Sensex, Nifty end lower for 2nd session, down 0.8%; Infosys sheds 5.4%

Catch all that happened in the market today

4:00 PM

Analyst View

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services says: Market failed to retain its opening strength due to continued pressure on IT major, despite a premium buyback announcement. Furthermore, pullout of foreign funds and persistent miss in quarter earnings led the market to consolidate.

3:59 PM

NIfty Pharma fell for the third straight session, down 1.7% for the day. PEL, Glenmark Pharma, Dr Reddy's and Sun Pharma fell between 2-3.3%

3:45 PM

All sectoral indices ended teh day in red mainly dragged by PSU Bank, IT, Realty and metal indices

Source: NSE

3:43 PM

Nifty chart for the day

Source: NSE

3:40 PM

Top gainers and losers on BSE Sensex

Only 6 stocks were trading in green in the BSE Sensex. Infosys, Adani Ports, Dr Reddy's and Lupin were the biggest laggards on the index

Source: BSE

3:37 PM

Broader markets

Broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap down 1.4% and 1% respectively

3:36 PM

Markets at close

The markets ended lower for the second straight session after index heavyweight Infosys shed as much as 5.6% following Friday's about 10% plunge after Vishal Sikka resigned as the chief executive and managing director on the back of a fall-out with the company's founders. Multiple brokerages, including Nomura, also downgraded the stock.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 31,258, down 265 points while the Nifty50 index settled at 9,754, down 83 points.

3:26 PM

Asia Check

Asian shares were also fragile as investors remained unconvinced about US President Donald Trump's ability to fulfill his economic agenda, even as the departure of his controversial policy strategist raised hopes of some progress.

3:19 PM

Auto slips

Nifty Auto extended losses for the third straight session, down over 1% for the day. Only 2 of 16 stocks in the Nifty Auto index were trading in green. Amara Raja Batteries, Exide Industries, Bharat Forge and Tata Motors were the top losers on the index. 

3:10 PM

All sectoral indices were trading in red dragged by losses in pharma, PSU banks, metal and IT indices. 

3:04 PM

Markets check

 

The benchmark indices extended losses in the afternoon deals. At 3:02 pm, the Sensex was trading at 31,317, down 206 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,779, down 58 points.

2:50 PM

Jefferies on Sikka exit

 

The embattled Board of software major Infosys faces a daunting task in finding a suitable Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to succeed technocrat Vishal Sikka who resigned on August 18, US-based global investment bank Jefferies LLC has said.

 

"Given the acrimonious exit (of Sikka), the near-term challenge for the Infosys Board would be to find the right candidate for the CEO post and alleviate issues with the company's founder (Narayan Murthy)," Jefferies Indian arm said in a statement here.

 

"Interim challenges will also involve business continuity, especially with large clients, and preventing attrition in senior management and sales," said Jefferies India equity analyst Vaibhav Dhasmana in the statement.

Click here for more details

2:43 PM

Buzzing stock

Shares of Petron Engineering Construction gained nearly 3% intraday on the back of order win worth Rs 60 crore.

 

The company has received letter of intent from JSW Cement for an approximately value of Rs 60 crore

2:32 PM

Suven Life Sciences gains 

Suven Life Sciences gained 2.55% to Rs 164.95 on BSE after the company said it has secured a product patent in Japan. 

 

Suven Life Sciences announced the grant of one product patent from Japan corresponding to the New Chemical Entities (NCEs) for the treatment of disorders associated with Neurodegenerative diseases and these patents are valid through 2034.

2:14 PM

Broader Markets

Broader markets erased gains, in line with the frontline indices with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap down 0.8% and 0.4% respectively.

2:01 PM

The Nifty Metal index pared gains to turn flat after rising over 2% in intra-trade after Ratnamani Metal Tubes fell 2.5% followed by JSPL and Coal India, down 0.8%.

1:45 PM

Essar deal impact

Share prices of Essar Group's listed companies Essar Shipping and Essar Securities hit their respective upper circuits, up 20%, after the completion of deal between Essar Oil and Russian oil major Rosneft.

Click here for more details

1:29 PM

European Markets

European markets opened lower as investors remained unconvinced about President Donald Trump's ability to impose his ambitious economic agenda.

 

France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down up to 0.5%.

1:16 PM

Buzzing Stock

Blue Star was up 5% to Rs 751 on BSE in an otherwise range-bound market after the company announced that it has won mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) orders of over Rs 500 crore in India.

 

Blue Star booked Rs 160 crore MEP order from My Home Group in Hyderabad, towards the upcoming My Home Divija, a platinum-rated green building project in Hitec City, the IT hub of Hyderabad, the company said in a press release.

