Weak oil, global cues trigger 1,011-pt Sensex slide; financials worst hit

All that happened in the markets today

4:03 PM

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

"After the US crude oil crash, Indian markets, in sync with global markets traded negatively, as the extent of the impact of lockdowns and the global slowdown is becoming evident. Corporate earnings have also been impacted by the pandemic related shutdowns. Post earnings management guidance has also not given clear indication about the recovery path. Earnings results will be in focus for the future course of the company business."

3:47 PM

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

3:43 PM

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

3:39 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 30,636.71, down 1,011 points or over 3 per cent while NSE's Nifty settled at 8,981.45, down 280 points or 3 per cent.

3:29 PM

Dr Reddy's Labs hits over 4-year high, surges 62% from March low

With today’s rally, the share price of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has surged 62 per cent from its previous month low of Rs 2,498, touched on March 19, 2020 in the intra-day trade. READ MORE  

3:22 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: ICICI Securities on Aurobindo Pharma

Whilst four plants continuing to be under USFDA scrutiny [Unit XI has warning letter, Unit VII, Unit I, Unit IX have official action indicated (OAI) status from the USFDA], re-assignment of VAI status for Unit IV despite 14 observations (that too for an injectable plant where cGMP requirements are even more stringent) came in as a huge positive surprise to us. Unit IV is a critical plant for the company, given most of its pending injectables are filed from this plant. Injectable segment is one of the key drivers for the company’s future growth and margins. We expect the US injectable segment to grow at 22% CAGR in FY19-22E to US$385 million. This is likely to provide much needed sentimental boost to the stock, which is getting valued at commodity multiple. The now defunct Sandoz deal also had its share of negative sentiments for having foregone one of the cheapest M&A bargains in the US generics space. While the recent chain of setbacks on the cGMP front will continue to weigh, a positive outcome like this is likely to provide a silver lining to a stock that is available at ~11x FY22E (~30-40% discount to its historical band and ~50% discount to Nifty Pharma). We ascribe a target price of Rs 770 valuing it 13x FY22E EPS of Rs 59.4. We upgrade the stock from HOLD to BUY to incorporate the significant booster.

3:12 PM

NEWS ALERT :: ICICI Bank confirms exposure to Singapore based oil trader

>> We confirm that the Bank, in the normal course of its business, has exposure to the borrower group in question, is taking due steps to protect its interests, and will appropriately reflect the same in its financial statements, as it would do in respect of all its banking exposures. 

(Via BSE Filing)

3:08 PM

NEWS ALERT

3:02 PM

Stocks that hit 52-week low on BSE today

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	52 WK LOW	CHG(%)
ADITYA BIR. FAS.	131.00	129.10	-6.26
GE POWER	429.00	416.05	-2.40
INOX LEISURE	219.30	213.00	-1.99
MAH. SEAMLESS	188.75	185.45	-3.08

2:58 PM

STOCK ALERT | Bajaj Finance nears 52-week low of Rs 2,083 hit on April 7

-- Stock down 9% at Rs 2,088 on the BSE

2:52 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: ICICI Securities on Himadri Speciality Chemical

Building in the prevailing muted demand prospects both domestically as well as globally in its base business and delay in commissioning of new projects, we expect HSCL to clock sales, PAT CAGR of 7.0%, 14.3%, respectively, in FY20E-22E. With a decline in margin profile, return ratios matrix has reduced to ~10% RoE, which significantly limits our ability to assign a higher valuation multiple to HSCL. Consequently, we value HSCL at | 50 i.e. 10x P/E on FY22E EPS of | 5.0. We derive some comfort from consistent CFO generation with controlled leverage on B/S (debt: equity at ~0.3x). We downgrade the stock from BUY to HOLD.

2:48 PM

Contribution to the S&P BSE Sensex's fall today

2:35 PM

Gold can rise further if China diverts some of its forex: Nilesh Shah

Nilesh shah, the MD & CEO of Kotak AMC, is quite optimistic about mutual funds in general even durimg these difficult time. In an interaction with Rajesh Bhayani, he says that investors in systematic investment plans, or SIPs, ought to continue investing as the current market volatility represents an opportunity for averaging out the acquisition cost. But he also warns that this is leverage can be fatal at this moment. READ MORE

2:28 PM

This small-cap company has found its watershed moment in Covid-19 pandemic

“Our agro chemicals business was running in an auto-pilot mode for decades. It was never a cash-churning business. Agriculture in India is monsoon-dependent and a bad monsoon season can easily ruin your business for next two years at least. We were also never in the big league with no patented molecule, but we somehow managed to survive and diversy,” says Dhirendra Dubey, a whole-time director at Kilpest India. READ MORE

