ET NEWS

Equity markets declined in a volatile trade on Wednesday. The 30-share Sensex declined 117 points to settle at 72,987 and the broader Nifty dipped 17 points to close at 22,200.Stocks that were in focus include names like Siemens India, which rose 6.33%, Oil India, which jumped 1.98%, and LIC, whose shares increased 6.82% on Wednesday.Here's what Riyank Arora, Technical Analyst at Mehta Equities, recommends investors should do with these stocks when the market resumes trading today.Siemens IndiaThe stock is trading at an all-time high of 7240.00, showing strong momentum. However, on its monthly time frame charts, the stock has reached an RSI of 89, indicating overbought conditions.According to multiple technical indicators and momentum oscillators, the upside appears limited from current levels, and the stock is expected to face some profit booking at higher levels.It is likely to struggle at these higher levels, and it is advisable to book profits at the current market price.Oil IndiaThe stock has reached an RSI of 90.17 on its monthly time frame charts, indicating extreme overbought conditions. The stock is also experiencing continuous wick rejections at higher levels around 630-635, suggesting that it may fall towards 580-600 as selling pressure increases.The stock is expected to face significant resistance at the 700 mark, and we advise traders and investors to book profits at this point.LICThe stock has achieved a strong breakout from its triangular consolidation pattern and has successfully closed above its breakout level of 985 on the daily charts.With the RSI upticking to around 57, the stock is showing signs of strong momentum, and this rally is expected to continue towards 1075 and 1100. A strict stop-loss can be set at 950 for all active buys in the stock.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)

In scorching heat on a busy Kolkata street last month, commuters sought refuge inside a glass-walled bus shelter where two air conditioners churned around stifling air. Those inside were visibly sweating, dabbing at their foreheads in sauna-like temperatures that were scarcely cooler than out in the open. Local authorities initially had plans to install as many as 300 of the cooled cabins under efforts to improve protections from a heat season that typically runs from April until the monsoon hits the subcontinent in June. There are currently only a handful in operation, and some have been stripped of their AC units, leaving any users sweltering.“It doesn’t work,” Firhad Hakim, mayor of the city of 15 million in India’s eastern state of West Bengal, said on a searing afternoon when temperatures topped 40C. “You feel suffocated.”Attempts in Kolkata and across India to improve resilience to extreme heat have often been equally ill-conceived, despite a death toll estimated at more than 24,000 since 1992. Inconsistent or incomplete planning, a lack of funding, and the failure to make timely preparations to shield a population of 1.4 billion are leaving communities vulnerable as periods of extreme temperatures become more frequent, longer in duration and affect a wider sweep of the country.Kolkata, with its hot, humid climate and proximity to the Bay of Bengal, is particularly vulnerable to temperature and rainfall extremes, and ranked by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as among the global locations that are most at risk. An increase in average global temperatures of 2C could mean the city would experience the equivalent of its record 2015 heat waves every year, according to the IPCC. High humidity can compound the impacts, as it limits the human body’s ability to regulate its temperature.Even so, the city — one of India's largest urban centers — still lacks a formal strategy to handle heat waves.Several regions across India will see as many as 11 heat wave days this month compared to 3 in a typical year, while maximum temperatures in recent weeks have already touched 47.2C in the nation’s east, according to the India Meteorological Department. Those extremes come amid a national election during which high temperatures are being cited as among factors for lower voter turnout.At SSKM Hospital, one of Kolkata’s busiest, a waiting area teemed last month with people sheltering under colorful umbrellas and thronging a coin-operated water dispenser to refill empty bottles. A weary line snaked back from a government-run kiosk selling a subsidized lunch of rice, lentils, boiled potato and eggs served on foil plates.“High temperatures can cause heat stroke, skin rashes, cramps and dehydration,” said Niladri Sarkar, professor of medicine at the hospital. “Some of these can turn fatal if not attended to on time, especially for people that have pre-existing conditions.” Extreme heat has an outsized impact on poorer residents, who are often malnourished, lack access to clean drinking water and have jobs that require outdoor work, he said.Elsewhere in the city, tea sellers sweltered by simmering coal-fired ovens, construction workers toiled under a blistering midday sun, and voters attending rallies for the ongoing national elections draped handkerchiefs across their faces in an effort to stay cool. Kolkata’s state government in April advised some schools to shutter for an early summer vacation to avoid the heat.Since 2013, states, districts and cities are estimated to have drafted more than 100 heat action plans, intended to improve their ability to mitigate the effects of extreme temperatures. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government set out guidelines eight years ago to accelerate adoption of the policies, and a January meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority pledged to do more to strengthen preparedness. 110162200The absence of such planning in Kolkata has also meant a failure to intervene in trends that have made the city more susceptible.Almost a third of the city’s green cover was lost during the decade through 2021, according to an Indian government survey. Other cities including Mumbai and Bangalore have experienced similar issues. That’s combined with a decline in local water bodies and a construction boom to deliver an urban heat island effect, according to Saira Shah Halim, a parliamentary candidate in the Kolkata Dakshin electoral district in the city’s south. “What we’re seeing today is a result of this destruction,” she said.Hakim, the city’s mayor, disputes the idea that Kolkata’s preparations have lagged, arguing recent extreme weather has confounded local authorities. “Such a kind of heat wave is new to us, we’re not used to it,” he said. “We’re locked with elections right now. Once the elections are over, we’ll sit with experts to work on a heat action plan.”Local authorities are currently ensuring adequate water supplies, and have put paramedics on stand-by to handle heat-induced illnesses, Hakim said. Focusing on crisis management, rather than on better preparedness, is at the root of the country’s failings, according to Nairwita Bandyopadhyay, a Kolkata-based climatologist and geographer. “Sadly the approach is to wait and watch until the hazard turns into a disaster,” she said.Even cities and states that already have heat action plans have struggled to make progress in implementing recommendations, the New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research said in a report last year reviewing 37 of the documents. Most policies don’t adequately reflect local conditions, they often lack detail on how action should be funded and typically don’t set out a source of legal authority, according to the report.As many as 9 people have already died as a result of heat extremes this year, according to the meteorological department, though the figure is likely to significantly underestimate the actual total. That follows about 110 fatalities during severe heat waves during April and June last year, the World Meteorological Organization said last month.Even so, the handling of extreme heat has failed to become a “political lightning rod that can stir governments into action,” said Aditya Valiathan Pillai, among authors of the CPR study and now a fellow at New Delhi-based Sustainable Futures Collaborative.Modi's government has often moved to contain criticism of its policies, and there is also the question of unreliable data. “When deaths occur, one is not sure whether it was directly caused by heat, or whether heat exacerbated an existing condition,” Pillai said. In 2022, health ministry data showed 33 people died as a result of heat waves, while the National Crime Records Bureau – another agency that tracks mortality statistics – reported 730 fatalities from heat stroke.110162212Those discrepancies raise questions about a claim by India’s government that its policies helped cut heat-related deaths from 2,040 in 2015 to 4 in 2020, after national bureaucrats took on more responsibility for disaster risk management. Local officials in Kolkata are now examining potential solutions and considering the addition of more trees, vertical gardens on building walls and the use of porous concrete, all of which can help combat urban heat. India’s election is also an opportunity to raise issues around poor preparations, according to Halim, a candidate for the Communist Party of India (Marxist), whose supporters carry bright red flags at campaign events scheduled for the early morning and after sundown to escape extreme temperatures.“I’m mentioning it,” she said. “It’s become a very, very challenging campaign. The heat is just insufferable.”

