Sensex ends 236 pts down, Nifty slips below 10,400 levels as PSU banks fall

All that happened in the markets today.

3:57 PM

MARKET COMMENT: Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking

 

Nifty started the F&O expiry week on feeble note and breached its crucial support at 10400. The overhang of banking fraud at PNB continued to haunt the PSU banking pack which later joined by others as well. However, recovery in the last hour of the trade pared some losses.

 

Markets are seeing excessive volatility at present, citing local issues and the upcoming derivatives expiry will further fuel the same. We advise keeping stock specific trading approach and maintaining strict risk management rules to avoid unmanageable losses

3:40 PM

Market watch (Image source: BSE)

3:37 PM

Top Sectoral loser: Nifty PSU Bank cracks nearly 3%

3:35 PM

Sectoral Trend

3:34 PM

Sensex top losers and gainers

3:32 PM

Market at close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 33,775, down 236 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,378, down 74 points.

3:24 PM

PNB fraud: Who's liable and why multiple audits failed to raise an alarm?

 

Punjab National Bank in an FIR filed with the Central Bureau of Investigation submitted that its in-house investigation had not found any role of chartered accountants, the statutory auditors and empanelled valuers in the alleged scam. That would be music to the ears of the five statutory auditors of the New Delhi-headquartered bank. However, it remains unanswered as to why multiple levels of audit failed to raise an alarm in the system. READ MORE

3:14 PM

Two-year oil price curve likely to influence timing of Saudi Aramco IPO

It's the burning question in the oil industry: when will Saudi Arabia pull the trigger on the Aramco stock market listing?

 

Many industry experts are focusing on the current level of oil prices. However another key consideration for Saudi officials in floating up to 5 per cent of the state oil producer is where they see prices in one to two years' time, two sources close to the IPO said. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY

3:03 PM

Financial conditions deteriorate in Jan-Mar, says CII-IBA index

An index mapping the country’s short-term financial conditions has plunged over 12 points for the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year ending March 31, as compared to the previous quarter.
 

The CII-IBA Financial Conditions Index stood at 53.2 for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017-18 as against 65.3 in the October-December period. READ MORE

2:56 PM

Market Check

S&P BSE Sensex	33,724.45		-0.84%
Nifty 50	10,342.40		-1.05%
S&P BSE 200	4,528.32		-1.01%
Nifty 500	9,126.10		-1.19%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	16,373.41		-1.38%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	17,798.40		-1.32%

2:54 PM

PNB fraud: What does it take to set up a high-performance RBI?

A certain minimal state capacity in bank regulation and supervision is required, and we are repeatedly discovering this is absent. Some people see this as a question of public versus private banking. Private banks in India also have major difficulties with non-performing assets (NPAs), which suggests that the common factor of banking regulation is the root cause. READ MORE

2:51 PM

Edelweiss on Torrent Pharma

 

We revise FY18/FY19E EPS down 16%/30% and maintain our 20x target multiple on FY20E EPS. With limited upside from current level, we downgrade to ‘HOLD’ with a revised target price of Rs 1,333 (Rs 1,390 earlier)

2:31 PM

Jewellery shares fall; Rajesh Exports, Renaissance Jewellery down over 6%

Shares of diamond, gems and jewellery companies under pressure falling by up to 10%, extending their past three days decline after the recent detection of a massive financial fraud in which diamond merchant Nirav Modi allegedly acquired fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) from a branch of Punjab National Bank (PNB). READ MORE

2:15 PM

MUST READ PNB fraud: Why India's banking system is flawed and how we can fix it

To the collective dismay of the public, there is one more bank scam, which, not surprisingly, involves a public sector bank (PSB) — Punjab National Bank.

 

Nirav Modi, a flamboyant jeweller, and his uncle Mehul Choksi (a one-time favourite of foreign institutional investors) have allegedly pulled off a daring heist of over Rs 110 billion and run away to the US, leaving the country astounded by the audacity of the duo and the stupidity of bankers.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE

1:54 PM

Sectoral Watch: Nifty PSU Bank cracks 5%

1:50 PM

Over 8 PSUs to enter capital markets next year: DIPAM secy Neeraj Gupta

 

As many as 8 public sector companies, including Hindustan Aeronautics and RITES, will hit the capital markets next financial year as the government intends to unlock the real value of PSUs and bring in greater accountability.

 

Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Neeraj Gupta said these initial public offerings (IPO) will be done in a "staggered manner" depending upon the size of the issuance. READ MORE

1:39 PM

News of Singh bros siphoning money sparks SFIO probe on Fortis, Religare

 

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) will initiate a probe into alleged financial irregularities at Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises, according to a senior official.

 

The corporate affairs ministry has been looking into the affairs of Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises after recent reports that financial irregularities have emerged at the two companies. READ MORE

1:12 PM

Market Check

 

S&P BSE Sensex	33,614.56		-1.16%
Nifty 50	10,322.75		-1.24%
S&P BSE 200	4,514.45		-1.31%
Nifty 500	9,125.50		-1.19%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	16,348.02		-1.53%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	17,754.68		-1.56%

1:08 PM

BSE smallcap: Bhushan Steel, Monnet Ispat & Energy top gainers, Gitanjali loses

1:02 PM

BSE midcap: Vakrangee, Apollo Hospitals among top gainers; Union Bank of India top loser

12:46 PM

PNB crisis: Chaos underlines financial services department's poor capacity

The department of financial services, a wing of the Union finance ministry, has a headcount of about 1,600 employees. On paper, this number may look impressive. But the overall staff strength of any department at the Centre, however, does not truly reflect its management or supervision capacity.

