Sensex ends above 35,000 for first time, Nifty hits 10,800; banks, IT lead

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3:47 PM

Market rundown by Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services

 

"Widened fiscal deficit and increasing fuel price on account of volatility in crude prices dampened the market sentiment. Mid & small cap underperformed but silver lining was seen in IT index on expectation of turnaround in spending.  If the earnings season pick up steam as per the expectation of 15-20% YoY EPS growth for Nifty & Sensex in Q3, the underlying positive trend in the market will be maintained. "

 

3:42 PM

Top sectoral loser: Nifty Realty

3:40 PM

IT stocks rally, Nifty IT up 3%

3:38 PM

Sectoral Trend

3:36 PM

Sensex Top gainers and losers

3:34 PM

Markets at Close

 

Benchmark indices were rangebound on Tuesday as gains in IT stocks were offset by losses in oil refiners such as Hindustan Petroleum Corp, with sentiment dampened after data showed the country’s trade deficit widened in December.

 

The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 34,771, down 72 points while the broadeer Nifty50 index ended at 10,700, down 41 points.

3:25 PM

IPO nod

 

Speciality chemicals manufacturer Galaxy Surfactants has received capital markets regulator Sebi's go-ahead to raise an estimated Rs 1,000 crore through an initial public offer (IPO).

 

The company had filed its draft papers with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in November last year and obtained 'observations' from the regulator on January 12, 2018, the latest update with markets watchdog showed.

 

Sebi's observations are very important for any company to launch a public offer.

3:14 PM

BSE Smallcap, Midcap index under pressure; down 2%

 

Shares of mid and smallcap companies were under pressure with the S&P BSE Midcap and S&P BSE Smallcap index were down up to 2% on profit booking.

 

Uttam Galva Steels, Indosolar, Jaypee Infratech, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC), Kaya, Subex, Unitech, Electrosteel Castings and Equitas Holdings from smallcap index were down more than 7%. National Aluminium Company, Federal Bank, IDFC Bank, Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and IDBI Bank from midcap index down in the range of 5% to 8% on BSE. READ MORE

3:00 PM

Why Jaitley should not focus on growth numbers while preparing Budget 2018

 

Spare a thought for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. When Mr Jaitley presents his Budget next month, he must know that he doesn’t have a handle on the all-important number, namely, the growth estimate for India’s gross domestic product (GDP).

 

The growth in GDP (along with the inflation rate) determines the increase in tax revenue. It also determines the denominator in the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio, perhaps the most closely watched number in any Budget. Click here for full article

2:45 PM

GNFC slips 11% on closure of Dahej plant

 

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC) slipped 11% to Rs 481 on BSE after the company said that it has decided to close TDI-II plant at Dahej indefinitely following leakage.

 

“In the morning on 15th January, 2018, there has been a sudden leakage at TDI-II Plant, Dahej, which called for Plant shutdown at Dahej. Due to safety measures already put in place by the Company over a period of time, neither there is any property damage nor any loss of life,” GNFC said in a regulatory filing. Read more

2:30 PM

BNP Paribas sees value in Indian stocks even as indices hit new highs

 

By at least one measure, Indian equities look attractive relative to their regional peers even after posting new records in the new year.

 

That’s the view of BNP Paribas, which forecasts the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex to post its third annual gain in 2018, helped by a revival in company earnings and economic growth. Read more
 

2:16 PM

Bonds fall after RBI deputy governor warns banks of high interest rate risk

 

Bond yields spiked on Tuesday morning after a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said public sector lenders face risks of high interest rate from their large bond holdings.

 

The statement was seen by traders as hawkish and as a message asking them to bring down their bond holdings. Read more

2:02 PM

Market Check

S&P BSE Sensex	34,851.56		0.02%
Nifty 50	10,718.35		-0.22%
S&P BSE 200	4,750.37		-0.49%
Nifty 500	9,632.05		-0.70%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,851.97		-1.53%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,666.68		-1.90%

1:47 PM

Federal Bank dips 7% post Q3 results

 

Federal Bank dipped 7% to Rs 105 on BSE after the private sector lender’s gross and net non-performing assets in December quarter (Q3FY18) rose sequentially.

 

During the quarter, the gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose to 2.52% from 2.39% at the end of the second quarter of current fiscal. Net NPAs of the bank stood at 1.36% as against 1.32% reported in the September quarter (Q2FY18). Read more
 

1:33 PM

Over a quarter of equity mutual fund assets in top 10 stocks list

 

Equity mutual funds’ (MFs’) exposure to the top 10 stock holdings stood at Rs 1.76 trillion at the end of December, up from Rs 1.04 trillion a year ago. These 10 stocks account for 26.9 per cent of total equity assets under management (AUM), slightly below 27.1% in December 2016, data provided by Value Research shows. Because of robust inflows into equity schemes coupled with a sharp rally in stock prices, equity AUM (of pure-play schemes) have grown nearly 70% to Rs 6.5 trillion.

 

The exposure to top 20 stocks by equity MFs is Rs 2.5 trillion, or 38.15% of equity AUM, while that to top 30 stocks is Rs 3 trillion, or 45.33% of equity AUM. Read more
 

1:21 PM

Alert: Rupee plunges 41 paise to hit 3-week low, nears 64/$

1:15 PM

Sectoral Trend

1:00 PM

Budget 2018: Jaitley's speech, deficit data to decide rupee's fate in 2018

 

Don’t let the rupee’s strength fool you, strategists say. The rally that boosted the currency to the strongest in 32 months will probably be short-lived. 

