MARKETS ON WEDNESDAY: Indices end lower, Nifty below 10,600; Airtel up 3%

Benchmark indices edged down on Wednesday, paring gains of nearly 5% this month, as investors booked profits

3:52 PM

Market rundown by Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services 

 

"Global volatility led by high bond yields in the US attracted some profit booking in the domestic markets, a day prior to the F&O expiry. Rupee hitting a 14 month low against the backdrop of persistent selling by the FIIs and the rollover numbers languishing at an eight month low figure added to the weakness in the domestic indices. But, healthier Q4 earnings numbers, continuing buying interest seen in the IT sector and marginal easing in oil prices guarded the key support levels in the benchmark indices."

3:48 PM

Nifty PSU Bank index ends 1.65%. Top losers:

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	LOSS( )	LOSS(%)
BANK OF BARODA	136.35	141.85	-5.50	-3.88
BANK OF INDIA	97.30	101.05	-3.75	-3.71
ORIENTAL BANK	87.95	89.70	-1.75	-1.95
UNION BANK (I)	90.80	92.35	-1.55	-1.68
CANARA BANK	254.35	258.70	-4.35	-1.68

3:38 PM

Sectoral Trend

3:36 PM

BSE Sensex: Airtel, TCS among top gainers of the day, Tata Steel top loser

3:32 PM

Market at close

 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 34,501, down 115 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,571, down 44 points.

3:18 PM

Gold falls on strong dollar, higher US yields

Gold prices dropped on Wednesday as benchmark U.S. bond yields poked above the 3 percent level and lifted the dollar to its highest in more than three months. Spot gold was down half-a-percent at $1,323.59 per ounce READ MORE

3:04 PM

Buzzing Stocks

Shares of Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Infotech, MindTree, Mphasis, Raymond and Syngene International were among 18 stock from the S&P BSE 500 index hitting record highs in otherwise weak market.

 

Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals, Cyient, Indiabulls Ventures, Jamna Auto Industries, Lakshmi Machine Works, Sonata Software, SRF, Take Solutions, Tata Elxsi and Zensar Technologies too hit new highs today.

2:48 PM

Stock that rallied over 200% in 12 days

Zenith Exports is locked in upper circuit for the twelfth straight trading day, rising 5% at Rs 120, also its 52-week high on the BSE. The stock zoomed 208% from Rs 39 on April 9, 2018, as compared to 2.3% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. READ MORE

2:33 PM

SBI Life Insurance, HDFC Standard Life Insurance hit new highs

Shares of life insurance companies were trading higher in otherwise subdued market with SBI Life Insurance Company and HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company hitting their respective new highs on the BSE on Wednesday.

 

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (IPRU) has surged 11% to Rs 460, extending its Tuesday’s 7% gain after the company reported better than expected results for the financial year 2017-18 (FY18). READ MORE

2:15 PM

More steam left in Dalmia Bharat, analysts expect earnings to grow by 50%

 

One would tend to imagine that after having returned almost 42 per cent in the past one year, much higher than the -4 to 5 per cent returns seen in top cement stocks such as UltraTech Cement, Ambuja Cements and Shree Cement, investor comfort in Dalmia Bharat may not be very high.

 

However, if analysts are to be believed, the days ahead are equally good for Dalmia Bharat, one of India’s oldest cement companies.READ MORE

2:01 PM

Market Check

S&P BSE Sensex	34,580.08		-0.11%
Nifty 50	10,591.10		-0.22%
S&P BSE 200	4,658.16		-0.14%
Nifty 500	9,377.00		-0.14%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	16,858.88		-0.11%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	18,252.13		0.01%

1:44 PM

Why most-valued TCS is number eight in free float market capitalisation

 

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is India’s most valuable company by some distance. But, when it comes to the stock markets, the Tata group firm’s significance slips several notches. On free-float market capitalisation—used by major index providers to compute weights — TCS is ranked eighth in the country. This is on account of high shareholding of promoter Tata Sons at nearly 72 per cent in the technology major. TCS’ promoter holding is one of the highest among top companies in the country and only slightly below the maximum threshold of 75 per cent. READ MORE

1:30 PM

NBCC turns ex-stock split in the ratio of 1 for 1; shares up 6%

 

Shares of NBCC (India) was up 6% to Rs 109 on the BSE in early morning trade after the stock turned ex-stock split in the ratio of 1:1.

