Analysis Financial News

D-Street has been in a downturn, falling on 21 occasions out of 36 trading days so far in 2025. The correction has erased market capitalisation of BSE 500 listed companies by Rs 34 lakh crore to Rs 353.31 lakh crore from Rs 387.18 lakh crore on December 31, 2024. An analysis of the BSE 500 companies reveals 447 stocks witnessing cuts in their market capitalsiation on a year-to-date basis. Just 53 stocks have managed to remain above the December 31, 2024, m-cap on a closing basis.

shares were largely flat on Wednesday as gains in miner Antofagasta after a rating upgrade were countered by losses in real estate stocks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index held its ground at 557.21 points after closing at a record high in the previous session.

Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) said Bharti Telecom’s net loss widened in the fiscal third quarter due to the latter’s higher finance expenses from extra borrowings to buy more Bharti Airtel shares. Singtel holds a 49.44% stake in Bharti Telecom (BTL) — the main promoter-level controlling company of Sunil Mittal-led Airtel. The Mittal family-backed Bharti Group owns a majority 50.56% stake in BTL.

«There has been some pickup, whether in GDP numbers, in earnings growth, or in top line or something for it to get some trigger or some reason to be bullish about or to add on to what the current holding is, so that is what the whole situation is,» says Aman Chowhan, Abakkus Asset Manager. Let us understand what is the way forward for small and midcap stocks and I will break it into two or three points here, first, for the mid and the smallcap stocks as a cycle; second, where are they headed in terms of a theme and when will the momentum really come back in some of these stocks? Aman Chowhan: First thing is, see, there is always this assumption that it is largecap versus midcaps. Normally, it does not happen that way. At any given point of time, there will be some largecap that will do well, some midcap that will do well, irrespective of the cycle.

«Short-term adjustments will be there, might be there, I mean one cannot really comment on that but I do not think there is anything structural threat to that,» says Vikas Khemani, Carnelian Asset Management. What we have known from you is that you have been liking the pharma space overall and within that, you have been firm believer that CDMO space has a long way to go and I still remember a line of yours that you shared on our channel itself that Indian CDMO sector is poised for a growth similar to the IT boom of the mid-90s. But given there so many announcements related to tariff and that is the biggest headline for today, do you believe that it can actually make a dent to the structural story or do you believe that tariff imposition and this higher tariff is not likely and the structural story still remains? Vikas Khemani: Again, do not confuse short-term issues with the long-term structural trends. CDMO is a very long-term trend. The need for that is moving away from China, diversifying the base for innovator drugs being manufactured elsewhere and US knows what their interests are, just by imposing some short-term tariffs is also counter to their interest.

As of 10:29 am IST, Bitcoin slipped 0.8% to $95,148, while Ethereum declined 0.6% to $2,678. The global crypto market cap fell 1.6% to $3.13 trillion in the past 24 hours.

Hexaware Technologies climbed 4.6% to Rs 764.7 on the BSE after debuting on Dalal Street on Wednesday. The stock opened on the BSE at Rs 731 with a 3.25% premium, compared to the issue price of Rs 708, while on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the shares debuted at Rs 745.5, marking a premium of 5.3%. Brokerage JM Financial initiated coverage on the stock with a “buy” rating and a target price of Rs 820, which implies an upside potential of 7% from the current levels.

Zen Technologies snapped their losing streak on Wednesday, soaring 10% in intraday trade to hit their upper circuit at Rs 1,069.20 on the NSE. Zen Technologies shares had fallen after the drone manufacturing company reported a sequential decline in profitability and revenue in its third-quarter earnings for the period ending December.

Khaitan Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.(up 8.26%), Rama Phosphates Ltd.(up 6.98%), Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd.(up 5.32%), National Fertilizers Ltd.(up 4.10%), Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation Ltd.(up 3.98%), The Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd.(up 3.77%), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd.(up 3.69%), Madras Fertilizers Ltd.(up 3.06%), Gujarat State Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd.(up 2.37%) and Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd.(up 2.33%) were among the top gainers.

«Specifically, we do not have a stock list ready, like a shopping list per se. We are still observing what has happened in the quarter which has gone by,» says Dipan Mehta, Director, Elixir Equities. What does one do, just sit it out and watch or do you think it is time now to selectively start buying largecaps or any other for that matter? Dipan Mehta: See, for many-many months I have been quite negative on the market, but now I am getting cautiously optimistic as well and I do feel that there has been a steep correction in many stocks. Valuations have come to reasonable levels.

