MARKET WRAP: Indices gain for 7th day, Sensex up 268 pts, Nifty tops 11,500

All that happened in markets today

4:12 PM

TECH VIEW: More gains in store

Nifty continued to show upmove today amidst a range movement and closed the day on decent gains. A small body positive candle was formed today with long lower shadow, which is signaling a positive bias for the market. Nifty moving above the high of Doji-type candle pattern of previous session indicates strength and lack of selling participation in the market. The short-term trend of Nifty is positive and more upside could be in store. Next resistance is 11,610

4:05 PM

MARKET COMMENT :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services

As the market gained strength towards closing following a range-bound movement, the rally was broad-based characterized by the outperformance of large caps. The rupee witnessed selling pressure following a continuous surge while domestic bond yields inched higher as investors awaited the US FED policy outcome scheduled to be announced tomorrow. RBI’s interference through open market operation will support banks while any further rate cut from their upcoming monetary policy will stimulate the rally

3:39 PM

Sectoral gainers and losers on NSE

3:39 PM

Top gainers and losers on S&P BSE Sensex

3:37 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex added 268 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 38,363 while NSE's Nifty50 index ended at 11,532, up 70 points or 0.61 per cent.

3:15 PM

Mindtree independent directors should guide shareholders, says IiAS

Corporate governance and proxy advisory firm IiAS has said the independent directors of Mindtree have a key role to play in the ongoing tussle between Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and Mindtree promoters to wrestle control of the company. READ MORE

3:00 PM

Heatmap: S&P BSE Sensex

2:46 PM

NEWS ALERT | Rupee falls sharply

Rupee slips more than 50 paise from day's high, trades at 68.86 against US dollar

2:44 PM

Dilip Buildcon, Manpasand Beverages, CG Power gain over 100% from Feb lows

Shares of Dilip Buildcon, Manpasand Beverages, and CG Power and Industrial Solutions were among five stocks that have rallied more than 100 per cent from their respective one-year lows touched in February. Sulzon Energy and Rolta India too have seen their market price more than double from their one-year lows on the BSE. READ MORE

2:39 PM

NEWS ALERT | Reliance Industries hits market cap of $125 billion

2:34 PM

Bata to clock about 15% annual growth in net sales in two years: Analysts

The stock of Bata India has surged 13 per cent after a healthy December 2018 quarter result, taking the one-year gains to about 98 per cent. The stock has outpaced the S&P BSE FMCG index that rose 4.7 per cent since February 12 and is up about 14 per cent in one year. READ MORE

2:19 PM

BlackRock sees emerging stocks almost recouping last year's loss

Gordon Fraser of BlackRock, who made the call to load up on Brazilian companies just before an election-spurred rally late last year, predicts emerging-market (EM) equities will recover most of their 2018 losses this year. READ MORE

2:09 PM

STOCK ALERT :: Mindtree sees biggest change open interest position

COMPANY	LATEST OPEN INTEREST	PREVIOUS OPEN INTEREST	CHANGE	CHG(%)
MINDTREE	4080600	3114600	966000	31.02
NTPC	57691200	45552000	12139200	26.65
JUBILANT FOOD.	4103500	3379000	724500	21.44
TORRENT POWER	2250000	1890000	360000	19.05
BANK OF INDIA	25824000	21720000	4104000	18.90

» More on OI Gainers

2:07 PM

Sector watch :: IT stocks trade mixed

COMPANY	LATEST(rs)	CHG(rs)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
INFIBEAM AVENUES	43.65	0.20	0.46	775008
INFOSYS	709.75	0.00	0.00	307717
FIRSTSOUR.SOLU.	45.65	1.05	2.35	234976
MINDTREE	946.00	-16.50	-1.71	204164
WIPRO	256.10	-1.60	-0.62	158827

2:06 PM

MARKET COMMENT :: Kotak Securities

The recent rally in the Indian stock market suggests that the market is quite confident about the ruling BJP-led NDA government returning to power post the 2019 general elections in April-May 2019. We do not find meaningful value in most parts of the market barring certain financial stocks and PSUs after the recent strong performance of several stocks across the capitalization spectrum. We would look to exit stocks and sectors with weak fundamentals and rich valuations

2:05 PM

Emkay maintains SELL on Ashok Leyland

We expect Ashok Leyland's revenue growth over FY19-21E to be muted at 4% CAGR due to a reversal in the MHCV sales cycle. EBITDA margin is likely to contract from 10.5% in FY19E to 7.6% in FY21E on lower scale, adverse mix, higher discounts and partial absorption of BS6 costs.

