Market Live: Midcap outperforms Sensex, Nifty reclaims 9750; Dr Reddy#39;s up 4%

12:25 pm 3 stocks go ex-bonus: BHEL, Bharat Electronics and Bharat Forge stocks prices adjusted for the bonus share issue in the proportion of 1 share for every two shares held, 1 share for every 10 shares held and 1 share for every share held, respectively.

BHEL was up 1.14 percent at Rs 84.05 and Bharat Electronics gained 2.85 percent at Rs 165.80 but Bharat Forge fell a percent at Rs 602.30 per share post adjustment.

12:10 pm ICICI Lombard trade on second day: ICICI Lombard General Insurance share price fell 0.65 percent today to trade at Rs 676.75 on profit booking.

In previous session, the stock closed 3 percent higher at Rs 681.20, against issue price of Rs 661 per share.

12:01 pm Gold over 1-month low: Gold fell to over one-month lows today as the dollar rose on expectations of a US interest rate hike in December.

US gold futures for December delivery fell 0.36 percent to USD 1,283.10 a barrel.

11:51 am Rupee trade: The rupee covered ground from its early losses today, but was still stuck at its six and a half month low against the dollar following sustained month-end demand for the American currency.

It was trading down 5 paise at 65.76 amid a surging dollar overseas. The rupee resumed lower at 65.78 as against yesterday’s closing level of 65.72. It slid further to 65.89 before quoting 65.76 at 11:51 am.

Concerns of capital outflows continue to weigh on sentiment, dealers said.

FPIs withdrew over Rs 1,858.29 crore on a net basis from stock markets yesterday, as per provisional exchange data.

11:40 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks remained positive amid consolidation in late morning trade, with the Nifty reclaiming 9,750 ahead of expiry of September futures & options contracts.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 82.83 points at 31,242.64 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 11.60 points to 9,747.35.

After recovery in early trade, the broader markets strengthened further as the BSE Midcap index was up 0.85 percent and Smallcap gained 0.7 percent on strong breadth.

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

11:31 am IPO: Prince Pipes and Fittings filed draft prospectus with capital market regulator to raise an estimated Rs 800 crore through an initial public offering.

The public issue comprises fresh issue of shares worth up to Rs 500 crore besides an offer for sale by the company’s promoters — Jayant Shamji Chheda, Tarla Jayant Chheda, Parag Jayant Chheda and Vipul Jayant Chheda, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

As per the merchant banking sources, the company’s initial public offer (IPO) is expected to garner Rs 800 crore.

Proceeds from the issue will be utilsed for payment of certain outstanding loans; financing the project cost towards establishment of a new manufacturing facility; upgradation of equipment at manufacturing facilities; and general corporate purposes.

11:21 am China’s manufacturing PMI expectations: China’s factories likely cranked up activity for the 14th straight month in September as the country’s year-long building boom and higher prices generate hearty profits, though the pace of growth may have eased slightly from August.

The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) on Sunday is expected to come in at 51.5 for September, dipping marginally from August’s 51.7, according to a median forecast of 24 economists polled by Reuters.

The 50-mark divides expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.

11:12 am Politics: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dissolved the lower house of parliament today, paving the way for a snap election that is expected to be held October 22.

Abe is widely seen as trying to reconsolidate his grip on power within the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party, so he can extend the term of his premiership next year. The dissolution of the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament comes more than a year before required by law.

The ruling party, though, faces a growing challenge from a new party launched by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike this week. The Party of Hope has energized some voters, and is gaining renegade lawmakers from the main opposition party.

11:01 am EIR report from USFDA: Dr Reddy’s Labs today informed exchanges that it has received establishment inspection report from the US Food and Drug Administration for SriKakulam plant (SEZ) unit 1, Andhra Pradesh.

10:50 am Market Outlook: Volatile moves and a cautious stance by investors continued to rule the Street as benchmark indices began on a slightly negative note.

Experts believe that there could be some more pain in store for the Street. UBS Securities, in fact, continues to hold on to Nifty’s base case target by December 2017 at 9,000.

“Our base case Nifty scenario for December still remains 9,000. Only if we see the markets below that do we look at constructive opportunities to buy the market. Otherwise, you are just playing the momentum trade than fundamental based investing,” he told the channel.

“Fundamentally, the risk reward is unattractive. If the market goes below 9K, only then one could look at constructive opportunities,” Gautam Chhaochharia, Head-India Research, UBS Securities told CNBC-TV18 in an interview.

