MARKETS: Financials drag indices, Sensex slips 81 pts; midcaps outperform

All that happened in the markets today

4:05 PM

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

"In yet another day characterised by fluctuations, Nifty ended flat after gaining by almost 160 pts. The negative impact was mainly due to financials, led by ICICI Bank, which missed earnings estimates. This closing was in spite of gains in Reliance, autos and IT. Globally, with countries talking about emerging from lockdown measures, there were also warnings of resurgence in infections from others. This has added to the uncertainty in the markets, with the number of infections in India continuing to rise. March IIP and April CPI figures will be out tomorrow."

3:48 PM

SECTOR WATCH | Auto stocks jump; banks decline

3:45 PM

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

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 81 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 31,561 while Nifty ended at 9,239, down 12 points or 0.13 per cent. 

3:27 PM

Life Insurers bleed in April as Covid-19 shrinks new biz premium by 33%

The new business premium of the life insurers contracted for the second consecutive month, significantly impacted by the spread of the deadly virus and the subsequent lockdown enforced by the government. new business premium in April declined 32.6 per cent to Rs 6,728 crore from Rs 9,928 crore in the same period a year ago. READ MORE

3:25 PM

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

3:17 PM

BUZZING STOCK | Mahindra Holidays zooms 20%

3:07 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: ICICI Securities on SKF India

Recovery, particularly in the auto segment, is still hazy in terms of velocity and magnitude. While the real impact of Covid-19 can only be known, going ahead, the stock at 26x FY22E has discounted the recent special dividend announced by the company. In lieu of the current scenario and the quality of balance sheet the company possess, we believe the stock is priced fairly given the current valuation. Thus, we revise our rating on SKF from REDUCE to HOLD at 25x FY22E EPS of Rs 55.6, to arrive at a TP of Rs1,390.

2:58 PM

Vodafone Idea jumps 15% intra-day on heavy volume; gains 46% in a month

The trading volume more than doubled on Monday with a combined 832 million equity shares, representing 10.4 per cent of total free-float equity of Vodafone Idea, changing hands on the NSE and BSE. As of March 2020, public shareholders held 27.95 per cent or 8,031 million equity shares in Vodafone Idea, shareholding pattern data shows. READ MORE

2:50 PM

MARKET CHECK

2:46 PM

EXPERT COMMENT | Quote on Rupee by Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities

"Rupee extends losses during trades on Monday on likely buying by oil importers, A lot of buying took place in USD by oil importers. Bond yields are up and government borrowing has almost being doubled. It is expected the Rupee will keep basing between 75-76 for some sessions".

2:36 PM

Opportunity in crisis: 5 sectors that may gain from coronavirus pandemic

Analysts say the situation has the potential to impair the purchasing power and dent demand. The pandemic will not only hit purses, but also the psychology of a generation and how it spends. The impact is already visible across geographies and financial markets, with experts slashing their growth projections as measured by gross domestic product (GDP). READ MORE

2:26 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: Axis Securities on L&T Infotech

LTI Management is optimistic & confident about the future growth potential capitalizing its core strategy (Digitizing the core, Data-driven organization, Experience transformation, and Operate to transform) with customer centricity as the key engagement tool. LTI’s sales strategy (hunting pack) has been yielding good results, which is evident from their stronger annual growth in large deal pipeline. LTI had secured 2 large deals with net new TCV of ~US$75 mn+ in Q3FY20 taking it to US$219 mn+ for 9MFY20; ramp-up of these deals and a strong exit rate in Q4FY20 would auger well for pick-up in revenue growth in FY21.

We recommend Buy with target price of Rs 1,744.

2:19 PM

Weekly economic indicators show slight improvement as restrictions eased

These two indicators along with pollution levels were tracked till the end of the working week on May 8. Other data tracked by Business Standard include internet speeds, Google location data and railway freight numbers. Some of this appears with a lag. For example, the internet speed data is as of May 3rd. The Google location data is as of May 2nd. READ MORE

2:14 PM

MARKET UPDATE | HUL trades over 0.5% lower

2:01 PM

Result Tomorrow | Nestle India Q4 preview: Commentary on rural demand, product pipeline eyed

Emkay Global Financial Services

 

The brokerage expects net sales (revenue) to decline 3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) and 7.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 2,912.9 crore. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) are seen declining 3.1 per cent YoY to Rs 695.9 crore. On sequential basis, however, the numbers are expected to grow 8 per cent. EBITDA margin is expected to remain unchanged on YoY basis at 23.9 per cent. Sequentially, it is estimated to rise by 342 basis points (bps). Net profit (profit after tax) is expected to grow 5.5 per cent YoY and 5.9 per cent QoQ at Rs 497.1 crore. READ MORE

