Selling intensifies as Kerala reports first confirmed coronavirus case

Key equity market barometers extended fall in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty continued to trade below 12,050 level. At 14:28 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex, was tumbled 341.38 points or 0.83% at 40,857.28. The Nifty 50 index was tumbled 114 points or 0.91% at 12,019.30. Trading was also volatile due to expiry of monthly derivatives today.

Sentiment was affected by weak Asian cues amid rising death toll from a new virus spreading in China. India on Thursday reported its first case of the novel coronavirus in Kerala, the government said in a statement. The patient, a student of the Wuhan University, is stable and in isolation at a hospital, a statement from the Health Ministry said.

The broader market corrected. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.32% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.09%.

There were more sellers than buyers. On the BSE, 705 shares rose and 1655 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 10 stocks advanced while 40 stocks declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Vaibhav Global jumped 7.54% to Rs 1073.05. On consolidated basis, net profit jumped 25% to Rs 65.56 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 52.51 crore reported in Q3 December 2018. Net sales for the quarter rose 10.3% and stood at Rs 563.27 crore as against Rs 510.59 crore reported in the same period last year. Profit before tax (PBT) for Q3 December 2019 stood at Rs 81.82 crore, up by 27% from Rs 64.46 crore reported in Q3 December 2018. Tax expenses jumped 598% to Rs 20.72 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 2.97 crore posted in Q3 FY19.

Colgate-Palmolive (India) fell 4.48% to Rs 1418.90. On a standalone basis, net profit rose 3.64% to Rs 199.10 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 192.10 crore reported in Q3 December 2018. Excluding the impact of prior year tax reversals in previous year, the net profit after tax has increased by 9% in the current year. The company reported net sales of Rs 1,136 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2019, an increase of 4.1% over the same quarter of the previous year. The company reported volume growth of 2.3% for Q3 December 2019. Profit before tax (PBT) for Q3 December 2019 stood at Rs 267.43 crore, down by 5.09% from Rs 281.77 crore reported in Q3 December 2018. Total tax expenses declined 23.8% to Rs 68.33 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 89.67 crore posted in Q3 FY19.

Bajaj Auto rose 2.06% to Rs 3154.90. The auto maker's consolidated net profit rose 8.32% to Rs 1,322.44 crore on a 1.99% rise in net sales to Rs 8,005.88 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q3 December 2018. Consolidated profit before tax advanced 3.22% to Rs 1,732.12 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 1,677.99 crore in Q3 December 2018. Tax expense, during the quarter fell 10.39% to Rs 409.68 crore as compared to Rs 457.22 crore in corresponding quarter last year; aiding consolidated PAT this quarter. EBITDA margin stood at 18.4% in Q3 December 2019 as compared to 16.7% in Q3 December 2018.

Bajaj Auto's domestic volumes fell 13% to 6.39 lakh units in Q3 December 2019 as compared to 7.35 lakh units in Q3 December 2018. Exports grew 7% to 5.62 lakh units in Q3 December 2019 as against 5.24 lakh units in Q3 December 2019. Total volumes fell 5% to 12.02 lakh units in Q3 December 2019 over 12.59 lakh units in Q3 December 2018.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.559% at 14:25 IST compared with 6.568% in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee depreciated against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 71.555, compared with its previous closing low of 71.275.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2020 settlement was down $1.04 cents at $58.77 per barrel. The contract rose 30 cents or 0.50% to settle at $59.81 a barrel in the previous session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2019 settlement rose 0.84% to Rs 40,688.

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