 

What matters more is the composition and quality of the staff. The department of financial services is no exception. A large portion of the 1,600 employees on the department’s roll consists of junior-level officers, clerks, and support staff. READ MORE

File photo: Reuters

12:31 PM

Reliance, global tech firms to invest $9.3 billion in industrial area

Reliance Industries Ltd and global technology companies will invest 600 billion rupees ($9.34 billion) over 10 years to set up an integrated industrial area in Maharashtra, the company's chairman Mukesh Ambani said.

More than 20 global firms including Cisco, Siemens, Corning Inc., HP, Dell, Nokia and Nvidia had agreed to invest in the project with Reliance, India's largest listed company by market value, he said. READ MORE

12:22 PM

MARKET STRATEGY: BNP Paribas

 

Key changes to our lists as outperformers drop out: Less IT, more financials and discretionary now Our major changes are therefore to our large cap value screens, in which the outperformers are replaced by underperforming financials and autos names and Aurobindo Pharma. Hero MotoCorp drops out of our growth list but remains in our value list. We add Tata Motors to our value list on recent underperformance.

 

Tata Steel enters both lists in place of Bank of Baroda, which is no longer part of Nifty. We make several mid cap changes on revised inputs (earnings, valuations), though our small cap list is mostly unchanged. 

 

Within our lists, our analysts are particularly positive on Bharti Airtel, ITC, Eicher Motors, Maruti, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Repco, CanFin Homes, Reliance Industries, Petronet LNG and HCL Tech.

12:20 PM

Edelweiss on Simplex Infra

 

Simplex Infrastructure’s (SINF) Q3FY18 revenue fell 2% YoY due to GST impact and client-related issues. However, better cost control led to PAT surging 69% YoY. Improving business prospects (reflected in healthy order inflow) has led to management now shifting focus from consolidation to growth—targeting 20% top-line growth going ahead. 

 

Moreover, green shoots are emerging on the working capital cycle front—an elongated cycle had led to higher leverage and constrained growth over the past couple of years. We believe, a diversified segmental presence and robust execution capabilities will drive ~40% PAT CAGR over FY18-20E. Maintain ‘BUY’ with SOTP-based target price of Rs 826 as we roll over to FY20E.

12:19 PM

Anand Rathi on Atul Auto

 

We expect revenue to register a 13% CAGR over FY17-20 to Rs 6.82bn and EBITDA to clock a 20% CAGR. PAT would record a 23% CAGR to Rs 691m. We retain our Hold recommendation, with a target price of Rs 504 (16x FY20e EPS of Rs 31.5). Risks. Ban on diesel passenger vehicles in possibly developed states in the country, lower volume growth.

12:19 PM

PNB fraud: Who's liable and why multiple audits failed to raise an alarm?

 

Punjab National Bank in an FIR filed with the Central Bureau of Investigation submitted that its in-house investigation had not found any role of chartered accountants, the statutory auditors and empanelled valuers in the alleged scam. That would be music to the ears of the five statutory auditors of the New Delhi-headquartered bank. However, it remains unanswered as to why multiple levels of audit failed to raise an alarm in the system. READ MORE

12:18 PM

Emkay on Triveni Turbine

 

We expect the company to report 29% and 34% CAGR (FY18 - 20E) in revenues and PAT respectively. The stock currently trades at 25xFY20E earnings. We recommend ACCUMULATE with a target price of Rs147 based on 30xFY19E earnings.

12:17 PM

Edelweiss on Texmaco Rail

 

Texmaco Rail & Engineering’s (Texmaco) Q3FY18 topline declined 14% YoY as insufficient wagon orders led to wagon revenue plummeting 73% YoY. EBITDA margin fell 20bps YoY to 4.1% due to operating de-leverage. Texmaco group is witnessing significant growth across verticals – wagons, coaches, locomotives and rail EPC, leading to overall order book rising to INR44.5bn (~INR36.2bn in Q2FY18). The company’s rich experience places it in ideal position to seize the burgeoning opportunities arising from overhaul of the Indian Railway (IR) network. Maintain ‘BUY’ with SoTP-based target price of Rs 140 as we roll over to FY20E.

12:00 PM

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed John Energy files papers for Rs 3.5-bn IPO

John Energy, backed by ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, has filed draft papers with markets regulator Sebi to raise an estimated Rs 3.5 billion (Rs 350 crore) through an initial public offering.
 

The IPO comprises fresh issuance of shares worth Rs 2.18 billion (Rs 218 crore) and an offer for sale of up to 16,77,744 scrips by the existing shareholders, including IL&FS Financial Services and India Rig Company, the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed with Sebi showed. READ MORE

11:50 AM

Singapore Exchange to launch new Indian derivatives before NSE deal ends

Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) said on Monday it will launch successor products to its flagship Indian equity index derivatives before the bourse's licence agreement with the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) expires in August 2018.

 

The move comes days after India's three main bourses unexpectedly announced they would stop licensing their indexes to overseas exchanges, news which hit SGX's shares as brokers cut the bourse's earnings estimates. READ MORE