Indices turn volatile; Bajaj Consumer hits the roof

Benchmark indices reversed early gains and briefly entered negative terrain before recovering once again. At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 68.93 points or 0.18% at 38,575.02. The Nifty 50 index was up 23.95 points or 0.21% at 11,452.25. Sentiment got a boost from sustained foreign fund inflow and positive cues from global equities.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.18%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.45%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1034 shares rose and 704 shares fell. A total of 127 shares were unchanged.

On the macro front, India's trade deficit narrowed 27.4% to seven month low of $10.86 billion in September 2019 from $14.95 billion in September 2018. Oil imports declined 18.3% to $8.98 billion, while the non-oil imports dipped 12.3% to $27.91 billion in September 2019 over September 2018. The share of oil imports in total imports was 24.3% in September 2019, compared with 25.7% in September 2018.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced India's growth forecast for FY20 by 90 basis points to 6.1%, down from the 7% estimated in July. Meanwhile, the growth forecast for FY21, which stood at 7.2% in July, was slashed by 20 bps to 7%. The downward revision in India's growth forecast by the IMF reflects a weaker-than-expected outlook for domestic demand. Monetary policy easing and the recent corporate tax rate cuts are to support growth with a lag, the IMF said. Government programs to support rural consumption will also aid growth, it added.

MindTree (up 1.14%), Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 4.87%), Federal Bank (up 1.01%) and DB Corp (up 1.81%) will announce Q2 results today.

Shares of Bajaj Consumer Care were locked in an upper circuit of 20% at Rs 234.65 on bargain hunting after a recent steep slide. Shares of Bajaj Consumer have slumped 19.41% in two trading sessions to end at Rs 195.55 yesterday, from a recent closing high of Rs 242.65 on Friday, 11 October 2019.

Bajaj Consumer Care's promoter, Bajaj Resources, sold 3.22 crore shares, representing 22% stake, of Bajaj Consumer Care at an average price of Rs 194.56 on Tuesday, 15 October 2019.

Fund houses like Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund and Steinberg India Emerging Opportunities Fund, were among the buyers of shares.

Shares of Sterling and Wilson Solar were trading 0.39% higher at Rs 602.35. Sterling & Wilson Solar Australia, the company's wholly owned subsidiary, won an order for engineering, construction and procurement for a 200 MW DC Solar Farm in Australia amounting to AUD 220.83 million.

SBI Life Insurance surged 3.76% after the insurance company announced its Q2 earnings. On standalone basis, the company's net profit declined 48.2% to Rs 129.84 crore while total income rose 32.1% to Rs 12889.78 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. Assets under management (AUM) grew 23% to Rs 1,54,760 crore in Q2 September 2019 from Rs 1,26,170 crore in previous year. The company's new business premium increased 40% to Rs 7820 crore on YoY basis.

Construction & engineering firm NBCC (India) surged 4.43% to Rs 34.05 after the company announced a total business of Rs 852.17 crore in the month of September 2019.

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