NIFTY50 above 26,300, SENSEX rises 488 points in noon deals; Coal India, Devyani International, ITC among buzzing stocks

The Indian equity market extended its gains in the afternoon session on Friday, January 2, led by a strong rally in banking stocks that pushed Nifty Bank to a record high. Strong gains in auto, metal, consumer durables and realty stocks also boosted investors’ confidence.

Coal India shares were the biggest contributor, rising 4.88%, followed by NTPC (3.48%), Trent (3%), Hindalco Industries (2.32%) and Jio Financial Services (1.86%).

Buzzing stocks on January 2: Check list

Shares of Devyani International jumped as much as 8.29% to an intraday high of ₹159.66 on the NSE after the firm announced plans to merge with Sapphire Foods to form a single, unified Yum! India franchisee for KFC and Pizza Hut.

Sapphire Foods, the franchise operator of Yum! Brands' restaurants, KFC and Pizza Hut, will merge with Devyani International Ltd, one of India's largest and fastest-growing chains of quick-service restaurant (QSR) operators, which also operates similar brands through a share-swap ratio.

The boards of Devyani International Ltd (DIL) and Sapphire Foods India Ltd (SFIL) approved a scheme of arrangement for the merger of SFIL with and into DIL at their respective meetings held on Thursday, marking a strategic consolidation of the two companies.

The strategic consolidation of the two QSR operators will also create "a single unified Yum! India franchisee for KFC and Pizza Hut," said a late-night joint statement.

Shares of cigarette and tobacco manufacturers, such as ITC Ltd, Godfrey Phillips, and VST Industries, continued their downtrend for the second straight session on Friday following a massive sell-off in the previous session, given the imposition of additional excise duty.

ITC shares slipped as much as 5.1% to ₹345.25 in the early session, while Godfrey Phillips India declined 5% to an intraday low of ₹2,230.80. VST Industries fell 3% to today’s low of ₹248.4 on the NSE.

The Finance Ministry has notified amendments to the Central Excise Act imposing an excise duty ranging from ₹2,050 to ₹8,500 per 1,000 sticks based on cigarette length, effective February 1. This duty will be over and above 40% GST.

Shares of Ola Electric Mobility surged nearly 9% to touch an intraday high of ₹40.77 on Friday as the Bhavish Aggarwal firm signalled a business turnaround in December 2025.

With 9,020 units registered in December (as per VAHAN data), the company has increased its market share month-on-month (MoM) to 9.3% in December over 7.2% in November 2025. In addition to this, Ola’s market share in the second half of December 2025 (as per VAHAN data) further increased to nearly 12%, indicating a clear uptick in demand and market share gains, it said.

“Our priority has been to fix the fundamentals of service with speed and discipline. Hyperservice is a structurally focused programme, not a short-term fix, and we are already seeing clear outcomes in customer experience, market share, and bookings momentum. As service metrics stabilise, early indicators point to an improvement in demand,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, Ola Electric.

TVS Motor shares are trading higher for the fourth straight session on Friday as the stock rose over 2%, hitting a 52-week high of ₹3,897.50 apiece on NSE.

The shares reacted to upbeat monthly sales updates. The 2-wheeler firm reported a 50% jump in total sales to 4.81 lakh units in the previous month compared to 3.21 lakh units in December 2024. However, the company’s sales declined by 7.3% compared to November 2025. During the third quarter, TVS Motor Company total sales rose by 27% YoY to 15.44 lakh units.

Motorcycle sales surged 50% to 2.16 lakh units in December 2025 from 1.44 lakh units in the same month last year. Scooter sales rose 48% to 1.98 lakh units last month from 1.33 lakh units in December 2024.

Shares of Bharat Electronics (BEL) gained 2% to touch an intraday high of ₹405.6 on Friday as the firm bagged an additional order.

The Navratna defence PSU company in a regulatory filing on Thursday said it has secured an additional order worth ₹569 crore since its last disclosure on December 29, 2025. The order received includes communication equipment, medical electronics, instant fire detection & suppression systems, upgrades, spares, services, etc.

At 12:12 PM, BEL shares were trading at ₹401.5 apiece on the National Stock Exchange, rising 0.97%.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shares were trading higher on Friday after the infrastructure major’s Minerals & Metals business vertical secured major orders from the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and other customers for EPC projects and products in the domestic metals sector.

Under its ambitious modernisation and expansion programme, SAIL plans to increase the crude steel capacity of the IISCO Steel Plant at Burnpur, West Bengal, from 2.5 MTPA to 6.5 MTPA.

As part of this expansion, L&T’s subsidiary will help to complete the engineering, procurement and installation package for critical process plants, including the coke oven battery, by-product plant, basic oxygen furnace and a specialised equipment package for material handling, which together form the core of the new steel complex.

“Simultaneously, SAIL’s Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) in Jharkhand is undergoing a major upstream expansion, for which L&T has been awarded a package to establish Sinter Plant #2, reinforcing its strong presence in the steel sector,” the firm said in a statement.

At 12:20 PM, L&T shares were trading at ₹4,141.70 apiece on NSE, rising 0.09%.

Shares of Coal India rallied nearly 5% to hit a 52-week high of ₹419.3 on Friday after the Maharatna PSU announced that, effective January 1, 2026, coal consumers from neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal will be allowed to directly participate in its Single Window Mode Agnostic (SWMA) auctions for coal imports from India.

CIL’s Board has cleared the decks recently for this move, tweaking the scheme’s mechanism in the SWMA auction.

“Opening SWMA e-auctions to foreign buyers reflects CIL’s calibrated approach to market expansion while fully safeguarding domestic coal requirements. This step enhances transparency, competition and global market integration,” said a senior company official.