Global brokerage firm Bernstein predicts Nifty returns based on Lok Sabha outcomes: BJP victory with over 290 seats may yield high single-digit or low double-digit returns.

Paytm's Q4 results show widened losses and reduced revenue, impacted by disruptions and regulatory actions. Analysts vary: Bernstein sees signs of recovery, Macquarie remains cautious, Motilal Oswal maintains a neutral stance, while JM Financial advises selling.

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:

In Thursday's trading session on the BSE, shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries declined by 5%, reaching the day's low of Rs 1,467. This drop occurred despite the company reporting a 34% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its Q4 profit to Rs 2,654.6 crore, with revenue rising by 10.1% YoY to Rs. 11,813 crore in Q4FY24.

Domestic brokerage firm HDFC Securities has initiated coverage on several healthcare stocks. It sees a strong potential for value unlocking in these companies, which includes Apollo Hospitals Enterprise and Dr Lal Pathlabs. Here is a list of 5 healthcare stocks on which HDFC Securities initiated coverage:

Top brokerages issue ratings and targets for key stocks: Motilal Oswal upgrades HDFC Life to buy; Jefferies reaffirms buy for Sun Pharma; UBS stays neutral on Nykaa; Jefferies advises hold on Jubilant FoodWorks. Analysts anticipate growth trajectories and address performance factors.

Despite the pre-election rally that has propelled the stock market to a historic market capitalization of $5 trillion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed confidence that both the BJP and the stock market will achieve fresh record highs on June 4, coinciding with the announcement of Lok Sabha election results.

Quest Laboratories made its debut on the NSE SME platform on Thursday, starting with a 60% premium. The stock opened at Rs 155, surpassing its issue price of Rs 97. Before its listing, the company's shares were trading at a premium of Rs 80 in the unlisted market.

A long buildup occurs when there is an increase in open interest and trading volumes alongside a rise in the price of the underlying stock in the Futures and Options segment, indicating a bullish trend in the market. In Thursday's trading session, five stocks experienced a buildup of fresh long positions. Here's the list:

Nifty and Sensex opened flat on Thursday after disappointment in recent inflation data from the Federal Reserve, dampening hopes of an early rate cut. BSE Sensex traded 24 points higher at 74,245, while Nifty50 was at 22,604. Federal Reserve officials expressed concern about inflation persisting above the 2% target.

Low-priced stocks attract institutional interest, yielding multibagger returns within six months. Nitco leads with a 179% surge, followed by IFCI, Newtime Infrastructure, Unitech, Hindustan Motors, Cupid, and PVP Ventures.

Go Digit's shares listed on NSE and BSE at a premium. The stock debuted at Rs 286 on NSE and Rs 281.1 on BSE, with strong interest from buyers.

BEML surged 195%, hitting record highs. Traders advise holding for potential 5000 levels, supported by chart pattern, strong momentum, positive Q4 results, technical analysis, positive volume activity, and sustained outperformance against NIFTY.

Nifty opened weak but crawled into the positive territory and stayed there for the rest of the session.

While the high-speed traders sell options, long-only funds and retail investors buy contracts to make speculative bets or protect themselves against sudden market drops and are often on the other side of the trade, the people said.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.57%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was one of the biggest decliners, slumping 0.8%, also hurt by a pullback in some commodity prices.

BHP, the world's biggest listed mining group, now has until May 29 to make a binding offer for Anglo American or it will be forced to walk away for at least six months, under the UK's takeover rules.

Stocks that were in focus include names like Indian Bank, which fell 1.33%, Sun Pharma, which jumped 1.5%, and Hindustan Zinc, whose shares rose 4% on Wednesday.

One passenger died of a suspected heart attack and dozens were injured after flight Singapore Airlines SQ321 encountered what the airline described as sudden, extreme, turbulence while flying over Myanmar on Tuesday.

Investors had focused on whether Nvidia's first-quarter results could meet sky-high expectations and whether the outsized rally in artificial intelligence-related stocks could be sustained.

“The stock price of Cipla has now given a breakout above its immediate resistance and the stock is also trading above its important moving averages. Traders can buy for a target of Rs 1515-1560 in the next 3-4 weeks,” says Ruchit Jain, Lead Research, 5paisa.com.

The benchmark bond yield retreated below 7% on expectations that New Delhi would now need to borrow less this fiscal year. “The higher dividend is welcome, of course,” finance secretary TV Somanathan told ET. “It exceeds our estimate by 0.2-0.3% of GDP.” In the interim budget, North Block had factored in receipts of Rs 1.05 lakh crore under dividends and profits.

Grasim Ltd, part of the Aditya Birla Group, reported 39% growth in its consolidated net profit (excluding exceptional item) at Rs 1,908 crore for the quarter ended March 2024.

​​About 75 lakh shares worth 303.81 crore were sold at 405.08 apiece and were bought by 8 funds at 405-405.1. Axis MF, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Fidelity Funds' India Focus Fund were the top buyers.

Silver is a byproduct of zinc mining, and Hindustan Zinc achieved record-high saleable silver production of 746 metric tonnes, up 5% year-on-year in FY24 while its zinc production remained stagnant at 8,17,000 metric tonnes.

At a time when some of the central banks in the advanced world have reported losses and negative equity, RBI will hand over a dividend cheque of more than ₹2.1 lakh crore to its sole owner, the government.

The company in a filing with BSE said that the floor price for the issue is at ₹4,531.40 per equity share. In a recent interaction with ET, Sudhir Singh, the CEO, said that the company will shell out $220 - $250 million, (or about ₹1,826 crore - ₹2,081 crore) to acquire Hyderabad-based Cigniti Technologies even as the Noida-based IT firm launched an open offer to acquire an additional 26% stake in Cigniti. He had said that they would use QIP to acquire between 51% - 54% of the of Cigniti.

