MARKET WRAP: Sensex ends at fresh closing high of 38,024; Bankex up 1.3%

ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI lead charge on the 30-share index

3:47 PM

The Nifty PSU Bank index ends 2.98% higher. Top gainers:

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN( )	GAIN(%)
UNION BANK (I)	89.15	85.05	4.10	4.82
BANK OF INDIA	98.00	94.00	4.00	4.26
BANK OF BARODA	154.75	148.60	6.15	4.14
ALLAHABAD BANK	45.80	44.00	1.80	4.09
ORIENTAL BANK	81.05	78.15	2.90	3.71

3:43 PM

Nifty sectoral gainers of the day

3:39 PM

BSE Sensex: ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI among top gainers

3:35 PM

Market at close

The S&P BSE Sensex settled at a record high of 38,024, up 137 points, while the broader Nifty 50 index closed at a new high of 11,471, up 21 points. In intra-day deals, the S&P BSE Sensex hit a fresh all-time high of 38,076.23. The Nifty50 index, on the other hand, touched its record high level of 11,495.20.

3:18 PM

HPCL gains after strong Q1 earnings

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation rose 0.73% to Rs 284.45 at 10:45 IST on BSE after the company reported 85.91% rise in net profit to Rs 1719.21 crore on 26.12% increase in net sales to Rs 67331.52 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017. READ MORE

3:02 PM

Page Industries, Graphite India hit record highs on strong Q1 results

Shares of Page Industries and Graphite India have hit their respective record highs on the BSE, gaining 6% in intra-day trade on Thursday after reporting a strong set of numbers for the quarter ended June 2018 (Q1FY19). READ MORE

2:44 PM

Best is yet to come for NSE: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the best is yet to come for the National Stock Exchange (NSE), a bourse which he inaugurated as a finance minister 25 years ago. READ MORE

2:29 PM

Gold remains weak on muted demand, global cues

Gold prices dipped by Rs 5 to Rs 30,560 per 10 grams at the bullion market today due to tepid demand from local jewellers and a weak trend overseas. However, silver recovered by Rs 55 to Rs 38,970 per kg on scattered enquiries from industrial units and coin makers. Marketmen said subdued demand from local jewellers and retailers at the domestic spot market amid weak global cues kept gold prices lower. READ MORE

Gold

2:15 PM

Market Check

INDEX	LATEST	PREVIOUS	CHANGE	CHANGE(%)
	38045.41	37887.56	157.85	0.42
	15505.29	15450.35	54.94	0.36
	16340.79	16245.33	95.46	0.59
	16912.36	16868.20	44.16	0.26
	4452.88	4437.99	14.89	0.34

2:00 PM

Bandhan Bank hits new high; stock soars nearly 100% against issue price

Shares of Bandhan Bank have surged 7% to Rs 742 per share, their highest level since listing on March 27, 2018 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), on back of heavy volumes. The market price of the private sector bank jumped nearly 100% against its issue price of Rs 375. READ MORE

1:46 PM

Companies conduct analyst meets at the rate of two a day as markets soar

Reaching out to their investors seems a major priority for companies during this bull run, also the first one in which data on meets has been made available. Companies are conducting analyst and investor meets at the rate of up to twice or thrice a day, shows an analysis of investor meet disclosures collated by corporate tracker Prime Database (nseinfobase.com). READ MORE

1:29 PM

Top gainers in BSE 500:

COMPANY	PRICE( )	CHG( )	CHG(%)
HIND.CONSTRUCT.	12.78	1.29	11.23
REL. COMM.	19.84	1.48	8.06
VENKY'S (INDIA)	3229.90	216.45	7.18
NATL. ALUMINIUM	71.85	4.45	6.60
SOBHA	527.95	32.40	6.54

1:16 PM

Shortage of long product steel hurting EPC companies as cost goes up

With large integrated producers focusing on high margin flat steel production, the domestic steel industry is facing a shortage of long products that is hurting the margins of contracting companies. READ MORE

1:00 PM

Extended trading hours from October 1, says NSE CEO Vikram Limaye

On the occasion of the National Stock Exchange’s (NSE’s) silver jubilee celebration, its MD and CEO Vikram Limaye spoke to Somesh Jha to discuss the way forward and how the exchange plans to deal with the present set of issues. READ MORE HERE

Vikram Limaye. Photo: Business Standard

12:47 PM

L&T Infotech premium valuations to sustain, strong show leads to rerating

Given the industry-leading growth, robust deal pipeline and favourable tailwinds, analysts are now valuing the company at about 22 times (price to earnings or P/E ratio) from the previous 18-20 times one-year forward multiple. The L&T Infotech stock has been rerated after the company reported strong June quarter results. READ MORE

12:32 PM

Selan Exploration extends rally on stake hike by Dolly Khanna

Selan Exploration Technology has rallied 11% to Rs 278, also its 52-week high on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade after the investor Dolly Khanna bought an additional nearly one percentage point stake in the company through the open market. READ MORE

12:15 PM

Nifty PSU Bank index up 3%; SBI hits fresh 6-month high ahead of Q1 results

Shares of public sector undertaking (PSU) bank were in focus with the Nifty PSU Bank index gaining more than 3% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in an otherwise range-bound market on Thursday. READ MORE

12:00 PM

Markets at noon

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	38,018.02	+130.46	+0.34
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	12,010.78	+34.96	+0.29
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	33,997.45	+86.30	+0.25
S&P BSE 100	11,748.24	+33.47	+0.29
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,644.20	+39.56	+1.10

11:45 AM

BS Fund Cafe Regulation, distribution to drive growth, says MF houses CEOs

 

The importance of regulation in driving the now-soaring growth of mutual funds (MF), and in deciding how the sector’s potential plays out, came into focus during a panel discussion of top executives at the Business Standard Fund Café 2018, on Wednesday.