 

The rupee is facing headwinds as elevated energy prices threaten to increase inflation and worsen public finances in a nation that imports most of its oil needs. Traders are also bracing for higher government spending as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to take measures in the February budget to revive an economy that’s forecast to grow at the slowest pace in four years. Read more
 

12:45 PM

IT stocks rally; Wipro, TCS, MindTree crosses share buyback price

 

Shares of information technology (IT) companies were in focus in other wise subdued market with most of the frontline stocks trading higher by up to 4% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

 

Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Infosys from the Nifty IT index were up in the range of 2% to 4% on NSE. Read more

12:30 PM

SBI to Sun pharma: Top 10 stock picks by mutual funds in December

 

As the year 2017 was nearing its end, India's equity fund managers were busy in shuffling their portfolios before the new year begins - which most see as a challenging year studded with lot of volatility.

 

Interestingly, after several years, two public sector banks (other than the mammoth State Bank of India) emerged as most chased stocks by fund managers. Shares of Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India were heavily lapped up as fund managers poured in over Rs 19 billion in the two counters. Read more
 

12:17 PM

BSE falls 5% as board approves share buyback via open market

 

BSE dipped 5% to Rs 931 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the company announced that its board approved the buyback of shares at a price not exceeding of Rs 1,100 from the open market through stock exchange mechanism.

 

“The buyback shall not exceed Rs 166 crore. The maximum buyback size represents 9.99% of the aggregate of the company’s paid up equity share capital and free reserves as at March 31, 2017, “ BSE said in a regulatory filing. Read more
 

11:55 AM

Sebi mulls review of graded surveillance measures to improve transparency

 

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is reviewing the process to bring companies under the graded surveillance measure (GSM) with a view to improve transparency, said two people in the know. GSM aims to tackle the surge in stock prices of companies with poor fundamentals or low market capitalisation witnessing abnormal price rises, and which are not supported by a significant improvement in financial or operational performance. READ MORE

11:36 AM

Banking Q3 preview: Private banks to outperform PSBs; bad assets to go down

 

The credit growth for the banking system has picked up marginally during the last few months. After hitting a multi-decade low of nearly 4% growth, corporate loans by private banks witnessed an uptick in the September quarter (Q2FY18) results. The latest data shows credit growth to be near nearly 10%, and with the last two quarters of the financial year normally being strong, overall growth is expected to be above this run rate for the entire year. However, the same old stories are doing the rounds and retail will continue to be a growth driver during the December quarter as well. Read more
 

11:16 AM

Nifty IT surges 3% as rupee falls

11:01 AM

Market Check

S&P BSE Sensex	34,796.16		-0.14%
Nifty 50	10,720.65		-0.19%
S&P BSE 200	4,752.48		-0.44%
Nifty 500	9,652.50		-0.49%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	17,921.51		-1.14%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	19,745.73		-1.50%

10:48 AM

Why Federal Bank could remain the preferred mid-cap banking stock?

 

Mid-sized banks have in the past year caught substantial investor attention, because of the benign valuations and improving performance metrics. Among them, Federal Bank emerged as the preferred mid-cap banking stock.

 

The bank’s robust leadership, ability to retain its dominance on home ground (Kerala) and yet effectively grow its presence in the retail and small business loan categories have been well-accepted by investors. Click here for full story

10:29 AM

HUL m-cap crosses Rs 3 trillion; hits new high ahead of Q3 results

 

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) hit a new high of Rs 1,388, up 1.6% on BSE in early morning trade, ahead of third quarter results of the current financial year (Q3FY18) on Wednesday, January 17, 2018.

 

The market capitalization (m-cap) of the fast moving consumer goods company touched first time Rs 3 trillion in intra-day trade.

 

Analysts expect a volume growth of in the range of 6% to 11% and EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) expansion of between 125bps and 320bps for Q3FY18. READ MORE

10:13 AM

30-100% returns in 1 yr: Hotel stocks are soaring & there's more steam left

 

Led by Indian Hotels and EIH, hotel stocks have been hitting their 52-week highs on expectations of strong December quarter results as well as a favourable demand-supply situation. Stocks in the sector, which have been laggards in recent years, generated returns between 30 and 100 per cent over the past one year.

 

The immediate trigger would be the December quarter results. Foreign tourist arrivals have grown 14.5 per cent in the December quarter after five consecutive quarters of single-digit growth. READ MORE

10:00 AM

Record Indian stock rally must price risk from robots, says UBS Group

 

Robots will eat into any economic boost India receives from its young population and markets aren’t pricing in these risks, says UBS Group AG. Stocks have been hitting fresh highs and while UBS predicts growth and jobs will increase over the next five years, it cautions that immediate risks are to the downside. A global shift toward automation could be a significant negative, leaving many underemployed or without a job. Read more
 

9:45 AM

These five shocks could thwart two-year emerging-market rally

 

Plenty of things could upend the two-year rally in emerging-market equities. Yet no one seems to agree on just what they are.

 

Of course, the bulls abound. Fiera Capital Corp., the Montreal money manager that oversees $123 billion, expects attractive returns for several more years. Research Affiliates, a sub-adviser to such firms as Pacific Investment Management Co., calls emerging markets the "trade of a decade." Read more