NIFTY50 at 25,734, SENSEX down 528 points in afternoon session; HUL, ONGC, Hindalco among buzzing stocks

The Indian equity benchmark indices extended its fall in the afternoon session on Friday, October 24, weighed down by losses in FMCG stocks and continued foreign fund outflows.

Hindustan Unilever shares were the biggest laggard, falling 3.51%, followed by Cipla (-3.11%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (-2.34%), Max Healthcare (-1.76%) and UltraTech Cement (-1.52%).

Buzzing stocks on October 24: Check list

Shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) declined 4.8% to its intraday low of ₹2,474.50 apiece as investors turned cautious following management commentary.

The FMCG major is anticipating a low single-digit price growth in the upcoming quarters, especially in product categories that did not benefit from the reduced GST rate, and expects a volume-led growth in the remaining second half of the fiscal year, its CFO Ritesh Tiwari said post earnings announcements.

HUL is focusing "on driving volume-led improvement and acceleration in performance in the second half of the financial year compared to the first half," he said.

"Going forward, with all the GST changes, we are not planning any further price changes for all the GST-impacted categories because we have done all the price changes. The focus now will be to stabilise this price in the market," Tiwari said in an earnings call. He further said of the total portfolio, 40% is impacted by GST, "but there is... 60% business, which sits (with) no impact of GST."

Hindustan Unilever reported a 3.6% increase in its consolidated net profit at ₹2,685 crore for the quarter ended September 30 of fiscal year 2025-26 as compared to ₹2,591 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year.

On Friday, shares of HUL were trading at ₹2,511.50 apiece on NSE, down 3.46% at 12:20 PM. It was one of the top laggards on the NIFTY50 index.

Shares of Cipla declined as much as 3.34% to an intra-day low of ₹1,590 apiece on NSE on Friday despite the drugmaker signing an agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (India) to distribute and promote type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management drug tirzepatide under a new brand name, Yurpeak, in India.

The fall in the stock comes amid profit booking after it hit its 52-week high of ₹1,673 per equity share on October 23, in anticipation of the deal. The development was announced right as the markets closed on Thursday.

At around 12:26 PM, the scrip was trading 3.12% lower at ₹1,593.70 apiece.

Under the agreement, Cipla has the rights to distribute and promote Yurpeak, the second brand of tirzepatide in India, the two companies said in a joint statement shared on the bourses by Cipla.

Federal Bank shares jumped up 2% to an intraday high of ₹232.20 each after the private sector lender’s board approved the preferential issue of convertible warrants to Asia II Topco XIII, an affiliate of private equity firm Blackstone.

The lender approved the issuance of 27.29 crore warrants, each entitling the holder to subscribe to one fully paid-up equity share of the bank at ₹227 per share, roughly in line with Thursday’s closing price.

Further, at ₹227 per share, Blackstone will invest ₹6,196 crore in Federal Bank. Investors will pay 25% of the warrant price upfront and the remaining 75% when they exercise the warrants to buy the shares.

After the warrants are converted into equity shares, Blackstone will hold a 9.99% stake in Federal Bank.

With shareholder approval, Blackstone will get the right to nominate one non-executive director to the bank’s board if it exercises all the warrants and holds at least 5% of the total paid-up share capital.

Following the development, Federal Bank shares were trading at ₹228.72 apiece on NSE, rising 0.38%.

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd dropped as much as 3.79% to touch an intraday low of ₹2,200 apiece on Friday, a day after the company reported a 17% decline in its profit after tax (PAT) to ₹327.51 crore for the second quarter of FY26.

Shares of Colgate-Palmolive India were trading 3.20% lower at ₹2,213.70 per equity share on NSE at 12:30 PM.

The firm’s total income fell 9.47% to ₹1,534.53 crore in the quarter under review as against ₹1,695.09 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

The toothpaste marker’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down 6.4% to ₹465 crore in the latest September quarter. In the year-ago period, it stood at ₹497 crore. The EBITDA margin was at 30.63% vs 30.71% a year back.

Shares of Midwest, a quartz processor, made a robust debut on the stock exchanges on Friday. The stock listed at ₹1,165 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), reflecting a premium of 9.39% over the IPO issue price of ₹1,065 per share.

On the BSE, it debuted at ₹1,165.10 per unit, up 9.4% from the issue price.

The initial share sale consisted of new shares valued at ₹250 crore and an offer-for-sale, or OFS, of ₹201 crore by promoters Kollareddy Rama Raghava Reddy and Guntaka Ravindra Reddy.

Of the fresh funds generated, the company will use ₹130.3 crore for Phase II expansion of its quartz plant under its wholly-owned subsidiary Midwest Neostone, ₹56.2 crore for loan repayment, ₹25.7 crore for the purchase of electric dump trucks, ₹3.2 crore for solar energy integration, and the remainder for general corporate purposes.

The IPO, with a price band of ₹1,014 to ₹1,065 per share, was subscribed 87.89 times during the three-day subscription window, with bids for 27,398,3920 equity shares compared to 31,174,60 shares on offer, according to the BSE data.

Shares of Hindalco Industries surged 4.3% to hit an all-time high of ₹826.50 apiece on the NSE amid a sharp rise in aluminium prices due to supply shortages. Last seen, Hindalco stock was trading around 3.65% higher at ₹821.30 apiece on the NSE.

Aluminium prices on the London Metals Exchange (LME) crossed the mark of $2,850 per tonne.

Tariffs are a major concern across the broader metallurgy sector, so the company's apparent resilience in the face of them boosted investor sentiment.

According to a report by Discovery Alert, Europe faces an unprecedented challenge in securing environmentally sustainable primary aluminium, creating ripple effects across manufacturing sectors and climate commitments. The continent's green aluminium deficit in Europe stems from a convergence of energy constraints, infrastructure limitations, and supply disruptions that threaten industrial competitiveness.

The crisis has intensified following recent production halts at key facilities, with electricity-related problems at aluminium smelting operations in Iceland and Mozambique disrupting regional supply chains. These developments highlight Europe's growing vulnerability in securing duty-free green P1020 aluminium supplies.

Vedanta shares rallied nearly 4% to an intraday high of ₹501.05 apiece on Friday, October 24. The company will invest an additional ₹1 lakh crore in Odisha, creating over one lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities.

The proposed investment includes a refinery, an aluminium park in Dhenkanal district and a ferro-alloys plant in Keonjhar district, they said.

The plan includes a ₹2,000-crore ferro-alloys plant in Keonjhar and two new aluminium parks—one at Jharsuguda and another at a site identified by the state government, they said. The investment proposal was on Thursday placed before the Odisha government by Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal, who met Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi here. The company has already invested around ₹1 lakh crore in the state.

Vedanta shares also gained following a sharp rise in aluminium prices due to supply shortages.

At 12:39 PM, shares of Vedanta were trading at ₹496 apiece, gaining 2.64% on NSE.

Shares of Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) gained over 2% to an intraday high of ₹257.40 apiece amid a spike in oil prices. The Nifty Oil & Gas index was trading 0.65% higher at 11,676 levels, with ONGC being the top gainer.

In the international market, the crude oil benchmarks WTI crude and Brent jumped more than 5% on Thursday and were set for about a 7% weekly gain, the biggest since mid-June, as fresh US sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil companies over the war in Ukraine fuelled supply concerns.

US President Donald Trump's administration announced on Wednesday new "massive sanctions" against Russia's oil industry that are aimed at “moving Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and bringing an end to Moscow's brutal war in Ukraine.”

At 12:45 PM, ONGC shares were trading at ₹257.01 apiece on NSE, rising 1.86%.