Sensex ends 176 pts higher, Nifty regains 10,500; PSU banks, metals rally

All that happened in today's trade

4:00 PM

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services 

 

Release of the next instalment of funds earmarked for bank recapitalisation proved to be a shot in the arm for PSBs, especially as some of the weak banks had been hauled up by RBI for prompt and corrective action. FOMC minutes and firmness in global equity peers also helped, but with oil hovering around $62, markets were measured in their rise.

3:48 PM

Sectoral trend 

Source: NSE

3:42 PM

Markets at close

 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 33,969, up 176 points, while the Nifty50 settled at 10,504, up 61 points.

 

S&P BSE Sensex	33,920.50		0.38%
Nifty 50	10,481.70		0.37%
S&P BSE 200	4,671.62		0.47%
Nifty 500	9,483.10		0.46%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,922.63		0.58%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,490.18		0.75%

3:41 PM

Sensex heatmap at close 

Source: BSE

3:21 PM

Buzzing stock

Aurionpro Solutions surged 15% to Rs 284, also its 52-week high on BSE in intra-day trade, after Cyberinc, the company's subsidiary, entered into a definitive agreement with KPMG LLP, USA, for sale of its Identity and Access Management (IAM) business. The transaction is expected to close on January 31, 2018.

 

“Cyberinc’s IAM business is the largest independent IAM provider in the world. The proposed sale will require participation of Cyberinc US, UK, Australia and Aurionpro India,” Aurionpro Solutions said in a regulatory. READ MORE

3:10 PM

PSU bank stocks rally on bank recap plans 

The Indian government on Thursday sought parliament approval for Rs 800 billion ($12.62 billion) extra spending to recapitalise state banks as part of a move to help lenders deal with bad debts and revive credit growth. READ MORE

Source: NSE

3:00 PM

Markets check

S&P BSE Sensex	33,920.50		0.38%
Nifty 50	10,481.70		0.37%
S&P BSE 200	4,671.62		0.47%
Nifty 500	9,483.10		0.46%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,922.63		0.58%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,490.18		0.75%

2:43 PM

What a widening fiscal deficit could mean

 

The Union government may fail to meet its fiscal deficit target in the current financial year. That, however, is not the real concern.

 

You could trust the ingenuity of the finance ministry mandarins to finally present a fiscal deficit figure for 2017-18 that will not be much higher than the target of 3.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

 

Some expenditure (read dues to public sector bodies like the Food Corporation of India) will be deferred, disinvestment, including the merger of oil companies, should get a last-minute big push, and state-owned companies may be asked to declare special dividends allowing them to transfer a part of their reserves to reflect in the government’s non-debt capital receipts. READ FULL VIEW

2:23 PM

How to make most of your money in an uncertain 2018

 

Making money in 2018 may not be as easy as the year that went by. To tide over the volatility expected this year, it would be a good idea to make a few New Year resolutions and stick to them. Most experts believe that investors need to tone down their returns expectations this year as markets may not continue to grow as they have in the past two years.

 

Even if you were not disciplined or organised, you would have still made money in the last two years. The broader indices, Sensex and Nifty, rallied over 30 per cent in last calendar year. READ FULL REPORT

1:54 PM

Top five Nifty gainers 

Source: NSE

1:24 PM

PSU banks in focus

 

Shares of public sector banks were in focus with the Nifty PSU Bank index up nearly 3% in noon deals on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after media reports suggested that the government may outline the details of PSU recapitalisation plan later in the day. 

 

At 12:15 AM; the Nifty PSU Bank index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 2.9% at 3,726, as compared to 0.29% rise in the benchmark Nifty 50 index. Nifty Bank index was up 0.43%, while Nifty Private Bank index up marginally by 0.5%. READ MORE

1:00 PM

Market Check

S&P BSE Sensex	33,902.79		0.32%
Nifty 50	10,475.10		0.31%
S&P BSE 200	4,666.44		0.36%
Nifty 500	9,475.80		0.39%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,881.19		0.35%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,489.29		0.74%

12:41 PM

Services bounce back to growth in December on fresh biz, reveals PMI

 

Activity in India's services industry bounced back to modest growth in December after contracting in the previous month, a private survey showed on Thursday, as new business orders stabilised and price increases slowed.

