After opening the day lower, Indian benchmark indices continued the downtrend as the session progressed and ended the day on a negative note.

Benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex, and NSE Nifty50 settled in the negative territory on Wednesday.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 319 points (down 0.4%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 86 points (down 0.3%).

Trent, Infosys and M&M are among the top gainers today.

Wipro, Bajaj Auto and Hindalco on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The GIFT Nifty was trading at 25,018 down by 95 points at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index ended 0.2% lower and the BSE SmallCap index ended 0.3% higher.

Sectoral indices were trading mixed with stocks in the realty sector and telecom sector witnessing buying. Meanwhile, stocks in the power and auto sector witnessed selling pressure.

Siemens, CAMS and HDFC AMC hit their respective 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 84.01 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.6% higher at Rs 76,799 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices were trading 0.9% higher at Rs 92,444 per 1 kg.

Speaking of the stock market, Tanushree Banerjee, Research Analyst in her latest video talks about how technological obsolescence has, in the past, made the biggest of the businesses redundant.

Kodak is one of the most cited examples of a business losing relevance with changes in technology. But it is certainly not the only one.

Also, apart from technology, climate change and geopolitics also threaten to bring about certain dramatic shifts in traditional business models. These disruptions may not occur overnight. But they could certainly put several companies out of business unless they pivot.
 

Railtel Corporation Jumps 10%. Here's why

In news from the engineering sector, shares of Railtel Corporation of India jumped 10% to Rs 449 in the afternoon trade on Wednesday, 16 October, after securing a Rs 798 m order from Maharashtra Housing And Area Development Authority (MHADA).

The telecom company announced that it will establish, migrate, and manage cloud-based data centres and disaster recovery sites for MHADA under the new contract. Railtel shares have slipped 21% in the past three months.

Railtel was recently elevated to 'Navratna' status by the government on 30 August, joining the ranks of top public sector enterprises. The company reported an annual turnover of Rs 26.2 bn and a net profit of Rs 2.5 bn for FY24, giving it enhanced decision-making power and operational freedom.

In September, Railtel also bagged a Rs 1.6 bn order from Maharashtra Rural Development to operationalize ASSK-GP projects across the Konkan, Pune, and Nashik regions.

The railway PSU forecasts telecom revenue to grow by 9-10%, with project revenue expected to reach Rs 20 bn, driving overall revenue growth of 25-30% in FY25.

The company is a public sector enterprise that owns a pan-India fibre optic network through which it provides broadband and multimedia services.

Why Sterlite Technologies Share Price is Rising

Moving on to news from the cable sector, shares of Sterlite Technologies surged 6% on 16 October after the company showcased its latest AI-driven data centre solutions at the India Mobile Congress 2024.

The telecom firm launched a portfolio of optical fibre products to support the rapid growth of AI infrastructure in data centres, which require greater fibre density as they shift to GPU-based servers.

While artificial intelligence models are at the front end, the backend infrastructure- the AI-led data centres-rides on optical fibre connectivity.

As data centres transition to GPU-based servers, the demand for fibre optic infrastructure between and inside the data centres could surge dramatically.

India has emerged as a major hub for data centre ecosystems. Early estimates suggest that by 2026, the country will increase its GPU-based server capacity in AI-driven data centres to nearly 5.2 lakh GPUs.

These GPU-intensive data centres will need 36 times more fibre than traditional CPU racks due to higher server density and increased bandwidth demands.

The management stated that the company's IBR (Intelligently Bonded Ribbon) cabling technology sets the benchmark for fibre densification and will serve as the backbone of AI data centre connectivity.
 

PC Jeweller Hits Upper Circuit

Moving on to news from the jewellery sector, PC Jeweller shares hit the upper circuit limit in Wednesday's trading session after the company allotted 4.4 lakh equity shares on conversion of fully convertible warrants.

The stock price gained after four days of consecutive fall on the NSE. In October 16 trade, the counter hit the upper circuit of 5%.

Earlier, PC Jeweller Ltd announced a stock split and a major fundraising plan, both designed to enhance shareholder value and increase retail participation.

The company has proposed to split its equity shares in a 1:10 ratio, converting each existing share with a face value of Rs 10 into ten shares with a face value of Re 1, it said in a stock exchange filing late on 30 September.

This move is subject to approval from the company's shareholders and is expected to be completed within 45 days following the necessary approvals.

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