Sanjeev Prasad, Managing Director and Co-Head, Kotak Instl Equities On CNBC-TV18

• Earnings Outlook Improves, Macro Outlook Also Better But Volatility Persists
• FY27 Earnings Growth Seen At 17.5%
• FY27 Sees No Earnings Downgrades So Far, Unlike The Last Two Years
• Nominal GDP Growth Has Picked Up
• FY28 Earnings Growth Seen At 14%, Aided By Some Recovery In Economy & Pick-up In Banks
• Need To See How IT Services Cope With AI Disruption, Growth Outlook & Margin Pressures
• Classifying Companies Into Specific Brackets Based On Market Capitalisation Is Not Accurate
• Over A 3-5 Year Timeframe, Need To Own Consumption
• Second Bucket To Focus On Is The Domestic Manufacturing Theme
• Capital Goods, Defence & CDMOs Are Key Themes, But Valns Need To Be Considered

Newly listed Milk Mist surges 10% on second day of trade

Market under pressure, Nifty breaches 24,100

City gas cos rise up to 4% as govt announces PNG incentives

Aster DM Large Trade | 5.86 Cr Shares (11.3% Eq) Worth 4,506 Cr Change Hands At 7,69/Sh Via Block Deals

Market opens flat, IT, CGDs in focus

Rupee Check | Rupee Opens At 95.71/$ Vs Tuesday’s Close Of 95.68/$

Krishna Chivukula KJ, Whole-time Director & CEO, INDO-MIM On CNBC-TV18

• Rupee Depreciation Did Have +Ve Impact On Margin In Q1
• Realistic Margin Band Would Be In The Range Of 28-30%
• Expect 20% Revenue Growth In FY27
• Overall Revenue In FY27 Seen At `4,800-5,000 Cr
• Aerospace Growth Was 14-15% & Defence Up Over 25%
• Have Been Active In Consumer Electronics Segment Over Last 15 Years
• Growth In Consumer Electronics Seeing Significant Growth
• Exposure To Consumer Electronics Globally Is Very Small
• New Facility In Karnataka Will Be Commissioned By June 2027
• Margin Will See A Boost Of 50 bps Once This K’taka Facility Contribution Starts
• New Mfg Facility Will Help In Long-term Security Of Iron Powder & Cost Savings
• Capacity Expansion Will Be Required Next Year To Support Next Leg Of Growth

• Symbiotec Pharmalab is a Pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.
• It is backed by Rosewood Investments and Motilal Oswal, has announced the price band for its initial public offering (IPO).
• It will open for subscription on August 24.
• The company has fixed the price band at ₹933-₹988 per equity share.
• Investors can bid for a minimum of 15 shares and in multiples thereafter.
• At the upper end of the price band, the company is looking to raise ₹1,757 crore through the IPO.
• The issue comprises a fresh issue of ₹150 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of shares worth up to ₹1,607 crore by existing shareholders.
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• Crude oil prices rose for the fourth day after fresh round of attacks in the region which Iran denies being a part of.
• Brent crude trading at over $91 a barrel as the US and Iran remained locked in a standoff over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
• West Texas Intermediate added 0.4% to reach $85.31.
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• Asian stocks fell as a rout in semiconductor stocks deepened, led by surging bond yields and firmer oil prices that together soured investor sentiment.
• This comes after a major sell off in the US tech stocks, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite falling 1.33%
• MSCI’s Asia Pacific benchmark dropped more than 1%.
• Kospi tumbled over 6% at intraday trade
• Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix each shed over 2% at intraday trade
• Hang Seng futures slipped 0.3% at intraday trade
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US President Donald Trump has temporarily suspended the implementation of new 50% tariffs on approximately $20 billion in Canadian imports for a period of three days, following the announcement that Washington and Ottawa have come to a trade agreement, pending the finalization of necessary paperwork.

