Sensex jumps 424 points, Nifty ends tad below 11,500; RIL, banks lead

26 Mar 2019

Market Closing

Benchmark indices rebounded sharply after falling in previous two straight sessions, driven by banking & financials, and index heavyweight Reliance Industries.

The BSE Sensex rallied 424.50 points or 1.12 percent to 38,233.41 and the Nifty50 climbed 129 points or 1.14 percent to 11,483.30.

The Nifty Midcap index also gained over a percent but the market breadth was not so great.

About 1,377 shares advanced against 1,286 declining shares on the BSE.

NTPC, Reliance Industries, SBI, Vedanta and Bajaj Finance were leading gainers among Nifty50 stocks, rising 3-4 percent while Tech Mahindra, IOC, UPL, Infosys and Wipro lost 0.6-2.4 percent.

Market Extends Rally:

Benchmark indices extended rally in afternoon with the Sensex gaining nearly 400 points, driven by banking & financials stocks.

The BSE Sensex climbed 382.30 points or 1.01 percent to 38,191.21 and the Nifty50 was up 115.50 points or 1.02 percent at 11,469.80.

The broader markets also rallied further. The Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 1 percent each.

HCC Gains 8%:

HCC said the board of directors approved the proposal for monetisation of an identified pool of arbitration awards & claims (transaction) for which the company today signed terms.

Under the terms of the transaction, the company said it would seek to transfer the beneficial interest/rights in a portfolio of identified awards & claims of the Company (Specified Awards & Claims) for a consideration of Rs 1,750 crore to a consortium of Investors led by BlackRock (Investors).

A special purpose vehicle (SPV), to be controlled by the Investors, is being setup in this regard, it said.

SBI Life Insurance Announces Dividend:

SBI Life said the board of directors declared an interim dividend of Rs 2 per share for the financial year 2018-19 on the paid-up equity share capital of the company of the nominal value of Rs 10 each.

The interim dividend for Financial Year 2018-19 will be paid to those shareholders whose names appear on the register of nembers of the company or in the records of the depositories as beneficial owners of the shares determined with reference to the record date of April 4, 2019.

BLS International Gains Nearly 2%

BLS International announced that it has entered the select club of ‘Fortune India Next 500’ companies.

The Next 500 is a comprehensive ranking of India’s outstanding mid-size companies who have carved their way as a shining example of the resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of India which is critical to the economy in terms of its contribution to employment generation and economic growth.

Market Update

Indian shares moderately gained today tracking broader Asian markets after two sessions of losses, as US Treasury yields edged higher, easing concerns about a recession in the world's largest economy.

"Domestic markets are well placed, sentiments are still positive, the selloff was mainly because of fears of global slowdown and some correction after last week's rally," said Neeraj Dewan, director, Quantum Securities.

"There is a sense that the same government may continue so there will be stability at the centre....this is supportive of our market," he added.

Reliance Industries Buys ITC's menswear brand John Players

Reliance Industries Ltd said its unit Reliance Retail Ltd (RRL) has acquired consumer goods company ITC Ltd's menswear brand John Players.

The acquisition would strengthen RRL's readymade garments and accessories portfolio in the fashion and lifestyle retail space, Reliance told Reuters in an email.

ITC sold the brand John Players and related trademarks and intellectual property to Reliance Retail as part of its restructuring plan, an ITC spokesperson said.

Market Update:

Benchmark indices continued to consolidate ahead of expiry of March derivative contracts and after a fall in previous two consecutive sessions.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 32.72 points to 37,841.63 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 12.70 points at 11,367.

DLF rallies 8%

The realty major, on March 25, launched its QIP offer to raise over Rs 3,000 crore by selling 17.3 crore equity shares to qualified institutional investors.

With an aim to become a debt-free company, DLF had last year announced plans to issue up to 17.3 crore shares through qualified institutional placement (QIP) to raise funds and pre-pay loans.

According to a regulatory filing, DLF has launched its QIP on March 25 and the floor price has been fixed at Rs 193.01 per equity share.

Vikas WSP Bags Order

Vikas WSP has received approval for export of DP guar gum products for IMC Kelium Potash USA.

To confirm final orders a technical expert team of IMC Kelium USA is visiting on April 20, 2019 the plant of the company, it said.

It is a newer guar gum product developed by the company during 2016-2017 and now it has been approved for large scale production of potash fertilizers to increase its stability providing better conditioning.

Vikas said these orders are expected to execute during financial year 2019-20 (quarter-2, Q-3 and Q4/2019-20).

L&T Bags Order

L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro, has won a large order from Tawfiq Coke Products-Oman, the company said in its filing.

The contract scope includes selection of technology licensor, FEED & EPC for a 2 x 225,000 TPA plant of calcined coke from green pet coke.

"This award will further reinforce L&T’s operations in Oman and provide an opportunity to contribute to the expansion of industrial facilities in Sohar," L&T said.

Market Extends Gains

The 30-share BSE Sensex extended gains in morning, rising 102.49 points to 37,911.40 and the Nifty50 is inching towards 11,400, up 32.30 points at 11,386.60.

The market breadth remained in favour of bulls. About 1,118 shares advanced against 557 declining shares on the BSE.

Jet Airways on Buyers' Radar

Jet Airways shares continued to see buying interest, rising another 9 percent in morning after lenders took control of company's board and Naresh Goyal stepped down as Chairman.

Jet Airways founders Naresh Goyal and wife Anita Goyal have stepped down from the board of the cash-strapped airline on March 25. With this, Naresh Goyal ceases to be Chairman.

