HDFC AMC Surges on SEBI Cost Reforms; Japan Interest Rate Decision Due Tomorrow & More - Paper By Pocketful
Market Recap: 18th December, 2025
📈 Top Gainers & Losers (Nifty 50)
🗞 Stock News Highlights
HDFC AMC (+7.15%): Shares rallied as Sebi revised mutual fund cost framework, reduced expense ratios, scrapped extra bps charges, and simplified TER structure.
Titagarh Rail Systems (- 0.28%): Stock slipped despite winning ₹273 Cr. maiden safety & signalling order from Indian Railways for RBMV maintenance vehicles.
One 97 Communications (+1.38%): Shares rose after RBI authorised Paytm Payments Services as Payment Aggregator for offline and cross-border payments, expanding licence coverage.
Power Grid Corp. (- 1.21%): Stock fell despite board approval of ₹1,226.93 Cr. capex to refurbish the Bhadrawati HVDC installation, aimed at strengthening transmission infrastructure.
🏢 Sectoral Performance
IT | Nifty IT (+1.21%): Sector gained for the second straight session, driven by strength in Infosys, TCS, and Tech Mahindra amid selective accumulation.
Consumer Durables | Nifty Consumer Durables (+0.37%): Sector rose on selective accumulation in consumer durables stocks, reflecting steady demand trends; 10 gainers outweighed 5 losers.
Media | Nifty Media (-1.27%): Sector declined for the second consecutive day as profit-booking emerged; Zee Ent., PVR Inox and Nazara Technologies were among the most sold stocks.
India Auto | Nifty Auto (-0.79%): Sector declined as broad selling hit auto and auto component stocks for the fourth straight session on profit-booking and weak sentiment; 2 gainers, 13 losers.
🔍 Market Insights
Technical Level: Nifty saw a flat start, moved lower to form support at 25,730, recovered sharply to face resistance near 25,900, and closed marginally lower.
Advance-Decline Ratio: Market breadth remained negative as declines at 1,824 outweighed advances at 1,271, indicating broader selling pressure despite selective stock buying.
The Big Picture: India eased business visa norms by launching a digital platform, simplifying approvals for foreign engineers, mainly Chinese, to support manufacturing operations, training needs, and strengthen bilateral business ties.
FII/DII Activity (Dec 17, 2025): DIIs were net buyers worth ₹769 crore, while FIIs also supported markets with net purchases of ₹1,172 crore, aiding overall sentiment and liquidity during the session.
🔮 Watch Out For Tomorrow
IPO Corner: MARC Technocrats and Global Ocean Logistics SME IPOs are closing tomorrow, marking the last day for investors to apply.
Macro: Japan’s Inflation Rate YoY (Nov) and UK’s Retail Sales MoM (Nov) are due tomorrow, with markets closely watching Japan inflation data.
Index Watch: Nifty ended unchanged today after two consecutive declines, rebounding from strong intraday support and attempting to break the previous day’s high, though it failed to sustain higher levels. With Japan’s interest rate decision due tomorrow and continued global market uncertainty, investors remain cautious. The key question now is whether Nifty can hold current levels through the week or slip back amid volatility. Historically, Indian markets have often moved independently of global cues, and sustained domestic buying could once again help Nifty defy external pressures.
5 Day Course
Theme: Understanding Business & Earnings Quality
Day 3: Thursday - Cash Profits vs Accounting Profits
Accounting profits can be affected by credit sales, inventory changes, or accounting adjustments, while cash profits show actual money received by the business. Strong cash flow confirms earnings quality and financial strength.
Example: A company reports net profit of ₹100 crore but generates only ₹60 crore in operating cash flow because customers delay payments. This gap indicates profits are not fully backed by cash, increasing liquidity risk.
📝 Word Of The Day
Volume Spike: A volume spike occurs when trading activity suddenly rises sharply compared to normal levels, often signaling strong buying or selling interest and potential price movement or trend change.
👀 Stay tuned. Stay diversified.
Until next time,
Team Pocketful.