Nifty, Sensex Top Gainers & Losers: HCL Tech, Asian Paints end Friday session as top gainers; M&M cracks 2.5% - what should investors do?

Nifty, Sensex Top Gainers, Top Losers, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, M&M: The Indian markets on Friday closed with a minor drop, thereby continuing their losing rally for the second straight session. The benchmark indices – NSE-Nifty and BSE-Sensex – closed between 0.1-0.2 per cent lower to settle above 18300 & 61,600, respectively. 

Meanwhile, the broader markets such as Nifty midcap and smallcap underperformed the benchmark indices by declining around 0.5 per cent each today. Similarly, the 12-share banking index – Nifty Bank closed flat with negative bias at 45,437 level. 

Sectorally, Nifty PSU Bank and Realty continued their rally to end in the green, while all other indices closed negative with Nifty Auto followed by healthcare dragging the market most. Among heavyweights – HUL, Asian Paints and HCL tech gained, while M&M and Bajaj auto dipped. 

HCL Tech: Outperform – Target: 1238; Upside: 12% 

Choice Broking analyst Yash Patel in a report said HCL Tech may not be completely immune to macro headwinds faced by the sector and maintains an Outperform rating on the stock with a slightly lowered target price of 1,238 per share, implying 12 per cent upside in the stock. 

Image Source: Stockedge

The analyst values the stock at 18.2x NTM EPS of Rs.67.9 implying a FPE of 16.2x on FY24E EPS & 12.7x on FY25E EPS. Shares of HCL Tech closed as top Nifty gainer, up over 1 per cent to Rs 1105 apiece on the BSE on Friday. 

Asian Paints: Buy – Target: Rs 3689; Upside: 19% 

Asian Paints’ focus on becoming a complete home décor player and maintaining its dominant position in the core decorative paints business through capacity expansion/backward integration provides visibility of consistent earnings growth in the medium to long run, Sharekhan said in a report. 

Image Source: Stockedge

The brokerage, however, added that any increased competition from new entrants with higher capacity in the domestic paint industry would act as a risk to profitability in the medium to long term. The stock is currently trading at 76.6x/55.6x its FY2023/FY2024E earnings.  

Sharekhan maintains a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of Rs. 3,689 apiece, implying 19% upside in the stock. Shares of Asian Paints closed as one of the top NSE, BSE gainers, up nearly 1 per cent to Rs 3100 per share on Thursday. 

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M): Accumulate – Target: Rs 1434; Upside: 17%  

Siddarth Bhamre, Head of Research, Religare Broking Ltd said in a report that he believes M&M’s Auto division — which includes the passenger vehicle segment — will drive the growth and in addition, it will continue to maintain its strong position in rural markers for farm equipment. 

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He added that the growth will be driven by capacity expansion, strong order book, commodity tailwinds, and increasing market share. Bhamre expects the company’s Revenue/EBITDA to grow at a CAGR of 23.2%/29.3% over FY22-24E.  

The analyst recommends an Accumulate rating with a target price of Rs 1,434 apiece, implying an upside of 17 per cent from Friday’s closing. Shares of M&M closed as top Nifty and Sensex losers, down over 2 per cent to Rs 1,227.70 apiece. 

Nifty50 Top Gainers:  

1) HCL Tech shares ended at Rs 1,105.00, up over 1 per cent on the NSE from Thursday’s closing price.  

2) Asian Paints shares ended at Rs 3,100.00, up around 1 per cent on the NSE from Thursday’s closing price.  

3) HUL shares ended at Rs 2,481.00, up around 1 per cent on the NSE from Thursday’s closing price.  

4) SBI shares ended at Rs 602.05, up 0.5 per cent on the NSE from Thursday’s closing price. 

5) Infosys shares ended at Rs 1,594.40, up around 0.5 per cent on the NSE from Thursday’s closing price  

Nifty50 Top Losers:  

1) M&M shares ended at Rs 1,227.70, down over 2 per cent on the NSE from Monday’s closing price.  

2) Bajaj Auto shares ended at Rs 3,627.85 down around 2 per cent on the NSE from Monday’s closing price.  

3) NTPC shares ended at Rs 165.50, down over 1.5 per cent on the NSE from Monday’s closing price.  

4) Bajaj Finance shares ended at Rs 6,785.00, down over 1.5 per cent on the NSE from Monday’s closing price.  

5) IndusInd Bank shares ended at Rs 1,128.55, down over 1.5 per cent on the NSE from Monday’s closing price.  

Sensex Top Gainers:  

1) HUL shares ended at Rs 2483.25, up around 1 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price.  

2) Asian Paints shares ended at Rs 3098.65, up around 1 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price.  

3) HC Tech shares ended at Rs 1101.30, up over 0.5 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price.  

4) SBI shares ended at Rs 602.65, up over 0.5 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price. 

5) Kotak Bank shares ended at Rs 1958.85, up around 0.5 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price  

Sensex Top Losers:  

1) M&M shares ended at Rs 1227.25, down around 2.5 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price.  

2) Maruti shares ended at Rs 8844.95, down over 1.5 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price.  

3) Bajaj Finance shares ended at Rs 6786.90, down over 1.5 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price. 

4) IndusInd Bank shares ended at Rs 1128.15, down over 1.5 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price.  

5) NTPC shares ended at Rs 165.65, down over 1.5 per cent on the BSE from Monday’s closing price.