The Close

The Long Desk

The Close · The Open · The Long Desk · Archive · Research
Fri, 28 Aug 2026
1443 companies · 1464 sector slots · 21 sectors · long-term lens

Trend Spotlight

DLF's Q1 pre-sales collapsed 94% YoY to Rs 657 crore on zero housing launches, yet management reiterated its full Rs 20,000 crore FY27 target.

The miss is real -- no new project launches all quarter -- and management's defense rests entirely on a pipeline (DLF City Gurugram, Goa, Westpark Phase 2) that has not yet delivered a single sale. A guidance reiteration immediately after a weak quarter is standard investor-relations posture, not confirmation; treat the FY27 target as unproven until H1 pre-sales data shows a credible run-rate, not as a resolved question.

Sources: business-standard.com · business-standard.com

Market Overview

IndexClosePoints ChangeP/EP/B
Nifty 50 24,175.65 ▲ +84.80 ▲ +0.35% 20.44 2.93
Nifty Next 50 74,159.15 ▼ -188.30 ▼ -0.25% 19.60 3.30
Nifty 500 23,528.55 ▲ +46.55 ▲ +0.20% 22.86 3.28
Nifty Bank 57,496.30 ▼ -13.65 ▼ -0.02% 13.60 1.72
NIFTY Midcap 100 64,069.50 ▲ +34.05 ▲ +0.05% 30.88 4.43
▲ 1348 advancing ■ 38 unchanged ▼ 1230 declining of 2616 equities, vs the 2026-08-27 close
Cash market, ₹ crore
FII / FPI net
▼ -5,039.80
bought 13,264 · sold 18,303
DII net
▲ +5,183.93
bought 16,539 · sold 11,355
FII / FPI DII
FII and DII net cash flows

Source: NSE ind_close_all_20260828 (levels, index P/E and P/B) and the full-market bhavcopy (breadth).

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.

SectorIndexSession Idx P/EStance
Information Technology Nifty IT · 14 researched 31,281.70 ▲ +3.51% 20.0 WATCH
Metals & Mining Nifty Metal · 3 researched 13,525.35 ▲ +0.75% 16.5 WATCH
Healthcare & Hospitals Nifty Healthcare Index · 8 researched 16,798.50 ▲ +0.54% 44.0 WATCH
Pharmaceuticals Nifty Pharma · 7 researched 26,991.85 ▲ +0.53% 41.8 WATCH
Financial Services Nifty Financial Services · 2 researched 26,286.50 ▲ +0.02% 16.1 WATCH
Banks Nifty Bank · 11 researched 57,496.30 ▼ -0.02% 13.6 AVOID
Realty Nifty Realty · 2 researched 908.85 ▼ -0.08% 38.6 WATCH
Automobiles Nifty Auto · 5 researched 28,851.80 ▼ -0.11% 33.5 WATCH
Energy & Power Nifty Energy · 2 researched 38,003.65 ▼ -0.26% 14.7 WATCH
FMCG Nifty FMCG · 3 researched 46,815.00 ▼ -0.46% 32.5 WATCH
Hospitality & Tourism Nifty India Tourism · 3 researched 7,898.05 ▼ -1.10% 89.1 ACCUMULATE

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

Movers in the universe

Largest moves among the 1442 tracked names this session, against the 2026-08-27 close.

CompanyCallPrev CloseMove
Precision Wires India Ltd PRECWIRE QUALITY-WAIT ₹422.80 ₹507.35 ▲ +20.00%
Mastek Ltd MASTEK HOLD ₹1,611.60 ₹1,901.40 ▲ +17.98%
Omaxe Ltd OMAXE AVOID ₹113.38 ₹131.74 ▲ +16.19%
IKIO Technologies Ltd IKIO HOLD ₹186.14 ₹213.72 ▲ +14.82%
Oriental Aromatics Ltd OAL AVOID ₹428.95 ₹487.80 ▲ +13.72%
Wonder Electricals Ltd WEL HOLD ₹124.74 ₹99.80 ▼ -19.99%
Alok Industries Ltd ALOKINDS AVOID ₹10.43 ₹9.24 ▼ -11.41%
Jaykay Enterprises Ltd JAYKAY HOLD ₹169.62 ₹154.11 ▼ -9.14%
Shanthi Gears Ltd SHANTIGEAR HOLD ₹544.80 ₹517.75 ▼ -4.97%
Elitecon International Ltd ELITECON HOLD ₹11.78 ₹11.20 ▼ -4.92%

Calls this session

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

Published on this close (53)

