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Equity indices shot up nearly 1% on Thursday in a highly volatile trade. The 30-share Sensex climbed 676 points to settle at 73,663 and the Nifty surged 203 points to 22,403.Stocks that were in focus include names like Tata Technologies, which closed flat, Apollo Tyres, which jumped 3.14%, and Vodafone Idea, whose shares fell 0.76% on Thursday.Here's what Avdhut Bagkar, Derivatives and Technical Analyst at StoxBox, recommends investors should do with these stocks when the market resumes trading today.Tata TechnologiesThe price action is highlighting a negative bias, as the formation of “Lower Low, Lower High”, continues to push prices lower. Few sessions ago, the price dwindled to a fresh 52-week low on strong volumes, implying that the negative bias engulfed the trading sentiment for a few more weeks.To regain the losing outlook, the stock must surpass the key hurdle of 1100. When that happens, the price action breakout could head to 1200.Apollo TyresThe daily chart of Apollo Tyres shows a breakdown of “Double Top” exhibiting a medium-term bearishness in the price action. To refute this viewpoint, it must demonstrate a resilient trend over 515 to entice bulls to ride the further upside.If this fails to materialize, the price may fall to previous levels of 450 & 470. The immediate support stays at 447, its 200-day moving average (DMA).Vodafone IdeaTo break out on the upside, the stock must deliver aggressive closing over 15 levels. Until that happens, the trend to remain subdued and may witness sideways moves. On the downside, the immediate support exists at 11 level.A breach of this support mark could see the price slipping to 9 level. Similarly, a breakout over 15 would lead a positive rally to 20 level.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

New Delhi: In a relief to automakers, sales of entry-level twowheelers — mostly bought by rural consumers — rose in strong double digits in the second half of FY24, underscoring a recovery in demand in this key consumer segment for the first time since the pandemic.The trend continued in April, driven by an improvement in income levels thanks to healthy economic growth, making the automobile industry bullish of a sustained recovery in the twowheeler segment and sparking green shoots of recovery in small car sales.Sales of motorcycles (up to 110 cc) rose by 17.5% year-on-year to 2.89 million units between October 2023 and March this year, while entry scooters (up to 125 cc) and mopeds rose by 21% each to 2.71 million units and 258,896 units, respectively. In April too, sales of entry motorcycles, scooters and mopeds surged 35% (535,507 units), 21% (539,439 units) and 20% (41,924 units), respectively.“The last six months have shown good growth. While earlier two-wheeler sales were increasing on a low base and driven by more premium models, now growth has trickled down and is happening across segments,” said Manish Raj Singhania, president at Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA).110187081The industry body termed the rebound in sales of entry-level two-wheelers as early signs of recovery in small car sales which will, however, reflect with a lag.Sales of entry-level two-wheelers were either flat or weak in the first six months of last fiscal. Sales began to recover from the last festive season due to decent monsoons, moderating inflation and broader economic growth putting more money in the hands of consumers.Other rural-focused sectors are also starting to show signs of recovery.Sales of fast-moving consumer goods began to rebound in rural sales in the March quarter. Most leading manufacturers told analysts recently they expect rural consumption to recover completely this year amid forecasts of a normal monsoon — crucial for the agriculture sector and farmers’ incomes.Two-wheeler sales are expected to surpass pre-Covid peak either this fiscal year or the next, Sudarshan Venu, managing director at TVS Motor Company told ET recently. Venu said the Indian economy is in a “good situation”, which will drive consumption going forward. The car industry sees a glimmer of hope in a reviving rural two-wheeler market. Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, recently predicted that entry level small car sales — badly affected since the pandemic — will start recovering within two years.While overall domestic sales of mini cars (length less than 3600 mm) continue to be subdued, Maruti Suzuki has seen the ratio of two-wheeler owners buying its Alto small car model rise to 78% last fiscal, from 74% in FY21.AFFORDABILITY FACTORAverage monthly household income of such buyers has risen to Rs 58,000 from Rs 47,000 in the same period. As affordability improves, driven by economic growth, car penetration will rise by 37% to 44 per 1,000 people by 2030, triggering a revival in the segment, industry stakeholders said.India’s current vehicle penetration of 32/1,000 population is miniscule, compared to 600-700/1,000 in matured markets like Europe and Japan, offering tremendous growth potential.“While inflation has increased manifold, the average monthly household income has increased by 7% only in the last four years,” Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing and sales) at Maruti Suzuki said, adding as affordability improves, demand for small cars will revive.Average monthly household income of mini cars buyers like Alto stood at Rs 54,200 prior to the pandemic in FY20. The decline in income during Covid-hit years, together with the rise in car prices by as much as 30% due to the transition to higher safety and emission norms (BSIV to BSVI from April 2020), hit hard demand at the entry level.Sales in the segment crashed 68% to 152,000 units last fiscal, from 471,000 units in FY20.Banerjee pointed out that latent demand remains massive in a country where more than 65% of consumers are aged less than 35 years if affordability constraints are addressed.

