Market Live: Sensex extends losses, Nifty struggles below 9150; Idea tanks 13%
12:00 pm Market Check: Benchmark indices continued to reel under selling pressure in noon, dragged by Infosys, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and ITC shares. HDFC and HDFC Bank supported the market, up 0.8 percent each.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 125.33 points at 29,523.66 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 31.75 points to 9,128.30.
The broader markets continued to outperform benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap rising 0.4 percent. The market breadth was balanced.
Experts expect the market consolidation to continue for couple of days before getting ready for marching towards 9,300 level.
Veteran financial commentator Udayan Mukherjee says the Nifty could move higher from this point as momentum and liquidity is strong.
“FIIs are late to the party as they were waiting for events such as elections and Fed actions to pan out,” he said. “Furthermore, the USD 2 billion investment by FIIs in a week was a sign of serious commitment.”
Idea Cellular was biggest loser among Nifty stocks, down 8 percent on profit booking after the Vodafone merger finalised.
11:40 am Expert Speak: Higher inflows from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), along with domestic investors has reflected in the sharp run up in the market.
“From November 8 to January 31, domestic investors were buying. FIIs were also buying (in this market) from February 1,” Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company, told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.
11:20 am Buzzing Stock: Share price of Marathon Nextgen Realty added 3 percent intraday Monday on approval of buyback plan.
The company at its meeting held on March 17 has approved a proposal to buyback up to 54,37,345 equity shares for an aggregate of Rs 49,52,69,875 being 19.12 percent of the total paid-up equity share capital, at Rs 275 per equity share.
10:38 am CLSA on GAIL: CLSA has maintained a sell call on Gas Authority of India Limited’s (GAIL) as it finds the valuation unsustainable. It sees progress in stabilization of petrochemical plant at Pata.
The plant is operating at 70 percent capacity and the team there feels it should ramp up to 100 percent capacity utilization in first quarter of next fiscal. The brokerage house feels that the stock is ignoring large risk for US LNG contracts.
10:20 am Adani Enterprises in action: Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, whose USD 22 billion Carmichael coal mine and port cum railhead project in Queensland is being opposed by some people, says he is hopeful of starting it by August this year.
“We expect the final federal approvals by May-June. We need just about three months from thereon to actually begin the work on the mine. Which means we can kick-start work from August this year,” Adani told PTI in an interview here over the weekend.
He was flanked by the premier of Queensland Anastasia Palaszczuk, who was in town leading a 25-member delegation of mayors and state officials after visiting the Mundra port and solar power farms of the Adanis in Gujarat over the weekend.
10:00 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended losses in morning, with the Nifty struggling below 9150 as investors preferred to book profits after previous week’s rally.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 142.99 points at 29,506 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 33.10 points to 9,126.95 while the broader markets outperformed benchmarks, rising marginally on positive breadth.
About 1181 shares advanced against 993 declining shares on the BSE.
Ideal Cellular fell 13 percent to below Rs 100 level as investors may be concerned about the pricing of merger with Vodafone India. Other reason could be profit booking as the news already priced in. The stock rallied 67 percent in 2017.
9:55 am BoAML on Yes Bank: Bank of America Merrill Lynch has maintained its buy call on Yes Bank with increased target price at Rs 1,820 (from Rs 1,600), saying it is a top pick as growth visibility of the bank is strong and margins will have tailwinds.
According to the brokerage house, asset quality is likely to be as comfortable as it has been and retail side can see acceleration of timeline.
BoAML believes capital is not an issue in near-term for ‘faster growth leg’. It sees return on equity rising to 23 percent by FY18 on rising return on assets and not just leverage.
9:40 am Power plant commissioning: State-run power producer NTPC today said it has commissioned the second unit of 660 MW of Mouda Super Thermal Power Station Stage-II.
“We wish to inform that 2nd unit of 660 MW of Mouda Super Thermal Power Station Stage-II (2 X 660 MW) has been commissioned,” NTPC said in a filing to the BSE.
With this, the commissioned capacity of Mouda Super Thermal Power Station, NTPC and NTPC group has become 2,320 MW, 41,907 MW and 48,873 MW, respectively, it said.
9:30 am Telecom merger: Idea says Vodafone India merger is expected to be completed by 2018. Aditya Birla Group will have the right to buy 9.5 percent stake in the combined entity at Rs 130 per share.
Vodafone will sell shares in the combined company to equalise its shareholding with Aditya Birla Group.
Also read – Buy, Sell, Hold: What stocks and sectors are on analysts’ radar today
9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened lower on profit booking Monday after a 2.5 percent rally seen last week. Idea Cellular rallied nearly 15 percent in early trade following announcement of its merger with Vodafone India.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 98.36 points at 29,550.63 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 23.95 points to 9,136.10. About 759 shares advanced against 438 declining shares on the BSE.
The Indian rupee opened with a marginal gain of 6 paise at 65.40 per dollar today against Friday’s close of 65.46.
Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, “The rupee will trade with a positive bias on the back of positive cues from the equity market and strong FII inflow. The trading range for the USD-INR pair is seen between 65.20-65.80/dollar.”
The dollar stayed on the defensive with bulls still nursing a grudge after the Federal Reserve’s rate guidance last week proved to be less “hawkish” than many had wagered on.
