Nifty tops 7,200; SBI surges nearly 3%

Markets have gathered pace in the late trades with Nifty topping the 7,200 mark led by buying in select banks and auto stocks.

At 2:25 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex is up 112 points to trade at 23,761 and the Nifty50 is up 27 points to quote at 7,219.

Maruti Suzuki slips 2% after media reports suggested that the company may fail to meet its volume growth target for the year ending 31 March 2017 (FY 2017) because of capacity constraints.

L&T is trading with marginal gains after the company said its construction arm won orders worth Rs 1,404 crore across various business verticals.

 

Liquor stocks have climbed on reports that prices of Indian made foreign liquor, beer and country liquor may rise steeply from 1 April 2016 following a hike in excise duty. United Spirits (up 3.5%), Radico Khaitan (up 1.4%), Tilaknagar Industries (up 0.5%), United Breweries (up 2%).

State Bank of India jumped nearly 3% after the bank raised Rs 3000 crore through issue of bonds on private placement basis. Among other banking stocks, Punjab National Bank is up 4.6%, Allahabad Bank 3.9%, Union Bank of India 3.4%, Oriental Bank of Commerce 3.2%, Federal Bank 3%, State Bank of India 2.8%, ICICI Bank 2.5%, IDBI Bank 2.2%, DCB Bank 1.9%, Bank of India 1.7%, Karnataka Bank 1.7%, Syndicate Bank 1.6%, Canara Bank 1.6%.

HDFC Bank fell 1% after the bank said in a notice to BSE that it will modify all the issuance done from Bahrain branch after Standard and Poor’s lowered long and short term rating on Kingdom of Bahrain. 

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(updated at 1pm)

Markets have turned marginally weak after the Asian peers slipped in red as the rally in oil prices is halted on the back of a rise in the US stock piles thus stoking fears of a supply glut. The decline in the local equities is led by select financials such as HDFC twins and Axis Bank along with energy shares.

At 1pm, the S&P BSE Sensex has dropped 70 points to trade at 23,580 and the Nifty50 was down 22 points to quote at 7,170.

The European equities are also expected to open on a lacklustre note thus further denting the sentiments.

From the Sensex pack, the shares that are leading are SBI, M&M, ICICI Bank, NTPC, and Hero Motocorp, up between 1.5% and 2% each.

The stocks that are declining are HDFC, Axis bank, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, and BHEl, down between 1.5% and 2.5% each.

Among other shares, Quick Heal Technologies has risen nearly 3% after it had a weak debut on the exchanges on Thursday where the shares of Pune-based antivirus firm plunged 20% over the issue price.

Shree Cement Limited (SCL) bagged the Karhi Chandi limestone block in Balodabazar district of Chhattisgarh in the first-ever non-coal mining lease auctioned by the state government. The stock is down 0.7%.

KNR Construction has advanced 2.1% after the company announced that it has received order worth of Rs. 295.19 crores, as per media reports.

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(updated 10:45 am)
 
Markets continue to consolidate as investors booked profits at higher levels with select auto, IT, realty and banking stocks witnessing buying interest. Meanwhile, losses in the global equities after the recent rally in oil prices took a pause continue to dent sentiment.

At 10:45 am, the S&P BSE Sensex has gained 13 points to trade at 23,663 and the Nifty50 is up 2 points to quote at 7,194.

The Indian forex and money markets are closed today on account of a Shiv Jayanti.

SMART MOVERS

UBS has maintained its 'sell' call on BHEL and has reduced target price to Rs 70 from Rs 115 per share. UBS says EBITDA break-even unlikely by FY'20 and BHEL is likely to report losses till FY'18. After slumping 5% in the morning trades, the stock has made a smart recovery and is up 1%.

Shares of SpiceJet were up 5% at Rs 69 after latest data by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)indicate that the airline has managed to register the highest passenger load factor in January.

Shriram EPC has rallied 10% to Rs 27 on the BSE after the company said it has bagged contracts worth over Rs 438 crore from the Ministry of Road & Highways and Government of Jharkhand.

