Top gainers and losers, September 24: HDFC LIC, Bajaj Finance tumble 6%, Cipla rises over 1%; check list

Furthermore, a sell-off in financial market stocks also led to a decline in the market, after insurance regulator IRDAI proposed bringing back hard, product-level caps on life insurance commissions after removing such limits in 2023.

The SENSEX tumbled as much as 1.7% to hit an intraday low of 73,563.92. Meanwhile, the NIFTY50 crashed as much as 1.71% to touch the session’s low of 23,046.15.

On September 24, the SENSEX slumped 1,247.71 points or 1.67% to close at 73,580.54. Meanwhile, NIFTY50 ended at 23,063.10, down by 383.70 points or 1.64%.

NIFTY50 top gainers and losers

IRDAI has issued a consultation paper on ‘Recalibrating Economics of Insurance Distribution’, setting out a comprehensive framework of reforms covering insurance distribution, its structure, expenses, commissions, market conduct, transparency and digital infrastructure. Furthermore, insurers will also face changes to their Expense of Management (EoM) limits and commission structures.

It was followed by Bajaj Finance (-5.87%), Axis Bank (-4.56%), Bajaj Finserv (-4.56%) and Adani Enterprises (-3.11%), which were among the top losers on Thursday.

On the flip side, just three constituents of the 50-share index advanced, including Cipla (1.16%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) (0.89%) and NTPC Ltd (0.18%), which were the top gainers.

NIFTY Midcap 100 top gainers and losers

NSE’s NIFTY Midcap 100 gauge declined by 2.25% or 1,406.30 points to close at 60,990.15 on September 24.

Shares of PB Fintech closed 36% lower, marking its biggest single-day fall. At the day's low, the stock's sharp decline wiped out over ₹25,000 crore from the company's market capitalisation.

The sharp decline in the insurance distribution stock came as investors assessed the potential impact of IRDA’s proposed commission and distribution-cost changes on their business models.

Bernstein said the proposed commission cuts were significantly more severe than expected and identified PB Fintech as the most impacted company. The investment firm said the proposed take-rate caps could materially pressure PB Fintech’s unit economics, particularly in health and motor insurance.

The other top laggards included Max Financial Services (-9.78%), L&T Finance (-9.03%), Info Edge (India) (-5.63%) and AU Small Finance Bank (-5.03%).

On the other hand, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company (5.09%), Oil India Ltd (OIL) (1.91%), Multi-Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) (1.59%), Mankind Pharma (1.42%) and Dixon Technologies (0.75%) were among the top winners.

NIFTY Smallcap 100 top gainers and losers

The NIFTY Smallcap 100 index slumped 1.53% or 306.75 points to end at 19,684.75.

IFCI Ltd (-5.33%), Piramal Finance (-5.05%), Five-Star Business Finance (-4.49%), Bandhan Bank (-4.43%) and Pine Labs (-4.41%) were among the top losers.

On the contrary, the top gainers included Signature Global (2.05%), Redington (1.81%), Dr. Lal Path Labs (1.70%), Kaynes Technology India (1.49%) and Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd (HSCL) (1.46%).