Sensex, Nifty end marginally higher ahead of Union Budget; UPL gains 7%

04 Jul 2019

Market Close: Indian indices ended with marginal gains in a volatile trade on Thursday ahead of Union Budget to be presented on July 5.

At close, the Sensex was up 68.81 points at 39,908.06, while Nifty was up 21.20 points at 11,938. About 1222 shares have advanced, 1195 shares declined, and 172 shares are unchanged.

UPL, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Britannia Industries and Tata Motors were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were Yes Bank, Tata Steel, Titan Company, Zee Entertainment and JSW Steel.

Among sectors, except metal and pharma all other indices ended higher led by the PSU bank, auto, FMCG, energy, IT, and infra.

REC to consider fund raising: A meeting of board of directors of REC scheduled to be held on July 10, 2019, to consider a proposal for raising of funds through issue of unsecured/secured non-convertible bonds/debentures through private placement, upto an amount of Rs 75,000 crore, in one or more tranches.

Market Update: Benchmark indices are holding on the gains in the afternoon trade on July 4 with Nifty around 11,950 level.

The Sensex is up 101.97 points or 0.26% at 39941.22, and the Nifty up 37.20 points or 0.31% at 11954. About 1174 shares have advanced, 937 shares declined, and 130 shares are unchanged.

Axis Bank Gains as CLSA Bullish on Stock

Axis Bank shares gained nearly a percent intraday after global brokerage firm maintained buy call on the stock as profit is expected to turn around in FY20.

The research house raised price target to Rs 1,000 from Rs 890 earlier, implying 24 percent potential upside and it sees an earnings recovery in FY20 as credit costs normalise.

Market Update: Indian indices are trading higher after a flat start in the morning trade with Nifty around 11,950.

The Sensex is up 114.10 points or 0.29% at 39953.35, and the Nifty up 37.60 points or 0.32% at 11954.40. About 1003 shares have advanced, 559 shares declined, and 79 shares are unchanged.

Buzzing: Shares of Titan Company declined 1 percent in the early trade on July 4 after foreign brokerage house Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to the equal-weight from overweight.

Crude Update: Oil prices inched lower on Thursday after solid gains the day before, pressured by data showing a smaller-than-expected decline in U.S. crude stockpiles.

Dollar Update: The dollar was on the back foot on Thursday, trading near a one-week low versus the yen as falling Treasury yields fueled expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this month for the first time in a decade.

Market opens: It is a flat start for the Indian indices on July 4 ahead of Union Budget scheduled on July 5.

At 09:17 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 66.64 points at 39905.89, while Nifty is up 22.50 points at 11939.30. About 440 shares have advanced, 245 shares declined, and 29 shares are unchanged.

Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Allahabad Bank, ONGC, Indiabulls Housing, UPL, Eicher Motors, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's Lab, Tata Motors and Hero Motocorp are among major gainers on the indices, while losers are Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Hindalco, Titan and Wipro.

Among the sectors, PSU bank led the gainers followed by IT, pharma and auto, while selling seen in the metal index.

Rupee Opens: The Indian rupee gained in the early trade on Thursday. It has opened higher by 9 paise at 68.82 per dollar versus previous close 68.91.

Market at pre-open: Indian indices are trading mixed in the pre-opening session with Nifty around 11,900.

At 09:01 hrs IST, the Sensex is up 105 points or 0.26% at 39944.25, and the Nifty down 15.90 points or 0.13% at 11900.90.

CLSA on Jubilant Foodworks

Maintain buy rating, target at Rs 1,500 per share

Competition seems to be picking up

CLSA on Axis Bank

Buy rating, target raised to Rs 1,000 from Rs 890 per share

De-risking book but weakness in CASA needs correction

Credit Suisse on NTPC

Outperform rating, target raised to Rs 170 from Rs 158 per share

Co can have multiple near-term catalysts

Near-term catalysts are lower under-recoveries, low valuations

Morgan Stanley on Titan

Downgrade to equal-weight from overweight, target at Rs 1,300 per share

Co one of our favourite long-term plays

Reluctant to push multiples beyond current levels

BofAML on Dr Reddy’s

Maintain buy call, target at Rs 3,009 per share

Carboprost tromethamine injection launch is under FDA’s new CGT

Jefferies on staples

Expect consumer sector to see yet another weak quarter

Last year's high base is also likely to hurt volume growth

Non-food input costs are benign

Negative operating leverage should limit margin expansion

Titan, Marico, HUL, Britannia to post better operational performance

Asian Paints, Godrej Cons & Colgate will be laggards

Expect HUL/Dabur to post 5%/4% volume growth YoY

Marico could see 7% volume growth, best in our staples coverage

Nestle expected to clock 11% domestic sales growth driven by 7% volume

Expect Colgate to report 4% volume growth with flat market shares

Emami & Godrej Cons should report low to mid-single digit volume growth

Nomura on Cummins

Downgrade to reduce from neutral, target cut to Rs 700 from Rs 765 per share

FY20 likely to be a weak year

Nomura on Torrent Pharma

Maintain buy rating, target cut to Rs 1,907 from Rs 1,997 per share

US disruptions impact earning; domestic biz remains key value driver

Nomura on Maruti Suzuki

Maintain neutral call, target cut To Rs 6,717 from Rs 7,171 per share

Factoring in weaker industry demand & rising regulatory costs

Kotak Institutional Equities on ITC

Add Rating, target at Rs 335 per share

Fundamentals improving even as narrative stays weak

Kotak Institutional Equities on Jubilant Foodworks

Buy rating, target at Rs 1,410 per share

Impressed with newly launched Hong’s Kitchen store in Gurugram

Jefferies on Whirlpool

Hold rating, target at Rs 1,560 per share

Positives priced in at stretched valuations of 42x/35x PE on FY20/21

Jefferies on Shriram Transport

Buy Rating, target raised to Rs 1,250 from Rs 1,200 per share

Challenges Exist; but risk/reward appears positive

Asian markets trade higher: Asian stocks advanced on Thursday, tracking sharp gains on Wall Street as recent data from multiple sectors pointed to slowing economic growth in the United States, bolstering the prospect of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

US stocks end higher: US stocks rose on Wednesday, with each of the major indexes closing at a record high, as expectations grew that the Federal Reserve would take a more dovish turn as a raft of data provided more evidence of a slowing economy

SGX Nifty: Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening for the broader indices in India, a gain of 12.50 points or 0.10 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 11,960.50-level on the Singaporean Exchange.