Shares of state-run Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC) Ltd. surged by as much as 5% to Rs 182 on Tuesday following its March quarter results. This increase brings the stock close to its all-time high of Rs 192.

Shares of Hindustan Zinc, in which Vedanta, led by Anil Agarwal, holds a 64.92% stake, rose another 17% on Tuesday. This increase brings the stock’s one-month gain to over 80%, marking its fifth consecutive session of growth.

Motilal Oswal upgraded JSW Steel from Neutral to BUY, setting a target price of Rs 1,070, premised on 7 times FY26 estimated EV/EBITDA.

Motilal Oswal, in a report on JSW Steel, highlighted the company’s favorable positioning with new capacities coming online, robust domestic demand, improving exports, and an increasing share of value-added sales.

They emphasized JSW Steel’s focus on enhancing its captive share of iron ore and improving coal linkages to bolster earnings.

The report noted JSW Steel’s sturdy balance sheet and strong cash flow generation, enabling the execution of its planned five-year capital expenditure program. Currently, JSW Steel is trading at 6.1 times FY26 estimated EV/EBITDA.

The board of telecommunications giant Vodafone Idea Ltd. has sanctioned the raising of up to Rs 2,075 crore from an Aditya Birla Group entity, Oriana Investments, through a preferential share issue.

Commenting on the derivaties markets outlook Anand James, Chief Market Strategist,Geojit Financial Services said Nifty weekly contract has highest open interest at 23000 for Calls and 21500 for Puts while monthly contracts have highest open interest at 23000 for Calls and 21000 for Puts. Highest new OI addition was seen at 24000 for Calls and 22500 for Puts in weekly and at 23200 for Calls and 22500 for Puts in monthly contracts.

James also added, FIIs increased their future index long position holdings by 1.21%, decreased future index shorts by -0.11% and in index options by 9.75% increase in Call longs, 7.81% increase in Call short, 0.67% increase in Put longs and 0.06% decrease in Put shorts

On Tuesday, shares of Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL) surged by as much as 15.4%, reaching a new all-time high of ₹345.9. This surpasses its previous intraday record of ₹345.6, achieved on January 28 earlier this year.

JSW Steel share price gains over 3% in early trading session on Tuesday, following analysts’ bullish outlook and raised target prices after the company’s strong Q4 results. The shares soared as much as 3.48%, reaching a record high of Rs 922.95 per share on the NSE.

“We believe that the company’s steady domestic franchise, strong balance sheet and potential new launches in US will help negate pricing pressure and likely competition in some key products like gAsacol. Moreover, Zydus Lifesciences is also working on robust pipeline of complex products including injectables, transdermals, NCE, biosimilars, and vaccines which are expected to materialize over next 2–3 years. Our FY25/26E EPS stands increased by 12% as we factor in higher US sales. We maintain our “Accumulate” rating with a revised target price of Rs 1,130,” said Prabhudas Lilladher on Zydus Lifesciences post Q4 results.

The NSE Nifty was up 34 points or 0.15% at 22,535.95, while the BSE Sensex was 9.09 points or 0.01% at 74,015.

Motilal Oswal values BEL at 35x P/E on two-year forward earnings, revising the target price to Rs 310 and upgrading the stock to BUY from its previous Neutral rating.

According to a report by Motilal Oswal, Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) exceeded expectations in its 4QFY24 results, driven by better-than-expected EBITDA margin, PAT, and strong revenue growth. The up-fronting of order inflows led to an overall beat in the company’s order inflows.

Motilal Oswal expects BEL to be a key beneficiary of increasing defense indigenization, with the share of indigenization in the Indian defense sector continuously rising. BEL’s revenue market share is projected to remain high at around 12-13%.

The company is actively working to increase its share of exports and non-defense revenues. Incorporating higher margins, Motilal Oswal has increased its estimates for BEL by 21% for FY25 and 32% for FY26.

The valuation multiple has also been increased to account for BEL’s larger market share, benefits from technology tie-ups, MoUs, and an improving share of exports and non-defense revenues in total revenue.

Bharat Electronics share price surged over 8% in early trading session on Tuesday, following analysts’ bullish outlook and raised target prices after the company’s strong Q4 results. The shares soared as much as 8.55%, reaching a record high of Rs 283 per share on the NSE.

Courtesy: NSE

Courtesy: NSE

Coal India, BPCL, Hindalco, Apollo Hospitals, and Tata Steel were the top gainers in the Nifty 50. While Nestle India, Axis Bank, M&M, SBI Life Insurance, and TCS were the major losers in the Nifty 50 on May 21.

Coal India, Hindalco Industries, BPCL, Apollo Hospitals, and Tata Steel are the top gainers on NSE Nifty 50 index whereas the top laggards include Nestle India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, SBI Life Insurance, Bajaj FinServ.

The NSE Nifty 50 opened 0.11% lower at 22,476.25, while the BSE Sensex opened 0.11% lower at 73,924.60.

Gold is expected to be highly volatile, but is likely to trade with a positive bias in near term as markets sense that the US Federal Reserve is willing to be excessively hawkish. In this scenario, inflation hedging trade is positive for the yellow metal, said Praveen Singh, Associate Vice President of Fundamental Currencies and Commodities at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

“Overnight trading was influenced by Atlanta Fed President Bostic’s comments on higher future US interest rates, possibly akin to 1990s levels, and a single rate cut in 2024. Vice Chair Barr echoed this, advocating steady rates amid disappointing Q1 CPI data. Nifty bulls are poised to continue their climb, bolstered by pre-election rallies and a technically strong outlook above key EMAs. Nifty aims for an all-time high of 22,795 and targets 23,000, with options data indicating a 22i,000-23,000 trading range. Today’s focus includes Q4 results from several major companies and the upcoming FOMC Minutes on May 22,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President of Research at Mehta Equities.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares net worth Rs 92.95 crore. Similarly, domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares net worth Rs 152.87 crore on May 18, 2024, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

WTI crude prices were trading at $79.26 down by 0.68%, while Brent crude prices were trading at $83.68 down by 0.04%, on Tuesday morning.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the dollar’s value against a basket of six foreign currencies, traded higher, 0.01% at 104.62.

The Wall Street or US market rose as technology stocks saw a rally ahead of Nvidia’s highly anticipated earnings and the timing of rate cuts being gauged. The tech-heavy index Nasdaq Composite gained 108.91 points or 0.65% to settle at 16,794.87. The S&P 500 advanced 0.09% to settle the session at 5,308.13. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 196.82 points or 0.49% to 39,806.77 owing to a 4.5% dip in the stock of JPMorgan as its CEO said he was “cautiously pessimistic”.