MARKET WRAP: Indices end flat, Sensex settles 32 pts higher; IT stocks gain

All that happened in the markets today

3:44 PM

SECTOR WATCH | Nifty IT rallies 1.3% higher

3:43 PM

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

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex settled 32 points, or 0.08 per cent higher at 40,626 levels while the NSE's Nifty ended at 11,935, up 3.5 points, or 0.03 per cent. 

3:30 PM

MARKET CHECK

3:25 PM

INDEX LOSERS | Titan Co falls over 2%

3:15 PM

Infosys m-cap nears Rs 5-trillion ahead of September quarter results

Shares of Infosys hit a fresh record high of Rs 1,164.70, up 3 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday, on expectation that the company may raise its FY21 revenue growth guidance while announcing its July-September quarter (Q2FY21) results tomorrow. The information technology (IT) bellwether is set to become the fifth company to touch market capitalisation of Rs 5-trillion. READ MORE 

3:04 PM

Infosys Q2 preview: Large deal wins to drive revenue growth, say analysts

Like its peer Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, too, is expected to report a strong set of numbers for the quarter ended September 30 of the current fiscal year (Q2FY21), mainly led by the ramp-up of large deal wins. According to Edelweiss Securities, Infosys, being a market leader, will be the key beneficiary of core transformation, higher cloud adoption, and digital adoption. READ MORE 

2:55 PM

Index contributors at this hour

2:51 PM

Vodafone Idea strikes big data deal with IBM to enhance customer experience

VIL has announced a partnership with IBM by selecting the latter's open source at scale across the enterprise by implementing the Big Data Platform on open-source Hadoop framework.

 

As VI's (formerly Vodafone Idea) strategic technology partner, IBM is leading the end-to-end implementation and management of the platform. READ MORE

2:44 PM

BUZZING STOCK:: RIL at day's high, up over 1%

2:42 PM

ICICI Bank slips over 2%

2:41 PM

BUZZING STOCK:: Wipro hits 52-week high ahead of Q2 nos

2:32 PM

NEWS ALERT :: Solar Industries bags order worth Rs 410 cr

2:20 PM

Stimulus 2.0 to push fiscal deficit to 9.5 per cent of GDP: SBI report

A day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced schemes to boost consumer spending hit by the coronavirus lockdown, the State Bank of India's Ecowrap pointed that the announcement is set to push the fiscal deficit to 9.5 per cent of the GDP. The new schemes which will put an additional burden of Rs 40,000 crore on the government. READ MORE

2:14 PM

Kopran hits 52-week high after Crisil upgrades rating outlook to 'Positive'

The stock of the pharmaceutical company was trading at its 52-week high level. In the past one month, it has rallied 39 per cent as compared to 4.4 per cent gain in the S&P BSE Sensex. Meanwhile, in the past three months, the stock has zoomed 157 per cent, as against 10.6 per cent rise in the benchmark index. READ MORE

2:07 PM

Rupee Closing

Rupee ends lower at 73.35 per US dollar vs Monday's close of 73.27/$

2:04 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW | Axis Securities on Ashok Leyland

RATING: BUY | TARGET PRICE: Rs 90

• In our opinion, the domestic CV industry is near the bottom of the cycle, and growth trajectory would improve hereon, although the pace of the recovery is uncertain currently. Demand has seen a gradual recovery in Aug and  Sept on the back of opening up of the economy and pent-up demand. LCV demand is picking up, with production levels ramping up  quicker as compared to MHCV segment. AL is witnessing most traction in ICV and tippers segment. Rebound in infra activity would  hold key to uptick in truck demand.
• The Govt of India is close to finalising a scrappage policy for the automotive sector.  MHCVs are expected to be biggest beneficiaries of the scrappage policy given the higher population of older vehicles. An incentive  based scrappage policy is likely to encourage fleet owners to scrap their old vehicles and replace them with new trucks thereby  boosting the demand. AL will become the biggest beneficiary of the additional demand for new CVs as AL has ~50% market share  in the high tonnage segment whereas it has ~34% market share in the overall MHCV segment.

2:00 PM

Top gainers on the BSE at this hour

1:51 PM

Sensex Heatmap at this hour

1:45 PM

NEWS ALERT :: SC to hear Interest Waiver case tomorrow at 10.30 am

1:39 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW :: ICICI Securities on Building Materials

>> We expect demand for major building material (ex-plywood) categories to recover much faster in Q2FY21 than envisaged earlier. This is largely attributed to strong demand from tier 2-5 cities and towns in particular. Our checks suggest a) categories like MDF and adhesives/construction chemicals have reported flat-to- positive growth YoY in the quarter; b) branded pipes category sustained its Jun’20 recovery into Q2FY21 with 95%+ recovery in Q2 volumes YoY for top players; and c) material/unexpected recovery in volumes (90%+ YoY) for branded tiles and sanitaryware categories. We also expect gross/EBITDA margin and balance sheet quality of these BM players to improve considerably for the quarter.