1:51 PM

Analysts cautious on railway stocks despite resumption in train services

Reacting to the development, IRCTC and Rail Vikas Nigam surged 5 per cent upper to it their upper circuit at Rs 1,302.85 and Rs 17.15, respectively on the BSE. Besides, stock of Ircon International jumped 7.3 per cent, Texmaco Rail and Engineering gained 4 per cent, Titagarh Wagons 2.4 per cent, and BEML 1.5 per cent in the intra-day deals. READ MORE

1:37 PM

Several parts of country to receive light to moderate rain this week: IMD

North India is likely to witness light to moderate rainfall this week due to two western disturbances that will bring precipitation and thunderstorms to the hills and the plains, the IMD said, news agency PTI reported. READ MORE

Photo: PTI

1:24 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: Emkay Global Fin Services on Shree Cement

TP: Rs 15,810 | Rating: SELL | Upside: (15.6) %

• SRCM reported better-than-estimated Q4 results on: 1) higher subsidy income: Rs1.17bn vs. Rs390mn in Q3 and 2) lower employee costs, led by a reduction in variable salaries of key personnel for FY20. EBITDA stood at Rs10.8bn vs. estimate of Rs10bn.
• The company has stopped sharing details of the Power segment separately. Key positives: 1) lower employee costs and 2) 10.8% yoy decline in RM costs. Key negatives: 1) sequential decline in cement realization and 2) EBITDA loss in the UAE subsidiary.
• Sales volume was down 5.4% yoy. The company will decide on its large capex plan (doubling of capacities in six years) after demand conditions improve as management expects 20%+ volume decline in FY21E.
• We have factored in a volume decline of 20.5% yoy for SRCM in FY21, considering current demand conditions and expectation of lower infrastructure spending. Valuations at 27.2x/20.2x FY21/22E EV/EBITDA leave no room for negative surprises. Maintain Sell.

 

1:16 PM

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala raises stake in VIP Industries in Q4; stock jumps 10%

Post acquisition, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's stake in VIP Industries has increased to 5.31 per cent in Q4FY20, the same level he had held at the end of September quarter (Q2Y20). Jhunjhunwala had cut his stake in the company during the previous quarter to 5.11 per cent level at the end of December 2019 quarter (Q3FY20). READ MORE

1:06 PM

MARKET CHECK

12:57 PM

Worst yet to come: Fed official after US loses 20.5 mn jobs due to Covid-19

A US Federal Reserve official said that the worst was yet to come on the employment front after a staggering 20.5 million jobs were slashed in April amid the Covid-19 pandemic. "I mean the worst is yet to come on the job front, unfortunately. And that it really is going to be, you know, as these states start to reopen and as businesses start to reopen, obviously we need them to reopen safely," Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis said to ABC News on Sunday. READ MORE

12:43 PM

RIL crosses Rs 10 trillion m-cap mark

12:42 PM

BUZZING STOCK | BEL trades near day's high

12:33 PM

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

12:22 PM

BUZZING STOCK:: Mphasis climbs over 6%

12:19 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: Anand Rathi Shares on Engineering and capital goods

We expect capex generally to be severely constricted and FY21 to be a washout from both ordering and execution perspectives due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Crude-oil prices, at an all-time low, further aggravated concerns regarding budget cuts in West Asia (Mid-East). Cash flows would be severely constrained by a liquidity squeeze and challenges related to working capital. We expect companies with strong balance sheets and tight control on costs to sail through. Our top buys are L&T and Siemens. We recommend a Sell on Cummins.      

12:07 PM

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

12:07 PM

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala cuts stake in Titan, Lupin, Escorts in March quarter

Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala rejigged his stake in 11 companies in March quarter and kept it unchanged in 8, as per the latest shareholding pattern filed by the companies till May 8, 2020. Jhunjhunwala increased his stake in six companies during the period under review, including Rallis India, VIP Industries, Federal Bank, Jubilant Life Sciences, GMR Infrastructure, and Orient Cement. READ MORE

11:55 AM

MARCH QUARTER RESULTS | Godrej Properties' Q4 profit falls 35.5% YoY to Rs 101.1 crore

-- Revenue up 10.4 per cent to Rs 1,163 crore

-- EBITDA declines 6.7 per cent to Rs 155.4 crore

-- Margin falls 240 bps to 13.4 per cent