentives, such as relaxed norms on risk-weighted assets (RWA) and cash reserve ratio (CRR), for sustainability-linked loans. These loans tie interest rates to a company's sustainability performance, promoting adherence to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) norms. Discussions with stakeholders, including the RBI, are ongoing, with proposals to include green financing in priority sectors like electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy.

The ANMI board has conveyed to the Brokers' Industry Standards Forum (ISF) that the board is in principle agreeable to the extended trading hours for the index derivatives, said the association's national president Vijay Mehta.