Nifty ends below 10,600 ahead of F&O expiry, Sensex falls 115 points
25 Apr 2018
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3:30 pm Market Closing: Benchmark indices closed lower ahead of expiry of April derivative contracts due tomorrow.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 115.37 points at 34,501.27 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 43.90 points to 10,570.50.
About two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.
DB Realty, NIIT Technologies, DHFL, Indiabulls Real Estate, Berger Paints, NBCC and Marico gained up to 13 percent.
IRB Infrastructure, Repco Home Finance, BHEL, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, MCX and India Cements fell up to 4 percent.
3:15 pm Multi-nation agreement: The government today gave an ex-post facto approval for an agreement signed between India and an African island nation, Sao Tome and Principe, to increase cooperation in the field of medicinal Plants. The memorandum of understanding was signed on March 14 this year, an official statement said.
The decision was taken in the Union Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
The MoU assumes significance as there is global increase in traditional and alternative health care systems.
It is resulting in world herbal trade which stands at USD 120 billion and is expected to reach USD 7 trillion by 2050, it said.
3:00 pm Appointment: Bharti Infratel board has reappointed Akhil Kumar Gupta as Executive Chairman of the company for five years with effect from August 1, 2018.
"The Board of Directors in its April 23, 2018 meeting has reappointed Akhil Kumar Gupta as the Executive Chairman of the company, not liable to retire by rotation, for a further term of five years with effect from August 1, 2018," Bharti Infratel said in a BSE filing.
His reappointment is however subject to shareholders' approval.
2:40 pm Rupee Update: The Indian rupee extended fall to 66.80 against the US dollar, down 42 paise from previous closing of 66.38 a dollar on bouts of month-end dollar demand from importers amid crude price volatility and rising US bond yields.
2:37 pm Europe Update: European markets were lower, as rising yields in the bond markets offset excitement surrounding corporate earnings.
France's CAC and Britain's FTSE were down half a percent each while Germany's DAX lost 1.6 percent.
2:30 pm Results: Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management's March quarter profit jumped 35 percent year-on-year to Rs 162 crore and revenue increased 17.2 percent to Rs 429 crore.
Operating profit grew by 3.9 percent to Rs 134 crore but margin contracted 400 basis points to 31.2 percent compared to year-ago.
2:28 pm Earnings: GIC Housing Finance share price rallied 3 percent after March quarter profit jumped 28.4 percent to Rs 60 crore and revenue increased 11.4 percent to Rs 297 crore compared to corresponding period last fiscal.
Provision declined marginally to Rs 22.7 crore from Rs 23 crore on sequential basis.
2:26 pm Buzzing: Bajaj Corp share price fell up to 3 percent after fourth quarter profit increased 5.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 55.4 crore and revenue rose 8.3 percent to Rs 222 crore.
Operating income was up 8.3 percent year-on-year at Rs 72.2 crore but margin was flat at 32.5 percent for the quarter ended March 2018.
2:22 pm Earnings: Sterlite Technologies fell 1.6 percent despite profit in March quarter jumped 77 percent year-on-year to Rs 112 crore and revenue increased 20 percent to Rs 847 crore.
Operating profit grew by 44 percent to Rs 238 crore and margin expanded 500 basis points to 28 percent.
Sterlite Tech said seeing strong wave of fibre deployment over next 10 years.
2:16 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices extended losses in afternoon, with the Sensex falling 186.36 points to 34,430.28 and the Nifty declining 70.90 points to 10,543.50 ahead of expiry of April derivative contracts due on Thursday.
About two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.
HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Vedanta, HDFC, IOC, L&T, Maruti, Grasim, IndusInd Bank, ONGC and SBI were down up to 3 percent while TCS, Bharti Airtel and M&M remained top gainers, rising up to 3 percent.
1:55 pm Price of Energy Commodities to rise this year: Prices for energy commodities like oil, natural gas and coal are expected to jump by a whopping 20 percent this year, the World Bank has said in a report.
The increase in energy prices is expected to have adverse impact on India, given that the country is heavily dependent on import of major energy commodities.
The latest World Bank forecast is a 16-percentage point upward revision from October's outlook, the World Bank said in its April Commodity Markets Outlook released yesterday.
