Indian headline indices open strongly with positive global handover, buying action in banks and auto stocks. S&P BSE Sensex trades at 71,985, up 302 points. Nifty at 21,698, higher by 76 points. Nifty Bank rises 0.66% to 46,002. Power Grid Corporation, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank gain. Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Wipro, Nestle India, Maruti Suzuki fall.

Sensex rises 300 points, reclaims 72K; Nifty above 21,700; Paytm jumps 3%, HUL dips 3%; Power Grid, Titan, HDFC Bank are some of the other gainers in the morning trade.

Indian IT sector has shown signs of recovery with robust Q3 numbers despite challenges from US macroeconomic conditions. Deal momentum and enthusiasm surrounding Generative AI suggest potential for future advancements. Nifty IT Sector historically outperforms with stronger performance in the latter half of each year. Correlation between Nifty IT index and Nasdaq 100 index reveals convergence.

The dividend yield is the annual dividend payment to shareholders expressed as a percentage of the stock's current price. According to Axis Securities report, as many as 7 PSU stocks paid up to 6% dividend yield in the last 12 months. Here is a list:

Investors have been wading back into the sector. Global fund managers increased their exposure to REITs by 15 percentage points in December, pushing allocations to 12-month highs, according to the latest survey from BofA Global Research.

ET Now spoke to various experts, and here's what they have to recommend for today's trading session. Kunal Bothra has a buy/sell recommendation on Indus Towers, GIC RE and HDFC Life, while Nooresh Merani has a buy/sell recommendation on BPCL and EIH Ltd for today's trading session. Check out the targets and stoploss.

Hopes for lower interest rates and resilient growth in 2024 took the S&P 500 stock index to a record high on Friday, after two roller-coaster years featuring soaring inflation, tumult in the banking industry and economic unease.

The Federal Reserve won't start easing policy until May, traders bet on Friday, capping a week during which stronger-than-expected economic data and commentary from central bankers chipped away at financial market confidence in the idea of an earlier start to interest-rate cuts.

Stocks that were in focus included names like Metro Brands, which fell 3.84%, HUL, which rose 0.78%, and Titan, whose shares climbed 2.18% on Friday.

Earlier, stock exchanges announced to conduct a special live trading session on Saturday from the disaster recovery site. But, now as per the latest circular, regular trading activities will be performed on the primary site and there will be no switchover.

The record is the latest milestone in a lengthy recovery for the stock. Shares nearly tripled in 2023, outperforming even in a positive year for megacaps as investors embraced the company’s focus on efficiency and cost cutting. It is up more than 300% off the low hit in 2022.

"It really is an encouraging day in terms of the action, and 4,800 certainly has been a key level which has been difficult to surmount. So if we continue to move in this direction, that's going to be a very positive sentiment sign," said Lisa Erickson, head of public markets at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

Earlier, the bourses were scheduled to hold special trading sessions in the equity and equity derivative segment on January 20 (Saturday) to check their preparedness to handle major disruption or failure at the primary site.

Shares of ICICI Bank, Kotak, IDBI Bank and IDFC First Bank will be in focus as the companies will announce their third quarter results.

The offer proposed selling up to 2.50% of the paid-up capital and an additional 1% in case of over-subscription at a floor price of 66 apiece. The indicative price for the bid was 70.20. Shares of NHPC gained 3.80% on Friday to close at 73.80.

The company’s board had on September 29, proposed a corporate restructuring to create three separate legal entities for zinc and lead, silver, and recycling business. The move, meant to unlock potential shareholder value, is in line with its parent Vedanta’s plans to create separately listed entities for aluminium, oil and gas, iron ore and steel.

A mule account is basically a trading account maintained with a stock broker or a dematerialized account or bank account linked with such trading account in the name of a person, where the account is effectively controlled by another person, whether or not the consideration for transactions in the account are paid by such other person.

Zee Entertainment has requested an extension for the deadline to complete the merger deal with Sony's subsidiary, Culver Max Entertainment. Sony has not responded to the extension request. The two-year agreement between Zee and Sony expired in December. Zee is committed to the merger and is engaging in good faith negotiations with Sony. Both companies need to inform regulators to terminate the merger deal legally.

Given the current stock prices, the scheme appears favourable to ICICI Bank shareholders, potentially leading to resistance from ICICI Securities shareholders at the current swap ratio.

The board of the company in a meeting on Friday approved the "raising of funds through the issuance and allotment of Commercial Papers, for an amount not exceeding ₹3,500 crore," to be utilised for bridge funding to facilitate the payment for the two proposed acquisitions, said Tata group FMCG arm in a regulatory filing.

A mule account is basically a trading account maintained with a stock broker or a dematerialized account or bank account linked with such trading account in the name of a person, where the account is effectively controlled by another person, whether or not the consideration for transactions in the account are paid by such other person.

At 9:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 27.19 points, or 0.07%, at 37,495.80, the S&P 500 was up 6.91 points, or 0.14%, at 4,787.85, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 43.39 points, or 0.29%, at 15,099.04.

Earlier, stock exchanges announced to conduct a special live trading session on Saturday from the disaster recovery site. But, now as per the latest circular, regular trading activities will be performed on the primary site and there will be no switchover.

Nifty on Friday ended 160 points higher to form a Doji candle on the daily chart as the index reclaimed its short-term moving averages but lacked decisiveness. As long as the sharp opening downside gap of Wednesday remains open at 21,970, there is a higher probability of a ‘sell on rise’ in the market for the short term. Immediate support is at 21,550 level, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.

