The Sensex rose 455 points, or 0.56%, to close at 82,176.45, while the Nifty 50 settled at 25,001.15, up 148 points, or 0.60%. Broader markets also advanced, with the BSE Midcap index gaining 0.56% and the BSE Smallcap index adding 0.48%.
Amid this, we recommend two stocks to trade, one from the chemical sector and the other from the railway sector. We also analyse the market’s performance on Monday to understand what may lie ahead for the stock indices in the coming days.
Stocks to trade today as recommended by Trade Brains Portal:
- Current price: ₹ 873
- Target price: ₹ 1,100 in 16 to 24 months
- Stop-loss: ₹ 759
- Why it’s recommended: Tata Chemicals Ltd (TCL), a Tata Group company, is one of India’s largest manufacturing firms, operating across two core verticals—Basic Chemistry Products and Specialty Products. Its basic chemistry portfolio includes essential inputs for industries such as glass, detergents, pharmaceuticals, food processing, and more. TCL operates Asia’s largest saltworks, is the third-largest soda ash producer, and the sixth-largest sodium bicarbonate manufacturer globally, with a manufacturing footprint across four continents and 12 plants.
Key products include soda ash, sodium bicarbonate, cement, salt, marine chemicals, and crushed refined soda. In the specialty segment, TCL’s agri-science offerings reach 80% of India’s districts, servicing over 13 million farmers with crop protection and agri-input solutions. The company is also building a domestic platform for advanced chemical solutions, collaborating with R&D bodies such as ISRO, CSIR-CECRI, and CMET for the development of indigenous actives, battery cells, and recycling solutions.
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TCL’s India operations span Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, with key installed capacities including: Soda ash: 1.09 million tonnes (MTPA); Sodium bicarbonate: 0.29 MTPA; Salt: 1.6 MTPA; Cement: 0.5 MTPA; Prebiotics: 5,000 tonnes; Specialty silica: 10,800 tonnes
Global operations include: US: 2.54 MTPA of soda ash; UK: 90,000 tonnes of bicarbonate, along with salt and pharma-grade salt; Kenya: soda ash capacity (undisclosed MTPA in draft).
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TCL plans to invest over ₹3,500 crore between FY26 and FY28 for regular maintenance and brownfield expansion—particularly in Kenya’s soda ash operations. In FY25 alone, it invested nearly ₹2,000 crore, with another ₹550–600 crore earmarked for FY26. This includes: ₹18 crore to expand the prebiotics plant; ₹60 crore to add 50,000 tonnes of soda ash capacity in Kenya.
- Risks factors: TCL’s soda ash segment is vulnerable to volatility in international prices, driven by global currency movements, competition, and trade dynamics. While FY25 saw global soda ash demand rise—led by China (18%) and India (4.5%)—demand fell 2.3% in the rest of the world. Uncertainty around tariffs also poses risks to the sector’s supply-demand balance.
- Current price: ₹ 402
- Target price: ₹ 489 in 16-20 months
- Stop-loss: ₹ 358
- Why it’s recommended: Jupiter Wagons is a leading producer of various railway wagons, passenger coaches, load bodies for commercial electric vehicles, alloy steel casting for rolling stacks and tracks, and refrigerated containers, among other products. It caters to various sectors, including Indian Railways, commercial vehicles, defence, and logistics. As of FY25, the company has an order book of ₹6,303.6 crore. It has a capacity of 10,800 wagons per annum and plans to enhance the capacity to manufacture 12,000 wagons per annum by FY26. The company currently has 12 manufacturing facilities across various locations, including Odisha, Indore, Pune, Aurangabad, etc.
In FY25, the company reported a total income of ₹4,008 crore compared to ₹3,668 crore in FY24, up 9% year-on-year (YoY), while Ebitda stood at ₹578 crore, up 18% YoY, and margins grew by 14%. Net profit surged 15% to ₹380 crore from ₹331 crore in the previous year.
Earnings per share stood at ₹9.08 for FY25, a 10% increase YoY. In Q4FY25, the company secured an order worth ₹600 crore from Ambuja Cement and ACC Ltd. for manufacturing and supplying BCFCM (Bogie Covered Fly Ash/Cement Rakes) Rake Wagons.
Jupiter Wagon’s subsidiary, Jupiter Tatravagonka Railwheel Factory Pvt Ltd, has also won a ₹255 crore order from Braithwaite & Co. for the supply of railway wheelsets. Additionally, the company is setting up a railwheel and axle forging plant in Odisha, with a phased investment of ₹2,500 crore. This plant will produce 100,000 forged wheelsets annually, which will cater to both Indian Railways and international clients.
The company has entered India’s electric logistics segment, with its brand TEZ, in Indore. The company has set up a 2.5-acre manufacturing facility at Prithapur, where the company has invested ₹100 crore. This plant has an annual production capacity of 8,000 vehicles. In the brake business, the company has secured an order of about ₹150 crore for its joint venture (JV) with Dako and ₹60 crore for a JV with KOVIS and expects the revenues to be fairly strong in this segment going forward.
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Risk factors: The company gets bulk orders from Indian Railways, private logistics, and industrial players. Any changes in budget allocation could squeeze down the orders to low units. In addition, an increase in raw material prices, primarily steel, could affect the company’s production efficiency. The situation gets even worse if order execution delays and less consumer demand could adversely affect the profitability of the company.
Market recap for 26 May
The Indian equity market extended gains for a second straight session on Monday, buoyed by strong global cues and positive domestic triggers. The Nifty 50 opened higher at 24,919.35, up 0.26% from Friday’s close of 24,853.15, and surged to an intraday high of 25,079.20 before closing above the psychological 25,000 mark at 25,001.15—up 148 points or 0.60%. The BSE Sensex also gained 455 points, or 0.56%, to end at 82,176.45.
Technically, the Nifty traded above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, with the RSI firming up at 61.38, indicating strengthening bullish momentum.
Nifty Auto led the sectoral rally, rising 1.05% to 23,763.15. Bajaj Auto surged 2.49%, followed by M&M, MRF, and Tata Motors, which were among the top gainers.
Other key sectoral performers included: Nifty IT: +1.02%; Nifty FMCG: +0.97%; Nifty Metal: +0.94%.
The gains came amid optimism after the RBI announced a record ₹2.69 lakh crore dividend to the Government of India for FY25—27.4% higher than FY24—improving fiscal space. Sentiment was also lifted by global relief after former U.S. President Donald Trump delayed the imposition of a 50% tariff on EU imports to July 9.
On the downside, Eternal (Zomato) was the biggest loser, falling 4.53% to ₹226.80 after FTSE Russell and MSCI reduced its weightage, prompting an estimated $840 million in passive outflows.
Kotak Mahindra Bank dropped 0.55%, while Ultratech Cement, Power Grid, and Sun Pharma also ended in the red.
Asian markets were mixed, with the Nikkei 225 rising 1% to 37,531.53 after US President Donald Trump signalled support for Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel.
Shanghai Composite edged down 0.05% to 3,346.84. Hang Seng fell 1.35% to 23,282.33 as auto stocks slumped on renewed price war fears, and Apple suppliers declined amid tariff concerns.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.61% to close at 41,603.07. The decline came after Trump reiterated plans to impose 25% tariffs on Apple Inc. if it doesn’t manufacture iPhones domestically, and threatened 50% tariffs on EU goods.
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