10:40 am Buzzing: Shares of GE Power India added nearly 3 percent intraday on the back of order win worth Rs 328 crore.

The company has been awarded a contract worth approximately Rs 327.5 crore (USD 49.2 million) by Doosan Power Systems India.

The order includes supply of 4 units of 660 MW state of art Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) for the prestigious supercritical power projects of UP Government, Obra C 2×660 MW project of Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (UPRUVNL) and Jawaharpur 2×660 MW of Jawaharpur Vidyut Utpadan Nigam (JUVNL), as per company release.

10:32 am Market Check: Benchmarks indices rebounded amid volatility ahead of expiry of September futures & options contracts.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 68.22 points at 31,228.03 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 6.85 points to 9,742.60.

The market breadth turned strong as about two shares advanced for every share falling on the BSE.

The rupee also recovered from its day’s low, trading at 65.72 against the US dollar, compared with previous day’s closing of 65.71.

9:30 am IPO: Newgen Software Technologies has filed preliminary papers with markets regulator Sebi to raise an estimated Rs 400 crore through an initial share-sale offering.

The IPO comprises fresh issue of shares aggregating up to Rs 95 crore and an offer for sale of 1,34,53,932 scrips by existing shareholders, including Ascent Capital and Pandara Trust, according to draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised towards purchase and furnishing of office premises near Noida-Greater Noida Expressway in Uttar Pradesh and for other general corporate purposes.

According to merchant banking sources, the company’s initial public offer (IPO) is expected to fetch Rs 400 crore.

9:25 am 5G Technology: Sterlite Technologies has launched a high-speed 5G ready network solution named FlashFWD at India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2017, being held in New Delhi, India.

Globally, as data consumption continues to grow exponentially, there is a need for new, dense networks that enable extremely high data speeds and low response times. 5G is expected to generate about eight times more data traffic than an average 4G connection, with 15 percent global population expected to have 5G subscriptions by 2021-22.

10:20 am Bad loans: The battle against bad loans shows no signs of abating, with another state-run bank now offloading its exposure in the beleaguered Essar Steel, reports CNBC-TV18.

Indian Overseas Bank has offloaded its exposure in Essar Steel to Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company for Rs 1,900 crore. Sources said Edelweiss ARC is likely believed to have bought IOB’s stake at a 50 percent discount to its book value.

10:15 am Stake sale: State-run ONGC yesterday said it may sell its holding in Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and GAIL to fund the Rs 33,000 crore acquisition of HPCL.

The company is debt free and has got the shareholders’ approval to raise Rs 25,000 crore through borrowing, ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Dinesh K Sarraf said. “We have several options to fund the acquisition. On a standalone basis we are debt free so we can borrow from the market. Also, we have certain investments which can be sold,” Sarraf said.

ONGC has about 13.77 percent stake in IOC, which is worth around Rs 26,450 crore and 4.87 percent stake in GAIL, which is worth Rs 1,640 crore. Sarraf said no decision on selling stake has been taken but the option is available for the company.

10:06 am Tax woes for telecom sector: Large telecom operators including Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular today lamented the high taxes, and spectrum costs being faced by the industry, and asked the government for immediate relief to mitigate the woes of the stressed sector.

While most of the speakers at India Mobile Congress inaugural eluded to India’s digital vision and technological prowess, Idea Cellular MD and CEO Himanshu Kapania minced no words in highlighting the “severe financial and mental stress” that the industry is going through.

He went on to red flag the industry’s woes ranging from introduction and proliferation of bundled unlimited usage plans to “lack of effective regulatory intervention”, all of which had bearing on the industry’s realisations.

Bharti Airtel MD and CEO for India and South Asia, Gopal Vittal too rued the high taxes in the industry.

10:01 am Modi on GST: Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said traders across the country are “positive” about GST and accepting the new taxation arrangement but they need “handholding” so that their problems can be resolved.

He urged the chief secretaries to use the district administration in this regard, so that small traders are facilitated to access and adopt the new system, according to a PMO statement.

At the meeting, the prime minister reiterated that small businesses must register with the GST network to take advantage of business opportunities, the PMO statement said.

9:59 am Govt plans to dilute stake in O&G fields: India plans to offer stakes of up to 60 percent in oil and gas fields owned by state energy companies that are already under production to private firms, Reuters said quoting five government and company sources with knowledge of the matter.

