After opening the day lower, Indian share markets reversed the trend as the session progressed to end flat.

Benchmark indices ended marginally higher on Thursday after remaining in the red for most of the session. IT stocks fell after weak quarterly earnings and a cautious outlook weighed on sentiment, but a late rally in bank stocks lifted the market in the second half.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 38 points (up 0.1%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed higher by 15 points (up 0.1%).

Eicher Motors, Apollo Hospital, and HDFC Life Insurance were among the top gainers today.

Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Technologies on the other hand were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,881 up by 2 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Midcap index rose 0.2% while the BSE SmallCap index ended 0.3% higher.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the banking sector, financial sector, and auto sector witnessing most of the buying.

On the other hand, stocks from the IT sector, healthcare sector, and energy sector witnessed selling pressure.

Shares of Bajaj Auto, HDFC, and Godrej Consumer hit their 52-week high today.

Now track the biggest movers of the stock market using the stocks to watch today section. This should help you keep updated with the latest developments...

Outside the home ground, Asian share markets ended on a mixed note.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei ended 0.3% higher, while the Hang Seng rose 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite ended 0.3% lower.

The rupee is trading at 82.8 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading 0.5% higher at Rs 60,920 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.5% at Rs 76,300 per kg.

Speaking of stock markets, travel and a pharma stock can be turnaround stories in 2023. Mouthwatering valuations coupled with a turnaround in financials is a strong combination for re-rating in the stock market.
 

Nelco withdraws satcom permit application

In news from the engineering sector,  Tata Group's satellite services firm Nelco has withdrawn its application for offering personal satellite communication services to consumers in the country and plans to apply for a new license under New Space Policy.

Nelco has withdrawn the application for a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) license, which it had earlier submitted to the Department of Telecommunications.

The company plans to apply for a relevant permit after going through the contours of the New Space Policy, which it expects to be a complete game changer.

The GMPCS license at present allows license holders to provide satellite phone services in India.

Nelco is looking to expand satcom in a big way. Further, the company is getting into new segments as the regulation is opening.

Nelco at present provides in-flight and maritime services through satellite and satellite-based communication to enterprise customers through VSAT and other licenses.

The company has also been paying dividends consistently for the past three years, and the average dividend payout stands at 18.87%.
 

Can HDFC Lead Nifty to 18,000?

Moving on to news from the finance sector, HDFC has hit a 52-week high surpassing the historic day high of 4th April 2022.

According to our in-house chartist Brijesh Bhatia, on the ratio chart of HDFC/Nifty50, the trendline breakout indicates an outperformance of HDFC over Nifty50.

HDFC Technical Chart

(Click on image to enlarge)

If the ratio continues to head higher, it will lead Nifty toward the 18,000 mark.HDFC Ltd weighs close to 6% in the Nifty 50 index.
 

Jindal Steel & Power to expand rail-making capacity

Moving on to news from the steel sector, Jindal Steel & Power, on Thursday, announced its plan to commission a state-of-the-art 1.2 million tons per annum rail & heavy structure mill at its steel complex at Angul, Odisha.

With the commissioning of this capacity, the company's total rail-making capacity will be 2.2 million tonnes per annum.

The company's existing 1 million tons per annum Rail Mill at Raigarh is regularly supplying 260m rails to the Indian Railways, Dedicated Freight Corridors, and other national projects.

The company has developed specialty rails like 1175 HT, Asymmetric Rails, and 1080HH rails at its Raigarh unit in Chhattisgarh.

These rails act as an import substitute and are used by metro rail corporations, high-speed corridors, and the Bullet Train project.

The company is also exporting home-grown rails to multiple countries around the world. It has also supplied specialty rail blooms for the European railways.

Coming to the stock performance, the shares have given a 127% return in the last two years.

Jindal Steel is one of India's top steel and power producers and has a dominant presence in the mining and infrastructure sectors.

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