Key equity benchmarks ended with robust gains on Thursday, boosted by rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 646.40 points or 1.69% at 38,840.32. The Nifty 50 index added 171.25 points or 1.52% at 11,449.25.
The market breadth was strong. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.92% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.27%. Both these indices lagged the Sensex.
The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1789 shares rose and 922 shares fell. A total of 165 shares were unchanged.
Index major Reliance Industries (RIL) jumped 7.10% to Rs 2314.65, leading the benchmark indices higher. The scrip gained 8.45% to hit a fresh record high of Rs 2343.90 in the intraday.
The counter attracted buyers after the media reported that RIL is offering to sell a roughly $20 billion stake in its retail business to Amazon.com Inc. Amazon has held discussions about investing in the conglomerate's Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) unit and has expressed interest in negotiating a potential transaction, reports added.
RIL on Wednesday (9 September) announced that US private equity firm Silver Lake will invest Rs 7,500 crore in RRVL. This investment values RRVL at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.21 lakh crore. Silver Lake's investment will translate into a 1.75% equity stake in RRVL on a fully diluted basis.
Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of RRVL, operates India's largest and fastest growing retail business serving close to 640 million footfalls across its nearly 12,000 stores nationwide.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 27,766,325 with 902,468 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. India reported 919,018 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 75,062 deaths while 3,471,783 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.053% as compared with 5.989% at close in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 73.46, compared with its close of 73.55 during the previous trading session.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2020 settlement fell 51 cents at $40.28 a barrel. The contract rose $1.01, or 2.54% to settle at $40.79 a barrel in the previous trading session.
Foreign Markets:
European shares reversed early gains while Asian indices ended mixed on Thursday. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite plunged 4.88% following a temporary trading halt triggered earlier as the index dropped 5%. That came after the country's capital reportedly announced plans to reinstate a partial coronavirus lockdown.
Investors trod carefully ahead of a crucial European Central Bank meeting and US Labor Department's weekly jobless claims report due later in the day.
US stocks rebounded on Wednesday, 9 September 2020, with S&P500, Nasdaq, and Dow Index snapping three days of losing streak, as dip buyers poured into beaten-down technology-related stocks. The rebound on Wall Street came as some traders looked to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels following the recent sell-off.
Technology stocks showed a substantial rebound on the day after leading the markets lower over the past few sessions. Among tech stocks, with Tesla Inc shares jumped 7.7%, while Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, and Amazon.com Inc each rose by at least 4%. Facebook Inc and Google-parent Alphabet Inc also climbed.
Yesterday, democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden rolled out his "Made in America" tax policy, while campaigning in Michigan, which includes a proposed new offshoring penalty and a minimum 21% corporate tax on all foreign earnings, but a 10% tax credit for any companies making investments to create U.S. jobs, such as by revitalizing existing facilities that have been closed.
Economic data showed that U.S. employers posted more job openings in July but hired fewer workers than in June, the Labor Department reported, as early-summer optimism about reopening businesses faded. There were 6.6 million job openings posted, not far off the pre-pandemic average.
Buzzing Domestic Segment:
The Nifty PSU Bank index added 2.46% to 1,430.90. The index tumbled 12.81% in the past eight sessions.
Bank of India, Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, UCO Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, IDBI Bank, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India and Central Bank of India rose by 1.53% to 7.96%.
State Bank of India (SBI) added 1.67% to Rs 198.15 after the state-run lender said it sold Rs 4,000 crore of the Basel-compliant Additional Tier 1 (AT1) bonds at a coupon of 7.74%.
As the aggregate bids were in excess of Rs 6,000 crore, the bank exercised the full green shoe option of Rs 3,000 crore over and above the base issue size of Rs 1,000 crore, SBI said in a statement after trading hours on Wednesday (9 September).
Stocks in Spotlight:
Asian Paints jumped 4.25% to Rs 2062.90. It hit a record high of Rs 2087.75 in intraday today.
Control Print spurted 4.02% to Rs 232.75. Yesterday, India Max Investment Fund bought 1.62 lakh equity shares (0.99% stake) of Control Print at Rs 217.96 per share via bulk deal on the NSE. Concurrently, Grovsnor Investment Fund sold 0.99% stake of the company at Rs 217.96 per share via bulk deal on the NSE.
Dilip Buildcon surged 6.80% to Rs 373 after the road construction major received Letter of Acceptance (LOA) for a new Hybrid Annuity Mode project in Bihar. The bid project cost for the project is Rs 1905 crore and is to be constructed within 24 months with a operation period of 15 years. The total length on construction is 49 kilometers.
Indiabulls Housing Finance fell 3.28% to Rs 194.55. The company informed that its board approved opening the qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue on Wednesday (9 September 2020) and added that the floor for the said issue would be Rs 206.70 per share.
Separately, Indiabulls Housing said that the company is in the process of exploring various options in connection with the partial divestment of its equity shareholding in OakNorth Bank, in one or more tranches. The divestment shall result in boosting CRAR and shall free up capital to grow the loan book of the company.
IRCTC gained 1.58% to Rs 1370.60 on bargain hunting after a two-day slide. The stock declined 4.60% in the past two trading sessions to settle at Rs 1,349.25 yesterday, 9 September 2020, from its close of Rs 1,414.40 on 7 September 2020.
Meanwhile, with reference to media reports titled Govt to sell 15-20% stake in IRCTC via OFS, IRCTC clarified to the bourses after market hours on Wednesday (9 September) that the quantum in case of offer for sale (OFS) is decided by the Government of India and the company has no role in this regard. Further, the company has not received any information in this regard from Government of India, which is required to be filed with exchanges.
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