F&O expiry: Sensex slips 38 pts at 35,867, Nifty at 10,792; IT stocks drag

All that happened in the markets today

3:55 PM

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

Market continued the range bound movement due to F&O expiry, while mid & small cap outperformed as investors believe that border tensions will not continue for long. Additionally, focus is likely to shift to economic data and possibility of pre-election rally while FIIs inflow is picking up and rupee is gaining strength

3:51 PM

Sectoral trend on NSE

3:50 PM

Top gainers and losers on S&P BSE Sensex at close

3:32 PM

Market at close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,867, down 38 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,792, down 14.20 points.

3:24 PM

Sugar stocks extend rally; Uttam, Dhampur Sugar gain over 50% in one month

Shares of sugar companies such as Uttam Sugar Mills, DCM Shriram Industries, Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries, Avadh Sugar & Energy, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries, Mawana Sugars and Ugar Sugar Works rallied up to 16 per cent on Thursday in the intra-day trade on the back of positive development in the sector. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.20 per cent at 35,977 levels at 02:51 pm. READ MORE

3:04 PM

Top losers on BSE500

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(rs)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
RAIN INDUSTRIES	91.40	-6.50	-6.64	307941
SWAN ENERGY	118.75	-7.40	-5.87	54601
RELIANCE INFRA.	123.35	-4.65	-3.63	2010744
ENDURANCE TECH.	1297.45	-45.15	-3.36	8861
VINATI ORGANICS	1421.00	-48.60	-3.31	5200

2:52 PM

REC announces interim dividend of Rs 11 per share

Board approves raising market borrowing programme under debt segments to Rs 85,000 crore. The interim dividend will be paid/dispatched on March 19.

2:48 PM

OIL MARKET :: Jy Lim, director of Asia-Pacific oil market analysis, S&P Global Platts

Heavier maintenance program is to be expected this year, which will affect refinery throughput. This, coupled with robust domestic demand (expected to grow at 235 MB/D for the year as a whole), would likely pull India’s total oil product exports below the 1.2 MMB/D mark this year for the first time since 2010

2:39 PM

Weak demand, intense competition may dent Hero MotoCorp's margins

A muted wedding season, coupled with increasing competitive intensity and market share loss, is expected to weigh on Hero MotoCorp’s sales and margins. India’s largest two-wheeler maker is expected to report a 13 per cent year-on-year fall in volumes this month, the highest decline as compared to peers.

 

Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor are expected to register sales growth of three to 15 per cent. After weak sales in the December quarter and in January, retail sales (barring South India) continues to fall, by 8 to 10 per cent, believes Motilal Oswal Securities. READ MORE

2:26 PM

TOP LOSERS :: BSE IT index

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	LOSS(rs)	LOSS(%)	VOLUME
TCS	2007.40	2053.75	-46.35	-2.26	193743
INFIBEAM AVENUES	35.65	36.25	-0.60	-1.66	918105
R S SOFTWARE (I)	27.10	27.50	-0.40	-1.45	6109
3I INFOTECH	3.40	3.44	-0.04	-1.16	160142
NIIT	80.70	81.55	-0.85	-1.04	47544

2:23 PM

Contribution to Sensex

COMPANY	LATEST	CHG(RS)	CHG(%)	FREE FLOAT MKT CAP (RS CR)	CONTRIBUTION (POINTS)
RELIANCE INDS.	1236.70	14.25	1.17	418431.50	50.38
INFOSYS	740.00	5.30	0.72	279239.95	20.81
HDFC BANK	2098.65	7.05	0.34	449765.23	15.64
ST BK OF INDIA	270.20	2.95	1.10	100174.17	11.42
COAL INDIA	226.80	5.45	2.46	37098.28	9.43

2:15 PM

Odisha Cement slips 6% on illegal transfer of MF units worth Rs 344 crore

Shares of Dalmia Bharat Group company Odisha Cement slipped 6 per cent to Rs 1,141 apiece on the BSE in intra-day trade on Thursday, after the company informed regulators about the illegal transfer of mutual fund units worth Rs 344 crore by a Depository Participant (DP). READ MORE

