Thrilling Thursday

Nifty50: 17,798 ▲ 174 (+0.9%)
Sensex: 59,688 ▲ 659 (+1.1%)

Greetings, folks!

When was the last time you danced like no one’s watching? With markets being so unpredictable, one ought to celebrate every small rise. Just like this couple, which danced their hearts out on an empty street at night. So, put on your dancing shoes and get on with it!

• Taking cues from global peers, Indian markets rose ahead of the Fed chairman’s speech later in the day.
• In all, 33 of the Nifty50 stocks closed in the green. 
• The European Central Bank hiked interest rates by 0.75% to tame rising inflation.

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, PSU Bank (+2.5%) and Bank (+1.9%) saw most gains, while Metal (-0.9%) and Media (-0.4%) were the top losers.

What’s trending

⭐ Airtel to launch 5G services by Oct

BHARTIARTL (NSE): 769 ▲ 16 (+2.1%)

Bharti Airtel expects to launch 5G services within a month and cover key metros by December 2022. The telco plans to expand coverage to all urban areas of the country by the end of 2023. Company’s CEO said Airtel 5G will deliver speeds 20-30 times faster than its 4G network.

⭐ ITC plans alternate structures for hotel biz

ITC (NSE): 330 ▲ 3.9 (+1.2%)

According to a media report, the chairman of ITC said that the company is exploring alternate structures for its hotel business. He said that given the recovery in the hotel industry, the company is keen to enable faster growth particularly through management contracts. He added that the company is opening a hotel almost every month and will aggressively pursue growth through the right asset strategy.

⭐ Tata Power’s big EV push

TATAPOWER (NSE): 245 ▼ 1.9 (-0.7%)

Tata Power said that it has set up more than 450 electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities across over 350 national highways in India. These EV charging stations have been installed at various locations including hotels, commercial complexes and car dealerships. The company also said that it plans to deploy more than 6,500 charging stations by the end of this fiscal year.

⭐ Rice prices on the boil

KOHINOOR (NSE): 74 ▲ 0.7 (+1.0%), DAAWAT (NSE): 93 ▲ 0.3 (+0.3%)

Prices of rice have risen 5% since last week mainly because Bangladesh has cut import duty on rice from 25% to 15.25%. West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka are major exporters of rice to Bangladesh. Further, due to a deficit in monsoon rainfall, the total area under paddy cultivation as on September 2 was down by 5.6% year-on-year. This has also pushed up rice prices.  

⭐ E-commerce sales expected to rise 

According to an industry report, online sales during the upcoming festive season are estimated to grow by 28% year-on-year to $11.8 million. Compared to pre-pandemic sales in 2018, the number of online shoppers is also expected to rise four-fold, driven by accelerated digital adoption and increasing penetration in Tier 2 and smaller cities. Meanwhile, online marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart are also expanding capacity and opening mewer fulfilment centres to cater to high demand.

In Focus

Cement stocks gaining ground

Shares of major cement companies including Ambuja Cements, JK Lakshmi Cement and Shree Cement have jumped in the range of 5% to 17% so far in September. But what’s driving the rally? Let’s break it down.

First, prices of petcoke, a chief energy source in cement manufacturing, have corrected by nearly 30% in the past three months. Also, the price of crude oil has eased which has helped control price inflation. 

Another key factor is the anticipation of price hikes by cement companies. The July to September period is generally considered a lean season for cement demand due to slowdown in construction activities. This seasonal effect exerts pressure on cement prices. But as the monsoon recedes, construction activity picks up and the cement sector sees pent-up demand, which is an ideal scenario for cement firms to hike prices. Besides this, the government spending on infrastructure will also help boost the cement demand. 

Hence, a healthy demand outlook and declining input cost inflation is supportive of the recent rally in cement stocks. Having said that, out of control inflation or an economic slowdown could put downward pressure on cement stocks.

Ready-made Option Strategies on Upstox

Options offer traders the potential to make a profit whether the markets are moving up, down or sideways. However, options are complex instruments, and option strategies can be even more complicated. If not used in a disciplined way, they could lead to severe capital losses.

To solve such problems and to make options trading easier, Upstox has introduced Ready-made Option Strategies, which allow traders to:

• Choose from pre-curated option strategies
• Know profit probability, maximum profit and loss, and funds required for each strategy
• Trade with unique one-click entry and exit orders 

Click here to know more about Ready-made Option Strategies.

Good to know

What is a block deal?

Block deals are large delivery-only share transactions with a minimum value of ₹5 crore or five lakh shares of a listed company, which generally take place between institutional investors such as mutual funds or insurance companies. Investors often track block deals to see sentiments and the interest of big investors in a stock. 

Click here to join us on Telegram for trading and investment-related videos, daily market updates, details on upcoming IPOs and more.