Indices end slightly lower ahead of GDP data; PSU banks, realty stocks fall

Market rundown by Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder and Head of Trading, Zerodha "Markets opened the session slightly higher for the day on the back of positive global cues, this rally was sold into and the indices corrected throughout the session to close over a quarter percent lower for the day.   Cement and banking were the weakest sectors for the session, with both Orient Bank and PNB tanking in trade."

Top Sectoral loser: Nifty PSU Bank slips over 3%

Sectoral Trend

Sensex top gainers and losers

Markets at Close The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 34346, down 99 points while the broader NIfty50 index settled at 10554 down 28 points

PNB scam: Bank ignored warnings from Gitanjali Gems auditor in March 2017 The Indian lenders led by Punjab National Bank ignored warnings from the auditor of Gitanjali Gems in March 2017 that the latter has defaulted to loans of Life Insurance Corporation. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY

Event update: ACC - Ambuja merger deferred for now   ACC-Ambuja have called off their proposed merger plan (for now) announced in May last year highlighting certain constraints in relation to implementing the merger at present (possibly related to transfer of mineral concessions). Instead, the board has approved an arrangement within companies for swap of materials and services on mutually agreed terms - to realize synergies; the details of the arrangement would be disclosed to its shareholders when it seeks their nod via postal ballot.    The announcement is negative for the both companies, in our view. Although, we highlight that off late both companies have been indicating in their respective investor interactions that merger was only a bull case scenario and not a base case scenario. But the street still seems to factor in some kind of synergy benefits in the estimates. The outlook on fructification of these swap based synergies is hazy. Both companies have been amongst the less preferred names in the space for us. We currently have HOLD rating on both the stocks.   (Source: Antique Stock Broking)  

Gitanjali Gems, Vakrangee plunge 66% in one month Shares of Gitanjali Gems and Vakrangee continued to remainunder pressure, eroding two-third of their market valuation in the past one month. Gitanjali Gems hit a new low of Rs 22.45, down 5% on the BSE. The stock of jewellery maker was locked in lower circuit for the nine straight trading days. In past one month, it tanked 66% from Rs 66.30. READ MORE

Modi winning 2019 polls: Market has priced in 2nd term for BJP, says UBS The 2019 general elections are still about a year away, but markets seem to have already priced in a second term for the incumbent Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In a recent client note, brokerage UBS said while most investors had assigned a ‘very high probability’ of Modi winning the 2019 elections, markets had already priced this in. READ MORE

ICICI Securities on ISGEC Heavy Engineering   The stock trades at 19x FY20E standalone EPS. We expect execution to improve in FY19 and FY20 leading to 22% and 26% revenue growth in the respective years. We expect EBITDA margins to improve gradually with reduction in working capital.    Driven by strong execution and margin improvement, earnings are expected to grow by 37%/33% in FY19/FY20 respectively. Improvement in RoCE with healthy cashflows will aid in valuation rerating. Strategic tie-ups have further strengthened the company’s competitive ability to enter new technology areas, which will fuel incremental growth. Maintain BUY.

Nifty PSU Bank index slips over 3%