Market Live: Sensex extends gains, Nifty scales above 9650; MPC meet outcome eyed
11:05 am Market Check: Benchmark indices were trading strong ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting outcomeThe Sensex was up 131.73 points at 31322.29, while the Nifty was up 36.55 points or 0.38% at 9673.70. The market breadth was healthy as 1,426 shares advanced against a decline of 772 shares, while 136 shares were unchanged.
M&M, GAIL and Vedanta were the top gainers, while Wipro, TCS and BPCL lost the most.
10:59 am Sical Logistics gains: Shares of Sical Logistics were higher by 6 percent intraday on Wednesday as investors cheered an order win.
The company received a letter of acceptance by Mahanadi Coal Fields for extraction, order value Rs 289 crore for 3 years
“The activity may be carried out by deploying surface miners on a hiring basis, mechanical transfer of the same by pay loaders into tipping trucks and transportation from surface miner face to different destinations at Bharatpur,” the company told the exchanges.
10:55 am Buzzing Stock: Unichem Laboratories shares surged 7 percent intraday Wednesday after its Ghaziabad facility received establishment inspection report from the US health regulator.
This receipt indicates the successful closure of the inspection and the queries raised during the audit (Form 483), the company said in its filing to exchanges.
The inspection of formulations manufacturing facility by US Food and Drug Administration was carried out between February 24 and March 3, 2017.
10:45 am FII View: The Indian market is rallying on optimism, which makes finding value stocks with reasonable valuations is a little difficult, but the long-term trend still remains to be on the upside, Arvind Sanger, Managing Partner, Geosphere Capital said in an interview with CNBC-TV18 on the sidelines of Morgan Stanley Investor Summit.
The Nifty which made a fresh record high this week is on track to hit 11,000 in the next 12-18 months backed by the earnings growth of 15 percent in FY18 and stable macro fundamentals, said Sanger.
Another factor which supports the optimism is a stable political environment. Although India will go to polls in the year 2019, investors are comfortable that political uncertainty looks much less.
10:30 am Pharma check: Here’s a look at the performance of the Nifty Pharma index.
Nifty Pharma
10:15 am Goldman on ICICI: Goldman Sachs maintains a buy rating on ICICI Bank but raised its 12-month target price from Rs 320 earlier to Rs 372, which translates into an upside of 17 percent from current levels.
Since March quarter earnings, ICICI Bank has outpaced Bank Nifty by 13 ppt on lower NPL creation and a healthy operating performance.
“We believe ICICI Bank still trades at undemanding valuations and could rerate higher on: (1) moderating asset quality concerns; (2) strengthening of retail liability and asset franchise; and (3) improving returns ratio in FY19E-20E,” said the Goldman Sachs note.
The largest private sector bank will also benefit from a secular story of shifting household savings from deposits to insurance and mutual funds through its subs.
10.01 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended gains in morning trade, with the Nifty trading above 9650 level ahead of outcome of monetary policy committee meeting due later today.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 109.21 points at 31,299.77 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 27 points to 9664.15.
Majority of experts expect the RBI to maintain status quo. RBI’s commentary would be closely watched.
According to LKP, the central bank is likely to hold key rates even as the government is making a case for a lower interest regime citing low inflation.
The broader markets outperformed benchmarks, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising over half a percent. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.
Also read – Buy, Sell, Hold: 9 stocks that are analysts are tracking today
9:42 am Market Outlook: Dhirendra Tiwari of Antique Stock Broking said smooth implementation of GST will be a key trigger.
While inventory adjustments could lead to some near-term volatility in earnings, market will look through such transitory phenomena and focus on the benefits of GST, he feels.
FY18 EPS estimates for the Nifty are at Rs 505; FY19 at Rs 606, implying a 18 percent CAGR earnings growth between FY17-19, he said.
Tiwari said the brokerage house has assigned a year-end target of 10,200 for the Nifty.
9:30 am Buzzing: GMR Infrastructure shares rallied nearly 4 percent in morning trade as its subsidiary won a airport in Greece, a major International tourist destination.
“GMR Airports, a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure, has been selected to develop, operate and manage the new international Airport of Heraklion at Crete in partnership with Greek infrastructure major TERNA S A (100 percent subsidiary of GEK TERNA Group),” the infrastructure company said in its filing.
GMR Airports will be the designated Airport Operator in the consortium for this project, it added.
The company said the concession period for the Greenfield project would be 35 years including Phase 1 construction of 5 years.
9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened moderately higher amid consolidation on Wednesday as investors awaited outcome of two-day Monetary Policy Committee due later today.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 47 points at 31,237.56 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 20.25 pointsa at 9,657.
GAIL, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, M&M, Hero Motocorp, Vedanta and Bharti Infratel were early gainers while Dr Reddy’s Labs, Wipro, TCS, Cipla, Tata Motors, BPCL and Tata Power were under pressure.
The Indian rupee extended losses on Wendesday. It opened at 64.49 against the US dollar, down 7 paise compared with Tuesday’s closing level of 64.42 a dollar.
Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said in the absence of any directional clarity, the spot USD-INR pair will trade in a tight range of 64.20 to 64.50 today.
Asia was mixed as markets cautiously awaited the UK election, a European Central bank review and former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony to the Senate stateside.
