Best mid-cap stocks to buy today, 24 July, recommended by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman

Here are three stocks to buy or sell as recommended by Raja Venkatraman of NeoTrader for Thursday, 24 July:

Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corp. Ltd: Buy CMP and dips to ₹85 | Stop ₹82 | Target ₹98-102

Olectra Greentech Ltd: Buy CMP and dips to ₹1,280 | Stop ₹1,265 | Target ₹1,450-1,480

Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd: Buy CMP and dips to ₹352 | Stop ₹345 | Target ₹400-420

Market update

Wednesday saw robust gains on India’s equity markets, fuelled by positive cues from Asia after a landmark US-Japan trade agreement. By 1:23pm IST, the BSE Sensex climbed 321 points to 82,508, while the NSE Nifty added 95 points, reaching 25,156. Japanese equities led regional advances, and the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index (ex-Japan) rose 0.7%.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s announcement that American and Chinese officials will meet in Stockholm next week to discuss extending the 12 August trade-talk deadline further lifted sentiment. The prospect of easing global trade frictions has mitigated macroeconomic uncertainty, supporting risk appetite.

Despite these gains, expectations for an interim India-US trade deal remain subdued, as tariff disputes on key agricultural products persist. Domestically, attention is turning to first-quarter corporate earnings, with Infosys, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, and Tata Consumer Products poised to deliver results that could drive stock-specific volatility through the remainder of the week.

Outlook for trading

Volatility was the key feature of the market throughout this week, and the market was whipped around quite a bit as global trends were the main drivers of the sentiment. There really wasn’t much by way of local news flow to contain the volatility induced. The moves were also reasonably large, creating sufficient moves to bring people in—only to get knocked out the following day! Trading, therefore, was quite difficult through the week, and it would have been a wonder if one came out largely unscathed in the week.

The rally after a strong decline in the middle of the week does restore some confidence, but the swift recovery from lower levels is signalling that the highs will once again be challenged. The attempts continue to emerge as the market tries to carve out a bullish possibility.

As we head into the last trading day of the week, we could experience some profit booking as we are not nearing an important inflexion zone. However, the trends are still circumspect, and we are witnessing limited market participation. The Nifty now seeks to contest the resistance around the 25,300 mark, while the Nifty Bank aims to clear 57,500 to clear the air of uncertainty. Volatility is now part of the ever-changing market scenario as the sentiment keeps changing. Risk management is critical, as the lack of clarity is greater than ever.

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As we head into the last trading day of the week, we could experience some profit booking.

The Nifty is showing a resolve now to move higher as it has once again closed above 25,200, which acts as a big hurdle and is also the Max Pain point. An interesting point to note is that the bullish revival is seen as the PCR has stepped above 1. With the Open Interest data clearly indicating a revival, one should keep tracking a 30-minute range breakout on Thursday, as it continues to be an important metric for creating some longs.

As indices are not showing much decline, one should look to encash some stock-specific action.

Three stocks to trade, recommended by NeoTrader’s Raja Venkatraman:

SPIC (Cmp 88.36)

Why it’s recommended: India’s fertilizer companies are performing well. The company has shown good profit growth of 19.24% over the past three years and 47.5% CAGR over the last five years. This counter has simultaneously been showing some improvement after the strong decline into cloud support and generated a buy opportunity yesterday. After a push above the clouds, we can see that the stock is set for a turnaround. Go long.

Key metrics: P/E: 13.78 | 52-week high: ₹96.50 | Volume: 1.64M.

Technical analysis: Support at ₹80, resistance at ₹110.

Risk factors: Delays in government subsidy receipts and market collections. Disruptions to interactions with farmers.

Buy at: CMP and dips to ₹85.

Target price: ₹98-102 in 1 month.

Stop loss: ₹82.

OLECTRA (Cmp 1327.30)

Why it’s recommended: OLECTRA has shown a V-shaped recovery, indicating that the trends in this counter look strong for some positive traction ahead. The prices have been moving in oscillation, forming a V-shaped recovery, and the recent move out of the consolidation augurs well for the prices. You can look to go long.

Key metrics: P/E: 78.08 | 52-week high: ₹1,786.65 | Volume: 1.75M.

Technical analysis: Support at ₹1,170, resistance at ₹1,600.

Risk factors: Order cancellations and delays, and debt servicing capacity due to increased borrowings.

Buy at: CMP and dips to ₹1280.

Target price: ₹1,450-1,480 in 1 month.

Stop loss: ₹1,265.

MHRIL (Cmp 367.25)

Why it’s recommended: The counter has been undergoing some consolidation and has formed a rounding pattern after facing intense selling pressure for more than eight weeks. The prices hit a consolidation zone at cloud support, indicating that a positive turnaround is emerging. After the recent test of the TS & KS Bands, with a strong closing on Wednesday post results, we can look at some positive vibes emerging.

Key metrics: P/E: 36.96 | 52-week high: ₹494.95 | Volume: 1.32M.

Technical analysis: Support at ₹330, resistance at ₹450.

Risk factors: Supplier retention and potential customer preferences, regulatory challenges.

Buy at: CMP and dips to ₹352.

Target price: ₹400-420 in 1 month.

Stop loss: ₹345.

Raja Venkatraman is co-founder, NeoTrader. His Sebi-registered research analyst registration no. is INH000016223.

Investments in securities are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing. Registration granted by Sebi and certification from NISM in no way guarantees performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.

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