2:22 PM

MARKET CHECK | L&T slips 4.5%

2:17 PM

Oil check | Brent crude hits lowest level in 18 years

2:12 PM

Rupee Closing

Rupee closes 30 paise weaker at 76.84/$ vs Monday's close of 76.54 per US dollar

2:10 PM

MARKET CHECK

2:00 PM

Demand recovery, storage facility ramp up key for sanity in crude oil price

The negative close was only for the May contract, analysts said, which expires on April 21, while the June contract is still positive at around $20/barrel, signaling that this is a very short-term issue, for now. READ MORE

1:51 PM

Multiplex operators trade weak; PVR tanks 10%, Inox Leisure hits 52-wk low

Among individual stocks, PVR tanked 10 per cent to Rs 1,007 and was trading close to its 52-week low of Rs 932, touched on April 7. Inox Leisure hit its 52-week low of Rs 213, down 5 per cent on the BSE today. The share prices of both these firms have more than halved from their respective 52-week highs, touched in February this year. READ MORE

1:42 PM

Ind-Ra rates Mahindra & Mahindra NCDs 'AAA' with stable outlook

India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has assigned Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) non-convertible debentures (NCDs) a final rating of AAA with a stable outlook. Ind-Ra said M&M has maintained its leadership position in the domestic tractor market with 40 per cent market share in volume terms from FY09 to FY19. The company is also the number one player in the light commercial vehicle (goods carriers) segment with around 42.6 per cent market share in 11M FY20. READ MORE  

Mahindra

 

1:32 PM

Covid-19 impact: Steel firms to focus on exports till demand improves

Lockdown measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic had immensely affected steel customers like auto and construction segments that closed down. Being an intermediate product, dependent on derived demand, steel companies resorted to rationalising production. However, some like JSW Steel are evaluating restarting production in a phased manner.

 

Acharya said, “In exports, we cover multiple countries and more than 80-85 per cent of our exports are to our existing customers where we are able to leverage our brand equity.” READ MORE

1:27 PM

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

1:14 PM

Covid-19 fallout | RBI extends short-term crop loan interest subvention: CNBC TV18

>> Advises banks to extend 2% interest subvention (IS) & 3% prompt repayment incentive (PRI) on short-term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh per farmer till May 31

>> Extension of interest subvention for loans due b/w March 1 and May 31, 2020.

1:04 PM

European markets open lower

Source: Reuters

12:54 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: ICICI Securities on Infosys

The company has shown a visible improvement in performance since the change in management. We expect Infosys to continue to make steady improvement in financials post these near-term challenges. Digital acceleration, large deal wins vendor consolidation and cost rationalisation remains key long term drivers. Further, the company has maintained healthy cash flow generation and has a consistent dividend payout policy. We remain positive on the stock and maintain our BUY rating with a target price of Rs 750/share.

12:45 PM

Explained: What is negative crude future and how does it affect consumers?

The price of a barrel of benchmark US oil plunged below $0 a barrel on Monday for the first time in history, a troubling sign of an unprecedented global energy glut as the coronavirus pandemic halts travel and curbs economic activity.

 

The contract for West Texas intermediate crude, or WTI, is the benchmark for US crude oil prices. READ MORE

12:33 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: Sensex extends fall

12:26 PM

Investors seek to curb downside, with volatility hitting long-only products

According to available data, long-short funds -- those positioned as equity-plus return funds -- on an average have given negative returns of 12.84 per cent in March, mitigating the impact of the deep correction seen in equity markets.

 

“A long-short strategy majorly invests in domestic equity and equity derivatives for medium to long term. A fund manager takes long positions on stocks that are expected to see run-up in prices and takes short positions on stocks, where he expects correction due to over-valuation or any other factor,” said Ritika Farma, head of sales and client relations at PMS AIF World. READ MORE

12:16 PM

Bajaj Finance dips 8% after UBS downgrades it to Sell, cuts target price

According to the brokerage, the nationwide lockdown could severely hit the services sector in the economy, denting recovery prospects of the self-employed or SME loans.

 

"We believe an extended lockdown (to 3 May or later) could be implemented for much of the economy. We worry that a subdued recovery (especially in the services sector) and a liquidity freeze for SMEs (due to banks’ caution and liquidity issues for NBFCs, with government/RBI support key) could significantly impact self-employed/SME loans," it said in its rating rationale. READ MORE