Top Gainers & Losers: Asian Paints, M&M rally most; Cipla cracks around 5%; here’s what analysts recommend

Top Gainers & Losers: The Indian markets extended losses for yet another session and settled with a cut of nearly half a percent. The tone was positive initially but selling resumed as the session progressed.  

The benchmark indices – Nifty50 and BSE Sensex – finally settled at 17303.95 and 58,962.12 levels, respectively on Tuesday. 

On the sectoral front, most indices traded under pressure however selective buying in auto, and realty pack combined with a rebound on the broader front kept the traders busy. 

Markets are not seeing respite despite the oversold positions however the pace of decline has subsided in the recent sessions, Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd said. 

“We expect Nifty to respect the 17100-17200 zone thus a possibility of consolidation is high. Meanwhile, investors should focus on stock-specific opportunities based on sectoral trends and limit leveraged positions,” he added. 

Here are some blue-chip stocks that saw maximum buzz on Tuesday, February 28, 2023: 

Asian Paints

Asian Paints shares ended as a top gainer on the Sensex. It settled at Rs 2,833 per share, up over 3 per cent from the previous day’s closing on the BSE.  

Axis Securities maintained a ‘buy’ rating on paint major with a target of Rs 3,200 per share implying a 13 per cent upside. The brokerage is positive on Asian Paints amid positive triggers like a fall in raw material prices, expanding manufacturing footprint, and launching differentiated next-gen products. 

Mahindra and Mahindra

Auto stocks were anyway in focus on Tuesday mainly due to Street’s high expectations regarding February auto sales, which are scheduled to be out on March 1, 2023. M&M shares ended among the top BSE gainer, up around 2 per cent to Rs 1,280 per share. 

M&M is seeing strong demand for its products and expects the growth momentum to continue, backed by a robust order book, Varun Baxi, an analyst at Nirmal Bang said, while maintaining a ‘buy’ rating on the stock with a target of Rs 1,575 apiece, which implies 23 per cent upside potential. 

Cipla

Cipla stock has been on a declining trend since last week, the counter slipped around 5 per cent to Rs 905.8 per share on the NSE today. Recently, the US health regulator issued eight observations on the pharma major’s manufacturing facility in Pitampur, Madhya Pradesh.  

Cipla has witnessed slower growth in its India Pharma market’s (IPM) sales as well in January 2023, compared with the industry’s average growth, Sharekhan said in its report, while maintaining a ‘hold’ rating with a target price of Rs 1,080 per share, which translates to 19 per cent upside.