Oil prices are forecast to average USD 65 a barrel over 2018, up from an average of USD 53 a barrel in 2017, on strong demand from consumers and restraint by oil producers, while metals prices are expected to rise nine per cent this year, also on a pickup in demand and supply constraints, the World Bank said.
1:45 pm Buzzing: Midcap IT company Persistent Systems share price rallied nearly 5 percent intraday despite weak Q4 earnings performance, which was already intimated by the company during the quarter. The rally in the stock is largely on the hope of positive outlook for FY19 by the brokerage houses.
The stock price was quoting at Rs 760.95, up Rs 35.10, or 4.84 percent on the BSE, at 13:30 hours IST.
Net profit during the quarter fell by 19.7 percent sequentially to Rs 73.7 crore and revenue declined 5 percent to Rs 752.5 crore on lower IP revenue.
Revenue in dollar terms also dropped 4.6 percent to USD 116.9 million for the quarter ended March 2018, from USD 122.5 million in previous quarter.
Operating profit was down 21.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 108.3 crore and margin contracted 300 basis points to 14.4 percent in Q4FY18.
During the March quarter, the company had intimated that it was expecting a decline in IP revenues during Q4 FY18, which would impact revenue and EBIDTA margin for the quarter.
All brokerage houses retained their rating on the stock and expect the stock to rally up to 32 percent over one year period on hopes of good earnings in FY19.
1:35 pm Global Wind Capacity: Global wind energy capacity could increase by more than half over the next five years, as costs continue to fall and the market returns to growth at the end of this decade, a report by the Global Wind Energy Council shows.
In its annual report on the status of the global wind industry, the GWEC said cumulative wind energy capacity stood at 539 gigawatts (GW) at the end of last year, 11 percent higher than the previous year.
That should increase by 56 percent to 840 GW by the end of 2022 as countries develop more renewable energy to meet emissions cut targets and prices continue to fall, the wind industry association said.
1:25 pm Increase in MSP prices of Raw Jute: The government increased the minimum support price (MSP) of raw jute by Rs 200 per quintal to Rs 3,700 per quintal for the 2018-19 crop season, an official release said.
The decision to increase the MSP for fair average quality (FAQ) of raw jute to Rs 3,700 per quintal for 2018-19 season from Rs 3,500 per quintal in 2017-18 was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.
The decision would benefit jute farmers mainly in West Bengal, Assam and Bihar which account for 95 per cent of the country's jute production.
1:12 pm Results Date: Dr Reddy's Laboratories will announce its results for the fourth quarter and full year ended March 31, 2018 on May 22 after the board meeting.
1:02 pm Economic Growth: Indian economy is expected to witness a cyclical recovery driven by investments as well as consumption, and the average GDP growth is expected to rise to 7.8 percent in the first half of this year, says a report.
According to the Japanese financial services major Nomura, investment and consumption demand are the main drivers for India's growth, amid worsening net exports.
"Our leading indicators suggest the cyclical recovery, which started in the second half of 2017, is set to continue through the first half of 2018," Nomura said in a research note.
Consistent with these data, "we expect average GDP growth to rise to 7.8 percent year-on-year in the first half 2018 from 7.2 percent in October-December 2017.
12:50 pm Videocon approaches NCLT: Debt-ridden Videocon Group approached the principal bench of NCLT requesting it to direct all insolvency case, filed by its lenders against seven group companies at different courts of Mumbai bench, to be heard together.
The group has requested the principal bench sitting here to consolidate all multiple insolvency cases filed by lenders at three different courts of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai and hear together.
The principal bench of NCLT, headed by President Justice M M Kumar, has directed the Videocon Industries to file an affidavit having details of its group companies and courts where insolvency matters are pending.
The principal bench has directed to list immediately the matter once affidavit is filed by Videocon Industries.
12:40 pm Market Update: Benchmark indices continued to trade mildly lower, dragged by banking & financials, metals, infra and FMCG stocks.
The Nifty IT retained its top position in the buying list among sectoral indices, rising 1.5 percent after the rupee hit fresh 13-month low of 66.74 against the US dollar.
TCS, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Infosys gained up to 2.5 percent.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 72.74 points at 34,543.90 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 28.60 points to 10,585.80.
12:20 pm Airtel on Tower Merger Deal: Bharti Airtel said it will engage with potential investors to evaluate a strategic stake sale in the new tower company, after merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers is completed.
