Market Live: Sensex extends rally, Nifty above 10,400 as BJP leads in Gujarat, Himachal

Mon Dec 18 2017
Rajesh Sharma (2046 articles)
Market Live: Sensex extends rally, Nifty above 10,400 as BJP leads in Gujarat, Himachal

12:20 pm Market Update: Benchmark as well as broader indices maintained positive momentum in afternoon after voting counts suggested that BJP is set to form government in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 273.61 points to 33,736.58 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 92.50 points or 0.90 percent at 10,425.80.

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

12:10 pm New Listing: Future Supply Chain Solutions continued to trade higher in noon, up 3 percent at Rs 684.70 against issue price of Rs 664 per share.

12:00 pm Bank Union Strike: Vijaya Bank informed exchanges that the bank has received a notice from All India Bank Employees’ Association and All India Bank Officers Association informing their decision to go on all India Bank strike on December 27 for the issues relating to industry level and not for any bank level issues.

11:50 am Exports Order: Steel Strips Wheels has bagged exports order for supply of steel wheels for European Union Caravan market.

“Order Volume of 24,500 wheels comprises mix of 13″ and 14″ steel wheels to be shipped from SSWL’s Chennai plant in January and February 2018,” the company said its filing.

11:40 am Order Win: Ramco Systems, the global aviation software provider on Cloud and Mobile, today announced that it has won an order from Jet East Corporate Aviation, LLC., to implement Ramco Aviation Suite V5.8.

In addition to the Aviation modules, Jet East will also implement Ramco’s complete Finance, HR & Payroll offering to get an integrated view of its business operations.

11:25 am Rupee Recovers: The rupee today applied brakes on its slide in fortunes against the dollar with a loss of only 5 paise at 64.09 as the BJP’s tally of leads improved in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly election results.

The domestic unit opened lower and crashed instantly to 64.72 as early reports of vote counting had pointed to a close fight between the BJP and the Congress in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh state elections.

However, things took a dramatic turn for the rupee, with the BJP taking the lead for both the states.

11:15 am Buyback: Specialty chemical firm Aarti Industries’ board will meet later this week to consider a proposal for buyback of its shares, the company said today.

“A meeting of board of directors is scheduled to be held on December 21 to consider a proposal pertaining to buyback of the fully-paid shares of the company,” Aarti Industries said in a BSE filing.

It, however, did not elaborate on the size of the buyback.

11:05 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks extended gains in morning, after latest voting counts suggested BJP is winning in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh.

The 30-share BSE Sensex recovered more than 1,000 points from day’s low to trade 262.05 points higher at 33,725.02.

The 50-share NSE Nifty got back above 10,400 level and started marching towards its previous record high of 10,490, up 85.20 points at 10,418.50.

11:00 am Acquisition: Carlyle Group entity has completed transaction to acquire stake in SBI Card.

SBI now holds 74 percent stake and the rest is held by Carlyle in SBI Card.

10:51 am Market Outlook: “Investors are heaving a sigh of relief after Gujarat elections,” Rashesh Shah, Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Now the focus will go back to upcoming Union Budget and macro global factors (oil price and US interest rates), he feels.

The US Federal Reserve, in its December policy meeting, hiked interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.5 percent. Globally investors are expecting the Federal Reserve to hike funds rate by 75-100 points in 2018.

“Oil price is the most important factor as India imports around 80 percent of its oil requirement. So if oil price rises then it has impact on inflation as well as fiscal deficit,” Shah said.

10:45 am Economic Growth: India can achieve an eight percent growth rate for the next two decades by promoting investment and improving the living conditions of its people, a senior UN economic official has said.

Describing India’s economic condition as largely positive and “favourable to growth”, Sebastian Vergara, an Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations, said the country needs to unleash the next set of reforms to achieve its potential.

“It needs to think as to how to maintain and consolidate its growth for a very long period of time. India in our assessment has the potential to grow at eight per cent, not for a few years, but 20 years,” Vergara told PTI.
10:35 am Gujarat Elections: The BJP is leading in 103 seats
while the Congress nominees are ahead in 76 seats, as per the
latest trends available for 179 seats after two hours of

counting for the Assembly polls in Gujarat.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, who earlier trailed behind
his Congress rival Indranil Rajyaguru after the counting of

postal ballots, is now leading in Rajkot West seat.

