MARKET WRAP: Indices slip as financials weigh; Rupee hits new low of 70.3/$

The Nifty Bank index ended lower, slipping 0.70 per cent lower weighed by Bank of Baroda and Yes Bank.

3:41 PM

Nifty Metal index ends 2.27% lower. Top losers:

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	LOSS( )	LOSS(%)
JINDAL STEEL	191.85	199.50	-7.65	-3.83
S A I L	74.45	77.40	-2.95	-3.81
JSW STEEL	328.15	341.10	-12.95	-3.80
HIND.ZINC	276.05	285.15	-9.10	-3.19
NATL. ALUMINIUM	68.10	70.25	-2.15	-3.06

3:38 PM

Nifty sectoral gainers and losers of the day

3:35 PM

BSE Sensex: HDFC, Vedanta among top losers of the day, Sun Pharma top gainer

3:33 PM

Markets at close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 37,664, down 188 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 11,385, down 50 points.

3:18 PM

Gold recovers from 19-month low as US dollar softens

Gold clawed back from a 19-month low on Thursday on short-covering and as the U.S. dollar softened following news that Beijing will hold trade talks with Washington late this month.

Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at $1,175.07 an ounce. US gold futures were, however, down 0.2 per cent at $1,182.1. READ MORE

3:07 PM

Japan, South Korea steel exports to India surge on tariffs, high-end demand

India is being hit by a wave of steel from producers in Japan and South Korea, a government document showed, as mills there redirect supply after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped an import duty on the alloy earlier this year.

 

During the first quarter of the fiscal year starting in April, India's steel imports from South Korea rose 31 percent from a year earlier, while those from Japan climbed 30 percent, according to an internal document from the Ministry of Steel. READ MORE
 

2:59 PM

Falling rupee returning to natural value, no reason to worry: Niti Aayog VC

Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar today said the falling rupee is not a cause of worry as it is getting back to its natural value. READ MORE

2:44 PM

IT shares rally; Sonata Software, Zensar Technologies up over 10%

Shares of midcap information technology (IT) companies have rallied by up to 15% on the BSE after they reported a good set of numbers for the quarter ended June 2018 (Q1FY18).
 

IT shares are trading higher for the fourth straight day due to persisting weakness in the rupee.The Indian rupee hit record low of 70.32 per dollar on Thursday. READ MORE

2:30 PM

Base metals slide on global cues, sluggish demand

Base metal prices fell by up to Rs 3 per kg at the non-ferrous metals market today, tracking a weak trend overseas amid easing demand from consuming industries.

 

Traders said sentiment dampened after Shanghai base metals dropped sharply today, with copper and zinc plumbing fresh one-year lows after a broad sell-off in London in the previous session before bouncing back slightly on the news of fresh U.S.-China trade talks. READ MORE

Copper

2:17 PM

Why retail investors should diversify their portfolio and limit risky bets

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may soon impose limits on the trading positions that retail investors can take, based on their net worth. Retail investors will have to obtain a net worth certificate from a chartered accountant and submit it to their broker, and their trading limits will be decided accordingly. READ MORE

2:03 PM

Market Check

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	37,746.91	-105.09	-0.28
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	11,931.25	-33.81	-0.28
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	33,701.17	-107.47	-0.32
S&P BSE 100	11,666.96	-33.57	-0.29
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,579.95	-4.05	-0.11

(Source: BSE)

1:43 PM

11 fund houses sign up with Paytm Money as platform to go live this month

With Paytm’s mutual fund (MF) foray around the corner, 11 fund houses, accounting for 62 per cent of industry assets, have completed the paperwork and have been empanelled with Paytm Money.

 

The asset management firms to have signed up with the MF distribution platform include large-sized fund houses like ICICI Prudential MF, HDFC MF, Reliance MF, UTI MF, as well as relatively smaller fund houses such as Invesco MF, Mirae AMC and Mahindra MF. READ MORE

1:31 PM

Current market rally has been narrow. What should an investor do?

Over the past three months, the Nifty 50 index has rallied by around 5.5 per cent. But the rally has been very narrow which signals the last stages of a bull run.

 

Investors should maintain their asset allocation. If they have become overweight on equities, they should book profits and reduce exposure. They should also be mindful of valuations and avoid chasing momentum stocks trading at exorbitant valuations. READ MORE

1:18 PM

Following ace investors is a good idea, but don't always ape their bets

Ace investors like Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Dolly Khanna, Mohnish Pabrai, Porinju Veliyath, etc, enjoy celebrity status within the investor community. Their fans have websites, social media pages and blogs dedicated to them, and their stock picks and portfolios are closely analysed. But following them blindly, without doing your own research, can lead to losses. READ MORE

12:59 PM

BS Fund Cafe: 'No fund industry has as bright a future as India's'

Top mutual fund CEOs say that the industry should focus on garnering more retail money across both equity and debt assets, and aim for scale as expenses for investors will come down because of competition and put pressure on margins The mutual fund (MF) industry has come a long way since 1993. How will you attract money going forward? READ MORE

12:44 PM

Pharma stocks gain. Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's, Cipla among top gainers (Image source: NSE)

12:41 PM

Elara Capital on SpiceJet

We lower FY19E EPS by 13% after incorporating lower Q1FY19 PAT and subsequently lower target price to Rs 194 from Rs 202. We maintain SpiceJet as top pick in aviation and reiterate BUY rating. We value SpiceJet by ascribing 8.0x FY20 EV/EBITDAR multiple. We maintain our bullish stance on regional market growth, where it has highest capacity. Addition of fuel efficient Boeing-737-8Max would help reduce fuel cost

12:28 PM

With higher equity cap in NPS, young investors should increase exposure

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman, Hemant Contractor, recently announced that the option to invest up to 75 per cent in equities under the active choice option of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) will become available to investors by the end of this month. In NPS, investors can spread their investments across four asset classes: C (corporate debt), G (government securities), A (alternate assets) and E (equities). READ MORE

12:13 PM

GAIL, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv from Nifty 50 hit new highs

Shares of four companies – Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, GAIL (India) and Infosys – from the Nifty 50 index hit their respective new high on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday in otherwise range-bound market. READ MORE

12:00 PM

Markets at noon

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	37,848.15	-3.85	-0.01
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	11,969.30	+4.24	+0.04
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	33,818.05	+9.41	+0.03
S&P BSE 100	11,704.56	+4.03	+0.03
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,598.94	+14.94	+0.42

11:55 AM

Centrum Broking on Graphite India Limited (GIL)

The stock has seen a relentless up move and is up ~700% since our note dated 20 June 2017. We continue to value GIL on our conservative AOCF/EV yield methodology using five year average adj. cash flows (FY16-20E) to arrive at our revised target orice of Rs1165. Maintain Hold. Key downside risk is margin pressure due to raw material volatility while upside risk is continuation of high spreads into FY20E/21E as that of FY19E.

11:54 AM

Dolat Financial on MRF

MRF is expected to bounce back on the revenue growth front with new product offerings and increased marketing efforts. Although lower top-line growth is expected to put some pressure on the stock, the higher comparative margins will help protect the downside.

Leadership position in the high margins segments will enable MRF to protect valuations. We reiterate our Accumulate rating with a target price of Rs 81,712.

11:53 AM

Edelweiss on Berger Paints

Berger Paints' (Berger) Q1FY19 revenue and EBITDA growth of 18.9% and 22.6% YoY, respectively, came in line with our estimates. Domestic volume growth remained strong at ~15% YoY on a base of 5%, in line with our estimate (Asian Paints: ~11% YoY spurt). Consolidated gross margin contracted 110bps YoY owing to spike in input cost, though price hikes (blended ~3.0-3.5% YoY) have brought some relief.

We believe, Berger has gained some market share considering its volume growth surpassed the industry’s. With overall macro revival, we envisage bounce back in decorative volumes and price hikes to aid overall revenue and earnings spurt.  Hence, we raise our target multiple from 42x to 47x FY20E EPS and arrive at revised target price of Rs 371 (earlier Rs 332). Maintain ‘BUY’

11:49 AM

NEWS ALERT Vajpayee's health continues to remain critical, on life support: AIIMS

Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's condition continues to remain critical, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said in a statement on Thursday. Vajpayee's health worsened on Wednesday and he is on life support system. "Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's condition continues to remain the same. He is critical and on life support systems," the statement by the hospital read READ MORE

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

11:47 AM

COMMENT IndiaRatings on economy

At a disaggregated level, Ind-Ra expects private final consumption expenditure to grow 7.6% in FY19 compared to 6.6% in FY18. The thrust for growth is coming from the (i) waning impact of demonetisation (ii) rise in rural consumption due to two consecutive favourable monsoons and (iii) reduction in the goods and services tax rate on several items.

However, investment expenditure as measured by gross fixed capital formation is unlikely to significantly improve over FY18. It is expected to grow at 8.0% in FY19. Ind-Ra believes the government capex alone will be insufficient to revive the capex cycle, as its share in the total capex of the economy was only 11.1% during FY12-FY17.

11:45 AM

BS Fund Cafe 'The linkage of markets with elections is very weak'

 

Six of India’s leading money managers say broad market valuations are looking better after the correction and they are bullish on export businesses, corporate banks and select capital goods companies Are markets expensive at current valuations? Mahesh Patil: If you look at the valuations on a trailing basis, the markets are expensive.

 

But, you need to keep in mind that the index composition has changed in the past 10 year. READ MORE

11:30 AM

Pharma sector index gains as rupee falls

11:15 AM

Sun Pharma hits 52-week high on USFDA approval, good Q1 results

 

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries hit its 52-week high of Rs 618, up 3% on the BSE in intra-day trade on Thursday, after the company announced that it has received approval for CEQUA from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

 

CEQUA is indicated to increase tear production in patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eye). READ MORE

11:00 AM

Aluminium, Copper twin triggers for Hindalco, Novelis a key positive

 

After a strong show by Hindalco’s US subsidiary Novelis, its domestic operations too put up a robust performance. Though revenues from operations grew just 2.4 per cent year-on-year (sequentially flat), it was the smart jump in profitability of aluminium segment that aided a sharp 17.5 per cent y-o-y jump in operating profits.

 

The good performance by the aluminium segment was on account of better realisations and stable plant operations, helping profits grow 35 per cent y-o-y, while the same on a sequential basis was 21 per cent. READ MORE

10:45 AM

WPIL, Roto Pumps zoom 20% on robust Q1 result

 

Shares of WPIL and Roto Pumps are locked in upper circuit of 20% each on the BSE after these companies reported a robust set of numbers for the quarter ended June 2018 (Q1FY19).

 

WPIL has zoomed of 20% at Rs 873, also its 52-week high on the BSE, after the company reported a more than four-fold jump in net profit at Rs 242 million in June quarter (Q1FY19). READ MORE