Click here for details

1:03 PM

Markets check

The benchmark indices extended losses in noon deals. At 1:00 pm, the Sensex was trading at 31,428, down 96 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,814, down 23 points. 

12:48 PM

Buzzing stock

V-Mart Retail zoomed 19% to Rs 1,459 on BSE in intra-day trade after the company more than doubled its net profit of Rs 22 crore in June quarter (Q1FY18), on back of healthy operational performance. It had reported profit of Rs 9.37 crore in year ago quarter. READ MORE

12:17 PM

TECHNICAL CHECK ON THE MARKETS

 

Technically speaking, the chart structure on medium time frame (weekly) has been distorted due to previous week’s corrective move. And the way ‘RSI-Smoothened’ has shaped up, we are of the opinion that the market would face strong resistance at higher levels and it would be a challenging task to surpass the 10000 mark. On the downside, the Nifty is likely to slide towards the daily ’89 EMA’, placed in the vicinity of 9670 – 9620.

 

(Source: Angel Broking)

12:15 PM

Infosys saga explained: Sikka's exit and erosion of shareholder value

 

The overhang on the stock will persist unless the fundamental issues are tackled well, says Dhananjay Sinha, head of research, economist & strategist, Emkay Global Financial Services. READ FULL ANALYSIS HERE

12:14 PM

RELIANCE SECURITIES ON NBCC

 

We continue to view NBCC as a robust growth story owing to its PWO status and niche presence in redevelopment of government’s old colonies. Further, a debt-free balance-sheet and superior return ratios augur well for the Company. We keep our estimates unchanged, as we believe the execution to witness a remarkable improvement in coming months. 

 

We expect 29% CAGR in NBCC’s earnings through FY17-FY19E backed by robust order book and likely execution pick-up in redevelopment projects. We reiterate our HOLD recommendation on the stock with an unrevised Target Price of Rs195 (30x FY19 EPS).

12:12 PM

MOTILAL OSWAL RESEARCH RECOMMENDS IDEA CELLULAR

 

We expect a revenue recovery from 3QFY18, by when ARPU downtrading should be largely complete and GST impact/seasonal weakness largely behind. RJio’s VoLTE feature phone launch at current pricing is unlikely to be disruptive. However, IUC reduction remains a key risk to ARPU stability.

 

Merged entity’s workings imply current EV/EBITDA of 8x (FY19E). Potential synergy gains could imply EV/EBITDA of 6.2x/5.2x by FY20/FY21E. Maintain Buy with a target price of Rs 110.

12:10 PM

Prabhudas Lilladher on Capital Goods sector

 

Q1FY18 earnings season for the Capital Goods sector was largely a mixed bag. Commentary on end markets like Power T&D led by SEB / Urban Transport / Renewable / Railways / Defence / Water / Genset / O&G was positive for the year ahead. Most players believe GST-led disruption is a temporary phenomenon and demand will recover in one-two quarters. 

 

Being on the cusp of a change, we prefer companies with sustainable competitive advantage and those which can deliver sustained earnings growth over the next few years. Our preferred picks are L&T, Sadbhav Engineering, Cummins India, Bharat Electronic and KEC International

12:08 PM

Nirmal Bang on Infosys

 

The key question long-term investors need to ask about Infosys is whether Dr. Vishal Sikka’s resignation is a setback to its plan to become a next generation IT services company which is so critical to creating value. We believe it is. We therefore maintain our Sell rating and cut our March 2018 target price on Infosys from Rs846 to Rs794

12:05 PM

VIP surges

VIP Industries rallied 11% to Rs 217, also its record high on BSE in intra-day trade, on back of an over 10-fold jump in trading volumes.

 

So far in August, the stock outperformed the market by surging 26%, as compared to 3% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Till 11:13 am,  a combined 1.54 million equity shares representing 1% of total equity of VIP Industries changed hands on the BSE and NSE.

 

11:32 AM

Infosys stock makes it to LIC 'buy list'

 

A senior official at Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) said LIC bought “a few thousand shares” on Friday, when the stock dropped as much as 13% due to the uncertainty created by the resignation of Vishal Sikka from the post of MD & CEO. READ FULL REPORT HERE

11:29 AM

Board vs founder war: Is Infosys stock a good contrarian pick? 

 

G Chokkalingam, Founder and Managing Director, Equinomics Research and Advisory recommends a BUY on the stock with revised target price of Rs 1,100 which is 15.7xFY2019E EPS. CLICK HERE FOR FULL ANALYSIS