F&O Expiry: Sensex rallies 665 pts ahead of Interim Budget; IT, banks jump

Among sectors, the Nifty Bank index rose 1.75 per cent led by Axis Bank, State Bank of India (SBI) and HDFC Bank. The Nifty IT index gained 1.60 per cent led by Infosys, TCS and Tech Mahindra

3:38 PM

Top sectoral gainers and losers on NSE

3:38 PM

S&P BSE Sensex: Top gainers and losers

3:35 PM

Market at close

The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 665 points or 1.87 per cent to end at 36,257, while NSE's Nifty50 index ended 179 points or 1.68 per cent higher at 10,831.

3:19 PM

STOCK IMPACT

Emami slips 1% post Q3 results

3:17 PM

NEWS ALERT

Emami Q3 consolidated PAT at Rs 137.8 crore vs Rs 147.2 crore year ago

3:13 PM

5 factors that drove Sensex 500 points higher ahead of Interim Budget 2019

Markets gained ground on Thursday with the S&P BSE Sensex rallying over 500 points, or around 1.5 per cent, in intra-day deals. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the Nifty50 moved up around 1.3 per cent, or 140 points, to hit an intra-day high of 10,813.

 

Here are five factors driving the markets on Thursday

3:04 PM

STOCK IMPACT

Dabur gains over 1.5% post Q3 results

3:02 PM

NEWS ALERT

Dabur Q3 results: Consolidated net profit at Rs 366 crore, revenue at Rs 2,199 crore

2:54 PM

NEWS ALERT

Dabur appoints Mohit Malhotra as the Chief Executive Officer w.e.f. April 1

2:50 PM

Top gainers and losers on S&P BSE Sensex

2:43 PM

NEWS ALERT

Chalet Hotels fully subscribed; QIB 3.26x, HNI 0.96x, Retail 0.02x

2:38 PM

Airtel Africa completes $200-million funding deal with Qatar sovereign fund

Airtel Africa Thursday said it has completed an investment transaction of $200 million with the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). "We hereby inform that upon receipt of full issue proceeds ie $200 million, the said primary equity issuance by Airtel Africa Limited, UK has now been completed," Airtel said in a regulatory filing. The company on Wednesday announced that QIA, the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, would invest $200 million in Airtel Africa through a primary equity issuance. READ MORE

2:26 PM

Top gainers on BSE500

COMPANY	PRICE(rupees)	CHG(rupees)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
VENKY'S (INDIA)	2430.00	366.20	17.74	44247
EIH	204.10	24.20	13.45	198359
AVANTI FEEDS	348.50	32.10	10.15	175643
GRAPHITE INDIA	565.55	51.40	10.00	323424
HEG	2388.20	217.10	10.00	82440

2:16 PM

Axis Bank hits new high; Infosys nears its record high

Shares of Axis Bank hit a new high of Rs 710 apiece, rising 3 per cent on Thursday, thereby gaining 8 per cent in past three trading days on the BSE, after private sector lender posted a healthy set of numbers for the quarter ended December 31 (Q3FY19). The stock has surpassed its previous high of Rs 703 recorded on January 30, 2019, on BSE in the intra-day trade. Read more

2:07 PM

NMDC may not gain from higher global iron ore prices, say analysts

India’s largest iron ore mining company NMDC has lost about 22 per cent of its market value since mid-September on declining domestic iron ore prices. The company had to take price cuts over the past two months.

 

Moreover, concerns due to the halting of production at NMDC’s Donimalai mines in Karnataka, over mining rental issues, remain elevated. READ MORE

1:56 PM

Market check

1:43 PM

Factbox: Expectations for India's 2019-20 interim budget

The government will unveil its budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year on Friday, with investors expecting increased investment in areas such as agriculture, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tries to woo voters ahead of general elections to be held by May. READ MORE

1:29 PM

NEWS ALERT

DHFL's clarification: Company has not received any communication from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in relation to any probe against the company & therefore deny the contents of the news item