Earlier today, Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone Group announced the merger of Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel to create a mobile tower juggernaut with over 1,63,000 towers across 22 telecom service areas.
The combined company, which will fully own the respective businesses of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers, will change its name to Indus Towers and will continue to be listed on the Indian stock exchanges.
12:10 pm Manipal Health ups offer for Fortis: Manipal Health Enterprises has again raised its offer for Fortis Healthcare by valuing its hospital business higher at Rs 6,322 crore, ahead of the Fortis Healthcare board meet tomorrow to evaluate all binding offers.
The new offer from Manipal Health Enterprises (MHEPL) also proposes to arrange financial assistance of up to Rs 750 crore ..by way of debt financing or guarantees to lenders of FHL.
This is the second time Manipal/TPG-led consortium has revised its offer for Fortis Healthcare (FHL).
12:05 pm Rupee Update: The rupee weakened to a fresh 13-month low by falling 33 paise to 66.71 against the American currency on bouts of month-end dollar demand from importers amid crude price volatility and rising US bond yields.
The rupee opened lower at 66.48 from yesterday's closing level at 66.38 per dollar at the interbank foreign exchange here.
Continued FII-selling of local equity and debt, and weak stock market also weighed on the rupee.
Rising crude is putting pressure on rupee already stressed by widening fiscal deficit, a dealer said.
Meanwhile, the US dollar inched higher against its major peers in early Asian trade, approaching its recent four-month high as the US 10-year bond yield poked above 3 percent to hit its highest level since early 2014.
11:55 am Merger Approval: Bhageria Industries informed BSE that the National Company Law Tribunal [NCLT), Mumbai has approved the scheme of Amalgamation of Nipur Chemicals Limited with the company.
11:40 am Market Update: The market continued to trade mildly lower amid consolidation, following negative lead from global stocks.
Banking & financials, oil, metals and infrastructure stocks are under pressure.
IT is the only major gainer among sectoral indices, rising over a percent ahead of Wipro earnings due later in the day and after sharp depreciation in the rupee
Bharti Airtel is up more than 4 percent after reporting profit in the March quarter against expectations of loss.
The 30-share BSE Sensex is down 84.76 points at 34,531.88 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 31 points to 10,583.40.
11:22 am PTL to Consider Dividend: PTL Enterprises informed BSE that a meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on May 10 to consider and approve audited financial results of the company for the quarter/year ended March 31, 2018 and to consider & recommend a final dividend, if any, on the equity share for the financial year ended March 31, 2018.
11:15 am Crude Update: Oil prices were stable, but were below more than three-year highs reached the previous session as rising US fuel inventories and production dragged on an otherwise bullish market.
Brent crude oil futures were at USD 73.77 per barrel, down 0.12 percent, from their last close, but were some way below the November-2014 high of USD 75.47 a barrel reached the previous day.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.18 percent, at USD 67.58 per barrel. That was also off the late-2014 highs of USD 69.56 a barrel reached earlier in April, reports CNBC.
11:05 am Gold Outlook: CARE Ratings said US developments continue to remain the key influence on prices. Gold prices are expected to remain volatile in the near term.
Gold prices are expected to be negatively impacted with the US dollar expected to strengthen further on the back of better performance of the US economy and expected US interest rate hikes, it added.
In the medium term, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, increasing US government debt and rising inflation pressures, volatility and lower equity markets could support gold prices, it said. Gold is likely to remain rangebound in the short term around the USD 1,350 an ounce range.
10:55 am Narayana Hrudayalaya wind-up Malaysian subsidiary: Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals Malaysia Sdn Bhd , was registered as a wholly owned subsidiary of Narayana Hrudayalaya (NHL) on September 27, 2011 to set up and operate cardiac facilities in Malaysia.
However, NHL had decided to terminate the project at its initial stages in FY 2014-15 due to various changes in the regulatory framework of Malaysia which made the project unviable.
In view of the above NHL had decided to wind-up the said subsidiary in Malaysia. The subsidiary had commenced the process of Members' voluntary winding-up in 2017 as per the extant provisions of the Malaysian company law. The liquidation of the subsidiary has been completed and as per the search report from Companies Commission of Malaysia dated 24th April 2018, the status of the subsidiary is confirmed as dissolved.