>> We estimate our BM coverage universe to report aggregate revenue / EBITDA / PBT increase of (4.9%) / 6.7% / 6.8% YoY, respectively (ex-PIDI: (7.2%) / 1.5% / 3.9% YoY) in Q2FY21.

1:37 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW :: ICICI Securities on Real Estate sector

>> Along expected lines, the Indian Commercial Real Estate (CRE) office market has seen a 57% YoY decline in 9MCY20 net absorption at 13.4msf. While the Covid-19 induced slowdown is expected to result in a 40-50% YoY contraction in demand and supply in CY20E, green shoots are gradually emerging. Developers in our coverage universe have clocked over 90% office rental collection between March-September 2020 and have seen pickup in pre-leasing enquiries from June 2020.

 

>> Rents also continue to sustain at pre-COVID levels for large, institutional landlords. With a limited number of 8-10 large pan-India office developers capable of building quality assets, India continuing to have affordable rentals of under 1 USD/psf/month and an abundance of STEM talent, we remain bullish on office asset

developers and reiterate our BUY ratings on DLF, Embassy Office Parks REIT, Mindspace Business Parks REIT, Prestige Estates and Brigade Enterprises.

1:26 PM

China's trade growth accelerates in September; exports shoot 9.9%

Exports rose 9.9% over a year earlier to $239.8 billion, up from August's 9.5% growth, customs data showed Tuesday. Imports gained 13.2% to $202.8 billion, up from the previous month's 2.1% contraction. READ MORE

1:15 PM

Multi Commodity Exchange plans to launch spot exchange in base metals

Multi Commodity Exchange of India on Tuesday said it is planning to launch spot exchange in base metals which will help develop and discipline the fragmented physical market and complement bourse's delivery-based futures market. We don't have a robust spot market and that is one area we will cater in future by setting up a spot exchange which will help us to arrive at a fair price discovery, MCX MD and CEO P S Reddy said in a statement. READ MORE

1:09 PM

Two-wheelers prove to be better bet for auto makers amid economic slowdown

Two-wheelers have turned out to be a better bet for auto makers, compared to passenger cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs). Sales of passenger vehicles (PVs), including SUVs, had declined to a four-year low of 2.65 million in FY20, even as the two-wheeler market grew 9 per cent between FY16 and FY20. READ MORE

12:58 PM

Pharma stocks gain; Cipla hits record high, Lupin nears 52-week high

In the past month, Cipla and Lupin have outperformed the market by gaining 12 per cent each, against 8 per cent rise in Nifty Pharma index. At 11:50 am, Nifty Pharma index was up 0.5 per cent at 12,216 points, as compared to 0.3 per cent rise in the Nifty50 index. The pharma index hit a 52-week high of 12,529 in intra-day trade on September 18, 2020. READ MORE

12:49 PM

Weekly economic indicators :: Power, freight numbers up; traffic holds steady

Other indicators like traffic have been showing steady improvement. Business Standard tracks these and other weekly economic indicators like pollution and location data to get a more current picture of the economy ahead of the formal macroeconomic numbers which are released with a lag. READ MORE

12:40 PM

Large companies to grow larger amid Covid-19 pandemic, says BNP Paribas

Despite taking a hit on profitability amid the pandemic, companies with strong balance sheets are gaining market share because of consolidation in their respective sectors, says a research note by BNP Paribas Mutual Fund. Further, the tension around Chinese imports seems to be hurting several unorganised players, which used to be competitive because of cheap Chinese goods. READ MORE

12:32 PM

Top losers on BSE at this hour

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(%)
CITY UNION BANK	144.00	-3.87
G S F C	62.60	-3.69
REPCO HOME FIN	208.00	-3.53
IIFL WEALTH MGT	896.00	-3.48
GARDEN REACH SH.	197.65	-3.47

12:24 PM

Wipro Q2 preview: CEO's strategy to revive growth, Q3 growth guidance eyed

Wipro, the Bengaluru-headquartered information technology (IT) services firm, is expected to announce its September quarter results for the fiscal year 2020-21 (Q2FY21) on Tuesday, October 13. The company's chief executive officer (CEO)Thierry Delaporte's strategy to revive growth, growth guidance for the third quarter (Q3FY21), buyback details, demand and pricing scenario, and outlook on healthcare and energy verticals, according to analysts, are the key things to watch out for in the result announcement. READ MORE