ITC Slumps on Higher Cigarette Excise, 40% GST; Nifty Auto Rallies on Strong Sales– Paper by Pocketful
Happy New Year! Wishing you a prosperous and successful 2026.
📈 Top Gainers & Losers (Nifty 50)
🗞 Stock News Highlights
ITC Limited (-9.71%): Shares fell after higher cigarette excise duty announcement, in addition to 40% GST; peers VST Industries and Godfrey Phillips India also crashed.
NCC Limited (+0.74%): Shares advanced after receiving four new orders worth ₹1,237.24 crore in December 2025 - ₹704.67 crore from the buildings division and ₹532.57 crore from the transportation division.
Vodafone Idea Limited (+7.81%): Shares gained after Vodafone Group confirmed ₹5,836 crore promoter support, including ₹2,307 crore inflow over 12 months, settling merger-related liabilities and improving balance-sheet visibility.
NBCC(+0.27%): Stock remained positive after securing three new orders worth ₹220.31 crore from Canara Bank and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, including a ₹163.12 crore Bengaluru head office annex project.
🏢 Sectoral Performance
Auto | Nifty Auto (+1.03%+): Index climbed on strong December sales momentum, with broad-based buying led by Maruti Suzuki India and Mahindra & Mahindra, as multiple OEMs reported robust YoY growth, extending gains for the third session.
Realty | Nifty Realty (+0.84%+): Index moved higher on strong sector sentiment, led by 11 gainers with just 1 dragger, as buying interest remained broad-based amid rate-cut optimism and improving demand outlook.
FMCG | Nifty FMCG (-3.17%+): Index declined as the entire tobacco pack sold off after the cigarette excise duty hike, with ITC Limited, VST Industries, and Godfrey Phillips India all sliding, dragging FMCG lower.
Pharma | Nifty Pharma (-0.40%): Index declined with 7 gainers and 13 losers, as profit-taking in heavyweight pharma stocks and sector rotation weighed on sentiment amid the absence of fresh near-term triggers.
🔍 Market Insights
Technical Level: Nifty opened with a gap-up but traded range-bound amid mixed sentiment on day one of 2026, forming support near 26,110 and facing resistance around 26,200.
Advance-Decline Ratio: Market breadth stayed positive with 1,682 advances versus 1,448 declines, indicating supportive sentiment.
The Big Picture: U.S. granted TSMC an annual licence to import U.S. chipmaking tools into its Nanjing plant, ensuring uninterrupted operations after export exemptions expired; Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix received similar approvals.
FII/DII Activity (Dec 31, 2025): DIIs bought ₹6,759 crore, offsetting FII selling of ₹3,597 crore, helping stabilize overall market sentiment.
🔮 Watch Out For Tomorrow
IPO Corner: Modern Diagnostic SME IPO closes tomorrow, with 23.62× subscription so far, and investors may track final demand, valuation, and growth prospects before applying.
Macro: Korea S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (Dec) & UK Nationwide Housing Prices YoY (Dec) are scheduled for release tomorrow.
Index Watch: Nifty 50 opened with a gap-up today but traded in a range, closing above the previous day’s candle on a positive note, maintaining the upward momentum - key question now is whether Nifty sustains this week and starts a fresh New Year rally.
5 Day Course
Theme: Option Greeks Explained
Day 3 – Theta (Time Decay Risk)
What it means: Theta represents time decay in options, showing how much premium erodes daily as expiry approaches, negatively impacting buyers while benefiting option sellers consistently.
Example:
Option price = ₹120
Theta = −₹8
Calculation:
After 1 day Option price = 120 − 8 = ₹112
After 3 days Loss = 8 × 3 = ₹24
📝 Word Of The Day
Pump and Dump – Artificially inflating prices through hype or false news, then selling at the top, leaving late investors with sharp losses.
👀 Stay tuned. Stay diversified.
Until next time,
Team Pocketful.