Sensex, Nifty end flat after a choppy session; Nifty PSU Bank index falls

Catch all that happened in the market here

4:09 PM

Market rundown by Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services 

 

"Weak global cues remained a drag earlier in the day, but expectation of more positive measures along GST rates, this time on consumer durables, held markets afloat. Real estate sector continued to attract investor's attention against the backdrop of Cabinet's decision to relax interest rate subsidy criterion under CLSS scheme."

3:39 PM

Top Sectoral gainer: NIfty Realty index

Source: NSE

3:38 PM

Nifty PSU Bank index falls nearly 1%

Source: NSE

3:36 PM

Sectoral Trend

Source: NSE

3:35 PM

Top Sensex gaienrs and losers

Source: BSE

3:34 PM

Broader Markets

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices up 0.6% and 0.8% respectively

3:32 PM

Markets at close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 33,359, up 17 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,298, up 15 points

3:20 PM

Buzzing Stock

Shares of Strides Shasun climbed as much as 4.5% after the pharma company agreed to sell its India brand business to Eris Lifesciences.

3:07 PM

Oil market steady ahead of OPEC meet on Nov 30

 

Oil markets were tepid on Monday as traders were reluctant to take on big new positions ahead of an OPEC meeting at the end of the month, when the producer club is expected to decide whether to continue output cuts aimed at propping up prices.

 

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $62.47 per barrel at 0752 GMT, down 25 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close.

 

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $56.57 a barrel, up just 2 cents from their last settlement.

2:59 PM

Slips in trade

The Nifty PSU Bank index fell 0.87% after surging in the previous two sessions, including the 3.22% gain on Thursday.

2:37 PM

Europe Check

European bourses opened lower after preliminary coalition talks in Germany collapsed.

 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.01% lower with sectors moving in different directions.

 

In Asia, equities were mostly lower on growing doubts over US plans to update the tax system.

2:16 PM

Buzzing stock

Shares of Divis Laboratories rose 2.6% intraday as its Visakhapatnam unit received EIR from USFDA.

 

The company has received an establishment inspection report (EIR) from United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Unit-II at Visakhapatnam.

2:00 PM

Market Check at 2 pm

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	33,327.26	-15.54	-0.05
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	10,717.45	+0.85	+0.01
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	35,557.19	+31.30	+0.09
S&P BSE 100	10,745.51	+2.13	+0.02
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,741.36	+18.15	+0.49

1:49 PM

Dixon Technologies hits highest level since listing; up 15% in three days

 

Dixon Technologies (India) has moved higher by 7% to Rs 3,080 on the BSE, its highest level since listing on September 18, 2017.

 

In past three trading sessions, the stock appreciated by 15% from Rs 2,685 on Wednesday, November 15, 2017 after the Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company bought more than one percentage point stake in Dixon Technologies through open market.

 

On November 16, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company had purchased 180,000 shares or 1.59% stake of Dixon Technologies at price of Rs 2,700 per share on the BSE, the bulk deal data shows. READ MORE

1:36 PM

Asia's dividend payouts set for biggest increase in 6 yrs as profits surge

 

Dividend payouts by Asia's biggest companies are poised for their biggest increase in six years as profits surge and pressure grows on firms to be more generous with their shareholders.

 

Across Asia, dividend payouts in 2017 are expected to grow by 12 per cent year-on-year, a Reuters analysis showed, marking the largest increase in payouts since 2011.

 

That corporate generosity, driven to some extent by improving economic growth, is only partly reflected in the share price, analysts say. If, as consensus forecasts show, earnings growth stays strong into next year and 2019, there is plenty of room for Asian stock markets to rally beyond current multi-year highs. READ MORE

1:20 PM

83% of money-laundering cases since note ban related to shell firms, realty

 

The Enforcement Directive (ED), after investigating 3,700 cases of money laundering involving tainted assets worth Rs 9,935 crore, found that the Indian economy faces a bigger threat from cheating and corruption than it does from drugs and arms smuggling.

 

ED conducted a risk assessment exercise of these cases to show the number and type of cases booked after Narendra Modi-led demonetisation drive. Surprisingly, 83 per cent of the cases registered by the ED in the past one year related to financial institutions and real estate, reported The Times of India.  READ MORE

1:06 PM

Interview of the day

 

Ratings upgrade is a welcome move as it will bring down the cost of overseas borrowings for Indian corporates, especially the ones with high-cost domestic debt on their books, ARUN THUKRAL, managing director and chief executive officer at Axis Securities tells Business Standard. He also shares his market outlook for the next year and the sector preferences in this backdrop. READ FULL INTERVIEW HERE

12:54 PM

Buzzing stock

 

Eris Lifesciences has surged 7% to Rs 628 on the BSE after the company announced that it has acquired Strides’ India branded generics business for an aggregate cash consideration of Rs 500 crore. READ MORE

 

12:40 PM

How long can HDFC Life maintain the IPO zing?