 

The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index, which is based on a survey of private sector companies in Asia's third-largest economy, rose to 50.9 in December from 48.5 in November. The 50 mark separates growth from contraction.

 

However, expansion in just some industries such as information & communications and finance & insurance primarily drove overall business activity. READ MORE

12:21 PM

FPIs avoiding taxes by treating capital gains from NCDs as interest income

 

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are nowadays categorising the gains from non-convertible debentures (NCDs) as interest income to benefit from tax arbitrage, a stark contrast to the earlier practice of showing such income as capital gains. 

 

Currently, the interest income of FPIs is subjected to five per cent withholding tax, against 15-20 per cent tax on capital gains, depending on the treaty. The amended Double Tax Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with several countries, especially Mauritius and Singapore, are the reason behind this shift, experts say. READ MORE

12:09 PM

Tata Steel, NMDC hit 52-week high; L&T, Hindalco touch record high

 

Tata Steel, NMDC, Oil India, Jain Irrigation Systems, Jet Airways and Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) are among 36 stocks from the S&P BSE 500 index that hit their respective 52-week highs on BSE.

 

Of these 36 stocks, around 21 recorded new highs in intra-day trade. These include Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Sun TV Network, Hindalco Industries, APL Apollo Tubes, Bajaj Electricals, Rain Industries and Sterlite Technologies 

 

Besides NMDC and Oil India, NHPC, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and SJVN from the public sector undertaking (PSU) hit 52-week highs on BSE. READ MORE

11:54 AM

Cargill to broaden India portfolio, invest Rs 15 bn in coming years

 

Cargill India is expanding its presence in the country and has prepared a plan to broaden its portfolio, which includes aqua feed and aqua premix, animal feed, plant for transfer fuels, strengthening edible oil brand, corn wet milling, and cocoa products for catering to the needs of chocolate making companies. Around Rs 15 billion in investments has been committed by its parent for the Indian market over the next few years. READ MORE

11:39 AM

Market Check

S&P BSE Sensex	33,872.67		0.23%
Nifty 50	10,461.30		0.17%
S&P BSE 200	4,663.59		0.30%
Nifty 500	9,464.25		0.26%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,893.09		0.41%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,470.45		0.65%

11:16 AM

BSE Smallcap index hits new high led by chemicals, cement stocks

 

The S&P BSE Smallcap index hit a new high of 19,486 on BSE in early morning trade after a strong gain in cement, metal, pharmaceutical, public sector banks (PSBs) and chemical stocks. The index surpassed its previous high of 19,445 touched on January 1, 2018 in intra-day trade.

 

UCO Bank and Dena Bank from PSBs, Orient Carbon & Chemicals and Meghmani Organics from chemicals, Sagar Cements and Shiva Cement from cement and APL Apollo Tubes and Kirloskar Ferrous Industries from metals and Unichem Laboratories and Eris Lifesciences  from pharmaceuticals have rallied up to 17% in intra-day trade. READ MORE

10:59 AM

Performance meter: India's largest equity-oriented MFs in 2017

 

In 2017, India's top largest actively managed equity-oriented funds did quite well and delivered an average return of over 32% at a time key stock indices returned about 28%. Not only these schemes have a long established performance track record, but also are among the most popular schemes among investors. 

 

With over 32% returns, these schemes have defied the logic that size of a scheme becomes a constraint. The pace with which these schemes have gained size is likely to continue as investors' preferences tend to rise. It is yet to be seen how comfortable will these fund managers be who are going through their first experience of handling such a large corpus of funds in single schemes. READ MORE

10:45 AM

SJVN, Unichem Lab surge up to 15% on share buyback plan

 

Shares of SJVN and Unichem Laboratories have surged up to 15% on the BSE in early morning trade after these companies announced that their respective boards will meet on Monday, January 8, 2017 to consider a share buyback proposal.

 

SJVN hit a 52-week high of Rs 39.65, up 15% after the state-owned electric utilities company said that its board will meet on January 08, 2018, to consider the proposal for buyback of the equity shares of the Company.