HOLD
new
Mixed signal (avg 3.62/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
QUALITY-WAIT
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG n/a; P/E cheaper than 44% of sector peers (P/E 39.56); EV/EBITDA 40.1, B/M 0.074. Watch for a better entry.
BUY
new
Average rating 3.75/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
BUY
new
Average rating 4.0/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
QUALITY-WAIT
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG 1.11; P/E cheaper than 20% of sector peers (P/E 25.13); EV/EBITDA 17.1, B/M 0.139. Watch for a better entry.
HOLD
new
Mixed signal (avg 3.62/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
HOLD
new
Mixed signal (avg 2.75/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
HOLD
new
Mixed signal (avg 2.5/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
HOLD
new
Mixed signal (avg 3.67/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
BUY
new
Average rating 3.88/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
BUY
new
Average rating 4.17/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
QUALITY-WAIT
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG 1.55; P/E cheaper than 50% of sector peers (P/E 27.86); EV/EBITDA 26.6, B/M 0.117. Watch for a better entry.

and 41 more.

Awaiting a second session (23)

HOLD
→ BUY if it holds
Average rating 3.86/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
BUY
→ HOLD if it holds
Mixed signal (avg 3.62/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
AVOID
→ HOLD if it holds
Mixed signal (avg 2.5/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
BUY
→ HOLD if it holds
Mixed signal (avg 3.67/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
BUY
→ HOLD if it holds
Mixed signal (avg 3.67/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
HOLD
→ QUALITY-WAIT if it holds
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG 5.71; P/E cheaper than 40% of sector peers (P/E 45.68); EV/EBITDA 28.5, B/M 0.166. Watch for a better entry.
HOLD
→ BUY if it holds
Average rating 3.83/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
BUY
→ HOLD if it holds
Mixed signal (avg 3.67/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
HOLD
→ BUY if it holds
Average rating 3.75/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
AVOID
→ HOLD if it holds
Mixed signal (avg 2.5/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
BUY
→ HOLD if it holds
Mixed signal (avg 3.5/5 across available lenses) — no strong edge either way.
BUY
→ QUALITY-WAIT if it holds
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG 2.13; P/E cheaper than 45% of sector peers (P/E 28.57); EV/EBITDA 25.2, B/M 0.184. Watch for a better entry.

and 11 more.

Top Stories

Mastek surges 18% on a brokerage turnaround call, not a client win Information Technology

Anand Rathi retained its Buy rating on Mastek (target Rs 2,377), citing a 13.3% YoY rise in order backlog to ~$310M and an AI order book that more than doubled QoQ to $64M, including a new $25M five-year Salesforce Agentforce deal. No dated Aug 28 order or guidance event was found -- the move is sentiment/brokerage-note driven, a softer basis than a confirmed contract win for the pending HOLD->BUY call flip.

MASTEK
Sources: businesstoday.in · investing.com

TCS Nashik POSH case stays confined to one unit as NITES escalates to the Ministry of Labour Information Technology

Coverage of the 2026 TCS Nashik case confirms ~70 complaints and an AGM arrested for allegedly suppressing a verbal complaint, but no source reports a second TCS facility with similar POSH failures. Workers' rights group NITES has petitioned the Ministry of Labour and Employment for a broader compliance audit -- a new escalation, though not itself a finding of wider wrongdoing.

TCS
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · forbesindia.com

GCPL names interim CFO after CEO transition; no further departures since Sitapati's exit FMCG

Vishal Kedia was named interim CFO to backfill Aasif Malbari's seat after Malbari's Aug 12 elevation to MD & CEO, replacing Sudhir Sitapati who resigned days after his own reappointment was cleared. No source reports additional senior departures or a disclosed governance issue at GCPL since the transition began.

GODREJCP
Sources: business-standard.com · moneylife.in

TMB raises FY27 growth guidance further, beyond its Q1 call increase Banks

At its Aug 11, 2026 analyst meet, TMB raised advances growth guidance to 21-22% (from 20%) and deposit growth to 18% (from 16%), while holding ROE guidance at 15% and NIM above 4%. This supports, but does not itself confirm, the open claim that the bank's guidance raise reflects durable underwriting improvement rather than a single strong quarter -- that requires Q2 results.

TMB
Sources: compoundingai.in

Aurobindo's US units clear routine FDA inspections clean Pharmaceuticals

AuroPeptides and Lannett Company LLC, both Aurobindo US subsidiaries, completed separate USFDA inspections in the week of Aug 17-21, 2026, receiving only procedural observations on facility/equipment maintenance -- no data-integrity or warning-letter findings, and both disclosed under SEBI Reg. 30 on Aug 21.