Overall, earnings to fall by 22% CAGR over FY19-21E. We retain our Sell rating with a target price of Rs72 (unchanged) based on 7x FY20E EV/EBITDA and the investment value in Hinduja Leyland Finance at Rs6/share

2:05 PM

Market check

2:04 PM

COMMENT :: Rabobank International on Bank of England meeting

We don’t expect the Bank of England MPC to change its policy settings at this week’s meeting. This will mean that Bank rate remains unchanged at 0.75%. The decision is likely to be unanimous

 

A number of recent speeches have suggested that the MPC adopted a generally more downbeat stance, spurred by Brexit uncertainties and a slowing global outlook. This is also being reflected in the slowdown of the UK economy to a quarterly pace of 0.2%. With inflation down to 1.8% as well, the MPC will find ample reason to sit tight for a while

2:02 PM

MUST READ :: L&T's hostile takeover bid for Mindtree gets thumbs-down from analysts

Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T’s) hostile takeover bid for Mindtree at Rs 980 per share in an all-cash transaction has got a thumbs-down from analysts. The hostile takeover, if goes through, will be a misfit for the engineering and construction giant, at least in the short term.

 

On Monday, L&T entered into a deal to purchase the 20.32 per cent stake of Mindtree’s single-largest investor, V G Siddhartha, at Rs 980 per share in an all-cash transaction. L&T now plans to buy an additional 15 per cent from the market at Rs 980 per share, for a consideration of Rs 2,434 crore READ MORE HERE

Main building of Mindtree, Bangalore branch | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

2:00 PM

NEWS ALERT | IOC declares second interim dividend at Rs 1.50 per share

1:57 PM

Top losers on BSE500

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(rs)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
JUST DIAL	627.50	-27.35	-4.18	522609
JET AIRWAYS	227.55	-9.45	-3.99	622341
JUBILANT LIFE	843.60	-30.00	-3.43	17932
INDIABULLS INTEG	296.00	-10.45	-3.41	3626
TUBE INVESTMENTS	390.00	-11.65	-2.90	3726

1:45 PM

Nifty PSU Bank index extends gains

1:36 PM

Equity balanced funds remain attractive due to fine long-term track record

Balanced funds, or aggressive-hybrid funds, which maintain an allocation of 65-80 per cent to equities, have seen considerable outflows in the recent past. Assets under management (AUM) shrunk from Rs 1,83,220.08 crore in August 2018 to Rs 1,66,874.08 crore, a fall of 20.38 per cent. READ MORE

1:28 PM

Ericsson teaches Anil Ambani and India's nascent bankruptcy system a lesson

While the future of the Indian tycoon’s shrinking empire remains shrouded in uncertainty, at least questions over his near-term living arrangements got answered on Monday. READ MORE

1:13 PM

21 securities hit 52-week high on NSE

ABSLNN50ET	Aditya Birla Sun Life Nifty Next 50 ETF	334.00	329.00	27-Dec-2018	295.00	295.00	0.00	0.00
ALOKTEXT	Alok Industries Limited	6.05	5.80	18-Mar-2019	6.05	5.80	0.25	4.31
ARVINDFASN	Arvind Fashions Limited	872.90	831.35	18-Mar-2019	872.90	831.35	41.55	5.00
AXISBANK	Axis Bank Limited	759.00	756.00	18-Mar-2019	753.65	751.60	2.05	0.27
BILENERGY	Bil Energy Systems Limited	2.50	2.40	18-Mar-2019	2.50	2.40	0.10	4.17

(Click here to view the chart)

1:01 PM

Goldman Sachs upgrades India to 'overweight' amid pre-election rally

Goldman Sachs expects India's NSE index to reach 12,500 level in the next 12 months, up from its previous target of 11,700. The brokerage also upgraded its view on state-run banks, industrials and auto sectors to "overweight". Meanwhile, it downgraded technology, metals and non-banking financial sectors to "underweight". READ MORE

12:59 PM

Centrum Broking on Consumption sector

As New Rural comprises ~45% of India’s population, their consumption shifts are driving the structural changes towards non-food. In our view, companies that have re-aligned distribution and products to New Rural post GST will be winners. We initiate coverage on Asian Paints, Dabur, Bajaj Consumer and Britannia with Buy ratings, Hindustan Unilever with a Hold rating and Colgate-Palmolive with a Sell rating.

12:49 PM

Risk-reward, Aleris' acquisition turning favourable for Hindalco Industries

Hindalco Shares of Hindalco have rebounded about 8 per cent from its lows in mid-February this year. A strong December quarter performance reported recently by Aleris and an equally healthy future outlook indicates the acquisition of Aleris will be value-accretive for Hindalco. READ MORE

12:37 PM

Auto shares trade weak on concerns of production cut due to slower demand

Shares of automobiles companies were trading weak for the second straight day on concerns of production cut due to slower demand. TVS Motor Company, Eicher Motors and Hero MotoCorp dipped in the range of 2 to 3 per cent, while Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki India were down 1 per cent each on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). READ MORE

12:34 PM

Motilal Oswal Financial Services on GAIL

GAIL is trading at 12.2x FY20 EPS of INR29.4 and 7.3x FY20 EV/EBITDA. Due to concerns on LPG, trading and petrochem segments, we value the stock at 9x FY21 EPS while adding contribution from the investment to arrive at a target price of Rs 348. We reiterate Neutral rating on the stock.