 

As of September 2017, the promoters held 89.97% stake in SJVN. Foreign portfolio investors hold 3.47% stake, followed by individual shareholders (2.1%) and bodies corporate (1.75%), the shareholding pattern data shows. READ MORE

10:24 AM

After 9 years and a $250 bn market cap, Bitcoin still awaits legal status

 

Bitcoin, the most talked about crypto currency, has entered the tenth year of its existence today.

 

Nine years ago on this day, Satoshi Nakamoto, founder of the world’s first and thus far biggest crypto currency had launched the Bitcoin network by creating the "genesis block," the first entry in Bitcoin's global transaction register. It includes the following text: "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks. READ MORE

10:04 AM

CEO Salil Parekh to earn a fourth of what Vishal Sikka signed up at Infosys

 

Salil Parekh will earn an annual salary of Rs 162. 5 million ($ 2.55 million)  as the CEO of Infosys, which is a quarter of what Infosys had signed up with his high profile predecessor Vishal Sikka, who quit the firm after three years in turmoil.

 

The compensation also reflects the reality at Infosys and its chairman Nandan Nilekani who would like the low profile senior executive to execute a vision of focused delivery for customers than over promise and under delivery that would be in contrast with the company's culture.

 

Sikka, who had a tumultuous three-year stint at Infosys, had signed up $ 11 million package including stock options. However, in fiscal 2017, the last of the three-year term, Sikka earned Rs 451 million ($ 7 million), after he struggled to grow business faster in a volatile business environment and the battle he was facing internally with the entrenched system at Infosys. READ MORE

9:41 AM

Sebi eases 'scheme of arrangement' rules for listed companies

 

Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday relaxed disclosure, promoters' share lock-in and listing related compliance requirements for listed firms undertaking 'schemes of arrangement' such as mergers and demergers, including those involving subsidiaries and their divisions.

 

The move is aimed at expediting the processing of draft schemes.

 

The decision has been taken after Sebi received representations suggesting improvements to the existing regulatory framework, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular. READ MORE

9:27 AM

Sectoral Trend

Source: NSE

9:20 AM

Top Sensex gainers and losers

Source: BSE

9:17 AM

Markets at Open

 

S&P BSE Sensex	33,912.30		0.35%
Nifty 50	10,486.05		0.41%
S&P BSE 200	4,663.87		0.30%
Nifty 500	9,439.35		0.00%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,840.22		0.12%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,428.15		0.43%

9:14 AM

Oil prices rise

Oil prices hovered at 2 1/2-year highs as the anti-government protests in Iran that began last week rattled Tehran’s clerical leadership and left 21 people dead so far, raising concerns about supply.

 

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures traded at $61.84 per barrel, having risen to as high as $61.97 a barrel, their highest level since June 2015.

9:11 AM

Top stock recos by Prabhudas Lilladher:

 

BUY NIIT 

CMP: Rs 108.65       

TARGET: Rs 120      

STOP LOSS: Rs 101

 

The stock has made a double bottom formation at around  91 levels and from there on has recovered with a good bounce and now has indicated a higher bottom formation like pattern in the daily chart to strengthen the on going gain. The RSI also has shown a trend reversal and has signified a positive bias. With good volume participation, we recommend a buy in this stock for an upside target of 120 keeping a stop loss of 101.

Click here for more

9:05 AM

Nifty outlook by Prabhudas Lilladher:

 

Nifty once again failed to cross the 10,500 mark and has been oscillating for quite some time between the range of 10,400 and 10,530 levels. As of now, there is an important support at 10,370 levels which if broken can see further slide in the market. However, the support for the day is seen at 10,380 while resistance is seen at 10,490.

9:00 AM

Few trading ideas by Tradebulls Securities (P):

 

ASHOK LEYLAND    

RECO: BUY

CMP: Rs 124

SL: Rs 118.30

TGT: Rs 137

 

HEXAWARE TECHNOLOGIES

RECO: BUY   

CMP: Rs 350

SL: Rs 342

TGT: Rs 372

 

Click here for rationale