Sensex snaps 4-day rally, Nifty manages to hold 11,300; autos hit

01 Aug 2018

Market at Close: After days of rally, D-Street on Wednesday took a breather of sorts, courtesy the rate hike announced by Reserve Bank of India by 25 basis points. The Nifty managed to close just below 11,350-mark, while the Sensex ended above 37,500.

The Sensex ended down by 84.96 points or 0.23% at 37521.62, while the Nifty ended lower by 10.30 points or 0.09% at 11346.20. The market breadth was narrow as 1,368 shares advanced, against a decline of 1,294 shares, while 161 shares are unchanged.

Among sectors, banks saw a sharp recovery, while sectors such as pharma, FMCG, IT and energy ended in the green. Bank Nifty and Nifty Auto ended in the red. The Midcap index ended higher by 0.10 percent.

Market Update: Volatility has gripped the market in the past hour as Street looks to digest cues from RBI MPC’s decision to hike interest rates. There has been a sharp recovery in banks which has led to the market paring its losses.

At 15:14 hrs IST, the Sensex is down 37.46 points or 0.10% at 37569.12, and the Nifty down 0.00 points or 0.00% at 11356.50.

Market Update: After initially seeing some relief to the RBI’s move to hike repo rate, the market has seen some sudden selling in the past few minutes, especially among the financial names. The Sensex is down over 100 points, while the Nifty has given up 11,350-mark. All major sectoral indices are trading in the red, with Nifty PSU bank index dragging the market; the index is down over 1 percent. Coal India, TCS, and Lupin are the top gainers, while Vedanta, Maruti, and Hindalco have lost the most.

RBI hikes rates by 25 bps: The Reserve Bank of India has decided to hike key repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.50 percent. The central bank has adopted a neutral stance.

At its last meeting in June, the committee had hiked interest rate by 25 bps for the first time in the last 4 years but maintained its 'neutral' stance, indicating that a further rate decision will be highly 'data dependent.'

Unichem Laboratories gets 4 USFDA observations for Pithampur unit: Shares of Unichem Laboratories slipped 3 percent as company received 4 USFDA observations for Pithampur unit.

The company's API manufacturing facility at Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh was inspected by USFDA from July 23 to 27, 2018.

The USFDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) made four observations which do not impact continuity of the company's business and its manufacturing activity.

The company proposes to respond to these observations within 15 business days.

Emami Q1 results: ?FMCG firm Emami has reported healthy growth for April-June quarter, backed by strong volume and operational growth and favourable base. Consolidated profit grew to Rs 26.5 crore compared to Rs 1 crore in year-ago.

Revenue from operations grew by 16.2 percent to Rs 614.4 crore compared to Rs 529 crore in same period last year with volume growth of 16 percent.

Buzzing: Shares of Ashok Leyland gained more than 4 percent on the back of strong sales numbers declared by the company for the month ended July 2018.

The company's July 2018 total sales jumped 27 percent at 15,199 units against 11,981 units in July 2017.

Its medium & heavy commercial vehicles (M&HCV) sales were up 22 percent at 10,996 units against 9,026 units.

Light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales increased by 42 percent at 4,203 units versus 2,955 units

Market Update: Equity benchmarks are trading with caution ahead of the outcome of RBI’s MPC meeting outcome. The Sensex is around the flat line, while the Nifty is above 11,370-mark.

Midcaps have further extended their gains to over half a percent, while energy, metals and pharma indices are trading strong. The Nifty auto index is down 0.30 percent following mixed trends on auto sales for July.

The Sensex is up 36.75 points or 0.10% at 37643.33, while the Nifty up 22.00 points or 0.19% at 11378.50. The market breadth is positive as 1,307 shares advanced, against a decline of 784 shares, while 124 shares are unchanged.

Bajaj Auto, TCS, HPCL and IOC are top gainers, while Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Indiabulls Housing have lost the most.

Market Update: After days of strong starts, the market has taken a slight breather today as equity benchmarks have kicked off August on a flat note. Having said that, both Sensex and Nifty have managed to hit record highs in the opening minutes. The 50-share index is trading well above 11,350-mark.

Barring financial names, all sectoral indices are trading around the flat line, but energy, FMCG and metal names are in the green. The midcap index, too, is up over one-third of a percent.

Among stocks, Tata Motors is one of the biggest losers after its Q1 results showed a net loss. The stock is down over 3 percent now. Bajaj Auto is up around 2 percent following healthy sales for July as well. Other gainers include OMCs such as IOC and BPCL on the back of falling crude oil prices.

Bajaj Auto sales: Bajaj Auto has reported 30 percent jump in auto sales for July at 4 lakh units against 3.1 lakh units it sold last year.

- Domestic sales have risen 27 percent at 2.37 lakh units against 1.86 lakh units year on year.

- Exports, meanwhile, have risen 34 percent at 1.63 lakh units against 1.21 lakh units.

- Three-wheeler sales have jumped 59 percent to 67,663 units against 42,545 units year on year.

- Motorcycle sales rose 25 percent at 3.32 lakh units against 2.65 lakh units (YoY).

Market Opens: Equity benchmarks have started the month on a flat note, but the Nifty has hit another record high of 11,371 in the opening minutes. Investors could be watchful of the outcome of RBI MPC’s meeting outcome later in the day

The Sensex is currently higher by 24.41 points or 0.06% at 37630.99, while the Nifty is up 12.40 points or 0.11% at 11368.90. The market breadth is positive as 372 shares advanced, against a decline of 117 shares, while 57 shares are unchanged.

All sectoral indices are trading in the green, with maximum gains seen among metals, PSU banks as well as energy names. The midcap index is also up over half a percent.

Among global markets, Asian shares rose, following gains on Wall Street, as a report of attempts to renew talks between the United States and China eased trade war fears, but investors will be keeping a close eye on data due today.

In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 percent in early trade, while Japan's Nikkei stock index gained 0.5 percent. S&P E-mini futures were up a hair at 2818.

Meanwhile, US stocks rebounded, boosted by gains in industrial shares following reports of renewed trade negotiations between the United States and China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108.36 points, or 0.43 percent, to 25,415.19, the S&P 500 gained 13.69 points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,816.29 and the Nasdaq Composite added 41.79 points, or 0.55 percent, to 7,671.79.

Rupee opens: The Indian rupee opened flat at 68.55 per dollar on Wednesday versus 68.54 yesterday.

The dollar-rupee August contract on the NSE was at 68.79 in the previous session. August contract open interest declined 3.67 percent in the previous day, said ICICIdirect.

We expect the USD-INR to meet supply pressure at higher levels. Utilise upsides in the pair to initiate short positions, it added.

Market at pre-open: Equity benchmarks are off to a positive start on Wednesday morning in pre-opening rates, with the Nifty hovering above 11,350-mark. The Sensex is nearing 37,700 as well.

At 09:01 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 90.49 points or 0.24% at 37697.07, and the Nifty up 14.20 points or 0.13% at 11370.70.

Shares of RIL are trading higher, while oil marketing companies are trading in the green too. Tata Motors is likely to be lower post Q1 results.