"L&T Finance Holdings has been trading in a prolonged corrective phase after making a record high around 194 levels in 2017 and finally witnessed a breakout from the same of late," Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd., said.

The move will allow ITC to expand presence in the Rs 45,000 crore fast growing, nutrition-led healthy foods space. ITC said this deal is in line with its ‘ITC Next’ strategy articulated by chairman Sanjiv Puri that focuses on building a future-ready portfolio of products that serve evolving consumer needs

Equity benchmarks shrugged off lacklustre global cues to clock smart gains on Tuesday, buoyed by strong buying interest in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC twins. Nifty reclaimed 18,000 levels and ended at 18,053.3, while Sensex rose to 60,655. Meanwhile, broader markets were dragged down, with Nifty Midcap 100 ending 0.11% lower.“Nifty remained volatile throughout the day before closing on a strong note. On the daily chart, the benchmark Nifty has given a falling wedge breakout, suggesting a rise in optimism. The RSI momentum indicator has indicated a falling trendline breakout. The current technical setup suggests near-term strength, which may take Nifty towards 18,250–18,270. On the lower end, support is visible at 17,850,”said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.Here are stock recommendations for Wednesday:

The three oil marketing companies (OMCs) did not change prices beginning April 6 despite cost of raw material rising. This led to the three booking a combined loss of Rs 21,000 crore during April-September 2022

The deal for the portfolio that has an annual revenue base of 850 million rupees, will be financed through borrowings, and the transaction is expected to achieve financial closure very soon, Eris said

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 80.29 points, or 0.23%, at the open to 34,222.32

ITC will buyout the company in tranches over a period of 3-4 years

The Union government imposed the windfall tax on crude oil and petroleum products in July 2022 in the wake of rising international prices to lower the petroleum subsidy burden. In the recent fortnightly review, the tax dropped to $3.2 per barrel compared with $40 per barrel in July. Crude oil prices have moderated in the last few weeks falling by nearly 38% since June 2022

The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) move follows one by the Reserve Bank of India to allow a one-time blocking of funds in bank accounts and multiple debits through the unified payments interface (UPI) real-time payments system.

ITC will buyout the company in tranches over a period of 3-4 years

Lotte Confectionary, which acquired Havmor Ice Cream for Rs 1,000 crore in December 2017, has positioned the home-grown brand in the mass affordable segment

Private sector lender IndusInd Bank is expected to report strong growth in income for the quarter ended December on the back of steady rise in loan book, but analysts’ view on the margin performance remains mixed. Let us look at the broad expectations of analysts.

The deal for the portfolio that has an annual revenue base of 850 million rupees, will be financed through borrowings, and the transaction is expected to achieve financial closure very soon, Eris said

The benchmark index Sensex closed higher, gaining about 560 points to 60,655 on Tuesday. Despite this rise in markets, five stocks from the BSE commodities index slipped to touch their new 52-week lows.The 52-week low is the lowest price at which a stock has traded during the last one year. Some traders and investors use this technical indicator as an important factor to analyse a stock’s current value and to predict its future price movement

In the December quarter, the investor added fresh stakes in Raghav Productivity Enhancers and Golidam International. Other than these, he has upped stake in Agarwal Industrial Corporation, Yasho Industries, Megastar Foods and Xpro India.

According to Sehul Bhatt, an associate director at the agency, operating margins in the automobile, metals and construction sub-sectors, which had contracted in the second quarter, reversed trend sequentially in the third quarter. Of the 20 sectors expected to outpace driven by the growth in revenues, 10 should see a margin contraction and five marginal improvement

A large part of the demand for hotels comes from corporate or business travellers. In 2023, political events such as the G20 summit and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit are likely to further boost corporate travel. For leisure travel, analysts expect demand to sustain due to the rise in short-distance trips, bespoke experiences which involve exploring the uniqueness of a location through local food and culture, and Cricket World Cup 2023.