10:45 am Buzzing: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Ltd rose by about 15 percent in two straight days after the company reported fall in net profit but the value of new business (VNB) rose 93 percent to Rs 1,286 crore for the quarter ended March.
Most brokerage firms which have come out with their note post-March quarter results maintain their buy rating while some of them raised their target price to Rs 570 which translates into an upside of 37 percent return in the next 12 months.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance’s standalone net profit for the March quarter declined 16.6 percent year-on-year on account of higher new business strain. The quarterly net profit stood at Rs 340 crore, compared to Rs 408.42 in the year-ago period.
However, the private life insurance company's value of new business (VNB) rose 93.1 percent to Rs 1,286 crore in Q4FY18 as compared to Rs 666 crore a year ago.
10:37 am Market Update: The market continued to trade mildly lower amid consolidation, following weak global cues.
The Nifty is trading below 10,600 levels while IT is the biggest loser among sectoral indices, falling over 1 percent.
Bharti Airtel is up nearly 5 percent after reporting profit in the March quarter against expectations of loss and announcement of merger between Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 61.71 points at 34,554.93 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 24.80 points to 10,589.60. About 1,188 shares declined against 825 advancing shares on the BSE.
10:30 am Results Today: Wipro, Agro Tech Foods, Bajaj Corp, Future Supply, Gujarat Heavy Chemicals, ICICI Lombard, Indiabulls Real Estate, Jindal Stainless, KSB Pumps, M&M Financial, Meera Industries, Miven Machine, Reliance Nippon, Sterlite Tech, Syngene International, UltraTech Cement and Wendt will announce March quarter earnings today.
10:20 am Merger: Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone Group today announced an agreement for merger of Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel to create the largest mobile tower operator in the world outside China with over 163,000 towers across 22 telecom service areas.
"The combined company, which will fully own the respective businesses of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers, will change its name to Indus Towers Limited and will continue to be listed on Indian Stock Exchanges," Bharti Group said in a statement announcing the joint deal.
The combined company will own 100 percent of Indus Towers. Indus Towers is currently jointly owned by Bharti Infratel (42 percent holding), Vodafone (42 percent), Idea Group (11.15 percent) and Providence (4.85 percent).
Post the deal, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone will jointly control the combined company, and the transaction is expected to close before the end of 2018-19, subject to statutory approvals.
10:10 am Technical Outlook: Shitij Gandhi of SMC Global Securities said as we are heading towards April expiry with two trading session left, the short sellers seem to be on back foot as they still holding outstanding short positions.
On every dip, we have been continuously seeing short covering in the Nifty as Call Writers are covering their positions which in turn supporting upside movement in prices.
In the recent weeks, we have observed that put writers are continuously shifting towards the higher band which signifies limited downside in the market ahead of expiry.
Furthermore, we also anticipate that more short covering can be seen in coming sessions which can lead Nifty towards 10,700 on the day of expiry.
The initial rollover data also indicates long rollover to May series. On the technical front, 10,580 spot level should act as support while 10,750 will be the immediate hurdle.
10:00 am Market Update: Benchmark indices extended losses, with the Sensex falling 100.91 points to 34,515.73 and the Nifty declining 36 points to 10,578.40.
About 1,078 shares declined against 710 advancing shares on the BSE.
9:55 am Rupee Update: The rupee depreciated 28 paise to 66.66 against the US dollar the interbank foreign exchange due to appreciation of the greenback amid rising US bond yields and surge in global crude oil prices.
Also, a lower opening in the domestic equity market too weighed on the investor sentiment.
Dealers also attributed the rupee's fall to increased demand for the US currency from importers due to month-end demand and sustained foreign capital outflows.
The rupee yesterday recovered by 10 paise to 66.38 against the US dollar due to fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.
9:44 am Market Update: The market is seeing consolidation amid global weakness, with the benchmark indices trading marginally lower.
Investors await more corporate earnings that scheduled to be announced over next one month and Karnataka elections due next month.
Bharti Airtel is up more than 2 percent after reporting profit in the March quarter against expectations of loss.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 25.28 points to 34,591.36 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 12.40 points to 10,602.
9:30 am Results Reaction: Raymond share price rallied 3 percent after reporting 61.7 percent YoY growth in net profit at Rs 54.5 crore and 10.6 percent growth in revenue at Rs 1,629.8 crore for the quarter ended March 2018.