 

NBCC (India), the state-owned construction & engineering company had announced on February 13, 2017 splitting its stock from the face value of Rs 2 each to Re 1 each to enhance liquidity in trading.

 

The Company has fixed Thursday, April 26, 2018 as record date for determining the shareholders entitled for sub-division of equity shares of Rs 2 each into two equity shares of face value of Rs 1 each. READ MORE

1:15 PM

Air India disinvestment: Around 150 parties seek info on carrier's sale

 

Around 150 players have shown interest in the Air India privatisation process, made queries and sought clarifications on the terms of the flagship carrier’s sale. These include both foreign and Indian airlines, as well as a number of domestic and external non-aviation entities, Business Standard has learnt.

 

“The stakeholder consultation has got a good response. Almost 150 entities have sent their queries,” a senior government official said. He said that the queries are mostly about the treatment of debt, employee future and management of the airline. Transaction advisor EY is responding to the queries and will seek clarification from the government regarding any changes in terms of sale. READ MORE

1:00 PM

RIL's high borrowing costs a sign of India Inc's troubles going ahead

 

At a time when the policy repo rate is at 6 per cent and three-month government treasury bills are trading at 6.15 per cent, India’s biggest company, Reliance Industries, raised Rs 15 billion of three-month money on Monday at 7.1 per cent.

 

About the same time last year, Reliance was raising money for two to three months at 6.13-6.15 per cent, much closer to the prevailing treasury bill rate. On Tuesday, Godrej Industries raised money through three-month commercial paper at 7.12 per cent. READ MORE

12:45 PM

Telecom shares in focus

 

Shares of telecom services provider were trading higher by up to 5% on the BSE in early morning trade after the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) imposed an interim stay on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai’s) predatory pricing order.

 

Bharti Airtel (up 5% at Rs 425), Reliance Communications (4% at Rs 18.65) and Idea Cellular (2% at Rs 72.75) have rallied up to 5% on the BSE in intra-day trade.  READ MORE

12:31 PM

Infosys' three-year road map gets a thumbs-up from analysts

 

Even as the January – March 2018 (Q4FY18) results failed to enthuse investors, most analysts have given a thumbs-up to the three-year road-map laid out by Infosys to accelerate growth in the digital segment.

 

Infosys, which detailed its strategy to analysts in post market hours on Monday, also reiterated its capital allocation policy of returning up to 70 per cent of free cash flow (FCF) with periodic review of return cash balances. READ MORE

12:15 PM

DCM Shriram plunges 13% on weak March quarter results

 

Shares of DCM Shriram have plunged 13% to Rs 380 per share on the BSE after the company reported 68% year-on-year (YoY) drop in net profit at Rs 510 million in March quarter (Q4FY18), due to poor performance of its sugar business. It had posted profit of Rs 1,560 million in year ago quarter.

 

Operations revenue was down 3% at Rs 15.66 billion against Rs 16.16 billion in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal. READ MORE

12:01 PM

Market Check

S&P BSE Sensex	34,530.13		-0.25%
Nifty 50	10,582.45		-0.30%
S&P BSE 200	4,655.41		-0.20%
Nifty 500	9,371.10		-0.21%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	16,848.07		-0.17%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	18,262.89		0.07%

11:48 AM

Prabhudas Lilladher on ICICI Pru Life

ICICI PruLife's margins were a beat from our expectations at 16.5% for FY18 mainly on change in product mix and better operating efficiency. The company has shown strong improvement in operating performance (margins/persistency/cost) and increase in protection mix has led to change our stance to "BUY" from Accumulate and increased the target price to Rs520 (up from Rs 464), valuing it at Rs 746 billion (up from Rs 666 billion) which translates to 3.0x FY20E EV

11:46 AM

Morgan Stanley's global positioning

For the first time since we launched our new country allocation model in Oct-15, we upgrade South Africa to overweight (OW). Cheap valuations along with our economists' strong aboveconsensus growth outlook drive our view. We also trim our OW positions in China and Brazil and underweight (UW) positions in Australia and Korea.

 

11:42 AM

Rollover Report for Tuesday

·      The Nifty Apr expiry rollover is at 27.73% on Monday compared to 40.59% on same day of previous expiry.

 

·      The Banknifty Apr expiry rollover is at 30.79% on Monday compared to 24.23% on same day of previous expiry.

