Two stocks to buy today, recommended by Trade Brains Portal:

Current price: ₹221

Target price: ₹ 260 in 12-14 Months

Stop-loss: ₹200

Why It’s recommended: One of India’s top producers and distributors of industrial and automotive lubricants is Castrol India Limited. It is a division of the BP Group’s Castrol Limited. In the Indian lubricant market, the company has a substantial market share of over 20%. Castrol provides reliable brands such as Castrol POWER1, Castrol MAGNATEC, Castrol EDGE, Castrol Activ, Castrol CRB, and Castrol GTX. Castrol India has three blending facilities and a vast distribution network that reaches more than 150,000 stores across the country.

In Q1FY25, operating revenue was ₹1,422 crore, a 7% YoY increase over Q1FY24’s ₹1,325 crore. The quarter’s profit after tax (PAT) was ₹233 crore, an 8% YoY increase from Q1FY24’s ₹216 crore. The automotive category, which accounts for 85% of the company’s operations, contributed more to the overall volume gain of 8% YoY. In Q1FY25, the company provided more than 63 million liters of volume. 

With 148,000 locations across India, Castrol is still growing its presence in rural regions, now serving 40,000 workshops and retail establishments. Castrol India and Triumph, a motorcycle manufacturer, signed a supply contract for Castrol POWER1 (complete synthetic 2-wheeler oil). Castrol made considerable strides in increasing its industrial product line’s visibility and gaining new clients. It expanded its chemical management service (CMS) business to include a significant gearbox manufacturer. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the company’s involvement in IMTEX 2025 will generate opportunities from both current and potential clients.

Risk Factor: As a buyer of base oil, the company is primarily exposed to market risk concerning commodity pricing. The price of this commodity product can change significantly over short periods. Base oil prices typically follow the cycles of commodities. The majority of their operating costs are related to material purchases. The company hasn’t signed any contracts for commodity derivatives. It should be mentioned that while there are derivatives for crude oil, there are no direct derivatives for base oil.

GAIL (India) Ltd

Current price: ₹ 193

Target price: ₹ 230 in 12-14 Months

Stop-loss: ₹174

Why it’s recommended: In 1984, GAIL (India) Limited, a Maharatna PSU, the top natural gas firm in India, was founded. With a diverse natural gas value chain that includes trading, transmission, LNG re-gasification, petrochemicals, city gas, E&P, and LPG production and transmission. In India, GAIL holds a 50% gas trading share, a 70% market share in gas transportation, and a 15% domestic market share in polyethylene in petrochemicals. Currently, the firm operates 16,420 kilometers of NG pipelines. With a total production capacity of 1.4 MMTPA and a transmission capacity of 4.58 MMTPA for LPG, Gail operates five processing plants.

The company’s FY25 sales of ₹1,42,291 crore were a 7% increase over FY24’s revenue of ₹1,33,499 crore. Gross Ebitda remained robust at ₹20,643 crore, a 22% YoY rise from ₹16,986 crore. Profit after tax also increased by 26% to ₹12,462.87 crore YoY. GAIL’s Market Capitalization touched ₹1.60 trillion. The management anticipates that the company will make at least ₹4,500 crore in profit before taxes in FY26. The company achieved the highest-ever annual Gas Transmission volume of 127 MMSCMD and the highest-ever total annual LPG Transmission volume of 4.478 MMTPA in FY25. The company signed a long-term contract with Qatar in FY25 for a volume of 0.75 MMTPA; supply for this contract began in April 2025. The KLL Dabhol Breakwater project was also finished.

In 2025-26, the volume of gas transmission is anticipated to reach 138-139 MMSCMD. About 50% of the previous APM decline was offset on 18 April, 2025, when MOPNG allocated GAIL 0.32 MMSCMD of new well gas for LPG production. This is expected to improve output and increase profitability. In FY26, GAIL expects to spend over ₹10,000 crore in capital expenditures, with significant investments in petrochemicals and pipelines ( ₹3,000 crore each) and more than ₹1,000 crore allocated to net-zero projects. Along with investments in CGD, LNG, and CBG projects, operational CAPEX will continue to be between ₹1,500 and ₹1,600 crore.

Risk Factor: GAIL has signed multiple agreements to import LNG for long-term periods, and the pricing formula for most of those contracts is linked to HH index (the benchmark natural gas price in the US), exposing the marketing margins to fluctuations in pricing, as in the low crude oil price scenario, GAIL may encounter profitability pressure on the marketing of LNG.

Market recap 

Friday’s trading session saw the Nifty open at 25,428.85, reach a day-high of 25,470.25, and close at 25,461.00. The Nifty 50 ended the day up 55.70 points, or 0.22%. The BSE Sensex increased 193.42 points, or 0.23% from its opening price of 83,306.81 to its closing price of 83,432.89. The Nifty ended Friday above all 20/50/100/200 EMAs, with the Nifty 50 RSI at 61.01. Furthermore, the Sensex closed above all 20/50/100/200 EMAs, while the BSE Sensex RSI closed at 59.85, far below the overbought level of 70. Furthermore, on Friday, the India VIX dropped to a 9-month low of 12.32, indicating an easing of investor apprehension and an improvement in market mood.

On Friday, most indices closed the day in the green. One of the biggest gainers was the Nifty Oil and Gas index, which ended the day at 12,002.35, up 125.05 points, or 1.05%. The index rose to 4.43% on Friday, with Bharat Petroleum, Indraprastha Gas, and IOCL among the top gainers. The Nifty Realty index, which closed Friday at 971.95 after increasing 0.91%, was one of the top gainers. Phoenix Mills, Brigade Enterprises, and Raymond Realty all had gains of more than 2% on Friday.

On Friday, certain indices ended the day in the red. The Nifty Metal index dropped -43.05 points, or -0.45%, to close the day at 9,580.40. SAIL, Tata Steel, and Jindal Stainless all fell more than 1.3%, sending the sector into a tailspin.

Friday saw a bearish trend in Asian markets. While the South Korean Kospi index fell -2.04%, or -62.37 points, to close at 3,054.28 points, the Hong Kong Hang Seng index fell -0.48%, or -115.89 points, to close at 23,916.06. At 39,810.88, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed the day unchanged, up 24.98 points, or 0.06%. The Shanghai index gained 11.17 points, or 0.32%, to close the day at 3,472.32. The US Dow Jones Futures ended Friday’s trading session at 44,572.15, down -258.37 points, or -0.58%.

This week’s Nifty 50 index declined by 0.69%, indicating that investors are becoming cautious going forward due to several issues, including the upcoming Q1FY26 company reports, tariff updates, and additional geopolitical developments.

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