1:10 PM

IDFC Securities on Sterlite Technologies

Sterlite Technologies reported a strong revenue performance but margin miss was below our expectations. Margin miss was mainly due to change in product mix towards the service portfolio and they management guided range of 22%-23%. SOTL strong order book gives us confidence of strong momentum going forward. Due to delay in China mobile tender announcement, we expect the pressure to remain in spot pricing of optical fibre (OF) and expect long term contract of OF to be at $7.5 per km ($8.5 per km last year). Strong growth visibility (27%/30% EBITDA/EPS CAGR over FY18-20E) and healthy RoCE (27% in FY20E) should help SOTL sustain premium valuations. We maintain Outperformer rating with unchanged target price of Rs370 (25x FY20E EPS).

12:59 PM

Bharti Airtel Q3: ARPU may rise up to 4%, clarity on fund raising plans key

Telecom major Bharti Airtel is slated to announce its December quarter earnings today. The result will be watched for clarity on fundraising plans and commentary on competitive intensity. TIt had reported a 65.4 per cent drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 119 crore for the second quarter ended September 2018.

 

Bharti Airtel board in December 2018 constituted a committee to explore options for raising funds to strengthen the company's balance sheet. According to reports, the company has plans to raise around $2 billion. READ MORE

12:52 PM

Share buyback nod fails to lift Ajanta Pharma; falls 7% on weak Q3 results

Shares of Ajanta Pharma dipped 7 per cent to Rs 1,016 on BSE after the company’s consolidated net profit more-than-halved at Rs 67 crore in December quarter (Q3FY19), due to lower sales. It had posted a profit of Rs 147 crore in the year-ago quarter. READ MORE

 

12:50 PM

Why the 'angel tax' has left early-stage investors exasperated in India

About three years ago, Anup Kuruvilla left his corporate banking job in Hong Kong to return to Bangalore and assemble a group of wealthy individuals willing to place small, early-stage bets on fledgling founders.

 

1Crowd, the platform Kuruvilla and his partners helped set up, has 500 investors. Members co-invest with 1Crowd Fund, sharing the risks in mentoring young ventures: Some are bound to fold. The first successful exit, likely to occur when any of 1Crowd’s current stable of 21 firms goes in for Series B funding, is still some ways off. The name of the game is patience. READ MORE

12:34 PM

Shares of DHFL down over 14%

12:31 PM

Top gainers on BSE500

COMPANY	PRICE(rupees)	CHG(rupees)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
VENKY'S (INDIA)	2362.00	298.20	14.45	29420
AVANTI FEEDS	352.30	35.90	11.35	150890
EIH	198.35	18.45	10.26	141973
GRAPHITE INDIA	565.55	51.40	10.00	322543
HEG	2388.20	217.10	10.00	82274

12:16 PM

Rail stocks underperform; Titagarh Wagons plunges 57% in one-year

Shares of railways-related companies underperformed the market by falling up to 57 per cent in the last one year. Titagarh Wagons, Texmaco Rail and BEML have plunged over 40 per cent each on the back of the weak earnings and order inflow. ABB India and Siemens have slipped 23 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively, while Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Hind Rectifiers were down 8 per cent each on the BSE in the past one year. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex had gained marginally 0.11 per cent at 36,006 points at 11:30 am on Friday. READ MORE

12:00 PM

MARKET CHECK

11:46 AM

ICICI Bank shares rise on board decision to revoke ex-CEO Chanda Kochhar's financial entitlements

Shares of ICICI Bank Ltd gained nearly 3 percent on Thursday, a day after the private sector lender posted an improvement in asset quality and an investigation found former chief executive Chanda Kochhar had violated internal bank policies, reports news agency Reuters. READ MORE

11:36 AM

STOCK IMPACT

Indiabulls Housing Finance gains over 1% post Q3 results

11:33 AM

NEWS ALERT

Indiabulls Housing Finance: An interim dividend of Rs 10 per share of face value Rs 2/-, amounting to 500%, has been declared in the board meeting held on January 31, 2019.

11:29 AM

NEWS ALERT

Indiabulls Housing Finance Q3 PAT at Rs 986 crore vs 905 crore year ago