 

·      The Market wide Apr expiry rollover is at 37.32% on Monday as compared to 38.64% on same day of previous expiry.

 

·      The Nifty Apr rollover is lower than its Three months average of 34% and its six months average of 34.58%.

 

·       The Banknifty Apr rollover is higher than its Three months average of 26.94% and its six months average of 26.57%.

 

·      The market wide rollover is higher than with its three months average of 36.06% and six months average of 36.63%.

(Source: Nirmal Bang report)

11:29 AM

Will Wipro's Q4FY18 result surprise investors?

 

Wipro is likely to announce its fourth quarter results today. Among the key things to look out for, according to analysts, include revenue growth guidance, commentary on healthcare and communications verticals, execution of various new initiatives by new CEO and outlook on spending at key clients and geographies.

 

In the previous quarter, Wipro posted 11.85% quarter-on-quarter fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 19.30 billion.

 

Click here to know what leading brokerages expect from the company in the March 2018 quarter.

11:15 AM

Even as TCS enters elite $100 billion m-cap club; analysts say buy Infosys

 

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. maybe basking in the afterglow of joining the $100-billion club, but it is the company’s rival Infosys Ltd. that is a preferred buy for analysts.

 

Of the 44 analysts covering both companies, 38 have a buy or equivalent rating on Infosys, India’s original poster child for software development. This compares with 19 buys for TCS, Asia’s largest software exporter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. READ MORE

10:55 AM

NSE launches e-Gsec platform for investment in govt securities

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday announced the launch of its e-Gsec platform which will allow retail investors to invest in government securities and hold them in existing demat accounts. READ MORE

10:37 AM

Nalco rides on London Metal Exchange gains, sees room for more price hikes

India’s primary aluminium producers, particularly National Aluminium Company (Nalco), gained on account of a rally in global aluminium prices over the past week before a correction on Tuesday. Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) peaked at $2,452 per tonne for the cash buyer (as of April 23). READ MORE

10:25 AM

Corporate News

 

·         Ashoka Buildcon executes concession pact for Karnataka road project

 

·         Strides to divest holding in remaining API assets to Solara for Rs 131 crore

 

·         DCM Shriram Board approves expansion of PVC capacity for Rs 32 crore

 

·         GATI board meeting on April 26 to consider new financial/strategic partner

 

·         Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys says operations at Therubali plant suspended due to protests

 

·         Gokaldas Exports board approved opening of QIP issue at floor price of Rs 90.94 per share

 

·         Radiant Life revises offer for Fortis Healthcare

 

·         Zensar Board approves stock split of equity shares in the ratio 5:1

 

·         Raymond board approves Rs 300 crore development plan for 20 acres land at Thane

 

·         HIL Ltd starts commercial production at Gujarat plant

 

·         Autoline Industries in pact with Tae Sung, Korea

 

·         MPS to acquire Tata Interactive Systems

 

·         Hero MotoCorp hikes two-wheeler prices by up to Rs 625 to offset rising input cost

(Source: IIFL report)

10:17 AM

ICICI Prudential Life rallies 13% in two days post FY18 results

Shares of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (IPRU) were up 5% to Rs 438 per share in early morning trade, surging 13% in past two trading sessions on the BSE, after the company reported better than expected results for the financial year 2017-18 (FY18). The insurance company reported 93.1% increase in the Value of New Business (VNB) at Rs 12.86 billion in FY18 as compared to Rs 6.66 billion for FY17. READ MORE

10:00 AM

Market Check

 

S&P BSE Sensex	34,558.48		-0.17%
Nifty 50	10,600.95		-0.13%
S&P BSE 200	4,659.15		-0.12%
Nifty 500	9,385.80		-0.05%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	16,847.05		-0.18%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	18,270.60		0.11%

9:40 AM

Cipla poised to maintain high growth, earnings may grow by over 20%

Cipla, which has clocked better returns than most of its larger pharma peers in the past one year, has now outperformed the S&P BSE Sensex in the past one month. It has gained almost 11.5 per cent since the March-end lows, though its Pithampura unit got three observations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US drug regulator. The Street is showing confidence in Cipla primarily because of its strong growth prospects. After pegging earnings growth at over 30 per cent in 2017-18 (partly helped by a low base of 2016-17), analysts expect Cipla’s earnings to increase by over 20 per cent each in 2018-19 and 2019-20. READ MORE