The Close

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The Close · The Open · The Long Desk · Archive · Research · Top Stocks
Thu, 24 Sep 2026
1428 companies · 1449 sector slots · 21 sectors · 21 below Rs1000cr and not scanned · long-term lens

Trend Spotlight

EU proposes formally excluding India from its post-2027 authorised metal-scrap import list.

The European Commission's draft Waste Shipment Regulation country list (published Sept 18) recommends India NOT be authorised to receive EU metal-waste shipments from May 2027, citing insufficient demonstrated environmentally sound management specifically for metal waste (India is credited on other waste categories). A public consultation runs to Oct 16, with the first authorised-country list due Nov 21 -- nothing is final, and India can still submit evidence to seek inclusion. India imported roughly 366,000 tonnes of EU aluminium scrap in 2025 alone, so exclusion would raise input costs for scrap-dependent Indian steel and aluminium producers -- a real, if not yet locked-in, structural risk for the sector.

Sources: environment.ec.europa.eu · outlookbusiness.com · indexbox.io

Market Overview

IndexClosePoints ChangeP/EP/B
Nifty 50 23,063.10 ▼ -383.70 ▼ -1.64% 19.50 2.79
Nifty Next 50 71,381.45 ▼ -1,080.95 ▼ -1.49% 18.87 3.17
Nifty 500 22,552.60 ▼ -382.50 ▼ -1.67% 21.85 3.12
Nifty Bank 55,438.50 ▼ -1,110.40 ▼ -1.96% 13.12 1.66
NIFTY Midcap 100 60,990.15 ▼ -1,406.30 ▼ -2.25% 29.40 4.14
▲ 502 advancing ■ 21 unchanged ▼ 2139 declining of 2662 equities, vs the 2026-09-23 close
Cash market, ₹ crore
FII / FPI net
▼ -5,027.36
bought 13,111 · sold 18,139
DII net
▲ +4,301.18
bought 18,197 · sold 13,896
FII / FPI DII
FII / DII daily net cash flow · ₹ crore · scroll to zoom, drag to pan

Source: NSE ind_close_all_20260924 (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
Information Technology Nifty IT · 17 researched 28,208.85 ▼ -0.44% 18.0 WATCH
Pharmaceuticals Nifty Pharma · 20 researched 27,028.70 ▼ -0.45% 41.9 AVOID
Healthcare & Hospitals Nifty Healthcare Index · 7 researched 16,757.20 ▼ -0.66% 43.9 WATCH
Energy & Power Nifty Energy · 17 researched 37,360.95 ▼ -1.06% 14.5 WATCH
FMCG Nifty FMCG · 7 researched 45,759.35 ▼ -1.08% 31.8 WATCH
Realty Nifty Realty · 5 researched 861.40 ▼ -1.10% 36.6 WATCH
Hospitality & Tourism Nifty India Tourism · 8 researched 7,780.40 ▼ -1.47% 87.8 WATCH
Automobiles Nifty Auto · 34 researched 26,730.10 ▼ -1.57% 31.1 WATCH
Metals & Mining Nifty Metal · 17 researched 13,041.95 ▼ -1.96% 15.9 WATCH
Banks Nifty Bank · 12 researched 55,438.50 ▼ -1.96% 13.1 WATCH
Financial Services Nifty Financial Services · 11 researched 24,954.15 ▼ -2.39% 15.3 WATCH
Capital Goods no listed index · 15 researched — — — WATCH
Chemicals no listed index · 8 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
Logistics & Transport no listed index · 6 researched — — — WATCH
Packaging & Plastics no listed index · 2 researched — — — WATCH
Retail & Consumer no listed index · 3 researched — — — WATCH
Telecom & Media no listed index · 5 researched — — — WATCH
Textiles & Apparel no listed index · 5 researched — — — WATCH

Movers in the universe

Largest moves among the 1423 tracked names this session, against the 2026-09-23 close.

CompanyCallPrev CloseMove
India Glycols Ltd INDIAGLYCO AVOID ₹257.70 ₹306.00 ▲ +18.74%
Kaveri Seed Company Ltd KSCL HOLD ₹710.70 ₹783.85 ▲ +10.29%
Kabra Extrusion Technik Ltd KABRAEXTRU AVOID ₹732.85 ₹806.10 ▲ +10.00%
Sedemac Mechatronics Ltd SEDEMAC QUALITY-WAIT ₹3,035.20 ₹3,313.60 ▲ +9.17%
Vikran Engineering Ltd VIKRAN AVOID ₹56.14 ₹60.99 ▲ +8.64%
Max Financial Services Ltd MFSL AVOID ₹1,562.90 ₹1,410.00 ▼ -9.78%
L&T Finance Ltd LTF AVOID ₹310.00 ₹282.00 ▼ -9.03%
Hikal Ltd HIKAL AVOID ₹232.43 ₹214.15 ▼ -7.86%
NOCIL Ltd NOCIL HOLD ₹206.30 ₹191.40 ▼ -7.22%
HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd HDFCLIFE AVOID ₹561.50 ₹526.90 ▼ -6.16%

Set aside as undetermined: POLICYBZR (▼ -36.00%), TURTLEMINT (▼ -20.00%). A move this large over one session is usually a bonus, split or demerger rather than a price change, and a close-only series cannot tell the two apart — so it is neither listed as a mover nor quietly dropped.

