Asian stocks were on the cusp of an intraday record high after US and global equity benchmarks hit fresh peaks, as the Federal Reserve's interest-rate cut bolstered sentiment.

US stock indices advanced on Thursday after the Federal Reserve made its first rate cut of 2025.

Here's a table showing how US stocks performed on Thursday:

Source: Equitymaster

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading 255 points lower, and the NSE Nifty is trading 59 points lower.

NTPC, Jio Financial, and Hero MotoCorp are among the top gainers today.

ICICI Bank, SBI, and Bajaj Finance are among the top losers today.

The BSE Midcap index is trading, and the BSE Smallcap index is trading flat.

Sectoral indices are trading mixed, with stocks in the IT sector, power, and metal sectors witnessing buying. Meanwhile, stocks in the auto sector and finance sector are witnessing selling pressure.

The rupee is trading at Rs 88.2 against the US dollar.
 

Vedanta Unveils Multi-Billion Dollar Expansion Plan

Vedanta Group has announced a massive multi-billion-dollar expansion across its transition metals, oil & gas, and critical minerals portfolio.

Currently, nearly 70% of its revenues come from transition metals, but the company is now aggressively scaling up its presence in critical minerals as well.

The group has secured mineral blocks across India for rare earth elements, vanadium, graphite, and tungsten, and also holds the distinction of being the country's leading nickel producer.

These minerals - including nickel and cobalt - are essential for stainless steel, super alloys, lithium-ion batteries, renewable energy systems, and electric mobility.

Its subsidiary, Hindustan Zinc, is planning to double production capacity across zinc, lead, and silver, while also advancing research collaborations in zinc-based battery technology.

The company's offerings further include EcoZen, a low-carbon zinc product aimed at reducing environmental impact.

In aluminium, Vedanta is targeting a ramp-up in production capacity from 2.4 MTPA to 3.1 MTPA by FY28, reinforcing its position as a key player in India's metals and mining sector.
 

Texmaco Rail Shares in Spotlight After Fresh Order Wins

Texmaco Rail & Engineering shares will be in focus on September 19 after the company secured a fresh order worth Rs 86.85 crore from UltraTech Cement. The order is for BCFC wagons along with a brake van, with deliveries scheduled by March 2026.

This comes on the heels of multiple contract wins in recent months. Just last week, the company received a Letter of Acceptance from Rail Vikas Nigam worth Rs 129.09 crore (inclusive of taxes) for the design, supply, erection, testing, and commissioning of 2*25 KV traction overhead equipment and associated activities in the Yavatmal-Digras section of the Nagpur division, Central Railways.

In August, Texmaco also bagged an order worth Rs 103.16 crore from Leap Grain Rail Logistics for BCBFG wagons along with a BVCM brake van, to be delivered within 10 months.
 

Unichem Labs Faces €19.5m Fine

Unichem Laboratories Ltd said on Thursday (Sept 18) it has received a demand notice from the European Commission seeking payment of €19.49 million (about ?175 crore) in connection with the perindopril drug case.

The notice, received on September 17, includes a principal penalty of €13.97 million and accrued interest of €5.52 million. The company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Niche Generics Ltd, has already remitted €2.79 million in instalments, leaving a balance of €16.70 million payable.

The case pertains to allegations that Unichem and its subsidiary breached EU competition law by settling a patent dispute over the blood pressure drug perindopril with France's Servier Group in 2005. The order in the matter was earlier communicated to the stock exchanges in June 2024.

Unichem said it had already made provisions for the principal penalty in its books, but will now need to account for the additional interest liability of €5.52 million in FY26. The company added that it is evaluating legal options in consultation with its law firm.
 

MobiKwik Confirms Haryana Payout Glitch

One MobiKwik Systems Ltd has acknowledged that a technical glitch on September 11-12, 2025, led to certain failed transactions being wrongly marked as successful, triggering unauthorised payouts to a group of merchants in and around Nuh district, Haryana.

The company said the issue was detected in the early hours of September 12 and resolved within 45 minutes. Authorities were promptly notified, an FIR was filed, arrests were made, and more than 2,000 merchant bank accounts were frozen.

Recovery efforts are underway, with a portion of the misappropriated funds already retrieved. MobiKwik clarified that UPI services, wallet transactions, user balances, and legitimate merchants remained unaffected.

The company reassured users that the platform continues to be fully safe and secure for all digital payments.

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