Sensex slips 144 pts as financial stocks, RIL decline; Nifty ends at 13,478

All that happened in the markets today

4:31 PM

COMMENT | Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking

Markets ended marginally lower in a range-bound session, taking a breather after the recent surge. Weak global cues led to a gap down opening in the benchmark which further inched lower on the back of profit-taking by the participants. However, resilience in FMCG majors capped the downside, and recovery in metal and banking majors in the last hour further trimmed the losses. Finally, the Nifty index ended lower by 0.4 per cent at 13,478 levels. The broader markets, too, ended with losses in the range of 0.6-0.7 per cent.

 

Indications are in the favour of some consolidation in the index and it would be healthy for the markets. Nifty has critical support at 13,350 and its breakdown may result in further correction ahead. In the case of a rebound, the 13,550-13,600 zone would act as a hurdle. Defensive viz. FMCG, IT, and pharma tend to do well during the corrective phase but traders should maintain caution in the selection of the stocks as we’re seeing selective participation.

3:45 PM

Nifty FMCG index ends over 2% up in an otherwise weak market

3:42 PM

Top losers on BSE today

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(%)
UPL	436.85	-11.26
I R C T C	1436.00	-11.25
DISH TV INDIA	12.11	-8.40
HERITAGE FOODS	306.60	-7.22
KALPATARU POWER	304.25	-6.60

3:41 PM

Nifty sectoral indices at close

3:39 PM

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

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex dips 144 points, or 0.3 per cent, to settle at 45,960 levels while NSE's Nifty ended at 13,478, down 51 points, or 0.38 per cent.

3:31 PM

IFCI hits 52-week high on heavy volumes; stock rallies 73% in six days

Shares of IFCI hit a 52-week high at Rs 10.75 on Thursday after rising 15 per cent on the BSE on the back of heavy volumes. The trading volumes on the counter more-than-doubled with a combined around 40 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE, till 03:16 pm. Since November 25, in the past 10 trading days, the state-owned financial institutions' stock price has rallied 73 per cent after the company said it expects improvement in the asset portfolio quality and cash flow. READ MORE

3:28 PM

MARKET CHECK

3:21 PM

Recovery from intra-day lows in today's session

COMPANY	DAY'S LOW(RS)	DAY'S HIGH(RS)	LATEST(RS)	RISE(%)
PC JEWELLER	20.50	26.70	26.10	27.32
HFCL	18.10	22.40	21.65	19.61
IFCI	9.05	10.74	10.50	16.02
MAHINDRA LIFE.	293.00	338.40	336.00	14.68

3:16 PM

Top losers on the BSE at this hour

3:05 PM

NEWS ALERT | UPL management to hold conference call at 4:30 pm today: CNBC TV18

2:58 PM

UPL tanks 15% on whistleblower complaint; BSE seeks clarification

Shares of UPL slipped 15 per cent to Rs 416 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Thursday, on heavy volumes, following a media report that stated whistleblower claims the company’s promoters siphoned off money. READ MORE 

2:47 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: Sensex off day's low

2:41 PM

Heatmap: S&P BSE Sensex gainers and losers at this hour

2:36 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW | ICICI Securities on Century Plyboards

RATING: BUY | TARGET PRICE: Rs 283 

We expect the momentum to continue going forward with 1) recovery in plywood and laminate segments to gain traction from Q3FY21; 2) MDF/PB expected to deliver double-digit growth and margin improvement amid buoyancy in demand; and 3) expected improvement in EBITDA margins driven by superior product mix, operating leverage and cost rationalisation. Maintain BUY.

