After a very short phase of a correction, several PSU bank stocks were the top gainers in Tuesday's trading session. Today on Wednesday they are trading with minor cuts and some of them have seen intraday recovery. This is worth noting for two reasons. First, all PSU banks are sitting with a decent amount of gains for the last five months, and even then they have not witnessed a sharp decline. Second, on Tuesday, the breadth of the market was weak. Suddenly PSU turns into an outperforming set of stocks. It signals a couple of things. First, because the banking sector is probably the best proxy play to the Indian economy. It appears the view on the street is positive on economic growth. Second, rather than taking exposure to an individual sector, taking exposure to PSU banks which are still among the lot that are available at relatively cheaper valuations is a trade on the street. But should one ignore the private banks? Probably not. They have their trajectory and just because they have not performed on the street it does not mean their core business model has some issues.. It's just another phase that shall pass.

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 Wednesday's trading session, five stocks witnessed a build of fresh long positions. Here's the list:

Short-term traders can look to buy the stock for a possible target above 300 levels which will take the stock to a fresh record high, suggest experts.

Foreign portfolio investors slowed down selling on Dalal Street in February, with eight sectors witnessing cumulative inflows of more than Rs 30,000 crore. The consumer services sector attracted the highest inflows at Rs 7,538 crore. The construction and fast moving consumer goods sectors faced outflows. Equities may witness a volatile March with continued selling in the broader market.

Smallcap stocks have underperformed, with many multibagger stocks showing negative returns this year. Value investors are cautious, and experts have mixed opinions about the future performance of smallcaps. Selective investing and risk reduction strategies are recommended.

Citigroup maintains buy rating on UltraTech Cement, downgrades MGL. Jefferies downgrades IIFL Finance, JPMorgan maintains overweight rating on RIL. RBI's restriction impacts IIFL Finance. RIL's earnings driven by telecom tariffs and retail earnings.

Shares of IIFL Finance fell 20% after Jefferies downgraded the stock due to RBI's restriction on gold loans. B&K Securities expects the gold loan portfolio to be affected. RBI found violations impacting customers.

Indian equity indices fell as Federal Reserve Chair's testimony and US jobs data approach. IT stocks like Tech Mahindra, TCS, Wipro, Infosys, HCL Tech lagged. L&T, Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank, JSW Steel, Tata Steel gained. IIFL Finance faced a 20% lower circuit after RBI's financing restriction.

Last evening, it was reported that China's Alibaba-affiliate Ant Financial is looking to sell a 2% stake at a floor price of Rs 159.4, a discount of nearly 5% from Tuesday's market price.

Jyothy Labs has delivered industry-leading volume growth for nine consistent quarters. In the near term, growth is likely to be driven by building scale in the fabric care category, focus on increasing share in the personal care category, and innovation in key categories, says Kruttika Mishra of Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

It continued to gain market share in the fabric care category, which along with an enhanced distribution reach, aided the company to achieve consistent volume growth in the past few quarters.

Nifty 50 opened weak and weakened further. But it pulled itself back up in the afternoon to end in the profit zone.

Shares of JM Financial plunged 19% after RBI barred JM Financial Products from undertaking business in shares and bonds funding. RBI directed JM Financial to cease and desist from financing against shares and debentures. The stock has been on the downtrend for the fourth straight session.

Traders are hesitant to place major bets ahead of congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that will be parsed to gauge if the U.S. central bank is ready to start cutting rates.

Tuesday's economic data was a mixed bag showing slower U.S. services industry growth in February as employment declined while a measure of new orders grew to a six-month high, signaling underlying strength in the sector.

Stocks that were in focus included names like IIFL Finance, which fell 20%, Bajaj Auto, which rose 1.74%, and Tata Steel, whose shares declined 5% on Tuesday.

"Overall, markets are likely to consolidate in the near term with sectorial rotation amid key events lined up. Capital Goods, Auto, PSU Bank, and Oil & Gas will continue to remain in focus," said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal.

