Nifty settles August F&O series above 9,900; Wipro top gainer

All that happened in Thursday's trade

3:55 PM

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services  

 

A tinge of caution held investors back ahead of F&O expiry, but expectations of better GDP numbers kept market buoyant especially as last quarter numbers were  trampled down by the demonetisation impact. Short covering was also quite visible swinging indices, especially after Wednesday’s rollovers came in at six months low.

3:46 PM

Sensex heatmap at close

Source: BSE

3:40 PM

Market breadth 

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,510 shares rose and 1,062 shares fell. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.

3:39 PM

Broader markets

The BSE Midcap index added 0.2%, while the BSE Smallcap index outperformed to rise 0.8%. 

3:35 PM

Markets at close

The Sensex ended at 31,730, up 84 points, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 9,917, up 33 points. Both the indices lost over 2% for the month.  

3:28 PM

Volatility index

India VIX slips 7% to 11.94

Source: NSE

3:24 PM

Earnings impact 

Ajmera Realty & Infra India spurted over 9% to Rs 213.35 on BSE after the company's consolidated net profit rose 107.96% to Rs 14.10 crore for the June quarter on 101.70% increase in total income from operations to Rs 90.36 crore.

3:14 PM

Nifty reclaims 9,900 in last leg of trade 

 

Here are top five gainers:  

Source: NSE

3:06 PM

Asian markets update

Asian markets settled mixed. Japan’s Nikkei closed up 0.7%, its best level in two weeks, helped by a pullback in the yen. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.1% on the day but was a modest 0.3% firmer for the month. China's Shanghai Composite ended little changed and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.4%. 

3:06 PM

European markets 

 

Europe’s shares extended their relief bounce on Thursday but were unlikely to avoid a third straight month of losses as they entered the last trading day of an unusually turbulent August, and a profit warning from Carrefour sank the retail sector.

 

the Eurostoxx 600 up 0.3% and London’s FTSE, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC40 gained between 0.25% and 0.4%.

3:01 PM

Markets check

At 3:00 am, the Sensex was trading at 31,678, up 32 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,901, up 17 points. 

2:41 PM

Demonetization dents RBI's finances: Kotak Economics Research 

 

RBI’s balance sheet showed negligible direct gains from demonetisation given that 99% of the banned notes have been returned to it. RBI’s earnings were negatively affected from rupee appreciation and domestic liquidity mop-up. Expenditure side increased due to higher printing and freight charges for notes and higher provisions for the contingency fund. The report highlighted that FY17 financial savings improved on the back of higher allocations to deposits, shares and debentures, and insurance funds.

2:26 PM

Nifty Auto sees mild gains a day after Cabinet approved cess hike on large cars

Source: NSE

2:07 PM

Bombay Dyeing zooms 49% in six sessions

 

High volumes were witnessed on the counter in today's trade. On the BSE, 25.10 lakh shares exchanged hands so far against the average daily volumes of 15.34 lakh shares in the past two weeks. READ MORE

1:53 PM

Lots of black money back in the system, says Jaitley 

 

A day after the Reserve Bank of India’s annual report stated that 99 per cent of high-value demonetised notes had come back into the system, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reiterated his note ban defence and said that illegitimate, unaccounted wealth had also found its way back. READ MORE

1:33 PM

Reliance Securities on HDFC Bank

 

Despite adverse operating environment, HDFC Bank continued to deliver strong performance on business growth as well as operating fronts. Its gross NPA and net NPA increased by 23.1% QoQ and 37.1% QoQ, respectively in 1QFY18. However, we are not much concerned over this marginal rise in gross NPA, as the headline NPA and PCR continue to remain best-in-class in the industry. 

 

We have upwardly revised our earnings estimates by 1.9% and 3.1% for FY18E & FY19E, respectively. We maintain our BUY recommendation on the stock with an upwardly revised Target Price of Rs 1,940 (from Rs 1,833 earlier) based on 4x FY19E Adjusted Book Value.

1:18 PM

Jaitley puts debtors on notice

 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday put private sector debtors on notice saying they will have to pay their dues to banks or allow somebody else to step in and take control of the business. READ FULL REPORT

1:01 PM

Buzzing Stock

Aksh Optifibre rose 4.88% to Rs 26.85 on BSE after the company announced that its services division has bagged a national level banking correspondent contract from Bank of Baroda.

12:44 PM

Outlook for Indian banking system stable: Moody's

 

Global rating agency Moody’s on Thursday said its outlook for the Indian banking system is stable on improved prospects for asset quality.

 

The progress in tackling the system’s legacy asset issues (stressed assets) offsets the significant capital shortfalls some banks continue to face.

 

"The outlook for the system is also in line with the stable outlooks for 10 of the 15 banks we rate in this system. It reflects a stable operating environment and improved prospects for asset quality, among other factors," said Srikanth Vadlamani, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Credit Officer. READ MORE

12:28 PM

Demonetisation demistified: Emkay Global on RBI's annual report

 

The fact that the total currency in circulation at Rs15.7tn (as on Aug 18, 2017) is still short of the Rs 17.3-lakh crore total supply of currency that existed before demonetization was announced in Nov’16 shows that despite the expediency shown by the central bank, the remonetisation process is incomplete even after 10 months of the demonetisation shock.