2:00 PM

Heatmap: S&P BSE Sensex

1:41 PM

Top losers on BSE500

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(rs)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
RAIN INDUSTRIES	91.80	-6.10	-6.23	274961
SWAN ENERGY	119.20	-6.95	-5.51	48479
VINATI ORGANICS	1398.00	-71.60	-4.87	4128
RELIANCE INFRA.	122.85	-5.15	-4.02	1664072
ENDURANCE TECH.	1298.00	-44.60	-3.32	8639

1:33 PM

Lok Sabha election uncertainty to keep India's stock markets jittery: Poll

How Indian shares fare this year will depend heavily on the outcome of national elections in May, with market experts polled by Reuters saying a majority win for the ruling party would be the most favourable outcome for equities. Since hitting a record high of 38,989.65 on Aug. 29, the BSE Sensex index has fallen roughly 8 percent. This year, it is down about 0.3 percent, as there has not been the kind of recovery from late 2018’s deep equities sell-off that other major stock indexes have had. READ MORE

1:19 PM

A2Z Infra hits 5-month high; stock surges 66% in three weeks

Shares of A2Z Infra Engineering locked in upper circuit of 5 per cent at Rs 16.83 apiece on the BSE, hitting a five-month high, on improved quarterly financial results and settlement of dues with the State Bank of India (SBI). The stock was trading at its highest level since September 25, 2018. In the past three weeks, it has zoomed 66 per cent from Rs 10.14 after the company reported strong operational performance in the December quarter (Q3FY19). In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 2 per cent during the same period. READ MORE

1:12 PM

US Pres Donald Trump says

1:11 PM

Global indices

INDEX	DATE	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	CHG(PTS)	CHG(%)
HANG SENG	27-02-2019	28757.44	28772.06	-14.62	-0.05
TAIWAN WEIGHTED	27-02-2019	10389.17	10391.55	-2.38	-0.02
KOSPI	27-02-2019	2234.79	2226.60	8.19	0.37
ALL ORDINARIES	27-02-2019	6233.59	6209.04	24.55	0.40
SHANGHAI COMPOSITE	27-02-2019	2953.82	2941.51	12.31	0.42

1:11 PM

Trump says hopefully India, Pakistan conflict coming to an end

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he hoped the conflict between India and Pakistan will be coming to an end, after the two nuclear powers clashed across a contested border in the disputed Kashmir region. Speaking at a news conference in Vietnam after a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump said he had some “reasonably decent” news from India and Pakistan. He did not elaborate.

- Reuters

1:05 PM

Trump, Kim summit in Vietnam ends without any agreement: White House

A summit between North Korea's Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump ended without agreement, the White House said Thursday after the two-day meeting. "No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. READ MORE

12:57 PM

Nifty IT index is trading over 0.5% lower

12:53 PM

Airtel, Vodafone-Idea fibre JV a business opportunity for PE funds

Bharti Airtel’s decision to partner Vodafone Idea has come as a business opportunity for private equity funds keen on investing in the optical fibre space for leasing assets to earn rentals in return. The optical fibre synergies will be on the lines of the tower business where the two companies will hive off the fibre assets to a third company, which will in turn lease them out. READ MORE

12:42 PM

NSE to launch crude oil contract

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) will launch its inaugural crude oil contract on 1st March, and has signed an agreement with ICIS, a leading global market information provider for the energy and petrochemical markets, to license its BFOE (Brent-Forties-Oseberg-Ekofisk) market data.

 

NSE has worked closely with ICIS to design a robust system that brings international best practice to help customers in India to access global crude markets. As part of the daily compilation of the index, NSE is licensing ICIS BFOE assessment data, which is produced five times a day in accordance with established ICIS methodologies.