The underlying short-term trend of Nifty is positive. The market is currently placed at the edge of the upside breakout of the consolidation or triangle pattern around 18100 levels.

"India has exported drugs and vaccines to over 150 countries globally during the pandemic. Presently, medical counter-measures availability is being linked to national security and India can ensure playing a proactive role in ensuring health security for 'Global South' & LMICs (Low and Low Middle Income Countries)," he said.

"The Budget is expected to maintain its focus on domestic manufacturing revival and PLI schemes for labour-intensive sectors. Most importantly, instead of going populist, the Budget is expected to keep post-Covid fiscal consolidation, divestment and reduction of subsidies as its priorities,” she said.

From the Sensex pack, L&T was the top gainer, rising over 3.5%. HUL, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Reliance, UltraTech Cement and TCS also closed with gains.

Asian shares and U.S. futures dipped after China's economic growth in 2022 slumped as the fourth quarter was hit hard by strict COVID-19 curbs and a property market slump, raising pressure on policymakers to unveil more stimulus this year.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) move follows one by the Reserve Bank of India to allow a one-time blocking of funds in bank accounts and multiple debits through the unified payments interface (UPI) real-time payments system.

There are ideas floating on the streamlining of long-term capital gains tax across all asset classes. We expect this Budget to change long term capital gains for listed equities in line with real estate.

The NCLT on Friday ruled that the winning bidder can be handed over the airline and will be granted six months starting November 16, 2021, to pay back the banks that have lent the airline around Rs 8,000 crore. As per the resolution plan, JKC should make cash payment of Rs 185 crore to financial creditors within 180 days from this effective date.

Sensex defies global mood, surges 400 points; Nifty above 18,000; HUL surges 3%, Nykaa tumbles 4%

King Khalid University is located in the Asir region in the southwestern part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the field of scientific research, the University witnessed a strong presence of qualitative activities during the past year. This came in the registration of 26 patents, and the publishing of 5297 research papers in scientific journals classified in various fields, in addition to the number of citations that reached 12,258.

The bank has made provisions (other than tax) and contingencies to the tune of Rs 1,878 crore, an increase of 462% over Rs 334 crore provisioned during the same period last year. On the business front, domestic deposits increased marginally to Rs 5.56 trillion in the December quarter, while domestic advances increased 12% to Rs 4.26 trillion.

Nykaa is trading below all its major moving averages, and we are facing massive selling pressure there. Unless the stock crosses Rs 142-143 levels, we can see further downside in this stock below Rs 120 levels. So if anyone is holding the stock, Rs 130 has to be at stop loss below which, we could see deeper cuts in this counter," said Sudeep Shah, SBI Securities

We believe the slowdown impact would be more broad-based, and could be more in the hi-tech segment where clients may not opt for upgrades and rather continue with the current processes,” said Mitul Shah, head of research at Reliance Securities.

"Paytm’s FY23 lending volumes are tracking 90% higher than our earlier estimates, and this, coupled with stronger payment margins, has resulted in the company’s profitability continuing to surprise to the upside," Goldman said in a report.

Tata Metaliks will release its third quarter results later in the day. In the previous quarter, revenues increased by 36% over Q2FY22, largely driven by higher sales volume of both Pig Iron and Ductile Iron Pipe.

However, South Korea faced its biggest monthly foreign capital outflows in almost four years because of an increase in the amount of bonds that matured at the end of the year.

Lane added that rates are now "ballpark" neutral where they are neither stimulating nor holding back growth and the peak will depend on how the economy responds to hikes that have already totalled 2.5 percentage points since July, the paper quoted him on Tuesday as saying.

"Paytm’s FY23 lending volumes are tracking 90% higher than our earlier estimates, and this, coupled with stronger payment margins, has resulted in the company’s profitability continuing to surprise to the upside," Goldman said in a report.

Alibaba in November raised the size of its share repurchase program to $40 billion, increasing it by $15 billion, and said it would extend the time frame for the program through the end of March, 2025.