2:27 PM

M&M expects drop in production, sales at auto division over supply shortage

Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) is expecting reduction in production and sales volume at its automotive division and in its wholly-owned subsidiary in the last quarter of the current fiscal due to global supply shortage of micro-processors. READ MORE 

2:17 PM

ADB cuts India's 2021 contraction forecast to 8% on back of faster recovery

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday upgraded its forecast for the Indian economy, projecting 8 per cent contraction in 2020-21 as compared to 9 per cent degrowth estimated earlier, on the back of faster than expected recovery. READ MORE 

2:06 PM

PC Jeweller surges over 14%

1:55 PM

Nifty FMCG index hits fresh record high; Nestle, Godrej Consumer rise 3%

Shares of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies were in focus on Thursday with the Nifty FMCG index hitting a fresh record high of 33,673 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in an otherwise weak market on renewed buying interest from investors. At 12:52 pm, the Nifty FMCG index, the sole gainer among the sectoral indices, was up 1.5 per cent at 33,613 points, as compared to a 0.72 per cent decline in the benchmark Nifty50 index. The FMCG index hit a high of 33,183 on Wednesday, surpassing its previous high of 33,168 recorded on September 3, 2018. READ MORE

1:48 PM

Japan to sell $1 tn of new bonds to fund pandemic-related stimulus: Report

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday announced a third spending package to speed up the recovery from recession, bringing the combined value of pandemic-related stimulus to $3 trillion - two-thirds the size of Japan's gross domestic product. READ MORE 

1:38 PM

Corporate earnings growth, Covid vaccine to drive markets in 2021: Analysts

Markets are mostly pricing in most positives at the current levels, say analysts, who suggest the trajectory in the calendar year 2021 (CY21) will be guided by growth corporate earnings, vaccine for Covid-19 and economic recovery. Those at Credit Suisse also caution against the expensive valuation at which the markets are trading at. READ MORE 

1:28 PM

Fall from intra-day high today

COMPANY	DAY'S HIGH(RS)	DAY'S LOW(RS)	LATEST(RS)	FALL(%)
UPL	479.90	416.05	429.60	-10.48
KALPATARU POWER	326.50	301.60	303.70	-6.98
BANK OF MAHA	15.55	14.48	14.55	-6.43
GMR INFRA.	28.50	26.60	26.80	-5.96

1:21 PM

Jubilant FoodWorks trades over 3% higher

1:12 PM

Gold ETF flows turn negative after 7 months as price falls 12% since August

Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered by domestic mutual funds saw net redemptions of Rs 141 crore in November — their first outflow since March. Between April and October, these funds which track prices of the yellow metal had seen inflows of nearly Rs 5,000 crore. Currently, there are 11 Gold ETFs with assets under management (AUM) of Rs 13,800 crore offered by fund houses. Experts said the correction in prices has discouraged some investors from investing in gold. READ MORE

12:59 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW | JM Financial on Dixon Technologies

RATING: BUY | TARGET PRICE: Rs 13,500 

Over FY20-23E, we forecast a 48% CAGR in sales. We also believe larger scale, increased backward integration, and localisation could drive EPS CAGR of 48% over the same period. High RoIC (c.40%), a lean NWC cycle (5 days), net cash balance sheet, and high fixed asset turns (11x) would keep valuations at a premium. We take the example of Foxconn, the world’s largest EMS player, which clocked 26 per cent revenue CAGR over CY99-19. 

 

At the CMP, the stock implies an 8.7%/8.1% Revenue/ EBIT CAGR over FY25-35E. We Initiate coverage on Dixon with a BUY rating and TP of Rs 13,500 (40x FY23E EPS), implying 17% upside. 

 

Key risk: Competition from global EMS players expanding in India and insourcing by brands.

12:56 PM

UPL extends fall, down 15% now

12:48 PM

S&P Dow Jones to remove Chinese firms from indices after US blacklisting

S&P Dow Jones Indices said on Thursday it would remove Chinese companies including Hikvision from its products, becoming the latest index provider to do so following a Trump administration order restricting purchases of their shares. S&P DJI said it would remove A-shares, H-shares and ADRs of 10 companies including Hikvision and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp from all equity indices prior to the market open on December 21.

12:38 PM

MARKET CHECK | BSE Midcap index trades 0.86% lower

12:30 PM

SECTOR WATCH:: Nifty FMCG index up 1% in an otherwise weak market

12:19 PM

Shipping Corporation hits over 2-year high; stock zooms 60% in 3 weeks

Shares of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) continued their upward movement, hitting an over two-year high of Rs 83.70 on the BSE after rallying 13 per cent on Thursday on the back of heavy volumes in an otherwise weak market. The stock of the state-owned shipping company is trading at its highest level since February 2018. READ MORE