MARKET WRAP: Sensex jumps 404 pts, ends 9-day losing streak; IT, banks gain

All that happened in markets today

4:07 PM

COMMENT :: Sahaj Agrawal, Kotak Securities

Markets are in a consolidative move with the broader range seen at 10400-11100. We expect a lot of range bound activity going ahead with stock specific activity is expected for the near term. We expect the markets to bottom around the 10400 mark before resuming its uptrend.  Investors can gradually accumulate select stocks for an expected breakout on the higher side

4:06 PM

MARKETS TODAY :: Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking

The Indian equity benchmark indices ended its nine-day losing streak amid supportive global cues today. The Nifty index opened in the green and traded with a positive bias throughout the session and touched an intra-day high of 10,753. It finally closed 131 points higher at 10,736 (up 1.2%). The broader market indices BSE Midcap and BSE-Smallcap too ended with healthy gains. All the sectoral indices witnessed strong buying interest with Metal, Oil & Gas and Power being the top gainers in the range of 1.5-3.0%.

 

Going forward, we expect markets to take cues from global developments in the absence of any key domestic triggers in the near term. Outcome of US-China trade talks, release of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes (to provide stance on monetary policy) as well as progress on Brexit deal will give further direction to the markets. Investors will also keep an eye on crude oil price and rupee/dollar movement. Meanwhile, we advise investors to focus on fundamentally sound stocks and maintain a stock specific approach, while traders should avoid risky leveraged positions

3:39 PM

Sectoral gainers of the day on NSE

3:35 PM

Gainers and losers of the day on S&P BSE Sensex

3:34 PM

Market at close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,756, up 404 points or 1.1 per cent, while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,735, up 131 points or 1.2 per cent.

3:20 PM

Silver futures rise 0.16% on global cues

Silver futures traded higher by 0.16 per cent to Rs 40,620 per kg Wednesday after speculators raised bets, driven by a firm trend overseas. Silver for delivery in March traded higher by Rs 63, or 0.16 per cent, to Rs 40,620 per kg in a business turnover of 1,234 lots at the Multi Commodity Exchange. READ MORE

3:02 PM

Karvy Stock Broking on Bajaj Electricals

Recommendation: BUY

CMP: Rs 442

Target Price: Rs 540

 

We expect the durable segment to post a growth of 20-25% on the back of strong volume pick up from Tier II and Tier III cities. Also the EPC segment to contribute 50% of total revenues and significantly degrow in the coming years due to absence of UP projects. We value the company at 22x for FY20 and arrive at a target price of Rs. 540 giving an upside of 26%.

3:02 PM

Karvy Stock Broking on Bajaj Electricals

Recommendation: BUY

CMP: Rs 442

Target Price: Rs 540

 

We expect the durable segment to post a growth of 20-25% on the back of strong volume pick up from Tier II and Tier III cities. Also the EPC segment to contribute 50% of total revenues and significantly degrow in the coming years due to absence of UP projects. We value the company at 22x for FY20 and arrive at a target price of Rs. 540 giving an upside of 26%.

2:59 PM

FDI equity inflows fall 7% to $33.5 bn in first nine months of FY19

In some bad news for the Modi government, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows to India from April to December 2018 have declined by seven per cent. Latest figures released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) shows that India managed to attract almost $33.5 billion from April to December 2018. In the same period in 2017, India’s FDI equity flows stood at almost $36 billion. READ MORE

 

2:49 PM

Centrum on Ambuja Cements

We value ACEM using SOTP: standalone ACEM at 11x CY20E EBITDA and its 50% holding in ACC at a 20% discount to our ACC target valuation, leading to a revised SOTP target price of Rs220 (Rs230 earlier). We maintain Buy on the stock, as the recent corrections of 13%/23% over the past 6/12 months, keeps valuation attractive. ACEM trades at 11.2x/9.7x CY19/20E EBITDA and at a replacement cost of Rs7.8bn/MT.