Indian equity indices closed higher on Friday after a three-day losing streak, led by IT, auto and energy stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.7% higher at 71,683, while the NSE Nifty50 index closed above the 21,600 level."The upside bounce of Friday could be a cheering factor for bulls to make a comeback. But, as long as the sharp opening downside gap of Wednesday remains open at 21,970, there is a higher probability of ‘sell on rise’ in the market for the short term. Immediate support is at 21,550 levels," Nagaraj Shetti, senior technical research analyst, HDFC Securities.Here are 7 stock recommendations for Saturday:

Equity and derivatives markets will work normal hours tomorrow; shut on Monday — ET NOW's Ankur Mishra report

Indian equity indices closed higher on Friday after a three-day losing streak, led by IT, auto and energy stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.7% higher at 71,683, while the NSE Nifty50 index closed above the 21,600 level."The upside bounce of Friday could be a cheering factor for bulls to make a comeback. But, as long as the sharp opening downside gap of Wednesday remains open at 21,970, there is a higher probability of ‘sell on rise’ in the market for the short term. Immediate support is at 21,550 levels," Nagaraj Shetti, senior technical research analyst, HDFC Securities.Here are 4 stock recommendations for Saturday:

Equity and derivatives markets will work normal hours tomorrow; shut on Monday — ET NOW's Ankur Mishra report

Stock exchanges were to conduct a special live trading session on Saturday from the disaster recovery site.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 103.89 points, or 0.28% at the open, to 37,572.50.

The 3-day variable rate repo (VRR) auction conducted by the RBI on Friday, which is scheduled to reverse on January 22, will now be reversed on January 23. Meanwhile, a 3-day VRR auction that the RBI had earlier said would be conducted on January 22 stands cancelled and instead a 2-day VRR auction will be carried out on January 23.

"The company is not aware of, and cannot comment on, any board meeting held or proposed to be held by Culver Max Entertainment Pvt Ltd (formerly Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited), given that these are internal matters of Sony," Zee said in a filing.

Immediate support for the Nifty is at 21,550 levels, said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities. As long as the sharp opening downside gap of Wednesday remains open at 21,970, there is a higher probability of a sell-on rise in the market for the short term.

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 a security from extreme bearishness to bullishness. In Friday's trading session, five stocks saw top short covering. Here's the list:

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 Friday's trading session, four stocks witnessed a top long unwinding. Here's the list:

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 a security from extreme bearishness to bullishness. In Friday's trading session, five stocks saw top short covering. Here's the list:

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, M&M, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, and Titan were the top gainers, rising 2-3.2%. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, and HDFC Bank closed 0.8-3.2% lower.

Closing Bell: Sensex breaks 3-day losing streak, surges 496 pts; Nifty above 21,600; RVNL soars 20%, ZEEL tanks 7%

BNP Paribas continues to prefer financial services, information technology and telecom, while having added logistics in its outperformance space. It expects consumer staples, pharma and autos to underperform given their rich valuations. Here are a few stocks from its top India picks that can rise over 20%. Take a look:

On Thursday, NHPC OFS received an overwhelming response from institutional investors, such that the government decided to exercise the greenshoe option and sell an additional 1% stake in the renewable energy major.

Stock exchanges BSE and NSE have cancelled market holiday for this Saturday to conduct a special live trading session tomorrow to test preparedness for handling unexpected disasters. Since it is a special session with intra-day switch over from primary site to disaster recovery site, the timings too will be different.

A gauge of the country’s top 12 biggest banks is set for its worst week since September, erasing around $21 billion in market value through Thursday’s close. HDFC Bank’s earnings has now raised concern about reports from peers ICICI Bank Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd.

ICICI Bank’s earnings for the December quarter is likely to be aided by a higher than industry growth in the loan book, lower credit costs, and steady asset quality.

Kotak Mahindra Bank is expected to report a double-digit growth in net profit for the quarter ended December, led by strong interest income, healthy loan growth, lower credit costs, and stable asset quality.

Normally FMCG sector is associated with the power of brands. However, there are many industries, where a strong brand plays an important role. There are enough examples of firms that have built strong brands & have been getting premium on Street. The reason, a strong brand helps a company weather storms of an economic slowdown or inflationary pressure. Also over long term the final cost of doing business is lower, margins are higher as the concept of reverse working capital comes into play when the brand is strong. Yes, there are phases where they underperform because sometimes their valuations do get stretched, but then over time earnings do tend to help in normalization of valuations.

Indian shares rose on Friday after a three-day losing streak, led by a rebound in financials and information technology stocks. As per data available on StockEdge, several largecap stocks outperformed the benchmark Nifty50 index on a 1-week and 3-month basis as of January 18. Here's a list:

Three years of underperformance when topped by a decline of more than 10 percent decline in stock price which erodes 1 lakh crore in market capitalization is surely going to create sentiment that all is bad with a bank and given it has been the biggest of wealth creators is bound to have rub off on other players in the sectors which may not be bank but because they are part of the financial service sector they tend to get clubbed together. But the fact is that just because one bank is facing headwinds does not mean the whole financial sector is facing the same. So be selective as analysts are bullish on many companies in the financial services space.

Between April and November of the current fiscal year, the government used up 50.7% of the budgeted fiscal deficit target for the full year, which is quite less than the median 75.9% of total that usually gets exhausted in this period, BofA pointed out.

The facility will offer investors a consolidated view of their securities held in a demat account in a language of their choice. Moreover, the unique multi-lingual chatbot on the CDSL website, 'CDSL Buddy Sahayta 24*7,' will simplify investors' processes. The services will be currently available in four languages to begin with.

Indian shares rose on Friday after a three-day losing streak, led by a rebound in financials and information technology stocks. Meanwhile, in today's trade, six Nifty50 index stocks hit new 52-week highs. Here's a list: