The Close

The Long Desk

The Close · The Open · The Long Desk · Archive · Research · Top Stocks
Tue, 22 Sep 2026
1433 companies · 1454 sector slots · 21 sectors · 17 below Rs1000cr and not scanned · long-term lens

Trend Spotlight

A hawkish Fed hike, a record-low rupee and elevated crude are driving heavy FPI selling out of Indian equities.

The US Fed raised rates 25bp to 3.75-4.00% on Sept 16 -- its first hike since 2023, with 16 of 18 participants flagging more to come -- while Brent has held near $108-109/bbl on West Asia war risk and the rupee touched a record low near 95.92-95.96/USD. The combination, layered on August CPI's tenth straight monthly rise to 4.82%, has driven roughly Rs 21,000-24,000 crore of September FPI equity selling (sources differ on the exact figure). None of today's individual sector or stock news outweighs this macro backdrop for a long-term entry decision.

Market Overview

IndexClosePoints ChangeP/EP/B
Nifty 50 23,329.00 ▼ -85.30 ▼ -0.36% 19.72 2.82
Nifty Next 50 71,804.05 ▼ -279.90 ▼ -0.39% 18.98 3.19
Nifty 500 22,794.20 ▼ -65.85 ▼ -0.29% 22.09 3.16
Nifty Bank 56,215.55 ▼ -255.10 ▼ -0.45% 13.30 1.68
NIFTY Midcap 100 61,963.15 ▼ -49.95 ▼ -0.08% 29.86 4.20
▲ 1118 advancing ■ 42 unchanged ▼ 1498 declining of 2658 equities, vs the 2026-09-21 close
Cash market, ₹ crore
FII / FPI net
▼ -3,809.99
bought 9,846 · sold 13,656
DII net
▲ +4,120.07
bought 14,600 · sold 10,480
FII / FPI DII
FII / DII daily net cash flow · ₹ crore · scroll to zoom, drag to pan

Source: NSE ind_close_all_20260922 (levels, index P/E and P/B) and the full-market bhavcopy (breadth).

Index P/E from NSE's official daily index file.

Sector performance

This session's index move, next to the desk's standing stance. The stance is a valuation-and-quality reading over years — it does not move because an index had a good day. Sectors with no listed NSE index show — for the session columns; the stance still applies.

SectorIndexSession Idx P/EStance
Realty Nifty Realty · 5 researched 861.50 ▲ +0.90% 36.6 WATCH
Hospitality & Tourism Nifty India Tourism · 9 researched 7,884.75 ▲ +0.26% 88.9 ACCUMULATE
Metals & Mining Nifty Metal · 15 researched 12,990.35 ▲ +0.14% 15.8 WATCH
Energy & Power Nifty Energy · 15 researched 37,727.00 ▼ -0.24% 14.6 WATCH
Automobiles Nifty Auto · 33 researched 27,086.30 ▼ -0.24% 31.5 WATCH
Pharmaceuticals Nifty Pharma · 19 researched 26,909.60 ▼ -0.41% 41.7 AVOID
Financial Services Nifty Financial Services · 10 researched 25,417.95 ▼ -0.42% 15.6 WATCH
Banks Nifty Bank · 13 researched 56,215.55 ▼ -0.45% 13.3 AVOID
Healthcare & Hospitals Nifty Healthcare Index · 6 researched 16,720.00 ▼ -0.46% 43.8 WATCH
FMCG Nifty FMCG · 7 researched 45,657.75 ▼ -0.53% 31.7 WATCH
Information Technology Nifty IT · 17 researched 28,582.10 ▼ -0.86% 18.2 WATCH
Capital Goods no listed index · 15 researched WATCH
Chemicals no listed index · 6 researched WATCH
Commercial Services no listed index · 6 researched WATCH
Construction & Materials no listed index · 9 researched WATCH
Diversified & Other no listed index · 1 researched WATCH
Packaging & Plastics no listed index · 1 researched WATCH
Retail & Consumer no listed index · 3 researched WATCH
Telecom & Media no listed index · 5 researched WATCH
Textiles & Apparel no listed index · 4 researched WATCH
Logistics & Transport no listed index · 5 researched AVOID

Movers in the universe

Largest moves among the 1430 tracked names this session, against the 2026-09-21 close.

