Nifty set to stage a gap down opening; ITC, Coal India in focus

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a gap down opening on Thursday, October 3, as indicated by Nifty futures traded at Gift City in Gandhinagar amid rising geo-political tensions in the Middle East and changes to derivatives trading announced by SEBI on Tuesday evening. Gift Nifty futures fell 1.22 per cent or 318 points to 25,712 after market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India ( SEBI ), announced new rules for futures and options trading to curb speculative trading.

SEBI announced a fresh set of guidelines on Tuesday evening aimed at checking speculative trading in the futures and options segment of the stock market. These include raising the minimum contract value and the need for an upfront payment of option premiums. All these will come into effect in phases from November 20.

Among the many changes, SEBI has increased the contract size for index derivatives to a minimum of Rs 15-20 lakh from Rs 5-10 lakh. The regulator noted that this will be in lieu of market growth and protection of investors in the risky environment. SEBI 's move came after a report published recently revealed that 93 per cent of retail traders, over 1 crore participants have suffered losses in the F&O segment. Losses averaged Rs 2 lakh a person between FY22 and FY24 and total losses during that time exceeded Rs 1.8 lakh crore.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were trading with a positive bias with Japan's Nikkei rising 2.31 per cent, Singapore's Straits Times up 0.14 per cent and Taiwan Weighted rising 0.75 per cent. Stock markets in China are shut for the week for holiday.

Overnight, the S&P 500 ended little changed on Wednesday, with technology shares gaining but investors nervous about Middle East tensions and more US labour data due this week.

Investors monitored Mideast news after Israel and the US vowed to strike back following Iran's attack on Israel on Tuesday. US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he would not support any Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites in response to its missile attack and urged Israel to act "proportionally."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.55 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 42,196.52. The S&P 500 gained 0.79 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 5,709.54 and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 14.76 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 17,925.12.

Oil prices ticked higher in early trade on Thursday as investors weighed the escalating conflict in the Middle East and the potential for disruption to crude flows, against an amply-supplied global market.

Brent crude futures increased 64 cents, or 0.87 per cent, to $74.54 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 72 cents, or 1.03 per cent, to $70.82 a barrel.

Back home, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 5,580 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 4,609.55 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange showed.

Stocks to Watch

ITC: ITC Infotech India acquired Blazeclan Technologies for Rs 485 crore, making Blazeclan and its subsidiaries step-down wholly owned entities, effective October 1.

Coal India: Coal production in September dipped 1 per cent YoY to 50.9 MT, and offtake declined 1.4 per cent YoY to 54.4 MT.

South Indian Bank: The lender reported gross advances of Rs 84,741 crore in Q2FY25, a 13.07 per cent growth from Rs 74,947 crore in the same quarter last year. Total deposits rose by 8.6 per cent to Rs 1.05 lakh crore, with CASA increasing by 8 per cent YoY to Rs 33,583 crore.

Allcargo Logistics: The board approved the sale of a 7.6 per cent equity stake in Haryana Orbital Rail Corporation to Allcargo Terminals for Rs 115 crore.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank: Received an Authorised Dealer Category 1 licence from the Reserve Bank of India.

Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers: SC Mudgerikar’s additional charge as CMD of Fertilizer and Chemicals Travancore was extended for a year, effective October 1.

NMDC: Iron ore production in September 2024 grew by 1.3 per cent to 3.04 million tonnes, while sales jumped by 13.8 per cent YoY to 3.54 MT.

Syngene International: The company received an IT refund order for Rs 13.6 crore for AY 2021-22.

Thermax: Thermax Engineering Singapore invested Rs 25.9 crore in its subsidiary, Thermax (Thailand).

Aurobindo Pharma: Received USFDA approval to manufacture and market Cephalexin tablets USP in the US, with 180 days of shared generic exclusivity.

Dilip Buildcon: Transferred a 26 per cent stake in three highway subsidiaries to Alpha Alternatives Holdings for Rs 236.3 crore.

Mankind Pharma: Received regulatory approvals, including from CCI, to acquire Bharat Serums and Vaccines. The Share Purchase Agreement was executed in July 2024.

Zydus Lifesciences: Received tentative USFDA approval for Enzalutamide tablets, used for treating prostate cancer.

(With Reuters inputs)