MARKET WRAP: Sensex sheds 470 pts; financials, real estate stocks decline

All that happened in the markets today

4:22 PM

MARKET COMMENT | Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

"In spite of the hope that infections are peaking out in Europe, Indian markets closed negative with virus infections seen to be increasing in some regions of India. The Indian markets are awaiting the decision of the government regarding the current lockdown. Government is expected to announce a plan for a staggered withdrawal from the lockdown. Any continuation of the lockdown in its current form will put further pressure on economic growth and corporate earnings and will have a negative impact on the markets."

4:03 PM

SECTOR WATCH | Here's how sectoral indices on NSE performed today

4:03 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Top losers and gainers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:37 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 470 points or 1.51 per cent to settle at 30,690 while NSE's Nifty50 ended at 8,994, down 118 points or 1.3 per cent. 

3:30 PM

NEWS ALERT | SC agrees to modify April 8 order of free testing by private pathology labs: CNBC-TV18 reports

3:23 PM

MARKET CHECK | Top 5 gainers on the BSE at this hour

3:13 PM

BUZZING STOCK:: Interglobe Aviation gains 2%

3:13 PM

COVID-19 FALLOUT :: Govt set to suspend Sec 7, 9 & 10 of IBC, 2016 as one-time measure: govt sources to CNBC TV18

3:07 PM

Nifty sectoral indices at this hour

3:05 PM

Coronavirus outbreak pushes up demand for scenario planning by IT firms

Amid the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which has severely affected the operations of global enterprises, global companies are asking Indian information technology (IT) services companies for their help for scenario planning using simulation to better prepare for the fallout of the crisis.

 

Scenario planning is the analysis and understanding of the latest trends to develop several plausible future scenarios that may help to identify how to be well-prepared to deal with what might happen. READ MORE

2:56 PM

NEWS ALERT | ICMR files affidavit before SC, bats for Private Path Labs: CNBC TV18

-- ICMR argues for discontinuing SC order directing free Covid-19 tests by pvt labs
 

-- SC in April 8 order directed for free tests for Covid-19 by pvt labs

 

 

2:50 PM

Fall from intra-day high today in BSE500 stocks

COMPANY	DAY'S HIGH(RS)	LATEST(RS)	FALL(%)
VRL LOGISTICS	189.15	159.60	-15.62
TATA METALIKS	400.00	342.70	-14.33
JINDAL STAIN.	31.90	27.90	-12.54
G M D C	43.80	38.40	-12.33
CHOLAMAN.INV.&FN	171.75	150.70	-12.26

2:47 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: Total 316 stocks locked in upper circuit on the BSE in an otherwise weak market today

-- The list includes BEML, ITI, HEG, Graphite India, Venky's India, and Wockhardt, among others

2:41 PM

NEWS ALERT | Auto sector requests govt to treat it as priority sector after lockdown: CNBC TV18

2:38 PM

SECTOR WATCH:: Nifty metal index off day's low

2:36 PM

Covid-19 pandemic to keep Indian steel exports subdued in near term: ICRA

A report by rating agency ICRA Ltd forecasts that steel exports from the country are likely to be muted in the near term due to curbs on trade flow and depressed demand in buyer nations especially Italy and Belgium which accounted for 14 per cent of India’s outbound steel shipments during April-February period of FY20.

 

Since 2014-15, India’s steel exports and imports have witnessed a roller coaster run. Both in FY15 and FY16, imports trumped exports significantly. In FY17 and FY18, exports staged a comeback, outstripping imports. Later, in FY19, steel exports again lost ground to imports. READ MORE

2:25 PM

NEWS ALERT | PM Modi to address the nation at 10 am tomorrow

2:14 PM

NEWS ALERT :: Passenger car sales drop 52.1% YoY in March: SIAM

>> Two-wheeler sales dip by 39.8% YoY at 8,66,849 units

 

>> Commercial Vehicle sales decline by 88.1% at 13,027 units

 

>> Exports decline by 24.5% YoY

2:13 PM

Index outlook by ICICI Securities

Covid-19 is a black swan event with far reaching implications for businesses worldwide. The Indian economy is no exception with a stringent 21-day lockdown period underway. With almost nil manufacturing activity in this 21-day period and slow ramp up thereafter amid subdued consumer sentiment, we downgrade our Nifty earnings estimates to the tune of 4% for FY20E, 18% for FY21E and 13% for FY22E. Incorporating the downward revision, we now expect Nifty earnings to grow at a CAGR of 13.2% in FY19-22E vs. expectation of 18.6% CAGR in the past.