Punjab National Bank has advanced 3% after reports suggested that Punjab National Bank (PNB) is weighing options of diluting stake in some of its subsidiaries and selling off real estate assets.

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(updated at 9:35 am)

After a weak opening, markets have turned flat amid renewed buying interest in index heavyweight Reliance Indsutries. Meanwhile, losses in the global equities after the recent rally in oil prices reversed continue to dent sentiment.

At 9:35 am, the S&P BSE Sensex has lost 9 points to trade at 23,641 and the Nifty50 has shed 5 points to quote at 7,187. In line with largecaps, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are trading flat and are up 0.1% each. The market breadth is positive with 730 advances versus 645 declines on the BSE.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities to the tune of Rs 419 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks were trading lower as investors booked profit after gains in the previous sessions after the recent upmove in global crude oil prices took a breather on the back of rising US oil inventory while global economic growth concerns also weighed on sentiment. Japanese shares witnessed profit taking after recent gains. Meanwhile strengthening of the Yen further hurt the sentiments. The benchmark Nikkei was down 2.3% while Shanghai Composite was down 0.1% while Hang Seng eased 0.6% and Straits Times was down 0.4%.

US stocks snapped three- day winning streak with energy shares declining the most after crude oil prices came off their recent highs while sluggish corporate earnings also weighed on investor sentiment. Wal-Mart Stores was the top loser in the Dow Jones industrial average down 3% after weak quarterly profit and sluggish sales outlook. The Dow Jone industrial average ended down 0.3% at 16,413, the broader S&P 500 ended down 0.5% at 1,918 and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite closed 1% lower at 4,488.

OIL

Oil futures slipped on oversupply glut. Rise in US crude stocks raised concerns about global oversupply, outweighing moves by oil producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia to cap oil output. US crude inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels last week, to a peak of 504.1 million barrels, the third week of record highs in the past month, data from the US government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Thursday. 

STOCK TRENDS

Cairn India has slipped over 1.5% as the company is not allowed to export excess crude from its Rajasthan oil field as it is a policy to ensure that there can be no export till domestic demand is met, government told the Delhi High Court today. 

After a five-year hiatus, Reliance Industries (RIL) is likely to resume buying crude oil from Iran beginning next month. RIL, which operates the world’s biggest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, is looking at quickly ramping up purchases to the old levels of about five million tonnes a year, sources said. RIL is up 1%

Gayatri Projects has gained 3.5% after its arm Thermal Powertech Corporation India secured 8 - year Power Purchase Agreement with Telangana Power Distribution Companies.

Allahabad Bank is trading flat after rating agency CRISIL has revised its ratings on Allahabad Bank’s Tier-II bonds on prospects of further deterioration in asset quality and pressure on the lender’s bottom line. It revised its ratings from ‘AA+’ to ‘AA’. CRISIL has assigned ‘A’ rating to the bank’s Rs 1,000-crore Tier-I bond issue.

Airline stocks are flying higher after most of them reported higher passenger load in January. SpiceJet was the leader with 92.1% followed by GoAir and IndiGo, at 84.9% and 84.7%, respectively. SpiceJet is up 4% and Jet Airways has surged 3%. Meanwhile, reports suggest that Etihad Airways plans to raise its stake to 49% from 24% in Jet Airways.

Quick Heal which plunged 20% yesterday ending at Rs 254 compared to the IPO (Initial Public Offering) price of Rs 321 per share due to disclosure-related allegations against the company and on concerns over higher service-tax liability has rebounded 4% in the early trades today.

Jindal Steel and Power  is in talks with banks for various financing options including the RBI's 5/25 scheme. The stock is up 0.6%.

Goldman Sachs upgrade JustDial to neutral from sell, but they have slashed the target price to Rs 490 from Rs 640 earlier. They see limited downside as concerns around slowdown of growth and execution priced in.  The stock is down 4.5%.

The top 5 gainers in the Sensex pack include ICICI Bank, SBI, M&M, Bharti Airtel and Wipro up between 1%-1.5%. On the flip side the top 5 laggards in the Sensex pack include HDFC, BHEL, Coal India, Hindalco and Maruti Suzuki down between 1%-2%.