Sensex ends 97 pts lower amid geopolitical tensions, rise in Covid-19 cases

All that happened in the markets today

4:05 PM

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

"After another day of indecisive trades, brought by the threat of escalation in the border dispute with China, Indian benchmark indices ended slightly negative. The losses were mainly due to financial stocks. The major sectoral gainer was the Auto sector, led by gains in Maruti. FIIs have also been net sellers in equity this week which have impacted the markets. Volatility to remain."

3:44 PM

SECTOR WATCH:: Auto, media stocks gain

3:42 PM

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

3:37 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex slipped 97 points or 0.29 per cent to end at 33,507.92 while NSE's Nifty ended at 9,881, down 33 points or 0.33 per cent. 

3:22 PM

Coromandel Int'l surges 6%, hits record high; EID Parry nears 52-week high

Coromandel International hit a new high of Rs 720, up 6.2 per cent on the BSE today, surpassing its previous high of Rs 700 recorded on May 27, 2020. The fertilisers and crop protection products manufacturer reported a 91.9 per cent jump in profit before tax (PBT) at Rs 314.16 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 (Q4FY20) as compared to Rs 163.71 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. READ MORE

3:15 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: ITC slips over 2% in the trade

3:04 PM

NEWS ALERT :: Bharti Airtel acquires strategic stake in Edtech startup Lattu Media

>> At over 500 mn, India has the second largest number of internet users in the world, driven by affordable smartphones and the lowest 4G data tariffs globally. This deep penetration of internet has also led to wide adoption of online learning tools. The COVID-19 pandemic and closure of schools has further accelerated the adoption of virtual classrooms and digitally enabled learning.

>> It is estimated that in India Edtech will become a USD 2 bn plus industry by 2021.

(Via BSE filing)
 

2:55 PM

Stocks that are dragging the market lower

2:49 PM

MARKET CHECK:: Sensex back in the red

2:45 PM

BUZZING STOCK:: Wipro gains over 2%

2:44 PM

MARCH QUARTER RESULTS | Triveni Engineering posts 72.6% YoY rise in profit to Rs 137.6 crore

-- Revenue up 75 per cent YoY to Rs 1,494 crore

-- Ebitda up 59.2 per cent YoY to Rs 186.4 crore

-- Ebitda margin contracts 120 bps to 12.5 per cent

2:36 PM

'No merit in charging interest on interest' for deferred loan payments: SC

The apex court asked the Central government and Reserve Bank of India to review the matter and slated it for further hearing in the first week of August. Indian Banks Association (IBA) to see if new guidelines can be brought in force for moratorium issue, the top court said.

 

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, during the hearing today, said that the banks have to pay interest to depositors, and therefore waiving of interest is not easy. READ MORE

2:26 PM

Tata Communications: Surge in traffic, digitisation trends to power revenue

The Tata Communications (Tata Comm) stock was up 8 per cent in trade on Tuesday after the company reported better-than-expected performance in the March quarter. Management commentary on achieving double digit growth for the data business on a consistent basis also boosted sentiment. READ MORE

2:15 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: Top 5 losers on the BSE at this hour

2:13 PM

ALERT :: Dow Jones Futures climb 300 pts

2:07 PM

Rupee Closing

Rupee ends higher at 76.15 per US dollar vs Tuesday's close of 76.21/$

1:58 PM

Maruti Suzuki India rises 5%, records sharpest gain in 5 weeks

Shares of Maruti Suzuki India rallied 5.5 per cent to Rs 5,798 on the BSE on Wednesday, recording its sharpest intra-day gain in the past five weeks. Earlier, on May 13, the stock of automobiles major had surged 7.5 per cent during the intra-day trade. The country's largest carmaker has partnered with IndusInd Bank and Karur Vysa Bank for vehicle financing to help spur sales after the resumption of operations following lockdown relaxations. READ MORE

1:52 PM

Vodafone Idea: In Google's playstore?

Mukesh Ambani dreamt big and by attracting massive global capital, Reliance Jio has demonstrated how the power of the masses can be used to modernise and monetise, irrespective of business cycles.

 

As Amit Shah recently articulated, the current thrust of the government in promoting Atmanirbhar Bharat too rests on the basic premise of exploiting India’s demographic advantage by providing market access to spur a consumption boom and consequently an economic recovery.  READ MORE

1:42 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: Motilal Oswal Financial Services on Ashoka Buildcon

RATING: BUY | TARGET PRICE: Rs 98

We raise our FY21/FY22E EBITDA estimates by 3%/11%. Standalone EPS estimate revision looks higher at 32%/36% owing to better-than-expected balance sheet improvement. Maintain Buy with revised TP of INR 98 (prior: INR 92) as we factor in lower toll collection in the BOT portfolio.