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• Q1FY27 Was A Mixed Quarter For Indian IT And Global SIS
• Mid-tier IT Vendors Better Placed To Benefit From Structural Industry Changes
• Reiterate ‘High Conviction Outperform’ On Coforge And Persistent Systems
• Reiterate ‘Outperform’ On HCLTech And LTM
• AI-led Volume Growth Could Offset Deflation By FY30
• US Dollar Revenue Growth Could Improve From Low To Mid-single Digits
• ‘Downgrade’ TCS, Infosys & Tech Mah To ‘Hold’ On Long Gestation Periods & Limited Upside Potential
• Downgrade Wipro & Mphasis To Underperform On Structural Concerns

Here’s a list of stocks that are in focus going into trade today

Here’s how the global market cues are placed this morning

Matt Orton, Chief Market Strategist, Raymond James Investment On CNBC-TV18

• Earnings Growth In India Has Been Robust
• Encouraging Investors To Buy The Dip As Earnings Growth Remains Strong
• Not Worried About The Dip In Market Right Now
• Like Eternal And Paytm
• Bharti Airtel Has Underperformed This Year But Continue To Like It
• Expect Earnings Resilience From Defence Cos

• Initiate Outperform Call, Target Price At ₹400/Sh
• Legacy Issues Largely Addressed, Now Targets Peer-like Growth
• Retail-focussed Book Supports Stronger Growth Outlook
• Trades At A 35-50% Discount To Larger Peers Despite Comparable Growth Expectations
• Earnings Growth And RoA Improvement Could Drive Re-rating
• Expect 28% EPS CAGR Over FY26-29

The ₹2,600-crore initial public offering (IPO) of Horizon Industrial Parks, which is backed by Blackstone, will conclude its subscription today, August 19, following a lackluster response during the initial two days of bidding.

As of Day 2, the IPO was 24% subscribed, with investors placing bids for 5.94 crore shares out of a total of 25.13 crore shares available.

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• Shares of Shiprocket are set to make their stock market debut today, following a stellar response to the company’s initial public offering (IPO).
• The stock is expected to list at a premium of over 37%, if grey-market trends are any indication.
• Shiprocket’s grey market premium (GMP) stood at ₹36 per share ahead of listing, suggesting an estimated listing price of ₹133, or a 37.11% premium over the IPO price of ₹97.
• The ₹1,617.5-crore IPO was subscribed 99.38 times at the close of bidding.
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• Gold and silver prices were under pressure in early trade on Wednesday with silver seeing a sharper decline than gold as investors weighed US Treasury yields, oil prices and the outlook for interest rates.
• COMEX gold was trading at $4,406 per ounce, down 0.33%,.
• COMEX silver stood at $63.145 per ounce, down 1.39%.
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• Buy, TP Raised to Rs 5425
• AR highlight four focus areas: global, electric, premiumization & margins, and technology.
• It is delivering well on exports, EVs, and margin, but overseas investments in Norton and e-bikes have yet to deliver results.
• Subsidiary investments rose at 29% CAGR over last 5Y; subsidiaries made losses on combined basis, although mostly limited to Norton and TVS EBike.
• FCF improved in FY26 despite high investments

• Agro-chemicals stocks trade at a wide discount to historical averages, turning valuations attractive
• Sector now trades at c20x one-year forward PE multiple at 1.5SD below its ten-year mean multiple of 24x, reflecting a deep discount
• Sector has only briefly traded at similar valuations four times in past 10 years
• Domestic companies can unlock most value when macro headwinds go away; do not see any structural issues
• Maintain Buy on Dhanuka Agri, UPL, Bayer Crop, SRF & RALLIS
• Hold on PI & Tata Chemicals