“On a daily chart, Bata India stock price has formed a Bullish Hammer Candlestick formation which is a Bullish Reversal formation and indicates an upside move. Traders can buy for a target of Rs 1500-1550,” KKunal V Parar, Vice-President of Technical Research and Algo, Choice Broking, said.

News of the stake sale by Antfin comes just a day after the shares hit their all-time high of ₹175.6 on Monday. The shares have gained more than 34% so far in 2024, after having more than doubled in 2023. The stake sale by Antfin is expected to bring in ₹2,800 crore for them.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the ₹9,650 crore resolution plan of IIHL in its order dated February 27. Torrent Investments, which was the other bidder in the fray, has contested the resolution process, and the matter is pending before the Supreme Court.

In a report released on Monday, Nomura analysts pointed out that in February 2024, the monthly issuance of CDs for the banking system at ₹1.3 lakh crore was at a five-year high. "While CDs are a very small part of system deposits (2% of system deposits as of February 2024), the sharp rise in issuance is indicative of a continued resource crunch faced by banks.

Manappuram Finance and Muthoot Finance, two of the country's top gold financing companies, rose as the central bank's move is expected to benefit these firms.

IRCTC has signed an MoU with Swiggy to provide pre-ordered meals to passengers via IRCTC e-Catering Services. The services will be made available initially on Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam & Bhubaneswar stations.

The RBI statement directed JM Financial Products to “cease and desist, with immediate effect, from doing any form of financing against shares and debentures, including sanction and disbursal of loans against Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares as well as against subscription to debentures.” JM Financial have strongly denied claims of lapses and violation made by the regulator.

Motilal Oswal Financial, while downgrading its ratings on Tata Motors to 'neutral' from 'buy' with a target price of ₹1,000, said the current price has factored in all triggers.

Bata India is the largest retailer and leading manufacturer of footwear in India and is a part of the Bata Shoe Organization, the company website showed.​ The stock has been in a consolidation mode after hitting a high of Rs 1,770 on August 7, 2023. It gave a breakdown below the 200 and 50-week moving averages on the weekly charts in January 2024. The Supertrend indicator also triggered a ‘sell’ in January, which led to further selling pressure on the stock price.

Partners Group sold 5.2% stake in Aavas Financiers for Rs 570 crore through Partners Group ESCL and Partners Group Private Equity (Master Fund) LLC. SBI Mutual Fund and Amansa Holdings also acquired shares in the underperforming company.

The demerger of Tata Motors’ truck business will unlock value for shareholders. The truck business has been a consistent cash flow generator for the last five years but that was never fully captured at the consolidated level given the higher spending of the passenger vehicles (PV) division on product development. On the volume front, Tata Motors sold 2,73,715 CV units while Ashok Leyland shipped 1,38,415 units between April-December 2023.

Data showed U.S. services industry growth slowed a bit in February amid a decline in employment, but a measure of new orders increased to a six-month high, pointing to underlying strength in the sector. The PMI was consistent with continued economic expansion despite 525 basis points worth of interest rate hikes from the Fed since March 2022.

Benchmark Sensex declined by 195 points while Nifty slipped below the 22,400 level on Tuesday, snapping the four-day gaining streak due to losses in IT and FMCG shares amid weak global trends and foreign fund outflows. Taking a breather after a record-breaking rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled at 73,677.13 due to profit taking. During the day, the barometer tanked 460.04 points or 0.62% to a low of 73,412.25. The broader Nifty declined by 49 points or 0.22% to close at 22,356.30."The short-term trend of Nifty is choppy and this range-bound action is expected to continue for the next session. The near-term uptrend remains intact and one may expect a sustainable upside bounce from the lower levels. Immediate support is placed around 22,100-22,000 levels," said Nagaraj Shetti, senior technical research analyst, HDFC Securities

​A little-known equity market research firm has pegged Rs 7.8 lakh crore valuation for the Tata group's NBFC holding company Tata Sons on listing going by the current market cap of the group firms.