2:49 PM

ICICI Securities on Tata Motors

Going forward, challenging times may persist for TML and we would await the commentary of global OEM as well as closely watch Brexit developments before any meaningful upgrade in our estimates. We value TML on SOTP basis with domestic operations contributing Rs 108 (6x EV/EBITDA), JLR contributing Rs 13/share (2.2x EV/EBITDA) and others at Rs 24. We arrive at a target price of Rs 145 and maintain our HOLD rating.

2:48 PM

ICICI Securities on V Guard

Company has initiated price hikes (~2-5%) to combat high input costs that would benefit it in coming quarters. Further, ad spends returning to normal 4-4.5% level vs. ~5% would help drive EBITDA margins. We introduce FY21E estimates & model revenue, earning CAGR of ~14%, 18%, respectively, in FY18-21E. We believe key trigger for topline growth would be sales improvement of its flagship products while profitability would be driven by gross margin recovery

2:46 PM

HDFC Securities on IT sector

Key   positives  for the sector include (1) Rapid pivot to digital (32% YoY in  3Q),   (2) Robust  deal  trends (hitting new highs in deal bookings and pipeline),  (3)  Strong  hiring momentum indicative of demand buoyancy, and (4)  Revival  in core vertical (BFSI), albeit captive pressure looms. While positives   outweigh   concerns,  potential  risks  lurk in the form of (1) Slowdown  in  core geography (US) and worsening macros impacting tech spend (digital   becoming   non-discretionary   is   an   offset),   (2)   Brexit repercussions,  (3) Margin challenge from talent supply crunch and captives driving  up  wages  and  sub-contracting  spike,  and (4) Regulatory policy changes in visas (mitigated by higher localisation)

2:43 PM

Most active stocks by volume (BSE500)

COMPANY NAME	LATEST	HIGH	LOW	CHG (rs)	CHG(%)	VALUE (rs CR)	VOLUME
REL. COMM.	5.59	6.17	5.45	-0.43	-7.14	4.03	7206488
RELIANCE POWER	10.75	11.15	10.25	-0.10	-0.92	5.51	5123492
JP ASSOCIATES	5.12	5.25	5.02	0.11	2.20	2.38	4650006
SUZLON ENERGY	3.57	3.65	3.55	0.05	1.42	1.17	3274351
VIJAYA BANK	39.75	40.55	39.70	0.05	0.13	12.49	3142225

 

2:35 PM

Top gainers on BSE500

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(rs)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
MINDA INDS.	326.00	39.20	13.67	104051
TEJAS NETWORKS	143.65	16.80	13.24	40324
PTC INDIA	79.20	5.15	6.95	57048
NAVKAR CORPORAT.	39.60	2.30	6.17	37359
JINDAL STEEL	149.20	7.95	5.63	1718331

2:23 PM

How Anil Ambani could arrange funds needed to comply with the SC order

Holding Reliance Communications (RCom) Chairman Anil Ambani and two of the company’s directors guilty of contempt of court, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed RCom to pay within four weeks Rs 453 crore of the Rs 571 crore it owes telecom equipment maker Ericsson. A failure to do so could land Ambani and the other two in jail for three months.

 

The Court was hearing three contempt applications that Ericsson had filed against Ambani and others for not clearing its dues. READ MORE

2:16 PM

Page Industries slips 16% in a week post Q3 result; stock nears 52-week low

Shares of Page Industries were trading lower for the fifth straight day, slipping 5 per cent to Rs 20,414 apiece. The stock has fallen 16 per cent in the past one week after the December 2018 (Q3FY19) results. The stock was trading near its 52-week low of Rs 20,102 touched on March 7, 2018, on the BSE in intra-day trade. READ MORE

1:59 PM

MARKET CHECK

1:49 PM

Nifty Realty index is trading lower after GST Council meet outcome

1:42 PM

Arun Jaitley says will try and take decision on real estate on Sunday

1:39 PM

GST Council defers decision to revise rates on real estate, according to TV reports

1:32 PM

Top gainers and losers on S&P BSE Sensex

1:13 PM

Page Industries slips 16% in a week post Q3 result; stock nears 52-week low

Shares of Page Industries were trading lower for the fifth straight day, slipping 5 per cent to Rs 20,414 apiece. The stock has fallen 16 per cent in the past one week after the December 2018 (Q3FY19) results. The stock was trading near its 52-week low of Rs 20,102 touched on March 7, 2018, on the BSE in intra-day trade.