2023 will be a strong year of earnings for Indian banks, Morgan Stanley said in a note. Traders can deploy a Barbell strategy that could bring better outcomes this year, said the global brokerage.

“The breakout was further confirmed by the presence of higher trading volumes. Additionally, the Relative Strength Index, a momentum indicator, is aligned with the price movement, further indicating the continued uptrend,” he said.

India Inc needs a more copious supplier of skilled workers to deal with the double digit wage inflation we are seeing in factories, in Financial Services firms and in IT Services. More than university graduates, we need youngsters who have practical skills which make them valuable in manufacturing, operations and sales roles. India Inc should be given the license to set up Technical Education Institutes which can impart such practical training and thus drive mass job creation.

Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company (SPARC) is a clinical-stage bio-pharmaceutical company focused on continuously improving standards of care for patients globally, through innovation in therapeutics and delivery. SPARC was formed in 2007 following its demerger from Sun Pharma, a global leader in speciality generics.

Key triggers are recovery in GRMs ahead of estimates, faster consolidation in telecom leading to tariff upside in Jio, possible public listing of Jio leading to re-rating valuation multiple, retail biz gaining market share faster than expected and Jiomart GMV beating expectation.

There is more to the IT sector than just five large cap IT stocks. It is mid and small cap IT stocks. While they have been in correction mode for the last six months, if one looks at the bigger picture, after April 2020, mid and small cap companies have gone through a sea change both in their business models, customer profiles and most importantly their valuation matrix. ET screener powered by Refinitiv’s Stock Report Plus lists down large, mid and small cap stocks from the IT sector with high upside potential over the next 12 months, having an average recommendation rating of “buy” or "strong buy".

With a competitive manufacturing base in India, the UK, the US, and Mexico, along with technical and logistical support worldwide, the company provides optimal product development and manufacturing solutions to its domestic and international customers.

As the market witnesses volatile movement there are few large cap stocks which are still finding favor with analysts. After the recent correction, even Bajaj Finance has come into the list the upside potential comes close to algorithm fixed minimum target price. ET screener powered by Refinitiv’s Stock Report Plus lists down quality stocks with high upside potential over the next 12 months, having an average recommendation rating of “buy” or "strong buy". The screener applies different algorithms for all BSE and NSE stocks. This predefined screener is only available to ET Prime users.

As Q3 earning season and macro numbers continue to make NIFTY stay in in a volatile mode, there are select midcaps which are witnessing an improvement in their scores. A software company from a large industrial house to white goods maker which has a big presence in the industrial cooling segment are the ones which have seen their rating moving up. ET screener powered by Refinitiv’s Stock Report Plus applies different algorithms & filters to all BSE and NSE stocks, and lists down stocks which fulfill the various criteria as specified into the algorithms & filters.

In the first Fed meeting of 2023, Powell is widely expected to slow down the pace of interest rate hikes. CME FedWatch Tool shows a 91% probability of a 25 basis point rate hike in the two-day Jan 31-Feb 1 meeting.

Budget 2023 is just round the corner and JPMorgan has come out with their expectations from this budget. The brokerage house sees lower subsidy payments to boost capex allocations and sees net revenue receipts to exceed estimates, ET NOW's Vinnii Motiwala with more details.

In December 2022, mutual funds infused Rs 14,700 crore in the Indian stock market while FIIs sold shares worth Rs 6,300 crore. Key additions by mutual funds in the month of December include newly launched IPO stocks such as KFin Technologies, Sula Vineyards and Landmark Cars. Here is a list of new stocks that mutual funds bought in December, according to a report by Nuvama Institutional Equities:

“The dominant trend impacting the near-term texture of the market is the sustained selling by FIIs for the eleventh time this month. The simple logic behind sustained FII selling is that India is the only large market where FIIs are still sitting on good profits after the disastrous 2022 performance in most global markets,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said.

Now, the Nifty50 has to hold above 17850 zones for an up move towards 18050 and 18123 zones whereas supports are placed at 17850 and 17777 zones,” recommends Taparia.