Top Nifty gainers and losers at mid-day: HCL Tech, TCS jump, Adani Ports, BPCL tumble

The Sensex was down 376.09 points or 0.57 percent at 65,619.54, and the Nifty was down 119.20 points or 0.61 percent at 19,534.30. About 894 shares advanced, 2,295 shares declined and 109 shares were unchanged.

HCL Tech Ltd: Shares of the IT major rose ahead of its second-quarter earnings scheduled for October 12. At mid-day, HCL is the top gainer on the Nifty. Kunal Shah of Carnelian has said that the margin pressure is behind which IT has been facing for quite some time. Trading volumes were lower by about 7 lakh shares, and about 18 lakh shares changed hands today. At 12:12 pm, shares were up nearly 2 percent at Rs 1,280 on the NSE.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd: Shares of the pharma major gained over a percent in today’s session, making it one of the top gainers on the index. Despite the recent upward trajectory, ‘buy’ calls on the Dr Reddy stock fell to 18 from 36, as valuations appear to have run ahead of the limited growth opportunities. AT 12:12 pm, the stock was trading at Rs 5,506, up 1.53 percent on the NSE.

TCS Ltd: Shares of the IT major are up in today’s trade after the company announced plans to consider a share buyback, along with its July-September results on October 11. The stock also hit a 52-week high today, however, the stock has pared gains at mid-day. The stock reaction aligned with the views from foreign brokerage Morgan Stanley, which believes the buyback was unlikely to trigger an outperformance of the stock. Volumes have also been positive, with 25 lakh shares changing hands as against the 1-week average of 24 lakh shares. Shares of the IT major at 12:12 pm were up by over a percent at Rs 3,660.

ONGC Ltd: Shares darted up after oil prices gained over 4 percent today at $87 per barrel, marking a significant reversal from the 8 percent fall observed the previous week. the surge comes after Hamas, a militant organization, attacked Israel escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. At 12:12 pm, the PSU stock was trading at Rs 182, up nearly 1 percent on the NSE.

Eicher Motors Ltd: Shares of the Royal Enfield maker climbed and became one of the top gainers. FADA said, “Automotive retail in September showcased double-digit YoY growth of 20 percent.” Furthermore, 2-wheelers saw a 22 percent increase. The stock was trading at Rs 3,470, up 0.6 percent on the NSE.

Adani Ports Ltd: Shares of the company tanked and became the top loser on the Nifty. The drop comes amid rising geopolitical tensions following the attack by Hamas on Israel. Earlier in the year, Adani Ports acquired Israel’s Haifa Port. Given the emergency in the state, Israel has closed the port after it declared a state of war for the first time since 1973. During the mid-day, the shares were down 3. 5 percent at Rs 801.

BPCL: Shares of the company traded lower, snapping its two-day gaining streak. The drop comes following the Israel-Palestine conflict. Recently, CNBC TV-18 reported that PSUs like BPCL are already incurring cash losses on diesel. OMCs estimate they are facing an under-recovery of Rs 9 to Rs 10 per litre on the sale of diesel, the report added. At midday, the BPCL stock was down 2.3 percent at Rs 339 on the NSE.

Adani Enterprises Ltd: Shares of the flagship Adani firm traded lower in today’s session, breaking its three-day gaining streak on the bourses, in a session marked by across-the-board selling. The group stocks fell as Iran-backed Hamas launched 5,000 rockets on Israel, killing over 1,000. Adni Ports, earlier this year, bought the Israeli port of Haifa for $1.2 billion. The port is the second largest port in Israel in terms of shipping containers and the biggest in shipping tourist cruise ships. Given the tensions, Israel has shut down the port. At 12:12 pm, the flagship firm was at Rs 2,443, down 1.5 percent from the previous close.

SBI: Shares of the public lender tanked, becoming one of the top losers on the Nifty. Volumes were low at mid-day as 47 lakh shares changed hands as against the one-week average of two crore shares. At 12:12 shares were down nearly 2 percent at Rs 584.

Bajaj Finserv Ltd: Shares slipped over a percent today, after gaining for two consecutive days. At mid-day, volumes were fairly low after 10 lakh shares shares changed hands as against the one-week average of 29 lakh shares. At 12:12 pm, the stock was trading at Rs 1,617, down 1.05 percent on the NSE.