12:40 PM

Small-cap gainers (BSE)

COMPANY	LATEST	CHG(RS)	CHG(%)	FREE FLOAT MKT CAP (RS CR)
OLECTRA GREENTEC	227.20	23.75	11.67	731.67
VASCON ENGINEERS	15.90	1.55	10.80	186.94
GUJ PIPAVAV PORT	82.35	5.90	7.72	2269.24
QUICK HEAL	217.60	15.55	7.70	429.85
BENGAL & ASSAM	1465.00	104.00	7.64	317.90

12:37 PM

Anand Rathi Research on Voltas

During the quarter, Voltas expanded itsbrand shops in cities like Ranchi, West Bokaro, Faridabad and Jamshedpur. Thebrand shops will house all the latest consumer durable products including ACs,air coolers, commercial refrigeration products from brand Voltas as well aswhite goods like refrigerators, washing machines, microwaves/ovens anddishwashers from brand Voltas Beko. 

 

The Voltbek JV has launched a basket ofproducts in the second quarter including 44 SKUs of refrigerators, 40 SKUs ofwashing machines, 12 SKUs of microwaves/ovens and 7 SKUs of dishwashers. Thelaunch was supported by a strong product and marketing campaign. The civilworks have already begun in the Sanand factory. The products are expected to berolled out from end CY19. 

 

With an investment of Rs.500 crore, thecompany will start construction of its new manufacturing facility in Tirupati.This facility will initially manufacture and assemble air conditioners andrelated cooling products. Continuing its thrust on research and development,Voltas aims to create technologically advanced products that are expected tostart being rolled out from H2FY20. 

 

We continue to remain positive on the company over medium tolonger term perspective and maintain our “BUY” with target priceof Rs.680 per share

 

12:37 PM

Heatmap: S&P BSE Sensex

12:36 PM

Anand Rathi Research on Oberoi Realty

The company has planned two mixed-usedevelopments at Borivali (Gross Leasable Area: 1.73 msf) and Worli (GrossLeasable Area: 1.70 msf). On this front, it has already incurred a capex of Rs.40-50 crore. At Borivali, it shall develop 1.2 msf mall, 0.3-0.4 msf hotel andremainder office space. In contrast, at Worli, it will develop 0.9-1.0 msfmall, 80-90 room hotel while rest would be for office space. These assets,which would be developed at an expenditure of Rs.800 crore each, are expectedto be operational in the next four to five years

Overall, with strong launches planned inFY20E and Borivali project expected to drive sales momentum, we continue to remainpositive on the company over medium to longer term perspective and maintain our “BUY” with a revised target price of Rs.539 per share

12:35 PM

Top gainers (BSE 500)

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(rs)	CHG(%)	VOLUME
GUJ PIPAVAV PORT	82.30	5.85	7.65	112071
LINDE INDIA	500.80	35.05	7.53	61082
REDINGTON INDIA	88.70	5.65	6.80	42351
SECURITY & INTEL	805.00	48.40	6.40	1176
SADBHAV ENGG.	186.45	10.90	6.21	13200

12:15 PM

NEWS ALERT | No agreement was reached between Trump and Kim, says White House: Reuters

12:10 PM

Reliance Securities on GAIL

We arrived at SOTP-based Target Price of Rs 382 (US$32.7 for GDRs) valuing core business at Rs 312 and the market value of investment at Rs 54/share (30% discount to CMP) and adding net cash of Rs17/share. We valued GAIL’s segments using DCF, implied EV/EBITDA multiple to its gas transmission / LPG transmission / gas trading /Petrochemical /LPG & OLHC segments are 6.1x/5.9x/4.7x/7.5x/6.9x. GAIL trades at 6.4x on FY20E EBITDA, which is discount to its

long-term average of 8.4 x(Last 5 years). We expect GAIL to witness a strong FCF generation of Rs 80 bn over FY19-FY21. As the stock provides high earnings visibility and healthy RoE /ROCE of 13%/9% over 3 years.