Operating profit increased 33.5 percent to Rs 150.6 cror and margin expanded by 160 basis points to 9.2 percent YoY.
9:22 am Buzzing: Fortis Healthcare gained a percent after KKR-backed Radiant Life Care made a revised bid for the company with a binding offer to acquire its Mulund hospital for an enterprise value of Rs 1,200 crore.
This is the second revised offer received by Fortis after Malaysian major IHH Healthcare made a binding offer to infuse Rs 650 crore immediately in the Indian firm as part of an overall proposal to invest Rs 4,000 crore.
The company has received a binding offer from Radiant Life Care, FHL said in a regulatory filing.
9:18 am Earnings Reaction: Bharti Airtel share price gained more than 3 percent after reporting profit against expectations of loss in the quarter ended March 2018.
Net profit fell 72.8 percent sequentially to Rs 83 crore and revenue declined 3.4 percent to Rs 19,634 crore in Q4FY18 while operating income slipped 7.3 percent to Rs 7,034 crore and margin contracted 150 basis points to 35.8 percent QoQ.
9:15 am Market Check: Benchmark indices opened lower, tracking negative trend in global stocks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 52.82 points at 34,563.82 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 21.10 points to 10,593.30.
Bharti Airtel, Bharti Infratel, HPCL, BPCL and Reliance Industries were early gainers.
Hindalco, Cipla and HCL Technologies were under pressure.
ICICI Prudential, Raymond, Idea Cellular, Advanced Enzyme, Bajaj Corp, MMTC, Parag Milk Foods, Coffee Day, Jubilant Life, Avanti Feeds, Granule India, Gati, Jaiprakash Associates, Indiabulls Ventures and Trent gained up to 5 percent.
Uniply Industries gained 2 percent after block deal of 10 lakh shares.
Balrampur Chini and Reliance Naval were under pressure.
9:09 am Pre-opening Settlement: The market settled lower in pre-opening session, with the Sensex falling 23.47 points to 34,593.17 and the Nifty down 2 points to 10,612.40.
9:05 am Technical Recommendations: We spoke to SMC Global Securities and here’s what they have to recommend:
Au Small Finance: BUY| Target Rs775| Stop Loss Rs640| Return 12%
Praj Industries Ltd: BUY| Target Rs107| Stop Loss Rs89| Return 12%
SBI Life Insurance: BUY| Target Rs822| Stop Loss Rs695| Return 11%
9:03 am Stocks in news: Hero MotoCorp: Company hikes two-wheeler prices by up to Rs 625 to offset rising input cost
Strides Shasun: The company will Divest Its Stake In Stride Chemicals For Rs 131 crore.
State Bank of India: The bank will issue & encash electoral bonds through its 11 authorised branches from May 1-10.
Fortis Healthcare: IHH has submitted binding bids for Fortis and has proposed to inject Rs 650 crore at Rs 160 per share.
Blue Dart: The company’s Board will meet on May 08, 2018 to consider the financial results and recommend a dividend.
Bharti Infratel: Re-appoints Akhil Kumar Gupta as Exec chairman
Raymond: Company approves Rs 300 crore development plan for 20 acres land at Thane
DCM Shriram: Board approves expansion of PVC capacity for Rs 32 crore
Zensar Tech: Board approves stock split of equity shares in the ratio 5:1
9:01 am Market Check: Benchmark indices were higher in pre-opening trade despite global weakness, with the Sensex rising 112.63 points to 34,729.27 and the Nifty climbing 1.90 points to 10,616.30.
A gauge of world stocks tumbled on Tuesday, erasing early gains as US bond yields scaled the 3 percent threshold for the first time in four years, while oil prices reversed course after climbing above the USD 75 per barrel mark, said a Reuters report.
Asian shares were under pressure on Wednesday, with a rise in US bond yields above the 3 percent threshold and warnings from bellwether U.S. companies of higher costs driving fears that corporate earnings growth may peak soon, it said.
Oil prices slipped on concerns that the United States might reinstate sanctions against Iran faded somewhat, reducing worries about the future of Iranian exports. Brent slid 85 cents, or 1.1 percent, to settle at USD 73.86 a barrel, said a report.