 

The key risk to our index target is more than anticipated subdued economic activity with our underlying assumption of one month of complete economic standstill, resumption of economic activity in the month, thereafter, and normalised economic activity by the end of the quarter (Q1FY21).

2:09 PM

LKP Securities on Cochin Shipyard

Cochin Shipyard (CSL) came out with its IPO in August 2017 at ₹432 and was oversubscribed by a whopping 76 times despite being a PSU. Now in April 2020 despite being the largest player in the public sector at a time when several of its private sector peers are either bankcrupt or on the verge of closing down, the street is less optimistic on CSL at 260 despite acknowledging its vast strength across all metrics which itself to our mind presents an investment opportunity to the

savvy investor At 4.7x the valuations for such a goliath in defence shipbuilding industry seems quite attractive. Hence, we initiate the company with a BUY rating and a target of Rs 356 (valued at 6.5x FY 22E earnings)

2:05 PM

Rupee closing

Rupee ends at 76.27/$ vs Thursday's close of 76.29 against the US dollar

1:58 PM

MPC members scrambled to protect demand, financial stability amid Covid-19

While the impact of the pandemic is severe, India's macroeconomic fundamentals continue to be sound, especially in comparison with the conditions that prevailed in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, observed Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das. READ MORE

1:52 PM

MARKET CHECK | Sensex trades nearly 1.7% lower

1:42 PM

High frequency indicators point toward record-low growth: Emkay Global Financial Services

We believe only 36% of the economy is operational during the one month of lockdown and even that would be operating below efficiency levels. Simple evidence of it is seen in the incremental data when a CMIE survey showed that unemployment hit record high of 24% in mid-March; AIMTC reported that only 15% of trucks are operational; and toll collection is down by one-third in March (for one week of lockdown in March, if it is shut for April it would be a loss of ~Rs20bn).

 

We believe that for the economy to recover from this situation, the asking rate of filling in the hole of one month is Rs10tn and is difficult given the tight fiscal situation. This translates to, 4.9% of GDP, this fiscal stimulus would still be much lower than some of the countries which have announced fiscal stimulus of nearly 20% of GDP. Hence, we believe that growth is likely to be very gradual. We expect negligible GDP growth in FY21.

1:40 PM

Coronavirus impact: Slowdown-hit automobile hub stares at dead end

The future of a blue collar worker also depends on the balance sheet of his employer.

 

In this belt, there’s an extensive web of interaction between lead manufacturers and their suppliers. At the top of the tier, there are global auto firms like Maruti, Hero, Honda as well as component suppliers like Denso, Bosch, Rico. READ MORE

1:32 PM

OPEC+ deal 'historic yet insufficient', oil prices to fall: Goldman Sachs

The bank saw downside risks to its short-term oil price forecast of around $20 per barrel for Brent but projected the global crude benchmark would outperform U.S. oil because OPEC+ producers' exports would likely fall, freeing up floating storage space. READ MORE

1:23 PM

HUL, the superstock? Safe haven demands, better earnings attract investors

HUL is now trading at over 75 times its earnings for trailing 12 months ended December 2019, a 55 per cent premium to its five-year mean and five times higher than the price-to-earnings (PE) valuation of the Nifty50. At these levels, experts say there is a risk to pay such a top-dollar valuation. READ MORE 

1:22 PM

MARKET CHECK :: Sensex slides again, down 500 pts

1:16 PM

Microfinance Industry most vulnerable to lockdown and moratorium

In a recent call with analysts, Bandhan Bank said it has stopped fresh disbursement/collection but has not seen MFI customers dipping into their savings yet. “As a long-term strategy, the bank has already diversified asset portfolio, with the MFI share down to 61 per cent and to fall further to 40 per cent over the years,” analysts at Emkay Global Financial note. “While all weekly centre meetings, disbursements and collections are temporarily stopped due to lockdown, employees are maintaining regular connection with customers via phone calls,” analysts at ICICI Securities note after a call with CreditAccess Grameen’s management. READ MORE

1:14 PM

Most active stocks by volume

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(%)
VODAFONE IDEA	4.13	25.91
SUZLON ENERGY	2.66	4.72
RELIANCE POWER	1.57	1.95
TATA MOTORS	75.35	1.01
NCC	22.90	13.65