Domestic equity benchmarks ended a tad above the flat line on Thursday. The Nifty failed to sustain above the 11,600 mark. Indices were volatile as traders rolled over positions in the F&O segment from the August 2020 series to September 2020 series.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 39.55 points or 0.10% at 39,113.47. The Nifty 50 index gained 9.65 points or 0.08% at 11,559.25.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.01% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.35%. Both these indices advanced for the ninth straight session.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index has added 5.22% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index jumped 8.44% in nine straight sessions.
The market breadth was flat. On the BSE, 1443 shares rose and 1428 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 24,181,120 with 825,794 deaths. India reported 7,25,991 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 60,472 deaths while 25,23,771 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
GST Council meeting:
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will hold its 41st meeting today, 27 August 2020 to discuss the single-point agenda of compensation to states for revenue losses under the indirect tax regime. The meeting will be held via video conferencing. Several options including expanding the ambit of compensation cess, market borrowing to fund compensation deficit along with a future plan for rate rationalisation beginning from correction of inverted duty structure for some items are expected to be discussed in the meeting
Buzzing Index:
The S&P BSE Realty index jumped 6.51% to 1,840.22, led by the Maharashtra-focused realty firms.
Godrej Properties (up 7.03%), Oberoi Realty (up 7.10%), Sunteck Realty (up 7.05%) and Kolte-Patil Developers (up 4.49%) advanced.
The Maharashtra Cabinet approved a proposal on Wednesday (26 August) to reduce stamp duty by 3% on all land or home sale transactions executed and registered between 1 September and 31 December, this year. There will be a 2% reduction on stamp duty from 1 January to 31 March 2021. The stamp duty rate, fixed by the state government, is payable on the sale agreement. In Maharashtra, existing stamp duty charges are 5% in major cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik, and 6% in others.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) slumped 14.16% to Rs 1010.95 as the offer for sale (OFS) opened for non-retail investors today. Through the OFS, the government proposes to sell 3,34,38,750 equity shares, constituting 10% paid-up share capital of the company, with an option to sell an additional 5% stake or 1,67,19,375 equity shares (oversubscription option). The floor price for the OFS was set at Rs 1,001 each, a 15% discount to HAL's closing price of Rs 1177.75 on Wednesday.
The OFS opened on Thursday (27 August) for non-retail investors, while both retail as well as non-retail investors will be able to subscribe on Friday (28 August). A total of 20% of the offer size will be reserved for retail investors, and they will be allocated offer shares at a discount of 5% to the cut-off price in accordance with the OFS guidelines. As on 15:15 IST, the OFS received subscription for 3.11 crore shares or 116.53% against the base non-retail offer size of 2.67 crore shares.
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) gained 3.68% to Rs 635.75 after the auto major signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel-based REE Automotive to explore development and manufacturing of electric commercial vehicles for global markets. The MoU is primarily aimed at global markets with current global volume estimated over time at 200,000-250,000 units. Production would be scaled further to support additional volume in the global as well as Indian market.
Siemens shed 1.24% to Rs 1216.30. The board of Siemens has approved the sale of its mechanical drives (MD) business for Rs 440 crore to Flender Drives, a subsidiary of Flender GmbH, which in turn is a subsidiary of Siemens AG. The sale and transfer of MD business is as going concern and on a slump sale basis, with effect from 1 January 2021. The MD business within Siemens achieved revenue of Rs 683.80 crore for FY19 and had an operating loss of Rs 55.30 crore.
Indraprastha Gas lost 1.51% to Rs 407.30. The natural gas distributor's consolidated net profit dropped 85.64% to Rs 35.18 crore on 58.96% fall in total income to Rs 675.12 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019. The company's CNG sales volume declined 66% to 105 million kgs in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019. Total PNG sales fell 30% YoY to 101 million scm in quarter ending June 2020.
Rossari Biotech added 0.37% to Rs 782. SBI Mutual Fund added 2.34 lakh shares or 0.45% stake of Rossari Biotech via open market on 25 August 2020. Following the acquisition, SBI Mutual Fund's stake in the company increased to 5.25% from 4.80% earlier.
Blue Star jumped 10.10% to Rs 685 after the company won an order valued at Rs 149 crore for electrical & mechanical works for Mumbai Metro Line III from Dogus-Soma JV.
Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) skid 0.50% to Rs 50.05. The mining company's consolidated net profit jumped 42.8% to Rs 136.11 crore on 52.4% decline in net sales to Rs 240.11 crore in Q1 June 2020 over Q1 June 2019. On the segmental front, Mining revenue was at Rs 203.19 crore (down 53.7% YoY) and the Power revenue was at Rs 58.79 crore (down 34.5% YoY) during the quarter.
Global Markets:
European shares declined while Asian market ended on a mixed note on Thursday despite newly released data pointing towards continued recovery China's economy.
Profits at China's industrial firms grew 19.6% year-on-year to 589.5 billion yuan ($85.58 billion), the statistics bureau said on Thursday. It follows an 11.5% gain in June and the third straight month of profit growth in this year.
South Korea's Kospi shed 1.05%. The country's central bank kept its rates on hold on Thursday, but cut its 2020 GDP forecast, as it weighed concerns over rising house prices and the worsening coronavirus fallout.
The US stock market finished session at all-time closing highs on Wednesday, 26 August 2020, as risk sentiments buoyed by better than expected US durable-goods order data for July coupled with positive news on the COVID-19 vaccine front. Biotech firm Moderna announced promising results from a small trial of its coronavirus vaccine candidate in elderly patients.
Meanwhile, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will speak Thursday during a virtual version of the Fed's annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference. He is expected to outline what could be the central bank's most active efforts ever to spur inflation back to a healthy level.
US durable-goods orders jumped 11.2% in July on strong auto demand, the Census Bureau said on Wednesday, following June's 7.7% gain. The jump signaled a continued recovery in the nation's manufacturing industry, though the figures remain well below pre-pandemic highs.
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