CompanyCallPrev CloseMove
Optiemus Infracom Ltd OPTIEMUS HOLD ₹590.75 ₹708.90 ▲ +20.00%
Regaal Resources Ltd REGAAL HOLD ₹83.44 ₹97.21 ▲ +16.50%
Transrail Lighting Ltd TRANSRAILL BUY ₹414.20 ₹477.15 ▲ +15.20%
TCC Concept Ltd TCC HOLD ₹45.99 ₹52.62 ▲ +14.42%
Gabriel India Ltd GABRIEL QUALITY-WAIT ₹1,290.30 ₹1,471.40 ▲ +14.04%
GOCL Corporation Ltd GOCLCORP AVOID ₹453.45 ₹411.05 ▼ -9.35%
Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd JISLJALEQS AVOID ₹30.96 ₹28.93 ▼ -6.56%
Acutaas Chemicals Ltd ACUTAAS HOLD ₹3,425.70 ₹3,213.70 ▼ -6.19%
63 Moons Technologies Ltd 63MOONS AVOID ₹892.05 ₹841.75 ▼ -5.64%
Rajputana Stainless Ltd RSL HOLD ₹197.88 ₹187.27 ▼ -5.36%

Calls this session

A change to anything but AVOID publishes only after two consecutive sessions say the same thing; AVOID publishes at once.

Sector stance changed (2)

Published this session (12)

new
unconfirmed: sector, news
Unconfirmed: sector, news not checked — Weighted average rating 4.74/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
new
unconfirmed: sector
Unconfirmed: sector not checked — Weighted average rating 4.03/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG n/a; P/E cheaper than 39% of sector peers (P/E 35.74); EV/EBITDA 17.8, B/M 0.194. Watch for a better entry.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG n/a; P/E cheaper than 41% of sector peers (P/E 47.36); EV/EBITDA 38.0, B/M 0.133. Watch for a better entry.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG 1.57; P/E cheaper than 59% of sector peers (P/E 46.7); EV/EBITDA 30.6, B/M 0.081. Watch for a better entry.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 1/5) — PEG n/a; P/E cheaper than 17% of sector peers (P/E 25.42); EV/EBITDA 23.1, B/M 0.181. Watch for a better entry.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG 1.17; P/E cheaper than 33% of sector peers (P/E 28.04); EV/EBITDA 14.1, B/M 0.206. Watch for a better entry.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG 0.89; P/E cheaper than 54% of sector peers (P/E 34.92); EV/EBITDA 25.2, B/M 0.136. Watch for a better entry.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG 1.85; P/E cheaper than 39% of sector peers (P/E 41.89); EV/EBITDA 22.9, B/M 0.141. Watch for a better entry.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 1/5) — PEG 2.08; P/E cheaper than 9% of sector peers (P/E 90.39); EV/EBITDA 66.6, B/M 0.035. Watch for a better entry.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG n/a; P/E cheaper than 48% of sector peers (P/E 87.67); EV/EBITDA 59.3, B/M 0.06. Watch for a better entry.
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 1/5) — PEG 0.66; P/E cheaper than 20% of sector peers (P/E 58.02); EV/EBITDA 40.1, B/M 0.079. Watch for a better entry.

Awaiting a second session (15)

TickerClosePublished PendingNote
ADANIPORTS ₹1,795.00 BUY HOLD if next session holds
BHEL ₹425.80 QUALITY-WAIT HOLD if next session holds
CONCOR ₹467.00 BUY HOLD if next session holds
DOLPHIN ₹724.30 HOLD QUALITY-WAIT if next session holds
ENGINERSIN ₹302.55 BUY QUALITY-WAIT if next session holds
GPPL ₹164.41 BUY HOLD if next session holds
KRN ₹1,420.10 AVOID HOLD if next session holds
MIDWESTLTD ₹1,018.30 HOLD QUALITY-WAIT if next session holds
NPST ₹1,888.80 AVOID HOLD if next session holds
REDTAPE ₹118.80 HOLD QUALITY-WAIT if next session holds
RHIM ₹379.20 AVOID HOLD if next session holds
STYLAMIND ₹3,309.40 BUY QUALITY-WAIT if next session holds
SUNDARMFIN ₹4,751.90 AVOID HOLD if next session holds
TCI ₹813.45 BUY HOLD if next session holds
VRLLOG ₹291.75 BUY HOLD if next session holds

Top Stories

HCLTech and Infosys's disclosed client-spend cuts confirmed contained, no new losses found Information Technology

HCLTech's Q1 FY27 results retained FY27 guidance, posted record Q1 net new bookings of $2.4bn and 62% AI revenue growth, with no client loss beyond the four telecom/manufacturing/retail cuts already disclosed. Infosys's FY27 guidance (1.5-3.0% constant currency) already embeds the disclosed Energy contract termination and Manufacturing ramp-down, and no further named client loss surfaced. HCLTech also landed a $1.14bn digital-workplace deal with a European client previously served by Infosys -- a competitive share shift worth watching for both names.