Mumbai: Most top brokerages raised or retained share price targets on Bharti Airtel, despite the telecom operator's profits declining in the March quarter, in anticipation of a tariff hike after the ongoing general elections. The stock gained 2.75% to close at ₹1,345.9, after hitting its 52-week high of ₹1,356.85.Analysts see room for more gains in the stock on expectations of a tariff hike, higher average revenue per user (ARPU) - a measure of earnings generated from each user - and lower capex. "Since the earnings are expected to move up by 16-18% in the next two years, there is an upside potential of around 18% this year (for the stock) with limited scope for downside," said Hemang Jani, director of Finazenn, an investment advisory.BNP Paribas said that the decline in Bharti's net profit was due to currency devaluation in Nigeria and the lowered earnings estimates are also due to reduced Africa estimates. "The operational metrics of the India mobile business of Bharti Airtel were strong, which is why the net profit miss is largely discounted," said Kunal Vora, head of India Equity Research at BNP Paribas, which has a price target of ₹1,450 on the stock. "The expectation of a tariff hike after the elections is also being seen as a positive." Vora said that historically the tariff hikes take place every two years but have been delayed this time due to the elections.The tariff hike is likely to be around 15-20% in the next two years in a phased manner, said Jani. “This wasn’t possible earlier since Reliance Jio wasn’t keen on a tariff hike,” he said.The price targets of various brokerages imply Bharti shares could gain between 4% and 22%. So far this year, the stock has advanced 32.7% against an up move of 1.9% in Sensex.“The tariff hike along with reduced capex is expected to lead to stronger cash flows and deleveraging of their balance sheet which we see as a positive for the company,” said Vora. “Historically, the tariff hike has been around 20%.”Some analysts said the share valuations of Bharti are rich after the recent gains.HSBC said that the growth drivers for the company remain intact and the stock seems to be valued fairly, pricing in the benefits from mobile tariff hikes and lower capex intensity.“We maintain our hold rating on the stock as we think it is pricing in benefits from the mobile tariff hikes and lower capex intensity,” said the brokerage, while setting a price target of 1,220 on the stock.It’s the lack of investment options in the fast-growing telecom sector that makes Bharti a strong bet, said analysts.

Mumbai: India's benchmark indices ended nearly 1% higher on Thursday, in a late surge, driven by short covering ahead of the expiry of Nifty's weekly futures and options contracts.NSE's Nifty rose 203.3 points or 0.92% to close at 22,403.85. BSE's Sensex rose 676.69 points or 0.93% to end at 73,663.72. Both indices fell as much as 0.6% before the bounce back in the last hour of trading. Mahindra & Mahindra gained over 3%, emerging as the biggest index gainer. Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and Titan gained 2-3%."The sudden gains in the markets just before closing was due to the buying seen in some IT stocks like TCS and Infosys, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Mahindra & Mahindra and Axis Bank, which pushed the Nifty upwards," said Aamar Deo Singh, senior vice president of research at Angel One. "The weekly expiry of Nifty also led to some short covering in the market." 110191086Singh said that Nifty has seen a pullback from its previous support zone of 22,300-22,400 and needs to sustain above these levels to sustain this momentum. While the US markets made fresh new highs on Wednesday, India has been underperforming various global markets this month. The Nifty has fallen 0.9% and the Sensex is down 1.1% to date in May. "The Indian markets have been underperforming lately owing to election-induced volatility," said Sriram Velayudhan, senior vice president of alternative research at IIFL Securities. "After the first and second phases of voting, traders seemed nervous. However, today's move should soothe the nerves." Velayudhan said it is important that the Nifty has also closed above its key resistance of 22,300 for the momentum to continue.The selling from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) subsided, as they offloaded shares worth ₹776.49 crore, against a daily average of ₹2,528 crore in May so far. Domestic funds were buyers to the tune of ₹2,127.81 crore. "The long-short ratio had also declined to 0.3 earlier, and we saw some heavy short position recovery in the market on Thursday, which led it to close upwards," said Kapil Shah, technical analyst at Emkay Global. "Nifty may touch 22,500 in the short term and is set for a range-bound up-move."Nifty's India Volatility Index or VIX - a fear gauge - fell 1.37% to 20 after the recent surge, indicating some easing of risk perception among traders.

The government is looking to make solar agricultural pump installations under the PM-KUSUM scheme directly accessible to farmers by connecting them to vendors through a national portal, emulating the revamped solar rooftop scheme PM Suryaghar Muft Bijli Yojana. It will help farmers choose the kind of solar pumps they want and reduce the time taken for installations, said officials. "It is at the drawing board stage. We want to improve the implementation of some parts of the PM-KUSUM. It is caught up in a lot of tendering currently related delays," said one of the officials, who did not wish to be identified.The plan may entail a national portal for solar pump installations, which is one of the three components of PM-KUSUM, just as the government did for the revamped solar rooftop scheme launched in February. Through the national registration for solar pumps, farmers may be able to directly place their requirement to the vendors, eliminating the need for tendering of the pumps by states, the officials said.110186947The PM-KUSUM scheme has three components - setting up of 10,000 MW of solar power units, installation of around 2 million stand-alone solar agriculture pumps and solarisation of 1.5 million agriculture pumps. The rationalisation is being discussed for installation and solarisation of agricultural pumps. No change in the subsidy outlay is being discussed, two of the officials said, adding that the government would, however, keep a benchmark for the subsidy outgo. The Centre's outlay in the scheme for all three components is earmarked at ₹34,422 crore for all three components. The subsidy under the PM-KUSUM scheme for solar pump installations and solarisation component is 30% by the Centre and minimum 30% from the states. How the state's subsidy will be integrated in the national portal is being worked out, said one of the officials. "We can build in the state subsidy component also on the portal, along with the Centre's," the official said. The PM Suryaghar Muft Bijli Yojana which has a target of installing rooftop solar units for 10 million households has received more registrations than envisaged and more than 800,000 applications so far, officials said.