Pharmaceutical stocks plunged on Wednesday, with the Nifty Pharma Index dropping over 2%. Leading the selloff, Aurobindo Pharma slumped as much as 9.5% to Rs 1,053.45, making it the biggest loser in the pharma pack, after U.S. President Donald Trump signalled plans to impose a 25% tariff on imported drugs, triggering concerns over higher costs and potential disruptions for Indian drugmakers, which are among the largest suppliers to the U.S. market. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories slid 5.8% to Rs 1,128.90, while Zydus Lifesciences fell 4.8%. Sun Pharma, India’s largest drugmaker, dropped 3.2% to Rs 1,647.35, emerging as the top loser on the BSE Sensex and among the top five decliners on the Nifty 50 benchmark. Other major pharmaceutical firms also took a hit, with Lupin down 4%, Glenmark Pharma sliding 2.7%, and Cipla losing 2.2%.

Persistent Systems Ltd.(up 1.73 per cent), Wipro Ltd.(up 1.11 per cent), Coforge Ltd.(up 1.09 per cent) and MphasiS Ltd.(up 0.55 per cent) were among the top gainers.

Granules India Ltd.(up 1.69 per cent), Divi's Laboratories Ltd.(up 1.64 per cent), Laurus Labs Ltd.(up 1.59 per cent), Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd.(up 0.89 per cent) and Alkem Laboratories Ltd.(up 0.41 per cent) were among the top gainers.

KIOCL Ltd.(up 6.22%), Pokarna Ltd.(up 5.13%), Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd.(up 4.86%), Aro Granite Industries Ltd.(up 3.45%), Ashapura Minechem Ltd.(up 3.45%), 20 Microns Ltd.(up 3.35%), The Orissa Minerals Development Company Ltd.(up 2.31%), NMDC Ltd.(up 2.29%), Oriental Trimex Ltd.(up 2.03%) and MOIL Ltd.(up 1.71%) were among the top gainers.

Adani Group stocks tumbled in early trading on Wednesday, with shares of Adani Enterprises dropping as much as 4.3%, following reports that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought assistance from Indian authorities in its probe into the conglomerate’s founder, Gautam Adani, and his nephew, Sagar Adani, over alleged securities fraud and a Rs 2,300 crore bribery scheme. The SEC informed a US district court on Tuesday that its efforts to serve legal complaints to the Adanis were ongoing and that it was working with India’s Ministry of Law and Justice for assistance, Reuters reported. This development triggered fresh concerns among investors, leading to a broad sell-off across Adani Group stocks at the market open.

Duroply lndustries(up 20.00%), Gujarat Themis (up 19.81%), Somany Home(up 18.66%), HB Leasing Fin(up 16.69%), Aplab(up 16.46%) and Tata Investment(up 15.62%) were among the stocks that surged over 15%.

A similar pattern is playing out with the Nifty 50 index, which saw its share in total market capitalization decline from 58% five years ago to an all-time low of 42%. That figure is now inching back up to 44%, according to data from DSP Mutual Fund.

Nifty has fallen more than 12% from its record high of 26,277. The index closed at 22,945 on 18th February 2025.

Indowind Energy Ltd.(up 8.69%), GMR Power and Urban Infra Ltd.(up 8.28%), Ravindra Energy Ltd.(up 7.93%), Suzlon Energy Ltd.(up 6.52%), Orient Green Power Company Ltd.(up 5.47%), Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd.(up 5.06%), KPI Green Energy Ltd.(up 5.00%), ACME Solar Holdings Ltd.(up 5.00%), Transformers & Rectifiers(India)Ltd.(up 5.00%) and Inox Wind Ltd.(up 4.65%) were among the top gainers.

Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) shares will be in focus on Wednesday, February 19, after the company secured a Rs 554.47 crore contract from Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Ltd (K-RIDE) for the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP). RVNL received a Letter of Acceptance from K-RIDE for Package C4A, involving the construction of nine stations under Corridor-4A of the BSRP. The Rs 554.47-crore contract involves building one elevated and eight at-grade stations at Heelalige, Singena Agrahara, Huskur, Ambedkar Nagar, Carmelaram, Bellandur, Marathahalli, Doddanakundi, and Kaggadasapura.

Infosys shares will be in focus on Wednesday, February 19, after the company announced the establishment of a Global Capability Centre (GCC) for Lufthansa to support the German airline's digital transformation. As part of a $300 million IT contract, the GCC will enhance Lufthansa Group’s software and product development while strengthening support for Lufthansa Systems’ (LSY) products.