Market Live: Nifty approaches 10000, Sensex strong; HDFC Bank hits new high on Q1 nos

 12:34 pm Earnings: Country’s second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank started off the year on a strong note by showing impressive growth in earnings on all counts. Profit grew by 20.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 3,893.84 crore despite sharp rise in provisions.

Profitability was driven by net interest income and other income.

The stock price lost ground due to asset quality concerns but immediately recovered to hit fresh record high of Rs 1,725 (up 1.25 percent) after the bank clarified that the rise in asset quality was due to farm loan waiver announced by states in June.

12.05 pm Market Check: Reliance Industries, ITC, technology and banks stocks lifted the Nifty near 10,000 level in noon despite mixed trade in Asia.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 191.60 points at 32,220.49 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 49.85 points at 9,965.10 but the market breadth does not look strong.

About 1,393 shares advanced against 1,030 declining shares on the BSE.

All sectoral indices barring Pharma and Metal traded in green.

11:40 am Alok in focus: Alok Industries shares rallied as much as 13 percent in morning trade after a media report indicated that Aion Capital and SSG Capital are interested to buy controlling stake in the troubled textile company.

Alok Industries, which owes about Rs 23,000 crore to lenders and trade vendors, is one of 12 accounts that already identified by the Reserve Bank of India under Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code in June.

11:20 am Reliance near life high: Oil-to-telecom major Reliance Industries moved closer to its intraday record high of Rs 1,626.05 touched on January 15, 2008.

The stock today hit fresh 52-week high of Rs Rs 1,624.80. It was trading at Rs 1,621.95, up Rs 35.75, or 2.25 percent on the BSE.

11:05 am Plants sale: Amtek Auto shares were locked at 5 upper circuit at Rs 31.15 amid high volumes after subsidiary signed agreement to sell UK plants to Liberty Group.

There were pending buy orders of 63,872 shares, with no sellers available on the BSE, at 11:01 hours IST.

“Amtek Global Technologies Pte. Ltd., subsidiary of Amtek Auto Limited, has entered into an arrangement to sell its UK based subsidiaries’ plants to Liberty Group,” the company said in its filing on July 21.

Meanwhile, the auto ancillary company’s loss widened sharply to Rs 889.6 crore in the quarter ended June 2017, from Rs 319.7 crore in year-ago quarter, hit by lower revenue and exceptional loss.

10:50 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks rallied further, with the Nifty inching towards 10,000-mark. Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC led major support to the market as both contributed 50 percent to Nifty’s gains.

Banks and technology stocks also gained strength.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 192.14 points at 32,221.03 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 50.85 points to 9,966.10.

About 1,388 shares advanced against 862 advancing shares on the BSE.

10:40 am Interview: Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) posted a dismal set of earnings in the first quarter ended June, 2017 as profit was down to Rs 234 crores on back of lower crude oil prices versus Rs 1942.4 crore in the last quarter.

Throwing more light on the earnings performance and the outlook going forward, Managing Director, H Kumar said the inventory loss of USD 2.33 per barrel during the last quarter vis a vis and inventory gain of USD 4.72 per barrel during first quarter last fiscal. However, our operating numbers are much higher than Q1 of FY17, he said.
Standalone total income for the quarter was down 20 percent at Rs 14494.6 crore versus Rs 18,108.6 crore reported in the last quarter

The EBITDA was down 63 percent at Rs 582.7 crore versus Rs 1554.1 crore same quarter last fiscal.

When asked about the company’s merger with HPCL, he said as of now government is only talking about ONGC acquiring stake in HPCL and MRPL merger has not yet been discussed.

On the business outlook, he said there is a huge potential of higher capacity for polypropylene unit going forward and see an uptick in gross refining margins over the next three quarters. The polypropylene unit was shut for 35 days in Q1.

The gross refining margins for Q1FY18 stood at USD 4.7/bbl versus USD 5.29/bbl year on year.

10:20 am Buzzing: Shares of Avenue Supermarts, the operator of D-Mart retail chain, gained 5.5 percent intraday on the back of strong June quarter (Q1FY18) numbers.

The company’s Q1 net profit increased 47.7 percent at Rs 174.7 crore versus Rs 118.4 crore, in the same quarter last fiscal.

Total income of the company was up 35.7 percent at Rs 3,598 crore versus Rs 2,652.4 crore.

The company’s operating profit (EBITDA) was up 29.2 percent at Rs 303 crore and EBITDA margin increased at 8.4 percent.

10:08 am Cigarette price hike: ITC shares gained as much as 2.4 percent in morning trade Monday as the cigarette major hiked select product prices following GST Council hiked cess to pre-GST level.

The company increased cigarette prices of its three brands effective July 18, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting sources of Cogencis.

It hiked Gold Flake Kings and Classic Rich prices to Rs 300 per 20 pack each while Navy Cut Filter price increased to Rs 188 per 20 pack.

9:58 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended gains in morning, with the Nifty hitting 9950 level, backed by ITC.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 134.64 points at 32,163.53 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 32.05 points at 9,947.30.

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

9:45 am Buzzing: Share price of AstraZeneca Pharma advanced 3.5 percent intraday as the company going to launch its drug in India.

The company is going to launch Osimertinib 40 mg and 80 mg in India on July 27, 2017.

Osimertinib is an oral anti-cancer drug for management of lung cancer. It is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as detected by an appropriate test, whose disease has progressed on or after EGFR TKI therapy.

Osimertinib is the product of AstraZeneca group and has been approved in over 45 countries, including US, EU, Japan, China and other Asian countries.

9:35 am Market Outlook: Sanjeev Prasad of Kotak Institutional Equities said the research house believes global macro factors will continue to be more relevant for the Indian market without a stronger domestic economic and earnings recovery.

The Indian market has performed exactly in-line with the EM MSCI Index over the past 12 months. The BSE Sensex rallied 15 percent in last one year.

In model portfolio, Kotak removed Aurobindo Pharma and reduced weight on Reliance Industries, Prasad said.

He further said the research house allocated 100 bps to IOC and included Hindalco Industries. Among metals stocks, it has had recommended positions in JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Vedanta.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off the week on a positive note, with the Nifty and Bank indices opening at record highs.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 51.05 points at 32,079.94 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 9.05 points at 9,924.30. About two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

Lupin gained 2 percent followed by Wipro, Reliance Industries, Coal India and Adani Ports.

Nifty Midcap gained 0.2 percent in early trade. Divis Labs, SREI Infrastructure, MRPL and Persistent Systems lost up to 5 percent.
Tata Sponge, IIFL Holdings, Quess Corp, J&K Bank, GVK Power, Avenue Supermarts, Amtek Auto, Fortis Healthcare, HPCL and Vijaya Bank gained up to 8 percent.