 

Nimesh Shah, managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, said regulatory effort had resulted in a highly transparent product. READ MORE

11:30 AM

ICICI Bank hits 6-month high, stock soars 6%

 

Shares of ICICI Bank hit a six-month high of Rs 337, up 6% on the BSE after the private sector lender on Wednesday, said it has made full disclosures about its bad loans and non-performing assets (NPAs) in its annual report, investor presentations and analysts’ calls.

 

The stock was trading at its highest level since February 8, 2018. It touched the 52-week high of Rs 365 on January 29, 2018, in intra-day trade. READ MORE

11:15 AM

Microfinance institutions plan to take IPO route to fund growth plans

 

After nearly a decade, microfinance institutions (MFIs) are again looking at raising funds through initial public offerings (IPOs) of equity.

 

The IPO of CreditAccess Grameen, a Bengaluru-based MFI, hit the markets on Wednesday. Those of at least two others, Muthoot Microfin and Spandana Sphoorty, are in the pipeline. Another entity, Arohan, is in the process of deciding whether or not to raise money through an IPO. READ MORE

11:00 AM

Top Nifty50 Gainers

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN( )	GAIN(%)	VOLUME
ICICI BANK	338.15	318.70	19.45	6.10	25902572
ST BK OF INDIA	317.50	308.70	8.80	2.85	17821845
AXIS BANK	609.30	596.30	13.00	2.18	5433797
HINDALCO INDS.	224.35	220.60	3.75	1.70	6417721
INFOSYS	1384.00	1362.75	21.25	1.56	1226665

10:45 AM

Cipla nears its 52-week high post Q1 results

 

Shares of Cipla have rallied 4.6% to Rs 662 per share on the BSE in early morning trade after the pharmaceutical company reported a 10% increase in its consolidated net profit of Rs 4.51 billion for the first quarter ended June 30 (Q1FY19), driven by healthy growth in domestic market. It had profit of Rs 4.09 billion in the same quarter year ago.

 

The stock was trading close to its 52-week high of Rs 663 touched on November 11, 2017 on the BSE in intra-day trade. It hit an all-time high of Rs 752 on March 10, 2015. READ MORE

10:30 AM

India's MF industry one of the costliest globally: Ex-Sebi chief UK Sinha

 

The asset management industry in India is one of the most expensive globally and there is scope for bringing down the cost of investing, said U K Sinha, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

 

While delivering his speech as the chief guest at Business Standard Fund Café 2018, Sinha said due to high costs, we are seeing assets moving away from actively managed funds to exchange-traded funds (ETFs). READ MORE

10:23 AM

Nirmal Bang on Cipla

The recent limited-competition approvals (generic Voltaren gel, Dacogen generic, Isuprel generic, Testosterone Cypionate generic) are yet to ramp up. We expect cumulative incremental contribution from these new launches at US$60mn, which should translate to an incremental EPS contribution of Rs 3.5 per share. US revenues, which stood at US$100mn during the quarter, should ramp up to a run-rate of US$120mn per quarter by 4QFY19.

We expect normalised EPS of Rs22.6 for FY19. India business is also expected to grow in the range of 12% to 14% in FY19.  We have maintained our target price on Cipla at Rs647 which is based on 22x FY20E EPS, but revise our rating to Accumulate (from Buy earlier) as the recent run-up in stock price lowers the return potential

10:15 AM

Weak US sales take toll on Lupin Q1 performance, stock slides 4.5%

 

Lupin’s June quarter (Q1) performance was significantly below expectations, and again stumped the Street. Lupin’s stock, which had outperformed the Sensex since July, thus fell 4.5 per cent on Wednesday.

 

With no immediate triggers, analysts say it may languish for some time. The Street was expecting strong growth in domestic sales to lift the company’s Q1 performance, amidst expectations of a marginal decline in US revenues. READ MORE

10:00 AM

Market Check

INDEX	LATEST	PREVIOUS	CHANGE	CHANGE(%)
	38022.47	37887.56	134.91	0.36
	15509.68	15450.35	59.33	0.38
	16325.18	16245.33	79.85	0.49
	16963.33	16868.20	95.13	0.56
	4452.51	4437.99	14.52	0.33

9:45 AM

CreditAccess Grameen IPO worth Rs 3.4 billion subscribed 25% on Day 1

 

Bengaluru-based company CreditAccess Grameen’s initial public offering (IPO) garnered 25 per cent subscription on Wednesday, the first day of the issue. A day earlier, the microfinance lender had allotted eight million shares worth Rs 3.4 billion to 21 anchor investors, at Rs 422 apiece.

 

Shares were allotted at the top-end of the IPO price band of Rs 422 per share.

 

Neuberger Berman, Eastspring Investments, Pictet, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Sundaram Mutual Fund and Citibank were among the investors that were made allotment under the anchor category. READ MORE

9:30 AM

BS Fund Cafe How to navigate markets in election year

 

Navigating the markets in an election year, challenges around generating alpha, and sectors that look most favourable were key talking points during a panel discussion involving the country’s top money managers. Most chief investment officers (CIOs) were unanimous in their view that the impact of elections on markets is short-lived and in the long run, earnings determine the market’s direction. READ MORE

(From left) Birla Sun Life MF co-CIO Mahesh Patil, HDFC MF CIO Prashant Jain, SBI MF ED & CIO Navneet Munot, UTI MF group president & head (equity) Vetri Subramaniam, Reliance MF CIO (equities) Manish Gunwani, and ICICI Prudential ED & CIO S Naren,

9:21 AM

Nifty sectoral trend