Nestle India, Bajaj Auto, Dabur India, and HUL among 10 stocks that made the headlines today

Tracking weakness in global peers amid escalating Middle East violence, Indian equities ended lower in Thursday’s session (October 19). Nifty slipped 46.4 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 19,625, while BSE Sensex fell 248 points, or 0.4 per cent, to close at 65,629. Meanwhile, broader markets outperformed their headline peers, with Nifty Midcap 100 ending 0.09 per cent lower.

Here are the newsmakers that buzzed in trade on Thursday (October 19).

Bajaj Auto
Shares of the automaker hit their new 52-week high of Rs 5,492.15 apiece on BSE, zooming around 7 per cent, after the company's strong Q2 show.

Nucleus Software Exports
Shares of the software services firm were locked in a 10 per cent upper circuit at the close at Rs 1449.4. The stock has been witnessing heavy buying over the last few days.

South Indian Bank
Shares of the private lender ended with gains of over 1 per cent at Rs 26.29 after the bank reported a 23 per cent increase in its standalone net profit for the Q2 period at Rs 2,74.81 crore.

ITC
Shares of the diversified FMCG player ended marginally lower at Rs 450.3 per share ahead of its Q2 results due to be announced on Thursday (October 19). Earlier on Wednesday (October 18), ITC announced in a filing that it would increase its holding in Delectable Technologies, an associate company, by acquiring an additional 2,286 equity shares.

Power Mech Projects
Shares of the civil construction entity ended almost flat with a positive bias at Rs 4,034 apiece. The company’s board has approved fund raising through the QIP route at a floor price of Rs 4,085.4 per share.

Dabur India
Shares of the personal care company ended over 1 per cent lower at Rs 527 after the company informed of litigations against its subsidiaries in the US and Canada over alleged cancer risks from their hair relaxer product line.

5paisa Capital
The stock of the brokerage firm notched its fresh 52-week high of Rs 494, gaining close to 5 per cent, as the company reported strong financial performance in the September quarter.

Dr. Lal PathLabs
Shares of the diagnostic lab major ended marginally lower at Rs 2,497.7 despite a downgrade by Goldman Sachs to 'sell' with a target price of Rs 2,100, implying a potential downside of 16 per cent from the last closing price.

HUL
Shares of the FMCG company settled on a flat note ahead of its Q2 results at Rs 2,549. In its quarterly results reported after market hours, the company posted a net profit of Rs 2,657 crore, marginally lower on a year-on-year basis.

Nestle
Shares of the packaged foods company ended with sharp gains of close to 4 per cent at Rs 24,122 after it reported a 37 per cent YoY increase in net profit at Rs 908 crore in the quarter ended September 2023.