Apart from the Goyals, one nominee of Etihad Airways PJSC, Kevin Knight has also stepped down from the board, Jet Airways said in its BSE filing after its board meeting. Two nominee directors representing lenders have been inducted into the board.

Market Trade

The market continued to trade marginally higher with the BSE Sensex rising 58.93 points to 37,867.84 and the Nifty50 climbing 24 points to 11,378.30.

About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Rupee Opening

The Indian rupee opened higher at 68.88 against the US dollar on March 26, 2019.

It appreciated by 5 paise compared to Monday's close of 68.93 to the dollar.

"The rupee ended mildly higher, on March 25, recovering from its intraday lows of 69.17. RBI three-year dollar-rupee swap auction will be held today. The move in the rupee will be keenly watched ahead of RBI’s monetary policy meeting next week," ICICI Securities said.

The brokerage further said the slump in US yields could cap the dollar's ability to appreciate sharply.

Investors continue to await the US-China trade talks outcome while ongoing Brexit uncertainty is also weighing on risk sentiments, it added.

Market Opening:

Benchmark indices opened marginally higher after a selling pressure seen in previous two consecutive sessions.

The BSE Sensex rose 51.28 points to 37,860.19 and the Nifty50 gained 31.90 points at 11,386.20.

Indiabulls Housing, Zee Entertainment, Eicher Motors, GAIL, Adani Ports, Bharti Infratel and Reliance Industries were early gainers.

Infosys, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, JSW Steel and Power Grid were under pressure.

Nifty Midcap index was up 0.5 percent.

Jet Airways rallied 7 percent after Naresh Goyal and his wife stepped down from board.

Kalpataru Power Transmission gained 4 percent.

ICICI Prudential Life lost 2.5 percent.

Market Outlook

ICICI Securities said the price action formed a bear candle with a small lower shadow post a gap down opening, indicating extended profit booking after witnessing 9.3 percent rally over the past five weeks, which led the weekly stochastic oscillator to hover at the overbought territory (at 86).

"Going ahead, we expect the index to consolidate in the range of 11,450–11,200 amid stock specific action ahead of March series derivative expiry and escalating global volatility," it said.

Over past eight sessions, the Nifty midcap, small cap indices retraced 23.6% of preceding nine sessions up move, indicating slower pace of retracement, highlighting a robust price structure.

The research house believes this healthy consolidation would help the broader market to form a higher base, in turn setting the stage for the next leg of up move. Thus, corrective declines should be capitalised on as incremental buying opportunity.

Market Pre-Opening Trade

Benchmark indices were flat in pre-opening trade, indicating that there could be consolidation after a fall in previous two sessions.

The Sensex was up 42.01 points at 37,850.92 and the Nifty gained 11.40 points at 11,365.70.

Macquarie India Strategy

Global brokerage house Macquarie said European investors are still appear to be cautious on India. Elections & a rebound in economic growth will be key drivers for flows into India, it added.

The Sensex in last two sessions fell around 500 points after rallying more than 3,000 points since February 19 on the back of more than Rs 43,000 crore worth of shares buying by FIIs.

"We continued to recommend our stance on moving from defensives to cyclicals and to recommend our stance on moving from large caps to midcaps," the investment firm said.

Real estate & its derivate sectors will be outperformers in 2019, it believes.

Top large cap picks are IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, ITC, ONGC and L&T while top midcap picks are Phoenix Mills, L&T Infotech, Minda Industries, Jubilant Foodworks, Ujjivan Financial, Apollo Hospitals, NCC, Crompton Consumer, ACC and Berger Paints.

US Markets End Mixed

The S&P 500 Index ended a choppy session slightly lower on Monday as worries about a slowdown in global economic growth lingered and as Apple Inc shares fell after the company unveiled its video streaming service.

Indexes moved between negative and positive territory throughout the session, with investors keeping their eyes on the US Treasury market.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to their lowest levels since December 2017, while the yield curve between three-month bills and 10-year notes inverted further as investors continued to assess last week’s dovish pivot by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed flagged an expected slowdown in the economy last week and decided against raising interest rates this year.

The yield curve inversion, if it holds, is seen by some as an indicator that a recession is likely in one to two years. Ten-year notes were last yielding about 2.4 percent. (Source: Reuters)

Jet Airways in Focus

Jet Airways will start taking back its grounded fleet from later this week, and 'normalcy' may be restored within two months.

The follows the resignation of founder Naresh Goyal and wife Anita from the company's board, and infusion of Rs 1,500 crore by its lenders.

Owing to default on payments to lessors and for want of spare parts, Jet was forced to ground about 80 of its aircraft. It had a total fleet of 119 aircraft before the crisis started.

"Two to three aircraft are expected to be released daily once the payment is done to the lessors," a senior executive from the airline told Moneycontrol.

Asian Markets Update

Asian shares were shaky after US Treasury yields sank to their lowest since late 2017, further below short-term interest rates and adding to fears of a US recession.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early trade after two days of losses. Japan’s Nikkei rebounded 1.1 percent after a 3.0 percent fall on Monday.

Investors have been spooked by sharp falls in US bond yields and an inversion of the US Treasury yield curve, which is widely seen as an indicator of an economic recession.

The 10-year US Treasury yield dropped to 2.405 percent, having shed 5 basis points on Monday.

Market Trend

SGX Nifty indicated that the market is expected to see consolidation after around 500 points fall on the Sensex in previous two consecutive sessions on global growth concerns.

SGX Nifty was up 11 points at 11,376.50 at 8:23 hours IST.