 

Coming from the HDFC stable and that too an initial public offering (IPO) after 22 years, hopes were high on HDFC Standard Life (HDFC Life).

 

The company, too, didn’t disappoint its investors one bit. In fact, with listing gains of 19 per cent, HDFC Life’s stock market debut has far exceeded the show put up by ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (I-Pru Life) last year, or even the recent entry of SBI Life.  Interestingly, I-Pru Life is the market leader in the private life insurance space, with SBI Life taking the second spot, while HDFC Life trails both. READ FULL ANALYSIS

12:15 PM

Cement shares trade weak

 

Shares of cement companies were under pressure with most of the stocks down in the range of 2% to 5% on the BSE.

 

JK Lakshmi Cement and Shree Cement were down 4% each, while JK Cements, Birla Corporation, India Cements, HeidelbergCement India, The Ramco Cement, ACC and Amubja Cements were trading lower in the range of 2% to  3% on the BSE. On comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading flat at 33,334 at 11:06 AM. READ MORE

12:01 PM

Mayuresh Joshi on Moody's rating upgrade

 

The fact that India could sustain high growth at a time when the entire world was struggling is a testimony to the economy’s resilience. Remember, all this was done without letting the fiscal deficit out of control and adhering to the strictest standards of fiscal responsibility. To be fair, the one redeemable feature of this upgrade was that it was better late than never. READ FULL VIEW 

11:43 AM

Broader markets outperform 

The S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively. 

11:37 AM

Markets check 

At 11:35 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 33,367, up 25 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 10,284, up 0.75 point.

11:17 AM

HDFC Standard Life extends gain

 

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company rallied 4% to Rs 359 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade, extending its Friday’s 19% gain on debut, after the foreign institutional investor (FII) bought the stake in the company through open market.

 

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company soared as much as 27% to Rs 369 on Friday on its debut listing. The share closed at Rs 345, up Rs 55 or 19% from its Initial Public Offer (IPO) allotment. The company issued shares at price of Rs 290 per share. READ MORE

10:57 AM

India Inc faces commodity rally challenge to manage costs

 

The rally in commodity prices is about to complete two years and there are indications that prices will either consolidate or reach higher levels.

 

However, the rising commodity prices have posed a challenge for companies, especially consumer firms, which have to manage raw material costs. In the past two years, prices of most commodities are up between 30 and 100 per cent, and many companies are now working on active price management and hedging raw materials to protect both costs and margins. READ FULL REPORT

10:43 AM

Edelweiss Securities on Moody's rating upgrade

 

A rating upgrade is more than symbolic even as investors have remained upbeat on India for a long time (even when it was at Baa3) as was evident in the robust capital inflows! Recently, China was downgraded by Moody’s (Sep’17), South Africa was downgraded by Moody’s (Jun’17), Brazil’s outlook was revised to negative from stable – all of this suggests that India would definitely stand to gain from this development as it bolsters investor sentiment and allows investors to invest (or add to portfolio) in Indian local currency bonds. In fact, once some of the overhangs are behind us or even recede, the negative bias that has pushed yield on the 10Y north of 7.0% (from the levels of 6.50% seen around 3M ago), yields should recover to lower levels. The upgrade will also have a beneficial impact on corporate India borrowing, both onshore and offshore, as corporate will find it easier to borrow via the bond markets and diversify their investor base.

10:16 AM

Buzzing stock

 

Biocon surged 7% to Rs 420 on the BSE in early morning trade after the company said its facility received Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) with VAI (voluntary action indicated) status and closed the inspection.

 

The stock is trading close to its 52-week high of Rs 424 touched on July 19, 2017 in intra-day trade. READ FULL REPORT

10:06 AM

Marketc check at 10:05 am

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	33,339.30	-3.50	-0.01
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	10,715.94	-0.66	-0.01
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	35,454.28	-71.61	-0.20
S&P BSE 100	10,739.39	-3.99	-0.04
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,728.03	+4.82	+0.13

Source: BSE

9:47 AM

Moody's milder on India than S&P, Fitch

 

Moody’s Investors Service, which upgraded India’s rating by a notch after almost 14 years, has been more liberal over recent years in terms of rating the country’s ability to service debt, compared to peers Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. READ FULL REPORT

9:36 AM

Oil PSUs betting on natural gas as next big thing

 

India’s state oil refiners are planning an aggressive push into natural gas in coming years to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of making the fuel a bigger part of the country’s energy mix.

 

State-owned oil companies - Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum - are planning to raise gas contributions to between 5 and 15 per cent of their incomes over the next few years, up from nearly none now, company executives said. READ FULL REPORT