HCLTECH · INFY

Force Motors' July senior-management exits confirmed as routine SMO-status cessation Automobiles

Force Motors removed 12 named senior officials from Senior Management Official regulatory status effective July 29, per a board resolution on NRC recommendation -- explicitly a status change, not resignations. No further departures, regulatory flags, or disclosed adverse cause have surfaced since, closing out the governance question raised at the time.

FORCEMOT

A second Jamna Auto promoter sold a comparable stake the same day; no benign reason disclosed yet Automobiles

Pradeep Singh Jauhar's Sept 11 block-deal sale (cutting his stake from 6.46% to 3.96%, though two sources disagree on the exact share count) confirms both Jamna Auto promoters sold down together, with no company-disclosed benign reason -- estate or tax restructuring -- found so far. No further sales or pledges have followed since, but the lack of an explanation keeps the governance flag open.

JAMNAAUTO

IRCTC's board-composition fines remain a routine, PSU-appointment-pending pattern Hospitality & Tourism

BSE and NSE fined IRCTC Rs 10.23 lakh each in August for continued non-compliance with SEBI's board-composition rules over a missing Woman Independent Director -- an appointment that rests with the Ministry of Railways, not the company. No show-cause notice or enforcement escalation has followed, consistent with the existing read that this stays a contained, recurring penalty rather than a worsening governance issue.

IRCTC

Sector Scorecard

Entry score is 40% cheap-vs-history + 25% quality trend + 20% news catalyst + 15% technicals, for the 2 sectors with a researched catalyst. The other 19 show : no catalyst was researched for them, so their score renormalises over the remaining three inputs rather than assuming a neutral headline. ≥62 accumulate · 45–61 watch · <45 avoid.

SectorStanceEntryCheap QualityTechNews IndexIdx P/EB/W/H/A
Information Technology 75 scanned · 17 researched WATCH 60.1 61.4 78.5 38.0 +0 ▼ -0.86% 18.2 3/9/56/7
Banks 40 scanned · 13 researched AVOID 44.3 31.2 52.3 65.9 ▼ -0.45% 13.3 0/0/31/9
Pharmaceuticals 85 scanned · 19 researched AVOID 44.3 18.6 72.0 66.6 ▼ -0.41% 41.7 0/20/54/11
Automobiles 109 scanned · 33 researched WATCH 50.8 27.7 78.6 65.6 +0 ▼ -0.24% 31.5 0/21/77/11
FMCG 106 scanned · 7 researched WATCH 55.4 50.0 68.3 48.0 ▼ -0.53% 31.7 4/19/65/18
Metals & Mining 83 scanned · 15 researched WATCH 51.8 37.3 67.9 63.8 ▲ +0.14% 15.8 0/10/54/19
Realty 39 scanned · 5 researched WATCH 55.2 57.3 52.0 54.8 ▲ +0.90% 36.6 1/2/15/21
Energy & Power 83 scanned · 15 researched WATCH 56.2 50.0 63.4 61.0 ▼ -0.24% 14.6 5/7/39/32
Financial Services 148 scanned · 5 ranked elsewhere · 10 researched WATCH 50.7 52.2 43.6 58.5 ▼ -0.42% 15.6 4/4/90/50
Healthcare & Hospitals 58 scanned · 16 ranked elsewhere · 6 researched WATCH 49.3 28.0 73.8 65.4 ▼ -0.46% 43.8 4/16/33/5
Hospitality & Tourism 37 scanned · 9 researched ACCUMULATE 62.1 61.1 68.6 53.8 ▲ +0.26% 88.9 3/6/18/10
Chemicals 99 scanned · 6 researched WATCH 59.3 54.0 68.7 58.0 2/12/62/23
Construction & Materials 123 scanned · 9 researched WATCH 61.3 68.4 61.8 41.8 5/9/69/40
Capital Goods 103 scanned · 15 researched WATCH 53.6 33.5 78.5 65.8 10/15/63/15
Textiles & Apparel 48 scanned · 4 researched WATCH 55.8 50.0 61.9 61.0 2/5/28/13
Retail & Consumer 67 scanned · 3 researched WATCH 58.8 51.9 68.4 61.0 2/10/36/19
Packaging & Plastics 34 scanned · 1 researched WATCH 52.8 39.1 64.7 69.2 2/4/20/8
Logistics & Transport 25 scanned · 5 researched AVOID 44.5 26.2 67.6 54.6 5/3/11/6
Telecom & Media 29 scanned · 5 researched WATCH 53.0 50.0 60.2 49.0 3/1/14/11
Commercial Services 31 scanned · 6 researched WATCH 59.9 64.0 52.8 60.6 2/2/14/13
Diversified & Other 32 scanned · 1 researched WATCH 46.2 31.2 59.7 63.7 0/3/18/11

