F&O expiry: Sensex gains 432 pts, settles at 44,260; Nifty ends at 12,987

All that happened in the markets today

4:05 PM

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

"Today, the market regained its momentum during the second half of the session, on the monthly derivative expiry day, led by a bounce in the banking sector. Investors are awaiting the release of Q2 GDP data due tomorrow. The market expects contraction on a YoY basis but an improvement on a QoQ basis, reflecting a recovery in economic activity. The recovery is expected to further rise in Q3, and the market optimism is also high with the news that vaccine will be available in early 2021."

3:43 PM

Nifty Metal surges nearly 4%

3:42 PM

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

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 432 points, or 0.98 per cent to settle at 44,260 while NSE's Nifty ended at 12,987, up 129 points, or 1 per cent.

3:26 PM

MARKET CHECK

3:15 PM

Top losers on the BSE at this hour

3:06 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW | ICICI Securities on Astral Poly Technik

RATING: BUY | TARGET PRICE: Rs 1,530 

Astral Poly Technik’s (ASTRA) has made a big-bang entry into plastic storage tanks segment through acquisition of certain assets of Shree Prabhu Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd (SPPL) for Rs510mn. Considering the potential revenue and profitability generation from the said acquisition, we increase our FY22E revenue and PAT estimates by 2% and 1.5% respectively. While rolling over our valuations to FY23E, we expect ASTRA to report overall revenue and PAT CAGRs of 18.5% and 31.7%, respectively, over FY20-FY23E. With the recent spurt in stock price, we downgrade ASTRA to ADD from Buy with a revised SoTP-based target price of Rs1,530 (earlier: Rs1,345), implying a P/E multiple of 45x Sep’22E earnings.

3:05 PM

Steel stocks extend rally; JSW Steel, Tata Steel hit fresh 52-week highs

JSW Steel gained 5 per cent to quote at Rs 354 and Tata Steel rallied 4 per cent to Rs 565 in their intra-day trade today while Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) were up 7 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively. At 02:37 pm, the S&P BSE Metal index, the top gainer among sectoral indices, was up 3 per cent as compared to a 0.51-per cent gain in the S&P BSE Sensex. READ MORE

2:54 PM

Recovery from intra-day lows in today's session

COMPANY	DAY'S LOW(RS)	DAY'S HIGH(RS)	LATEST(RS)	RISE(%)
VAKRANGEE	31.05	35.70	35.20	13.37
WOCKHARDT	383.05	434.10	434.10	13.33
ABB POWER PRODUC	961.50	1074.00	1060.00	10.24
TATA INV.CORPN.	851.00	959.00	931.85	9.50

2:53 PM

Vedanta Resources under pressure, sounds out bondholders on debt extension

The mining giant started approaching the investors to discuss possible debt extensions after the company’s failed attempt to delist its India unit, Vedanta Ltd., people familiar with the matter said.

 

The company’s $670 million of bonds due June next year, which are among notes under discussion with holders, slumped as much as 7.7 cents after the news. That left them set for the sharpest daily drop in more than six weeks, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. READ MORE

2:43 PM

Dixon Technologies hits new high; stock zooms 290% from March low

Shares of Dixon Technologies (India) rose 4 per cent and hit a new high of Rs 11,325 on the BSE on Thursday. The stock was trading higher for the fifth straight day. In the past one week, the consumer electronics company's stock has rallied 12 per cent, against 1 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. It zoomed 291 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 2,900, touched on March 24, 2020. READ MORE

2:33 PM

Sector check at this hour

2:24 PM

India's GDP likely to fall most among 24 major economies, shows data

The National Statistical Office will release the official estimate of India’s Q2 GDP numbers, on Friday. Forecasts for the much-awaited figure range from a contraction of 7.8 per cent by the Bank of America, to a decline of 12.7 per cent by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), with the mean being a 10.3 per cent fall in real GDP. READ MORE

2:15 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW | Anand Rathi Shares on Healthcare stocks

We continue to be positive on companies which have a strong domestic business like Torrent Pharma (strong chronic portfolio, focus on productivity improvement to boost margins), Ajanta Pharma (rebound in India sales to improve earnings quality) and CRAMS companies like Suven Pharma (strong relation with innovators to drive 49% PAT growth in H2).

2:05 PM

Investment tips by Shyam Sekhar

1:57 PM

Rushil Decor hits 52-week high; zooms 64% in 3 days on heavy volumes

Shares of Rushil Décor were on a roll and hit a 52-week high of Rs 147, up 18 per cent on the BSE in the intra-day trade, on Thursday on the back of heavy volumes. Stock of the forest products firm has zoomed 64 per cent in the past three trading days in an otherwise volatile sessions. The stock has surpassed its previous high of Rs 139.2 touched on November 26, 2019. READ MORE

1:48 PM

Govt to infuse Rs 2K cr in NIIF debt fund: Time to invest in infra stocks?