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 (3)

Published this session (3)

BUY
new
unconfirmed: sector, news
Unconfirmed: sector, news not checked — Weighted average rating 3.84/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
BUY
new
unconfirmed: sector
Unconfirmed: sector not checked — Weighted average rating 4.06/5 including quality and value — the rare combination.
QUALITY-WAIT
new
Good business, bad price today (Value 2/5) — PEG n/a; P/E cheaper than 49% of sector peers (P/E 41.02); EV/EBITDA 31.2, B/M 0.126. Watch for a better entry.

Awaiting a second session (10)

TickerClosePublished PendingNote
DCBBANK ₹213.35 HOLD → BUY if next session holds
FINEORG ₹5,062.50 QUALITY-WAIT → HOLD if next session holds
FOSECOIND ₹6,477.00 QUALITY-WAIT → HOLD if next session holds
GEOJITFSL ₹79.17 AVOID → HOLD if next session holds
INDIAGLYCO ₹306.00 AVOID → HOLD if next session holds
JKCEMENT ₹5,184.50 HOLD → QUALITY-WAIT if next session holds
KIRLPNU ₹697.75 QUALITY-WAIT → BUY if next session holds
MATRIMONY ₹538.55 QUALITY-WAIT → HOLD if next session holds
RATNAVEER ₹323.95 AVOID → HOLD if next session holds
SUNFLAG ₹396.80 HOLD → QUALITY-WAIT if next session holds

Top Stories

TCS headcount down ~30,000 in six months as AI-driven restructuring continues. Information Technology

TCS's workforce has shrunk roughly 30,000 over six months, including a Q3 reduction of 19,755 employees, as the company runs quarterly talent reviews to adjust hiring, reskilling and vendor mix around AI. Single-sourced; no named client loss or governance flag surfaced, and management frames this as strategic resizing rather than a demand problem -- but the scale is large enough to watch.

TCS
Sources: thehansindia.com

Shilpa Medicare's USFDA inspection closes clean, with just one procedural observation. Pharmaceuticals

The USFDA's Sept 16-18 surveillance inspection of Shilpa Medicare's Hyderabad Unit VII closed with a single procedural observation and no data-integrity findings or repeat issues. The company expects no material impact on current operations or supply, and will respond within the stipulated timeline -- a clean regulatory outcome supporting the pending QUALITY-WAIT to HOLD call review.

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

Engineers India's order-book figures don't match the prior claim; underlying momentum still looks intact. Construction & Materials

A prior claim cited an order book grown to ~Rs 17,000cr on a ~$160m Dangote Nigeria contract. Fresh sources instead show a Rs 14,400cr order book as of June 30, 2026, and the recent Dangote win is a $450m (elsewhere cited $360m) PMC/EPCM contract for a Kenya refinery -- not yet reflected in that figure. The specific numbers in the original claim are uncorroborated, but the pending large contract suggests momentum itself is intact; flagged for reconciliation, not treated as confirmed either way.

ENGINERSIN
Sources: multibagg.ai · businessupturn.com · icicidirect.com

Foseco India's 15% stake changes hands to an undisclosed buyer. Chemicals

Morgan Advanced Materials sold its 15% stake in Foseco India (~Rs 650cr) to an undisclosed buyer on Aug 28, 2026. The buyer's identity was not disclosed in available reporting -- an unknown large shareholder is a governance-relevant unknown worth resolving, though nothing confirmed adverse has surfaced yet. Separately, Foseco is acquiring Vesuvius India's Mehsana facility and posted strong Q1 2026 growth (revenue +42% YoY, net income +56% YoY).