Mumbai: The promoters of Cipla on Wednesday sold a 2.53% stake for ₹2,751 crore in a block deal on NSE.According to NSE block deal data, Shirin Hamied, wife of MK Hamied, vice-chair and non-executive director on the Cipla board and her daughters Rumana Hamied, Samina Hamied, and Okasa Pharma Private Ltd, all categorized as promoter group, sold 2.04 crore shares at ₹1,345 apiece. The company in a stock exchange release said the stake sale was intended at raising funds for specific needs, including philanthropy.Shares of Cipla gained 3.61% on Wednesday to close at ₹1,406."Post transaction, the entire promoter group, including persons acting in concert, continues to hold 31.67% in the company and remains committed to the future of Cipla," the company said in a statement.The three promoters hold 4.24% of Cipla, while Osaka Pharma owns a 0.02% stake. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought shares worth ₹743 crore, while Aditya Birla Mutual Fund and DSP Mutual Fund acquired shares worth ₹309 crore and ₹134 crore, respectively. Other buyers include BofA Securities, Citigroup Global, HDFC Mutual Fund, Morgan Stanley, and Societe Generale.ET on Tuesday reported that the promoters are offering to sell up to 20.45 million shares at ₹1,289.50-1,357.35 apiece, translating to a total deal value of about ₹2,637 crore ($316 million).

Mumbai: It may not be advisable to change equity mutual fund schemes while investing through systematic investment plans (SIPs) based on recent best performers as occasional switching across products has resulted in underperformance.A study by Whiteoak Capital Mutual Fund for the last 19 years shows that an investor who started an SIP in a mid-cap or small-cap index fund in April 2005 and stuck to the category for 19 years earned higher returns than an investor who changed the SIP annually based on the best-return generating category in the previous year.An investor, who started with an SIP in a mid-cap fund in April 2005 and subsequently at the start of each financial year switched to the best-performing fund of the previous year across various categories till April 2024 would have earned an annualised return of 15.5% in the period. Now, if she remained invested through SIPs in the midcap index fund only during the period under review, she would have earned 18.1%."Investing based on past performance lead to suboptimal returns," said Vineet Nanda, founder, SIFT Capital. Nanda said investors should do SIPs for a long-term horizon of 5-20 years, as compounding benefits start trickling in only after 7-8 years. 110160931"These SIPs should be monitored regularly, and they should be changed if there is a problem in the quality of the portfolio or an abrupt change in style of management by the fund house," he added.Similarly, an investor who started with a small-cap fund and kept switching would have earned a return of 15.1% on an annualised basis. Had she stuck with the SIP in the small-cap index fund, it would have earned 16% per year.Retail investors often tend to chase the best-performing schemes of the recent past. Financial planners say in this process, they tend to chase investment themes that have already run up and often miss out on the best potential returns.For example, an investor, who chased performers, would have started an SIP in a midcap index fund in April 2005, moved to a large- cap fund in April 2007 then to a small-cap fund in April 2010, and again to a large-cap scheme in April 2011. The study shows from April 2005 to April 2024, SIPs in the large-cap segment, represented by the Nifty 50 TRI, have been the top performers seven times. SIPs in the smallcap, represented by the Nifty Smallcap 250 TRI, and the midcap index, represented by the Nifty Midcap 150TRI, have been top performers six times each.