Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Eternal, HDFC Bank, Strides, Shiprocket, Vedanta and more

Indian equity markets were trading higher by midday on Thursday, August 20. The Nifty 50 was hovering above 24,200, up 0.58%, while the Sensex was up 500 points. Strides Pharma Sciences, Shiprocket, Unicommerce Esolutions and several metal stocks were among the prominent movers.

Here are the top movers and shakers at this hour:

Eternal Ltd. was up 2.27% in midday trade, but no clear company-specific trigger was immediately visible. The stock appeared to be moving in line with the broader market strength and buying interest.

Unicommerce eSolutions Ltd. share price gained 2.71% by midday, while Urban Company rose 0.60%, after the two companies expanded their existing partnership into Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Urban Company’s Middle East business will use Unicommerce’s Uniware platform to manage inventory, replenishment and fulfilment operations for its at-home services network across the two markets.

Shiprocket Ltd. share price advanced 5.6% by midday after reports said Goldman Sachs acquired a stake in the logistics solutions provider through a bulk deal, extending the stock’s momentum following its market debut on August 19.

Stock price of Vedanta Ltd. gained 2% by midday, while Hindustan Zinc rose 2.24%, Vedanta Aluminium Metal advanced 1.86%, Vedanta Iron & Steel climbed 2.85% and Vedanta Power added 1.17%. The gains came alongside broader strength in metal stocks, with Hindustan Copper rising 0.57%, JSW Steel gaining 0.09% and NALCO advancing 0.31% as most NIFTY Metal constituents traded higher.

HDFC Bank Ltd. share price rose 1.08% by midday, while LIC gained 0.65%, after the RBI approved LIC’s proposal to acquire an aggregate holding of up to 9.99% in HDFC Bank, subject to regulatory conditions. LIC held a beneficial stake of 4.11% in the private sector lender as of August 14.

Strides Pharma Sciences share price surged 10% by midday after the USFDA issued an Establishment Inspection Report for its Bengaluru manufacturing facility and classified the inspection outcome as Voluntary Action Indicated, following the company’s response to five observations issued during the inspection.

Stock price of Aditya Birla Capital gained over 2.3% by midday after the company announced its entry into the gold loan business, with plans to open 200 to 300 dedicated branches by March 2027 before expanding the network to 1,000 branches over the following three years.