Rail Vikas Nigam has emerged as the lowest bidder from South Central Railway for the doubling of track between Ankai station & Karanjgaon stations including electrification and signalling works in connection with the Aurangabad-Ankai doubling project in Nanded Division of South Central Railway on engineering, procurement, and construction basis, said the company in an exchange filing.

The company reported its Q4 net profit at Rs 2,040 crore against the expectations of Rs 2,040 crore, in line with estimates. The company’s revenue from operations stands at Rs 7,285 crore, a fall of 12% on year, compared to Rs 8,281 in the same period a year ago.

Courtesy: NSE

Apollo Hospitals, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Grasim Industries, and M&M were the top gainers in the Nifty 50. While Bajaj Auto, HCL Technologies, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, and Nestle India were the key laggards in the Nifty 50 on April 19.

The shares of ITC gains over 1% to intra-day high of Rs 426.15 on NSE on the following news that ITC’s subsidiary, ITC Infotech, announced plans to acquire 100% share capital of Blazeclan Technologies for Rs 485 crore, aiming to bolster its technological capabilities.

Courtesy: NSE

The shares of Deepak Fertilisers gained 1% to an intra-day high of Rs 555 on the NSE following news that the company’s unit entered into an agreement with Israel-based Haifa Group.

Courtesy: BSE

“The Bank Nifty Index remains under bearish control, with any upward movements facing aggressive selling, highlighting a prevailing “sell on rise” sentiment among traders. The major resistance for the index is positioned at 48,000, where significant call writing activity has been observed, indicating strong resistance at this level. The overall market tone continues to be bearish, and if the selling pressure persists, the index could test its next major support level at 46,500, where the 100-day exponential moving average (EMA) is located,” said Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities.

Technology giant Infosys witnessed a decline of up to 2% on Friday, April 19, in response to the company’s disclosure of missing revenue estimates and offering a softer guidance for the financial year 2025. At 12:02 pm the shares of Infosys are trading down by 1.40% at Rs 1,399.35 on NSE. 

Read More: Infosys shares see sharp dip as IT major guides for tepid growth in FY25

Infosys slid almost 3% to an intraday low of Rs 1,378.75 a day after the company reported its Q4 results. The stock of the company touched its 52-week low of Rs 1,215 on April 25, 2023. It hit the 52-week high of Rs 1,733 on February 06, 2024.

Bajaj Auto fell more than 3.5% to an intraday low of Rs 8,700.05 from its previous close of Rs 9,021.30 a day after it declared its Q4 results. The stock was the key laggard in the Nifty 50. It touched its 52-week low of Rs 4,180.05 on April 19, 2023.

The NSE Nifty 50 was down 68.65 points or 0.31% at 21,927.20, while the BSE Sensex was down 206.18 or 0.28% at 72,282.81.

Courtesy: NSE

Courtesy: NSE

Courtesy: NSE

ITC, Grasim Industries, ONGC, Apollo Hospitals, and Hindustan Unilever were the top gainers in the Nifty 50. While Bajaj Auto, BPCL, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, and L&T were the key losers in the Nifty 50 on April 19.

Bengaluru-based apparel manufacturer Gokaldas Exports Ltd. commenced its qualified institutional placement (QIP) on Thursday with the objective of raising Rs 600 crore. The issue price has been fixed at Rs 775 per share, marking a 4.05% discount to the last closing price, and a floor price of Rs 789.99.

The company announced its intention to utilize the proceeds for loan repayment and to capitalize on inorganic growth opportunities. It is anticipated that the QIP will lead to a dilution of up to 12.2% of the pre-issue outstanding equity share capital.

Read More: Gokaldas Exports launches Rs 600 crore QIP at Rs 775/share

Phase 1 Polling underway in 102 Lok Sabha constituencies across the country. Around 1,600 candidates in the fray and 16.63 crore voters expected to cast vote across 1.87 polling stations . Polling began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm.

Prominent candidates include Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Sarbanada Sonowal and Bhupendra Yadav. That apart Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi, DMK’s Kanimozhi, and BJP’s K Annamalai are also looking for electoral success in this phase.

All details from Phase 1 Polls

Commenting on the Technical outlook of Nifty Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities, said Nifty continued to weaken as the index remained below the critical moving average of 21EMA. However, on the hourly chart, the index has formed a bullish harami pattern, suggesting a potential bullish reversal in the near term. Additionally, a bullish divergence is evident on the hourly chart. Looking ahead, the index might advance towards 22,200/22,300; sustained trading above 22,300 could further strengthen the market. Support is situated at 21,900.

ONGC, Apollo Hospitals, Cipla, Sun Pharma, and Dr Reddy’s Lab are the top gainers on NSE Nifty 50 index whereas the to laggards include BPCL, HDFC Life Insurance, Bajaj Auto, Axis Bank, and Infosys.

The NSE Nifty 50 opens down by 0.61% at 21,861.10, while the BSE Sensex drops 0.68% to 71,999.65 in the opening trade.

Commenting on the pre-market outlook Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities said that Nifty bears are seizing the opportunity amid Middle East tensions. However, for a sustained rally at Dalal Street, positive surprises in inflation, geo-political developments, or Q4 earnings are crucial. Wall Street experienced volatile trading on Thursday, driven by corporate earnings and Fed commentary hinting at reduced rate cut expectations.

Tapse also says that Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari advocated patience, suggesting policy adjustments might not occur until 2025. With INFY’s ADR shares dropping 2%, Nifty faces downward pressure. Amid concerns about US inflation, Nifty’s immediate downside is pegged at 21710. FIIs were net sellers while DIIs bought. Nifty’s trading range is projected between 21700-22200, with 22000 as crucial resistance.

“Long story short: caution and agility are advised. Preferred trades: Buy Nifty on dips between 21750-21800 with targets at 22250/22500, and Bank Nifty between 46500-46600 with targets at 48371/49101,” added Tapse.

The NSE has added Balrampur Chini Mills, Bandhan Bank, Exide Industries, GNFC, Hindustan Copper, Idea, Metropolis, National Aluminium, Piramal Enterprises, SAIL, and Zee Entertainment Enterprise in F&O on April 19, 2024.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth net Rs 4,260.3 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth net Rs 2,285.5 crore on April 18, 2024, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region are trading in the negative territory on Friday morning. The Asia Dow is down by 1.56%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 is in the red, declining by 2.94%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is trading lower by 1.67%, and the benchmark Chinese index Shanghai Composite is down by 0.12%.

WTI crude prices are currently trading at $82.61, marking a decrease of 0.03%, whereas Brent crude prices stand at $86.97, indicating an increase of 0.08% on Friday morning.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the dollar against a basket of six major currencies, recorded a 0.05% gain, reaching 106.21 during trading.

According to Bloomberg, US Treasury yields saw a slight increase following robust economic data, fueling expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain its current interest rates. The tech-oriented Nasdaq Composite closed lower by 81.87 points or 0.24% at 15,601.50. Similarly, the S&P 500 declined by 11.09 points or 0.22% to 5,011.12, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a drop of 432.70 points or 1.15% to 37,342.59.