This is the second time the Burman family, the largest shareholders of Religare, has accused Saluja of insider trading violations. In September, the Burmans accused Saluja of insider trading ahead of the open offer announcement.

Options turnover in the total F&O turnover has been calculated on the basis of the premium and not the strike value (which is used by NSE and BSE to calculate their turnover officially).

The construction sector witnessed foreign selling worth ₹3,811 crore in the first half of May after they bought shares worth ₹280 crore in April. Oil & gas and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) also saw foreign selling worth ₹2,808 crore and ₹1,158 crore respectively.

Minutes from the two-day Federal Open Market Committee gathering ending May 1 showed that, while participants assessed that policy was "well positioned," various officials mentioned a willingness to tighten policy further if warranted.

After hitting a record high of Rs 1,519 on March 11, 2024, the pharma major lost steam. The recent stock action, however, suggests that the stock has bottomed out. It rose from Rs 916 as of May 19 to Rs 1,441 recorded on May 21. In May it made a double bottom pattern on the daily charts.

All eyes will be on whether semiconductor bellwether Nvidia's first-quarter results, due after markets close, can meet sky-high expectations and sustain the bumper gains the company's shares and other AI-related stocks recorded. The Nasdaq briefly touched a fresh record high in choppy trading.

While Adani group denied all allegations, the news report was cited by opposition leaders including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to demand a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into the alleged wrongdoing.

Silver is a byproduct of zinc mining, and Hindustan Zinc achieved record-high saleable silver production of 746 metric tonnes, up 5% year-on-year in FY24 while its zinc production remained stagnant at 8,17,000 metric tonnes.

While Adani group denied all allegations, the news report was cited by opposition leaders including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to demand a probe by a joint parliamentary committee into the alleged wrongdoing.

The deal came as the India’s media landscape is going through a major shakeup. Disney signed a binding agreement in late February to combine its India Unit with viacom 18 media pvt, creating an $8.5 billion entertainment giant that will have 750 million viewers and dominate the sector in the world’s populous country.

Domestic IT firms advanced on Wednesday with an eye on rate cut clues from the upcoming Federal Reserve minutes. Consumer stocks and RIL supported gains. NSE rose for five days in a row and settled above 22,500 points. Nifty formed a bullish candle with a long tail, indicating strong buying interest. Tata Steel, Coal India, HDFC Bank, SBI, ONGC were among most active stocks in volume terms

Target on Wednesday said it expects consumer caution to persist after it reported quarterly earnings that missed Wall Street estimates and issued a forecast for the current quarter that was also largely below expectations.

Benchmark Sensex advanced 267 points while Nifty closed higher for the fifth day in a row on Wednesday amid buying in bluechips Reliance Industries and Infosys amid mixed cues from global markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 267.75 points or 0.36% to settle at 74,221.06. Extending gains to the fifth day in a row, the NSE Nifty rose by 68.75 points or 0.31% to finish at 22,597.80. FMCG and realty shares supported the uptrend while banking and metal shares declined."Nifty continues to trend bullishly, finding support at 22,500. The index has been moving higher within a rising channel. The trend is likely to remain strong as long as it stays above 22,500. On the higher end, the index might move towards 22,800 in the short term, with immediate support at 22,600. A dip below 22,600 might briefly take the index towards 22,500," said Rupak De, LKP Securities.Here are 5 stock recommendations for Thursday:

The leading global PE firm offloaded about 3.5% stake or 2.24 crore shares. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stabley, Mirae Asset MF, Societe Generale, Citigroup, ICICI Pru MF bought stakes. Mutual funds have a significant 16.77% stake and foreign investors hold about 17.61% stake as of March 2024.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.66 points, or 0.02%, at the open to 39,863.33.

Mining billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd has sought shareholders' nod to raise up to Rs 8,500 crore through issuance of securities. "We hereby submit a copy of Postal Ballot Notice....seeking approval of the Members of the company in respect of...issuance of securities up to Rs 8,500 crore," the company said in a filing on the BSE.

Zee’s consolidated revenue grew by 10% year-on-year to Rs 2,170 crore in the March 2024 quarter. This was 8% higher than the street’s estimates. A large part of this growth was on account of 10% growth in the advertising revenue at Rs1,110 crore, beating the analysts’ estimates by 16%.

Despite widened net loss and a revenue drop in Q4, Paytm's shares closed near a 5% upper circuit. Impact of disruptions from UPI transition and Paytm Payments Bank embargo cited. Impairment provision of Rs 227 crore for investment in PPBL recorded.

Long unwinding refers to the selling of positions or stocks owned for a longer period either to book profit or to exit it in anticipation of impending bearishness. In Wednesday's trading session, five stocks witnessed a top long unwinding. Here's the list:

Sensex advanced 267 points while Nifty closed higher for the fifth day in a row on Wednesday. Sectorally, buying was seen in utilities, energy, FMCG and realty while metal, banks, consumer durables and oil & gas stocks saw selling pressure. PNC Infratech rose over 13% to hit a fresh record high.

Sebi's new guidelines for managing stock price impact arising from market rumours will ensure that the share price used in the merger and acquisition (M&A), buyback, and other transactions are not artificially influenced by speculative market activities, experts said on Wednesday.

Nifty closes 69 points higher, forming a bullish candle with strong buying interest. Holding above 22,590, it may reach 22,750, supported by 22,500. Analysts anticipate further uptrend, with key support at 22,500 and resistance at 22,800.

Short covering refers to the buying of shares in order to close an existing short position or a position that has been sold. Short covering signals a shift in view on security from extreme bearishness to bullishness. In Wednesday's trading session, five stocks saw top short covering. Here's the list: