Sensex remains lacklustre, Nifty ends below 10,450; Bharti Airtel top loser

All that happened in today's trade

4:07 PM

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services  

 

Market remained subdued despite positive momentum in Asian market amid concern on introduction of long term capital gain tax and ahead of Q3 earnings season. Mid and small cap underperformed due to current excessive valuation while positive December auto sales numbers attracted investors to the sector.

3:41 PM

Sectoral trend at close

Source: NSE

3:38 PM

Top Sensex gainers and losers at close 

Source: BSE

3:36 PM

Markets at close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 33,812, down 0.49 point, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 10,442, up 6 points. 

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	33,812.26	-0.49	0.00
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	10,891.20	-11.40	-0.10
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	36,679.27	-77.34	-0.21
S&P BSE 100	10,947.17	-13.40	-0.12
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,751.92	-16.71	-0.44

Source: BSE

3:22 PM

Reliance Securities on Navkar Corporation  

 

The company recently announced its 2QFY18 results and despite a challenging environment, it continued to report healthy numbers.

 

Surpassing growth in volume, its consolidated revenue grew by 19.7% YoY (+9% QoQ) to Rs1.08bn. Volume grew by 11.6% YoY (+6.7% QoQ) to 91,841 TEUs, while realisation increased by 7.3%YoY (2.2% QoQ) to Rs11,738/TEU.

 

Realisation growth was aided by higher contribution from Vapi ICD, improved revenue-mix and lower share of empty cargoes, which stood at 4,123 in 2QFY18 compared to 4,237 in 2QFY17. EBITDA increased by 18.8% YoY and 3.7% QoQ to Rs404mn.

 

We believe that NCL continues to remain well-placed to cash in the expected rise in EXIM trade on the back of several initiatives undertaken by the Government.

 

​​We have a BUY rating on the stock with a Target Price of Rs 229.

3:16 PM

Buzzing stock

 

Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland were trading higher by 3% each, recovering from their respective intra-day lows, after they reported a strong set of sales numbers in December 2017.

 

Tata Motors was up 3% at Rs 439, its highest level since November 10, 2017 on the BSE, after the company’s commercial and passenger vehicles domestic sales grew 52% at 54,627 units in December. The company attributed strong growth due to increasing demand for vehicles across segments, new product launches and strategic customer initiatives. It had sold 35,825 units in December 2016. READ MORE

3:10 PM

ALERT: Rupee hits highest level vs dollar since June 22, 2015

3:06 PM

Markets check 

At 3:00 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 33,812, down 0.34 point, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,440, up 5 points. 

2:48 PM

Sensex heatmap in afternoon trade

Source: BSE

2:32 PM

India's GDP growth will accelerate to 7.6% in FY20: HSBC

 

India's growth rate is expected to accelerate over the coming year and is likely to improve further to 7.6 per cent by 2019-20 as key sectors would revive from disruptions related to the implementation of GST and demonetisation, says an HSBC report.

 

According to the global financial services major, GDP growth in India is expected to accelerate to 7.0 per cent in 2018-19 from 6.5 per cent in this fiscal, shaking off the disruptions from demonetisation and introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). READ FULL REPORT

2:15 PM

Varun Beverages zooms 48% 

 

Varun Beverages moved higher by 17% to Rs 762 on the BSE in noon deal after a block deal executed on the counter. At 10:33 AM; around 900,273 equity shares representing 0.49% of total equity of the company changed hands on the BSE, the exchange data shows. The stock hit its highest level since listing on November 8, 2016.

 

VBL is one of the largest franchisees in the world (outside USA) of carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) and non-carbonated beverages (NCBs) for PepsiCo. READ MORE

 

2:01 PM

Global equity issuance up from 2016 slump

 

Global equity raising rose by almost a fifth in 2017 and bankers expect issuance to increase further in 2018 as the improving global economy and buoyant stock markets drive larger flotations and rights issues to finance acquisitions.

 

Companies raised $780.2 billion in equity in 2017, up 19 per cent from $656.4 billion last year, Thomson Reuters Equity Capital Markets (ECM) data up to December 26 showed. READ FULL REPORT

1:48 PM

Motilal Oswal Securities on Maruti Suzuki

 

MSIL’s Dec-17 wholesales came in at 130,066 units (+10.3% YoY), below our estimate

of 141,500 units. YTD growth was at 14.2%, with a residual monthly run-rate of 163.9k

units.

 

Domestic volumes increased 12.1% YoY to 119.3k (est. of 130.5k), led by growth in the

compact (+16.3% YoY) and UV (+19.9% YoY) segments.

 

Growth in the compact segment was led by Baleno and new Dzire, while that in UVs

was led by Brezza and new S-cross.

 

Ciaz sales declined 35.8% YoY to 2.4k (est. of 3.75k units).

 

Export volumes were in line at 10.78k units (-6.2% YoY).

 

The stock trades at 25.4x/21.7x FY19E/20E earnings. Maintain Buy.

1:27 PM

Markets check

S&P BSE Sensex	33,784.02		-0.09%
Nifty 50	10,437.55		0.02%
S&P BSE 200	4,641.76		-0.24%
Nifty 500	9,419.25		-0.16%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,752.93		-0.46%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,197.67		-0.43%

1:07 PM

Put fresh money in short-term funds

 

If you recently started moving from bank fixed deposits to debt funds, things might not look promising. Investors in debt funds that invest in long-term papers have begun seeing negative returns recently.

 

The reason: The rise in bond yields, and as the price and yields move in the opposite direction, the returns were impacted. In the past four months, the bond yields have been firming up for various reasons, including rising crude prices, the government saying that it would borrow an additional Rs 500 billion via bonds to fund its fiscal deficit, and so on. READ MORE

12:48 PM

Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland up 3% post December sales

 

Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland were trading higher by 3% each, recovering from their respective intra-day lows, after they reported a strong set of sales numbers in December 2017.

 

Tata Motors was up 3% at Rs 439, its highest level since November 10, 2017 on the BSE, after the company’s commercial and passenger vehicles domestic sales grew 52% at 54,627 units in December. The company attributed strong growth due to increasing demand for vehicles across segments, new product launches and strategic customer initiatives. It had sold 35,825 units in December 2016.

12:36 PM

L&T Infotech, L&T Technology Services hit 52-week high

 

Shares of two Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Group companies - L&T Infotech (LTI) and L&T Technology Services (LTTS) – hit their respective 52-week highs by rallying 7% each on the BSE in intra-day trade in an otherwise subdued market.

 

LTI, a global technology consulting and digital solutio ns company, rallied 7% to Rs 1,229, while LTTS which focuses on engineering and R&D (ER&D) services, too surged 7% to Rs 1,141 on the BSE. At 11:08 AM; the S&P BSE Sensex was up marginally by 0.05% at 33,829 points.

 

In past three months, LTI and LTTS have outperforming the market by gaining 53% and 44%, respectively, against 8% rise in the benchmark index. READ MORE

12:16 PM

SBI's Apr-Nov earning from this fine was over 50% of its net profit in H1

 

State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, made a whopping Rs 17.7 billion in charges levied on customers failing to maintain their minimum monthly average balance during the April-November 2017 period, according to media reports quoting finance ministry data.

 

Annual growth in the bank’s revenue on this count cannot be arrived at as SBI had collected no money from customers for not maintaining average balance during the comparable period in 2016. However, the Rs 17.7 billion figure is bigger than the bank’s net profit of Rs 15.82 billion in the July-September quarter and almost half the Rs 35.86 billion it earned in the first half of the financial year (April-September 2017). READ MORE

12:02 PM

RBI's pause on rate cuts brings credit opportunity funds under spotlight

 

With interest rates likely to rise or remain on hold in the near future, debt funds that look beyond AAA-rated paper for higher yields are back in the limelight. These include credit opportunity and corporate bond opportunity funds. In the previous 11 months, assets of these funds have grown nearly 50 per cent to Rs 1.1 trillion from Rs 745 billion, data from Value Research shows.

 

In the past year, these funds have given returns of 7.4 per cent. HDFC Corporate Debt Opportunities Fund is the largest fund in this category, with assets  more than Rs 130 billion. READ MORE

11:49 AM

Thermax up 5% on order win of Rs 327 crore

 

Thermax was up 5% to Rs 1,270, also its 52-week high on the BSE in early morning trade, after the company said it has received an order worth Rs 327 crore for a boiler-turbine-generator (BTG) plant package from a public sector company based in western India for its up-coming chemical plant.

 

“The company will be executing this EPC order for captive co-generation power plant of 2x65MW capacity. The scope of the project includes design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and commissioning of the solid fuel based BTG package consisting of 2 CBFC boilers, steam turbines and generators”, Thermax said in press release. READ MORE

11:33 AM

India's Manufacturing PMI hits 5-year high in December

 

India's factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in five years in December, a private sector survey showed on Tuesday, buoyed by a rise in output and new orders, which allowed firms to raise prices.

 

Tuesday's data firms up views that business in Asia's third-largest economy continues to recover but also highlights risks that rising price pressures will keep the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) from slashing interest rates further.

 

The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by IHS Markit, rose to 54.7 in December from November's 52.6, marking its fifth straight month above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction.

11:15 AM

Market Check

S&P BSE Sensex	33,827.27		0.04%
Nifty 50	10,444.25		0.08%
S&P BSE 200	4,643.45		-0.20%
Nifty 500	9,418.55		-0.17%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,719.25		-0.65%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,168.13		-0.58%

10:57 AM

2018 holds better prospects for RIL

 

The Reliance Industries (RIL) stock has been one of the biggest gainers in 2017, adding 68 per cent to shareholder wealth, led by positive surprises in the telecom business (Reliance Jio) and strong performance in the core refining and petrochemicals businesses. A recent trigger has been the acquisition of fibre, tower and spectrum assets of Reliance Communications (RCom) for an estimated Rs 250 billion. READ MORE

10:38 AM

TVS Motor hits new high on strong December sales

 

TVS Motor Company hit a new high of Rs 795, up 4% on the BSE in early morning trade, after the company registered 39% growth in sales at 256,909 units in the month of December 2017. It had sold 184,944 units in December 2016.

 

TVS Motor Company had registered a sales growth of 12% at 251,965 units in November 2017.

 

“Total two-wheeler registered growth of 37.9% with sales increasing from 179,551 units in December 2016 to 247,630 units in December 2017. Domestic two-wheelers recorded growth of 35.4% with sales increasing from 153,456 units in December 2016 to 207,778 units in December 2017,” TVS Motor Company said in a press release.

10:23 AM

What are shell companies? Govt to lay down guidelines by Jan-end

 

The government will come up with a proper definition of what a shell company is by the end of this month. According to sources, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had in February last year constituted a special task force to tackle malpractices by shell companies.

 

The task force will lay down specific guidelines to validate the clampdown on shell companies. The definition of shell firms is expected to be inserted in the Companies Act, securities laws, and also in the Income-Tax (I-T) Act, wherever applicable. READ MORE

10:05 AM

Ruias plan to pay interest, penalty of Rs 35 bn to retain Essar Steel

 

The Ruias are considering bidding for Essar Steel, with the Lok Sabha passing amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. To make their bad loan accounts operational, the promoters of Essar Steel must pay banks overdue interest, including penalty, of Rs 30-35 billion, sources said. READ MORE

9:51 AM

Investors bet big on silver for 2018

 

Investors have started betting big on silver amid hopes of a sharp upswing in its prices in calendar year 2018 (CY18).

 

Despite immense potential for an increase, following the improvement in industrial commodities’ prices, silver remained an underperformer in CY17, with a mere 6.3 per cent of returns in dollar terms, and nearly 4 per cent loss in value in rupee terms. By contrast, all asset classes in commodities segments, such as base metals, crude oil, etc, yielded returns of up to 30 per cent. READ MORE

9:36 AM

Realty index gains almost 1%

Source: NSE

9:29 AM

Sectoral Trend

Source: NSE

9:23 AM

Top Sensex  gainers and losers

Source: BSE