10:25 am Market Check: The rupee recovered sharply from opening lows, trading 11 points losses at 64.11 against the US dollar, after the equity markets turned positive following likely victory of BJP in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

In opening, the rupee plunged 68 paise to 64.72 against the dollar today after early trend suggested that the BJP and the Congress are neck and neck in Gujarat Assembly sweepstakes after one hour of counting of votes.

Here are the top headlines at 10 am from Moneycontrol News’ Anchal Pathak

10:20 am Merger: Dish TV gained nearly 2 percent as the company received approval from the government for merger of Videocon D2H with itself.

10:15 am Buzzing: Orchid Pharma is locked at 5 percent upper circuit after a media report indicated that pharma majors Aurobindo and Dr Reddy’s labs are in race to buy the company.

10:09 am Market Check: Benchmarks indices continued to see short covering after opening losses, as latest voting counts indicated that BJP is winning in both assembly elections – Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 192.41 points at 33,655.38 and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 61.30 points to 10,394.60.

10:07 am Nifty Bank recovers 1,000 points from day’s low: ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, PNB, Canara Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank extended gains, rising 0.4-1 percent. IDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank were only losers.

10:01 am Listing: Future Supply Chain Solutions, the logistics arm of the Future Group, lists at a 1.5 percent premium of Rs 674 per share as against its issue price of Rs 664 per share.

9:59 am Market Update: Equity benchmarks turned positive as the Sensex recovered more than 900 points from opening lows to trade higher. Nifty got back above 10,300 levels.

Market breadth was also positive. All sectoral indices traded in green barring FMCG and IT.

9:50 am Pre-Opening: Future Supply Chain Solutions, the logistics arm of the Future Group, settled at its issue price of Rs 664 per share in pre-opening trade.

9:47 am Market Check: It is almost a ‘U’ turn for equity benchmarks as after falling more than 800 points in opening, the Sensex is currently trading with around 100 points losses and the Nifty reclaimed its 10,300 level.

In fact, Adani Group stocks also turned positive. Adani Ports, which was down nearly 5 percent in opening, gained over a percent now.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 119.77 points at 33,343.20 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 34.40 points to 10,298.90.

The gap between advances and declines narrowed sharply as about 1,103 shares declined against 824 advancing shares on the BSE, versus 1:6 in opening.

9:45 am Elections Results: Latest polling results indicated that BJP is expected to be winner in both states (Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat), though it is not a landslide win.

BJP is leading in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh with 100 seats and 39 seats, followed by Congress with 78 seats and 22 seats, respectively.

9:42 am Buzzing: JMC Projects gained 7.4 percent on winning new orders worth Rs 790 crore.

9:38 am Leaders: Index heavyweight HDFC Bank turned positive, rising 0.2 percent and also helped benchmark indices recover.

Vedanta, Cipla, GAIL, Asian Paints and Hindalco gained 1-2 percent.

9:30 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks trimmed losses in morning trade as latest voting counts indicated that BJP is still leading in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh but with small margin.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 408.61 points or 1.22 percent to 33,054.36 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 128.50 points or 1.24 percent to 10,204.80.

About six shares declined for every share falling in the BSE.

9:27 am All sectoral indices traded in red. Nifty Bank, Auto, Metal, Realty, IT and FMCG indices were down 1-3 percent.

9:20 am Top contributors to Nifty’s losses: Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, IOC, ITC, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, Vedanta and SBI were down 2-5 percent.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks stated off the week sharply lower on Monday as latest voting counts indicated that BJP is leading in both states (Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh) but with small margin.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 740.11 points or 2.21 percent at 32,722.86 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 208.80 points or 2.02 percent to 10,124.50.

Out of 30 stocks, only 1 stock is trading in green, which is Cipla after getting tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for HIV drug, Darunavir hydrate (75-800 mg).

About five shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

The Indian rupee was sharply lower by 25 paise to 64.29 against the US dollar in early trade, following weakness in equity markets.
Asian markets were mixed amid optimism that a plan to reduce corporate taxes would be passed in the US.

Rajesh Sharma

Rajesh Sharma

Rajesh Sharma is Correspondent for Stock Market of South East Asia based in Mumbai. He has been covering Asian markets for more than 5 years.