The government is making the decision after failing to draw investment from global oil majors in new fields. The plan would boost India’s domestic oil and gas output and would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s target to reduce oil imports by 10 percent by 2022. However, the plan could reduce profits of state-owned companies.

India is the world’s third-largest crude importer, buying 80 percent of its supplies from overseas.

Another of the sources, an ONGC executive, said the government’s move to invite private firms in the mature oil fields will impact their long-term plans.

9:55 am Stake sale: Carrier International (Mauritius) Limited, a subsidiary of UTC, has executed a trade on Wednesday, to divest its balance equity shareholding in Cyient, according to information available on the NSE.

Cyient said this is the second tranche of divestment, the first being done earlier on 7th June 2017. UTC first invested in Cyient in 2002 when the company was establishing itself as a global engineering services company. Since that time, Cyient has grown considerably and remains a trusted service provider to UTC with over 1,600 engineers engaged on UTC projects worldwide.

“UTC has been a strategic customer and investor in the company,” reiterated Cyient CEO Krishna Bodanapu. “Their decision to divest stood testimony to the growth of the company over the years and justified the prudence of the investment made therein.”

9:50 am Technical Outlook: See Nifty support in the range of 9,710-9,755, said Laurence Balanco of CLSA in an interview to CNBC-TV18. He still has a long-term target of 12,000 on Nifty.

According to him, Nifty at 9,710 is a good buying opportunity.

Nifty can attain 10,300 mark by end of current calendar year, he said.

He see downside target for the rupee at 62 against the US dollar.

Talking about crude, he said for Brent crude USD 58 per barrel looks like the top of its trading range.
9:41 am Rupee at over 6-month low: The rupee took more blows today as

it slipped 16 paise to a fresh six and a half month low of 65.88 against the dollar that gained clout overseas on talk of a US rate hike and the prospect of monetary stimulus pullout.

The US Fed’s policy decision and commentary led to foreign investors heading to the exit door here.

Month-end demand from importers for the US currency is at work, forex dealers said.

9:37 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses in morning as the Nifty breached 9,700 level, down 36.95 points at 9,698.80.

The Sensex was down 45.50 points at 31,114.31. The market breadth was balanced as about 779 shares declined against 752 advancing shares on the BSE.

9:25 am Rollovers: Nifty rollovers were at 45.99 percent versus the lower than 3-month average of 48.78 percent, ICICIdirect said.

Market wide rollover was at 55.26 percent, lower than 3-month average of 57.34 percent.

Highest rollover was observed in DHFL (80 percent), JSW Steel (76 percent), Indiabulls Real Estate (74 percent), Bharat Forge (71 percent) and Bharat Finance (71 percent).

Roll activities have found some momentum in the last session across sectors due to high closure of positions in the September series. Nifty October series has added close to 39 lakh shares against closure of 34 lakh shares in the September series. The roll spread in Nifty remained largely range bound near 32 points (excluding dividend of almost 10 points in the September series). Data suggests continued short aggression getting rolled into the next series especially in the sectors like PSU Banks and cement, ICICIdirect said.

9:20 am FII View: Andrew Garthwaite of Credit Suisse said according to the research house, low volatility has some fundamental underpinnings like low GDP growth and inflation volatility, low default rates and the low real Fed Funds rate.

Previous instances of very low volatility have not necessarily preceded a significant sell-off, he added.

Credit Suisse believes that low volatility, by boosting the relative risk-adjusted return of equities, could encourage an asset allocation shift towards equities.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened marginally lower on the day of expiry of September derivative contracts.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 36.73 points at 31,123.08 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 12.25 points to 9,723.50.

ONGC, Aurobindo Pharma, Bharti Infratel and Dr Reddy’s Labs were early losers while Tech Mahindra, Wipro, TCS, HCL Technologies and Axis Bank were early gainers.

Nifty Midcap was down 0.14 percent.

In broader space, Ipca Labs, DHFL, Reliance Home Finance, ICICI Lombard General and Titan Company were under pressure.

Goa Carbon, Divis Labs, Indo Count, Edelweiss Financial and Cyient gained 1-3 percent.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee extended losses today, opening lower by 11 paise at 65.82 against the US dollar. In previous session, it closed at 65.71 a dollar.
Asian indexes were narrowly mixed today, after US equities advanced and the greenback rose following the unveiling of a long-awaited tax reform plan stateside.