1:35 PM

Domestic growth remains a highlight in IPCA Laboratories' Q4 show

Analysts at ICICI Securities had pegged export formulations to grow 43 per cent to Rs 362 crore, however, actual growth came at 11.4 per cent to Rs 282.47 crore. The same was compensated by 21 per cent growth in Indian formulations income (Rs.430.96 crore) while analysts expected the same to come at 18 per cent. The revenues thereby fell only slightly short of Rs 1,077 crore consensus estimates and operating profits grew 30 per cent year-on-year led by superior product mix. However, it was the impairment of intangible assets of Rs. 27.64 crore of a US subsidiary that led net profits at Rs 83.05 crore decline 14 per cent year-on-year. The depreciation and amortisation expenses surged 43 per cent and hence, even adjusted for the impairment net profits were lower than consensus analyst estimates of Rs 149 crore. READ MORE

1:28 PM

NEWS ALERT:: PM to hold all-party meeting on June 19 to discuss India-China border situation

1:23 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: Emkay Global Financial Services on Shoppers Stop

RATING: HOLD | TARGET PRICE: Rs 225

• Revenue declined ~10% YoY, in line with estimates, due to temporary store closures in Mar’20. While the company saw 2.4% LTL growth in the Jan-Feb’20 period, but saw an overall decline of 16% LTL in Q4 revenues. FY20 revenues declined ~3% YoY.
   
• Comp. EBITDA loss at Rs170mn was disappointing due to higher costs. In FY20, margins fell ~200bps YoY to 5.3%. SHOP expects successful rental negotiations (already achieved in ~56% of stores) and significant cost rationalization to help margins in FY21E.
   
• Store additions would be curtailed in FY21, with capex indications of Rs0.5bn (vs. Rs2.1bn in FY20). In addition, it indicated closure of unprofitable stores to improve profitability and highlighted adequate liquidity to continue business operations in FY21.
   
• FY21E would see a significant decline in revenues and erosion in profitability. We await recovery trends and initiatives to get comfort on the long-term growth outlook. We maintain Hold, with a TP of Rs 225, valuing it at 10x FY22E EBITDA.

1:19 PM

MARKET UPDATE :: Sensex at day's high, up 250 pts

1:18 PM

SECTOR WATCH:: Private banks trade higher in a volatile market

OMPANY NAME	LATEST	HIGH	LOW	CHG(%)
IDFC FIRST BANK	25.35	25.45	24.40	1.81
INDUSIND BANK	498.60	499.70	465.70	3.69
RBL BANK	164.45	166.25	157.30	1.98
AXIS BANK	395.75	398.20	375.85	3.75

1:10 PM

Sustainability of ongoing rally doubtful, recovery next year: HSBC survey

Emerging markets (EMs) have rallied sharply over the past one month with the MSCI EM index gaining as much as 15 per cent since May 18. However, doubts are beginning to creep in over the sustainability of the ongoing bull run. According to HSBC’s inaugural Emerging Markets Sentiment Survey for June 2020 quarter, about three quarters of the 213 investors surveyed are neutral to bearish on EM prospects over the next three months despite a substantial rally until recently. More investors expect the world economy to recover from the Covid-19 shock in 2021, rather than second half of 2020. READ MORE

12:59 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: Titagarh Wagons hits 5% upper circuit

The company has entered into an exclusive cooperation agreement with ABB

12:56 PM

Europe opens higher

(Source: Reuters)

12:52 PM

Limited visibility may hurt ABB, Siemens more than Thermax or Cummins

Shares of ABB and Siemens are down 37-44 per cent from their January highs. Thermax and Cummins, too, have lost 35-41 per cent during this period.

 

However, the relatively lower order book/revenue ratio means that ABB and Siemens could face more heat, if the economic slowdown prolongs. READ MORE

12:45 PM

NEWS ALERT :: SC seeks 'National Plan' from Centre on Covid-19

>> Agrees to hear PIL seeking transfer of funds from PM-Cares to National Disatser Response Fund

>> Seeks response within 2 weeks

12:36 PM

RIL-owned firms rally; TV18 Broadcast, Network18 soar over 60% in a month

Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom, TV18 Broadcast, Network18 Media & Investments, Den Networks and Hathway Cable & Datacom were all up in the range of 46 per cent to 98 per cent on the BSE in the past one month. Reliance Industrial Infrastructure and RIL were up 12 per cent and 11 per cent. In comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 8 per cent during the same period. READ MORE