The government on Wednesday announced it will infuse Rs 2,000 crore as equity in a debt platform of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) in the current financial year. This is part of the Rs 6,000 crore announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman under a stimulus package earlier this month. According to a report by Business Standard, over the next five years of the national infrastructure pipeline, the debt financing platform can potentially support the construction of infrastructure projects worth Rs 1 trillion. READ MORE

1:40 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW :: Nirmal Bang on Financials

>> In the last 2 months, the Bank Nifty is up ~40%. Over the same period, the stocks in our coverage (ex-life insurance) are up 8-73% without any significant change in fundamentals, except for the positive commentary on improving collections and slightly better growth outlook. In addition, the positive news flow around Covid-19 vaccines has contributed to the recent rally. While we are no experts on the subject of vaccines in any manner, we do believe that the rally (in financials) more than captures the near-to-medium term fundamentals.

>> Managements across banks have guided for an increase in NPAs in 2HFY21. From a business standpoint, we continue to remain positive on the banking sector with a preference for large cap stocks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank but given the current valuations (post run-up in stock prices), we are unable to justify a BUY case on some of our top ideas.

>> Hence, we downgrade our ratings on the banking sector stocks. We believe that current valuations make banking stocks more vulnerable to a correction due to negative news flow. If and when that happens, we think it will be a more opportune time to BUY. Further, as and when we move our valuation basis to FY23E (from 1HFY23E currently), we may see materially higher upside on some of our top picks.

1:36 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW :: Macquarie on Pharma sector

>> On the back of a superlative 1QFY21, listed Indian companies reported a strong 19% YoY API topline growth in 2QFY21.

>> With the bulk of 2Q growth driven by higher volumes on the back of structural tailwinds, most companies are sanguine about their API outlook.

>> Within API companies, pure-play suppliers with a long-term focus and a strong regulatory track record like Divi’s and Solara are the best plays.

1:28 PM

Stocks that hit 52-week high on BSE today

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	52 WK HIGH	CHG(%)
ADANI PORTS	404.15	409.20	1.34
CHAMBAL FERT.	194.40	195.50	2.45
DIXON TECHNOLOG.	11154.85	11220.00	2.30
EID PARRY	337.35	342.60	3.24
GUJARAT GAS	344.00	347.80	1.79

1:18 PM

NEWS ALERT :: India extends ban on scheduled International commercial passenger flights until December 31

1:10 PM

MARKET CHECK :: Sensex recovers, reclaims 44,000-mark in intra-day trade

12:58 PM

Bitcoin price drops more than $1,000 in Asian trade

Bitcoin hiccoughed in Asian trading on Thursday to at one point stand more than 6% down on the day after failing to make record highs. Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known crypto-currency, was last trading around $17,700, having lost more than $1,000 since its previous close. "With very high volumes on spot but also on leveraged markets, it's not surprising that after failing to hit the all-time highs, there would be this sort of rapid correction," said Justin d'Anethan sales manager at digital asset company Diginex. READ MORE

12:46 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW | Nirmal Bang Securities on banking and financial sector

From a business standpoint, we continue to remain positive on the banking sector with a preference for large cap stocks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank but given the current valuations (post run-up in stock prices), we are unable to justify a BUY case on some of our top ideas. Hence, we downgrade our ratings on the banking sector stocks. We believe that current valuations make banking stocks more vulnerable to a correction due to negative news flow. If and when that happens, we think it will be a more opportune time to BUY. Further, as and when we move our valuation basis to FY23E (from 1HFY23E currently), we may see materially higher upside on some of our top picks. 

12:35 PM

ICICI Lombard hits new high, enters the top 50 most-valued companies list

Shares of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company moved higher by 6 per cent to its record high of Rs 1,464 on the BSE on Thursday, thereby entering the top 50 most valuable firms list. The stoock surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,439.90 touched on December 26, 2019. At 11:32 am, ICICI Lombard was trading 5 per cent higher at Rs 1,452 on the BSE, as compared to a 0.08 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. READ MORE

12:24 PM

Top losers on BSE at this hour

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(%)
GE POWER	286.60	-4.99
FUTURE RETAIL	86.65	-4.99
FUTURE CONSUMER	8.66	-4.94
ADANI GREEN	1094.10	-4.42
UJJIVAN FIN.SER.	274.20	-3.76

12:18 PM

Feeling lucky? Bitcoiners who missed rally express relief and regret

Investing in cryptocurrencies is like playing roulette, some experts say, because no-one really understands what's happening.

 

Unlike stocks or bonds, where business trends or central bank decisions can affect prices, crypto values remain an enigma. READ MORE

12:11 PM

MARKET CHECK :: Sensex extends fall

12:08 PM

NEWS ALERT :: Episodes of misconduct in global markets led to pre-emptive safeguards in India: RBI Guv

-- RBI has taken several steps to liberalise, internationalise financial mkt

 

-- Markets with few participants tend to become close user clubs

12:05 PM

NEWS ALERT :: Govt may earmark funds for Covid-19 vaccine in Budget 2021-22

>> Centre plans to start vaccination by Feb end
 

>> Planning bulk order with AstraZeneca for vaccine doses

(Source: Reuters)