Page Industries is the exclusive licensee of Jockey International Inc. (USA) for manufacture distribution and marketing of the JOCKEY brand in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, UAE, Oman and Qatar. READ MORE

1:03 PM

Web Exclusive | Reliance Communications erodes 95% of shareholder wealth since listing

Shares of Reliance ADAG companies came under heavy selling pressure on Wednesday, after the Supreme Court of India held the chairman and two directors guilty of contempt of court on three contempt applications filed by Telecom equipment maker Ericsson against him over not clearing dues of Rs 550 crore.

 

The apex court has asked RCom to pay Rs 453 crore to Ericsson within four weeks, failing which, Anil Ambani, Reliance Telecom chairman Satish Seth and Reliance Infratel chairperson Chhaya Virani would face a three-month jail term. READ MORE
 

12:49 PM

Reliance Securities on Ambuja Cements

RATING: BUY

CMP: Rs 198

Target Price: Rs 242

 

Ambuja Cements' capacity expansion programme is moving as per schedule, which has eased the concerns of capacity constraints for the company. Notably, the Company has appointed Mr. Bimlendra Jha (ex- CEO of Tata Steel UK) as the MD & CEO with effect from 1st Mar’19. Further, recent spike in realisation in Western markets and spill-over favourable impact of reduction in fuel prices are likely to aid ACEM’s operational performance from the current quarter. Rolling over our estimates to CY20E, we maintain our BUY recommendation on the stock with a revised SOTP-based Target Price of Rs 242 (from Rs 235 earlier).

12:43 PM

Motilal Oswal on Automobiles

While next 2 quarters are expected to be muted, we expect the CV demand to continue growing in FY20 driven by normalization of financing issues and pre-buying ahead of the BS6 implementation. Moreover, potential mandatory scrapping of trucks older than 20 years from Apr-20 onwards can more than off-set the impact of pre-buying in FY21. In the base case, we estimate domestic M&HCV volumes CAGR of 1.7% over FY19-21 (based on 15%/15%/-10% growth in FY19/20/21 and assuming no scrappage policy). Capacity utilization will further increase to ~88% by FY20 supporting a benign competitive environment and relatively less pressure in weak FY21. In CVs, our preferred pick is AL, a pure play in the domestic M&HCV cycle along with focus on expanding/creating new revenue/profit pool.

12:40 PM

Top losers on BSE500

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(rs)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
PNC INFRATECH	132.95	-10.10	-7.06	3198
RELIANCE CAPITAL	141.40	-10.10	-6.67	2250938
REL. COMM.	5.64	-0.38	-6.31	5980716
RELIANCE INFRA.	116.25	-5.95	-4.87	1754653
KAVERI SEED CO.	401.85	-19.60	-4.65	993801

12:32 PM

Shutting out foreign funds hurts India's bad-debt market, says BofA

India’s distressed debt market is being hobbled by rules that bar foreign funds from directly buying up bank loans, according to Bank of America Corp. In the past year, the US lender has had to team up with local asset reconstruction companies to purchase loans made to firms including Seven Hills Hospitals and GTL Infrastructure Ltd. that had soured. As it scouts for more opportunities in the nation with the world’s worst non-performing debt ratio, the requirement for local partners is a hindrance, said Jayesh Mehta, country treasurer at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. READ MORE

12:12 PM

Exide Industries hits 52-wk low; down 28% in two months on weak Q3 results

Shares of Exide Industries hit a 52-week low of Rs 195 apiece, down 5 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade in an otherwise firm market. In the past two months, the stock of auto ancillary company slipped 28 per cent on reporting weak December 2018 results (Q3FY19). In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 2.3 per cent during the same period. In Q3FY19, Exide Industries reported flat net profit at Rs 155 crore, due to lower other income and higher tax rate. It had a profit of Rs 154 crore in the year-ago quarter. READ MORE

11:59 AM

Market check