 

The impact on the wider economy has been stark and has lingered on for more than 10 months. It reflects in GDP growth decelerating to an average of 6.2% in Q4FY17-Q1FY18E from an average 7.7% in H1FY17 (prior to demonetization announcement). 

 

Credit growth slumped to a 6-decade low near 4.6% YoY in Mar’17, consumer durables growth has been negative since Dec’16 and shock to the Agriculture sector has culminated in widespread farm loan waivers

12:20 PM

Oil & Gas sector gains

The BSE Oil & Gas index witnessed an upward momentum during early morning hours on Thursday as the index advanced 0.7%. Indian Oil Corporation was contributing most to the index, gaining over 2%.

Among others, Indraprastha Gas was up 1.3%, Reliance Industries rose 1.2% and BPCL advanced 1%.

Source: BSE

12:05 PM

Fortis Healthcare tanks 6% 

 

Shares of Fortis Healthcare tanked nearly 6% on Thursday following news reports that the Supreme Court has refused to grant permission to the company's promoters to sell their shares that they have pledged with banks and financial institutions. 

 

Reacting to the development the stock slipped as much as 5.85 to Rs 145 on the BSE. 

 

Reaffirming status quo order against promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, SC reaffirmed that Singh brothers cannot sell both encumbered and non-encumbered assets in the company. The apex court also refused permission to banks seeking to sell pledged shares. READ MORE

11:50 AM

Defence stocks gained

Reliance Defence and Engineering was trading up by nearly 7% at Rs 57.70 per share on BSE while Walchandnagar Industries was also trading up by 4.22% at Rs 146 per share on BSE.

11:31 AM

Majestic Auto hits upper circuit

Majestic Auto hits its upper circuit, up 20% at Rs 122.4 after the company said it will consider sales of assets for an amount not exceeding Rs 300 crore.

11:16 AM

Buzzing Stock

Schaeffler India rose 13.07% to Rs 4,820 on BSE after the company said its board approved scheme of amalgamation of INA Bearing and LuK India with the company.

 

On the BSE, 2,592 shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with average daily volumes of 397 shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 4,998.85 and a low of Rs 4,719 so far during the day. 

11:00 AM

Central bank sees no bubble in stock markets

The central bank does not see a bubble in the stock market despite high valuations. 

 

“No bubble is detected currently when stock prices have reached historical highs. The current rally in stock prices seems to reflect the strong macro fundamentals of the Indian economy, easy liquidity conditions prevailing in the system and buoyancy in global markets. Nonetheless, a constant vigil of stock prices may be warranted at this juncture, keeping in view the ramifications for financial and price stability,” said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its annual report for FY17. READ MORE

10:44 AM

Q1FY18 earnings a disappointment but equities still best investment bet

 

The latest earnings season (first quarter of the financial year 2018 - Q1FY18) was a disappointment. The results suggest that the underlying conditions in several sectors and the broader economy continue to be weak. Q1FY18 net profits of the Nifty-50 Index declined by about 10% Y-o-Y, much worse than consensus expectations. There have been downgrades in full year expectations for FY18 post first quarter results, but we believe that the expectations are still elevated. 

 

Overall earnings growth in 1QFY18 was muted due to GST-related destocking and discounts in a couple of consumption related sectors and export/global oriented businesses continuing with the sluggish trend. READ MORE

10:27 AM

Delisted firms to contest BSE order
 

The promoters of at least two dozen of the 200 companies that have been compulsorily delisted by the BSE plan to file a writ petition against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the stock exchange. Their contention is that they are under liquidation and therefore not liable to follow the delisting process, which entails payout to minority shareholders.

Around 45 companies in the list of 200 are undergoing liquidation. These include Alpic Finance, Blue Bird, CFL Capital Financial Services, Dhanus Technologies, Koutons Retail India and DSQ Biotech. READ MORE

 

10:15 AM

Experts expect growth at 6%

 

Gross domestic product (GDP) numbers for the April-June 2017 quarter will be released later in the day today. Sandwiched between the government’s demonetisation programme and the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), most experts expect the GDP print to be around six per cent.

 

The economy clocked a 6.1 per cent growth rate in the January–March period — its lowest pace of growth in the past nine quarters, mainly due to demonetisation.

Click here for a quick compilation of what the leading brokerages and research houses expect

 

10:00 AM

Shareholders approve buyback

Wipro gains 1.5%, becoming the top gainer on BSE Sensex after the Board of Directors and shreholders approved the Rs 11,000-crore buyback of equity shares by the company

 

"The company has fixed Sept 15, 2017 as the record date for the purpose of detemining the entitlement and the names of shareholders who are eligible to participate in the buyback," the IT major said in a regulatory filing.