Weakness persists amid negative global signals

The market continued trading lower in mid-afternoon trade amid negative global cues. The Nifty was trading tad above the crucial 12,000 mark. At 14:22 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 257.53 points or 0.63% at 40,884.32. The Nifty 50 index was down 90.05 points or 0.74% at 12,008.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.85% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.19%.

The market breadth was tilted towards the sellers. On the BSE, 939 shares rose and 1464 shares fell. A total of 176 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 7 stocks advanced while 43 stocks declined.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.437% at 14:17 IST compared with 6.439% in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee appreciated against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 71.42, compared with its previous closing low of 71.44.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2020 settlement was down 30 cents at $54.17 a barrel. The contract fell 46 cents or 0.83% to settle at $54.47 a barrel in the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2019 settlement rose 0.15% to Rs 40,705.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index fell 3.23% to 2,623.35. The index surged 9.28% in the previous five trading sessions.

Steel Authority of India (down 5.34%), National Aluminium Company (down 3.88%), Hindalco Industries (down 3.55%), Vedanta (down 3.11%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.86%), Hindustan Copper (down 2.02%), JSW Steel (down 1%), NMDC (down 0.66%) and Hindustan Zinc (down 0.54%) declined.

Tata Steel was down 5.97%. On a consolidated basis, Tata Steel reported a net loss of Rs 1084.62 crore in Q3 December 2019 (Q3 FY20) as against a net profit of Rs 2283.98 crore in Q3 December 2018 (Q3 FY19). Net sales declined 8.7% to Rs 34774.29 crore in Q3 FY20 as against Rs 38086.29 crore reported in the same period last year.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bharat Forge tumbled 3.58% to Rs 499.60. The firm's consolidated net profit tanked 81% to Rs 41.8 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 218.3 crore reported in Q3 December 2018. Total revenue declined 25.6% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1832.8 crore in Q3 December 2019. Profit before tax (PBT) for Q3 December 2019 stood at Rs 98 crore, down by 69.2% from Rs 318 crore in Q3 December 2018. EBITDA slumped 43.4% to Rs 236.1 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against Rs 416.9 crore reported in Q3 December 2018. EBITDA margin stood at 12.9% in Q3 December 2019 declining from 16.9% posted in Q3 December 2018.

Mahanagar Gas slipped 0.17% to Rs 1195.55. The city gas distributor's net profit jumped 25.4% to Rs 186.05 crore in Q3 December 2019 (Q3 FY20) as against Rs 148.32 crore reported in Q3 December 2018 (Q3 FY19). Net sales fell 1.1% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 744.50 crore in Q3 FY20. The Q3 numbers were announced after market hours on Friday, 7 February 2020. Profit before tax gained 7.8% to Rs 244.36 crore Y-o-Y. Current tax expenses dropped 25.9% to Rs 53.03 crore during the period under review. EBITDA fell 5.32% to Rs 258.86 crore in Q3 December 2019 from Rs 273.41 crore in Q2 September 2019. The EBITDA margin stood at 34.77% in Q3 December 2019 as against 34.89% in Q2 September 2019. The profit margin stood at 24.99% in Q3 December 2019 as against 34.54% in Q2 September 2019. The CNG sales volumes rose 1.02% to 204.64 SCM million in Q3 December 2019 from 202.56 SCM million in Q2 September 2019. Total PNG sales numbers advanced 3.74% to 76.15 (standard cubic metre) SCM million in Q3 December 2019 from 73.40 SCM million in Q2 September 2019.

Motherson Sumi Systems (MSSL) slumped 6.84% to Rs 123.25 after the company reported 30.47% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 270.51 crore in Q3 December 2019 (Q3 FY20) over Q3 December 2018 (Q3 FY19). Revenue from operations declined 4.91% to Rs 15,436.46 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 16,233.65 reported in Q3 FY19. Profit before tax or PBT in the December quarter stood at Rs 463 crore, down by 43.83% from Rs 824.25 crore in the same period last year. EBITDA decreased by 10.67% to Rs 1264 crore in Q3 FY20 from Rs 1415 crore in in Q3 FY19, amid challenging global market conditions.

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