FOSECOIND
Sources: tipranks.com

Sector Scorecard

Entry score is 40% cheap-vs-history + 25% quality trend + 20% news catalyst + 15% technicals, for the 1 sector with a researched catalyst. The other 20 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 61.8 62.4 78.5 32.4 — ▼ -0.44% 18.0 4/9/54/8
Banks 40 scanned · 12 researched WATCH 45.1 34.1 52.3 62.7 — ▼ -1.96% 13.1 0/0/30/10
Pharmaceuticals 85 scanned · 20 researched AVOID 44.2 18.0 72.0 67.8 — ▼ -0.45% 41.9 0/20/54/11
Automobiles 109 scanned · 34 researched WATCH 49.6 25.5 78.6 65.4 — ▼ -1.57% 31.1 0/21/77/11
FMCG 104 scanned · 7 researched WATCH 57.1 53.5 68.9 46.9 — ▼ -1.08% 31.8 4/19/63/18
Metals & Mining 83 scanned · 17 researched WATCH 46.6 32.5 67.9 64.4 -3 ▼ -1.96% 15.9 0/10/53/20
Realty 39 scanned · 5 researched WATCH 54.8 56.7 52.0 54.2 — ▼ -1.10% 36.6 1/2/15/21
Energy & Power 83 scanned · 17 researched WATCH 56.5 50.0 63.4 62.6 — ▼ -1.06% 14.5 5/7/39/32
Financial Services 148 scanned · 5 ranked elsewhere · 11 researched WATCH 53.6 59.1 43.6 55.5 — ▼ -2.39% 15.3 4/4/87/53
Healthcare & Hospitals 58 scanned · 16 ranked elsewhere · 7 researched WATCH 46.9 23.1 73.8 65.4 — ▼ -0.66% 43.9 4/16/33/5
Hospitality & Tourism 37 scanned · 8 researched WATCH 61.7 61.3 68.6 51.4 — ▼ -1.47% 87.8 0/6/21/10
Chemicals 98 scanned · 8 researched WATCH 58.9 52.5 68.5 59.9 — — — 2/12/61/23
Construction & Materials 123 scanned · 9 researched WATCH 61.4 68.8 61.8 41.2 — — — 3/11/69/40
Capital Goods 102 scanned · 15 researched WATCH 52.7 31.8 78.8 64.9 — — — 9/13/66/14
Textiles & Apparel 47 scanned · 5 researched WATCH 56.3 50.0 62.6 62.6 — — — 2/6/27/12
Retail & Consumer 67 scanned · 3 researched WATCH 59.7 57.0 68.4 52.2 — — — 2/10/36/19
Packaging & Plastics 34 scanned · 2 researched WATCH 52.0 36.8 64.7 71.5 — — — 2/4/20/8
Logistics & Transport 25 scanned · 6 researched WATCH 45.8 28.8 67.6 54.8 — — — 6/3/10/6
Telecom & Media 29 scanned · 5 researched WATCH 52.8 50.0 60.2 48.0 — — — 3/1/14/11
Commercial Services 31 scanned · 6 researched WATCH 58.7 61.5 52.8 61.0 — — — 2/2/14/13
Diversified & Other 32 scanned · 1 researched WATCH 45.8 29.6 59.7 65.6 — — — 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.

BUY
new call this session
unconfirmed: sector
P/E in the 2th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 63.0% (up 14.0pt over 5y) · -37.2% off its 52-week high
Composite 74.0 Mkt Cap 754,928 cr · Large P/E 14.09 ROCE 63.0% Piotroski 6/9
AVOID
new call this session
P/E in the 27th percentile of its own 3-year range
Composite 51.2 Mkt Cap 369,284 cr · Large P/E 13.3 ROCE 6.24% Piotroski 1/7
HOLD
new call this session
P/E in the 8th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 20.7% (up 31.7pt over 5y) · -26.4% off its 52-week high
Composite 86.6 Mkt Cap 18,542 cr · Mid P/E 25.54 ROCE 20.7% Piotroski 5/9
HOLD
new call this session
P/E in the 1th percentile of its own 3-year range · Piotroski 7/9 · -37.4% off its 52-week high
Composite 82.7 Mkt Cap 36,908 cr · Mid P/E 26.66 ROCE 46.1% Piotroski 7/9
HOLD
new call this session
P/E in the 0th percentile of its own 3-year range · ROCE 29.3% (up 18.3pt over 5y) · Piotroski 8/9
Composite 86.7 Mkt Cap 9,205 cr · Small P/E 13.02 ROCE 29.3% Piotroski 8/9
HOLD
new call this session
P/E in the 96th percentile of its own 3-year range · Piotroski 7/9
Composite 65.2 Mkt Cap 7,802 cr · Small P/E 124.37 ROCE 30.3% Piotroski 7/9
QUALITY-WAIT
new call this session
Highly Volatile
P/E in the 97th percentile of its own 3-year range
Composite 52.0 Mkt Cap 4,797 cr · Micro P/E 41.02 ROCE 25.7% Piotroski 4/9
AVOID
new call this session
Highly Volatile
P/E in the 46th percentile of its own 3-year range · -25.4% off its 52-week high
Composite 49.3 Mkt Cap 2,860 cr · Micro P/E 16.98 ROCE 5.92% Piotroski 4/7

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.