Source: data/verdicts.json × NSE sector index closes.

Stocks to Watch

Split evenly across large/mid/small/micro cap so this list isn't one tier's picks — new calls first, then the highest long-term composites within each. Micro-cap names are boxed and flagged Highly Volatile — worth watching, not a call to buy — since their price swings run about twice every other tier's. Each card shows the figures that selected it — open the desk for the full six-lens panel.

new call this session
P/E in the 1th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 40.0% (up 5.0pt over 5y) · -39.1% off its 52-week high
Composite 75.5 Mkt Cap 417,716 cr · Large P/E 13.32 ROCE 40.0% Piotroski 6/9
new call this session
P/E in the 19th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 30.4% (up 4.4pt over 5y) · Piotroski 7/9
Composite 72.2 Mkt Cap 344,826 cr · Large P/E 19.1 ROCE 30.4% Piotroski 7/9
new call this session
P/E in the 53th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 17.0% (up 20.0pt over 5y) · Piotroski 7/9
Composite 72.6 Mkt Cap 19,114 cr · Mid P/E 35.74 ROCE 17.0% Piotroski 7/9
new call this session
P/E in the 96th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 20.8% (up 9.8pt over 5y)
Composite 62.8 Mkt Cap 20,933 cr · Mid P/E 35.87 ROCE 20.8% Piotroski 4/9
new call this session
P/E in the 0th percentile of its own 3-year range
Composite 85.3 Mkt Cap 9,196 cr · Small P/E 34.54 ROCE 89.9% Piotroski 6/8
new call this session
P/E in the 0th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 21.2% (up 4.2pt over 5y) · -25.9% off its 52-week high
Composite 83.5 Mkt Cap 6,459 cr · Small P/E 41.89 ROCE 21.2% Piotroski 6/8
new call this session
Highly Volatile
ROCE 26.0% (up 1.0pt over 5y) · Piotroski 8/8
Composite 66.6 Mkt Cap 2,605 cr · Micro P/E 46.7 ROCE 26.0% Piotroski 8/8
new call this session
Highly Volatile
P/E in the 98th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 22.3% (up 16.3pt over 5y)
Composite 57.8 Mkt Cap 4,887 cr · Micro P/E 58.02 ROCE 22.3% Piotroski 6/9

How We Evaluate

MetricWhy it is in the frameworkSource
Return on capital, level and trendDurable high ROCE predicts future returns; the trend separates a moat from a good year Novy-Marx 2013 JFE
Gross profitability (GP/assets)As predictive as book-to-market, and less prone to the value trap Novy-Marx 2013 JFE
Piotroski F-scoreA nine-signal accounting checklist that separates real improvers from statistically cheap traps Piotroski 2000 JAR
Cash-flow-to-net-profitAccrual-heavy profit reverts; cash-backed profit persists Sloan 1996 TAR
P/E versus the stock's own historyCheap relative to itself, not to a peer set that may be expensive as a whole Basu 1977 JF
Book-to-marketThe value premium, in its original form Fama–French 1992 JF
EV/EBITDACapital-structure-neutral, so it compares a leveraged firm to an unleveraged one Practitioner standard
Altman Z and interest coverageDistressed firms have delivered lower, not higher, returns — screen them out rather than chase them Altman 1968 JF; Campbell/Hilscher/Szilagyi 2008 JF
52-week-high proximity, 200-DMANearness to the high has predicted continuation — but momentum crashes, so never alone George & Hwang 2004 JF; Daniel & Moskowitz 2016 JFE
Promoter pledgePledged promoter holding is a governance red flag ahead of a forced sale Not currently available from either source — no penalty is applied

Full derivation in METHODOLOGY.md.