AUROPHARMA
Sources: medicaldialogues.in · tipranks.com

Sector Scorecard

Entry score is 40% cheap-vs-history + 25% quality trend + 20% news catalyst + 15% technicals, for the 4 sectors with a researched catalyst. The other 17 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 · 14 researched WATCH 60.9 61.0 78.7 45.6 +0 ▲ +3.51% 20.0 9/11/48/7
Banks 40 scanned · 11 researched AVOID 42.1 22.3 52.3 67.2 +0 ▼ -0.02% 13.6 6/1/27/6
Pharmaceuticals 85 scanned · 7 researched WATCH 45.1 18.9 72.0 63.6 +0 ▲ +0.53% 41.8 14/22/39/10
Automobiles 109 scanned · 5 researched WATCH 46.5 18.4 78.3 68.2 — ▼ -0.11% 33.5 35/27/36/11
FMCG 106 scanned · 3 researched WATCH 55.0 50.0 68.3 52.9 +0 ▼ -0.46% 32.5 10/22/58/16
Metals & Mining 82 scanned · 3 researched WATCH 46.8 26.9 68.2 64.5 — ▲ +0.75% 16.5 15/13/36/18
Realty 39 scanned · 2 researched WATCH 51.6 50.0 52.0 55.4 — ▼ -0.08% 38.6 2/3/14/20
Energy & Power 82 scanned · 2 researched WATCH 53.0 42.4 63.8 63.4 — ▼ -0.26% 14.7 13/10/29/30
Financial Services 150 scanned · 5 ranked elsewhere · 2 researched WATCH 50.5 50.0 44.2 62.2 — ▲ +0.02% 16.1 14/7/96/33
Healthcare & Hospitals 57 scanned · 16 ranked elsewhere · 8 researched WATCH 46.1 21.8 74.6 63.6 — ▲ +0.54% 44.0 12/18/22/5
Hospitality & Tourism 37 scanned · 3 researched ACCUMULATE 62.1 66.0 69.5 39.6 — ▼ -1.10% 89.1 8/7/12/10
Chemicals 101 scanned · 1 researched WATCH 57.9 50.0 68.7 61.0 — — — 13/16/49/23
Construction & Materials 126 scanned WATCH 59.9 64.5 62.3 43.6 — — — 11/13/64/38
Capital Goods 103 scanned · 1 researched WATCH 48.4 24.3 78.1 63.2 — — — 13/19/57/14
Textiles & Apparel 48 scanned · 1 researched WATCH 52.5 42.2 62.0 64.0 — — — 10/6/18/14
Retail & Consumer 67 scanned WATCH 58.8 50.0 68.4 66.2 — — — 5/11/35/16
Packaging & Plastics 34 scanned WATCH 53.4 39.5 65.3 70.7 — — — 8/5/13/8
Logistics & Transport 25 scanned AVOID 44.7 21.4 70.0 64.8 — — — 8/4/6/7
Telecom & Media 29 scanned WATCH 53.4 50.0 60.3 51.0 — — — 6/1/11/11
Commercial Services 29 scanned WATCH 59.1 61.0 52.8 64.8 — — — 4/2/11/12
Diversified & Other 40 scanned WATCH 45.4 30.6 59.5 61.0 — — — 3/6/17/14

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

Stocks to Watch

Split across large/mid/small cap so this list isn't one tier's picks — new calls first, then the highest long-term composites within each. Each shows the figures that selected it — open the desk for the full six-lens panel.

HOLD
new call this session
P/E in the 13th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 40.0% (up 5.0pt over 5y) · -32.3% off its 52-week high
Composite 73.3 Mkt Cap 465,183 cr · Large P/E 14.91 ROCE 40.0% Piotroski 6/9
HOLD
new call this session
P/E in the 0th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 21.9% (down 5.1pt over 5y)
Composite 72.5 Mkt Cap 77,966 cr · Large P/E 32.09 ROCE 21.9% Piotroski 4/8
HOLD
new call this session
P/E in the 8th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 14.8% (up 6.8pt over 5y) · Piotroski 7/9
Composite 80.6 Mkt Cap 49,982 cr · Mid P/E 56.07 ROCE 14.8% Piotroski 7/9
QUALITY-WAIT
new call this session
P/E in the 63th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 34.8% (up 10.8pt over 5y) · Piotroski 7/9
Composite 73.3 Mkt Cap 18,343 cr · Mid P/E 25.13 ROCE 34.8% Piotroski 7/9
BUY
new call this session
ROCE 18.8% (up 22.8pt over 5y)
Composite 79.8 Mkt Cap 6,695 cr · Small P/E 25.24 ROCE 18.8% Piotroski 4/9
BUY
new call this session
composite 78.3 on growth, quality, timing, valuation
Composite 78.3 Mkt Cap 6,559 cr · Small P/E 23.35 ROCE 15.7% 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.