• Buy, TP Rs 1180
• Expect investor focus to shift from 1QFY27 margin softness to a visible recovery in hospital margins, supported by ramp-up at Manesar/Greater Noida, commissioning of new beds, and normalization of one-off cost drags
• Expect co to sustain healthy revenue growth in Hospitals (19% in 1QFY27) & this, combined with margin recovery, should accelerate EBITDA growth from 16% in 1QFY27 to 20% over next couple of quarters
• Management’s reiterated target of a 25% hospital EBITDA margin by FY28E (+200bps over FY26), despite ESOP costs, provides confidence in the underlying margin levers.
• Valuations remain attractive versus peers on FY28E EV/EBITDA
• Open 90 day +ve catalyst watch

• U-p TP Rs 326
• On 18 August, Biocon announced U.S. FDA approval of supplemental presentations for Yesintek (ustekinumab), adding 45 mg/0.5 mL and 90 mg/mL single-dose prefilled autoinjectors
• View approval as modestly positive, providing a short-term boost to a franchise that is already plateauing in a market increasingly dominated by PBM-driven private label brands.
• Given Yesintek’s broad formulary positioning and the fact that >90% of maintenance patients already self-administer at home, strongly believe that autoinjectors do not open a meaningful new channel; rather, it should improve convenience, adherence and patient retention, particularly in IBD indication
• However, competitive advantage is likely to prove short-lived.
• Wezlana and Pyzchiva already offer autoinjectors presentations, while Celltrion and Alvotech are expected to narrow the device gap over the next 8-12 months.
• More importantly, believe longer-term outlook for the ustekinumab class is degrowing faster than street’s estimates due to growing clinical and commercial momentum of selective IL-23 therapies such as Skyrizi and Tremfya, which continue to gain share across key indications.

• OW, TP Rs 1670
• STK reacted following a news report that it is in advanced discussions to acquire UAE-based Tristar Group for $1.5bn.
• Tristar is a global fully integrated energy logistics company operating across 30+ countries with marquee customers such as ADNOC, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total.
• While there is no official press release from company, Aegis management has been guiding to a 2030 growth roadmap encompassing both organic and inorganic routes.
• Prima facie, a potential acquisition would make Aegis a key global energy logistics player and likely receive substantial volume/ cost synergies as Tristar owns and operates fuel storage facilities in Aegis’s key sourcing geographies (Middle East, Africa, Central America, North America, etc).
• Tristar generated $257mn of EBITDA/$1.4bn revenue in CY25 (18% margin vs. Aegis FY26 17.4%) & while details are limited at this point, a potential transaction multiple of 5.8x EV/EBITDA looks attractive (vs. Aegis FY27/28E EV/EBITDA of 21.7x/19.6x on consensus
• Don’t think financing deal should be viewed negatively by investors, & recent investor feedback has been positive as Government of India is planning a 30-day LPG storage buffer after the Middle East conflict.
• Aegis delivered healthy operating cash flow of Rs20bn in FY26 and has a net cash balance sheet position (Net Cash/EBITDA of 1.7x in FY26)
• Believe that this positions Aegis well for next leg of capacity creation (company target of 0.6x gearing ratio and 3.5x EBITDA).
• Hence, think Aegis can comfortably fund a potential acquisition of this size likely through a mix of debt and internal accruals

GIFTNifty lower, indicates a start in the red for the Indian market. Crude remains elevated as Trump claims Strait of Hormuz, UAE sees missile strikes

Some of the stocks in focus include ONGC, BPCL, Exide Industries, Hindustan Zinc and more.

Check The Full List Here

Analysts predict that the range between 24,030 and 24,000 will serve as a significant support level for the Nifty. A clear drop below the 24,000 threshold may intensify selling pressure and lead to a more substantial correction towards 23,850.

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• The markets continued to face pressure during the latter part of Tuesday’s weekly expiry session.
• The Nifty index remained below the 24,200 threshold, ultimately closing 133 points down at 24,155.
• Similarly, the Nifty Bank index also exhibited weakness, finishing 235 points lower at 57,262.
• The decline was primarily driven by IT stocks, with Infosys, Wipro, and HCL Technologies each experiencing a drop of approximately 2%.

Stock Market Highlights

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the stock market. Good luck.