The stake sale will be worth about Rs 4,500 crore and JP Morgan and ICICI Securities will act as the bankers on behalf of Samvardhana, ET Now reported.

Despite a robust listing, the gains anticipated were a bit higher than what was the case due to the negative market sentiment on the listing day. Analysts said the strong premium signifies investor confidence in Exicom Tele-Systems' future potential.

The S&P 500 opened lower by 20.43 points, or 0.40%, at 5,110.52, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 129.77 points, or 0.80%, to 16,077.74 at the opening bell.

The action against the non-bank finance major was taken due to certain serious deficiencies with respect to loans sanctioned by the company for IPO financing as well as NCD subscriptions.

The index should move towards the next resistance zone of 22,450-500 either continuously from the current levels or maybe after a minor dip. Support for the index is now seen at 22,250-300 and 22,125-150 levels, said Tejas Shah of JM Financial & BlinkX.

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

Brokerage Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOSL) recently initiated coverage on the following four counters. Take a look:

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

It plans to sell 176.4 million shares of Zomato that could fetch around Rs 2,810 crore, reports said.

Platinum Industries, a leading manufacturer of specialty chemicals, witnessed a decent listing of 34% premium over the issue price on Tuesday.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell nearly 200 points while the Nifty50 closed below 22,400 levels. Sectorally, buying was seen in auto, public sector, oil & gas, and utilities sectors while IT, FMCG, consumer durables and smallcap stocks saw some selling pressure.

The moment Tata Motor raised money from a private equity fund for its EV part of the business it was apparent that sooner or later, the demerger of EV business is bound to follow. But it will come so soon is not something which the street was expecting. Why was the demerger imminent? Not only because there is a PE player who wants to have a road map for the exit even before investing. The other simple fact is that there is no sense in having a single entity for two businesses which are different from the word go. While it might appear that Tata Motors is restructuring the business due to vast differences in the two segments. The fact is that very soon, the difference between the traditional ICE vehicle business and the EV business of even two-wheeler maker or a passenger car maker would also get highlighted and would have a negative impact on the the valuations. So don't be surprised if the large auto players get into mode of restructuring the business to protect both the value and valuations.

Basic resources and oil and gas shares declined 0.6% each as a firmer dollar and disappointment from the lack of fresh supportive measures in China sparked concerns over demand and slower consumption.

Benchmark equity indices close lower on Tuesday. Bajaj twins and IT stocks drag the market. Tata Motors gains on demerger plans. Sensex settle at 73,677, Nifty at 22,356. Investors await cues from the US.

Zomato posted a significant improvement in unit economics/margins which were instrumental in driving upgrades and the consequent stock performance, Nuvama said.

The demerger of Tata Motors into separate listed entities for commercial vehicles (CV) and passenger vehicles (PV) will result in the exclusion of the smaller stock (CV unit) from Sensex and Nifty. Global indices like MSCI and FTSE will evaluate the market cap of the smaller entity to determine its eligibility for passive indices.

The m-cap of Tata Sons' listed investments is estimated at Rs 16 lakh crore and the market value of unlisted investments can be worth Rs 1-2 lakh crore given the group's foray into semiconductors and EV batteries. Dorabji Tata Trust (28%) and Ratan Tata Trust (24%) own the majority of Tata Sons.

Eight equity schemes have completed 30 years of existence in the market, according to the data by ACE MF. Three large & mid cap, one flexi cap, large cap, mid cap, value fund, and an ELSS fund have completed 30 years.

In equity markets, whatever precaution one might take, the probability of a mistake of getting stuck with a wrong stock is always high. But then there are mistakes and silly mistakes, just try to avoid silly mistakes. How ? Stay away from stocks where there is a narrative that this sector will do well because of ABCD reasons or the company will get such and such orders worth this much. There is enough evidence in history to show that more than anything else, checks and balances are most important at a point of time when valuations are high and sentiment extremely bullish. How do one put checks and balances? Integrate both quantitative and qualitative criteria to assess stocks, aligning expectations with realistic market performances and avoiding impulsive shifts based on short-term fluctuations.