Markets Live: Sensex closes 191 points higher on earnings cheer

HDFC Q4 Comment:  In a tough year, when home loan growth for banks moderated, housing finance company HDFC’s (Housing Development Finance Corporation) performance has been noteworthy. Aside from the company’s leadership position, its increasing focus on the affordable housing segment has also paid off.  Read more

HDFC Ltd has reported a 39 per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 2,846 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2018 against Rs 2,044 crore in the year ago quarter. Housing finance major recorded a 63 per cent jump in net profit at Rs 12,164 crore against Rs 7,443 crore in the financial year. Read more

Markets wrap: Rising for a third straight day, the benchmark Sensex recaptured the 35,000-mark by surging about 191 points to end at a near three-month high of 35,160 as participants showed optimism in view of ongoing corporate earnings season. Similarly, the Nifty crossed the 10,700-mark again riding a slew of positive factors, including RBI liberalising ECB policy.

Sentiment got a boost after the RBI on Friday further liberalised External Commercial Borrowing policy by including more sectors in the window, in a bid to facilitate easy access to overseas funds for India Inc, brokers said.

Global markets: Besides, positive leads from other Asian bourses following last week’s historic North-South Korea summit, fuelling optimism, too had an impact on bourses here. A higher opening in European markets too added to positivity.

Earnings boost : The gains were led by financial and technology stocks as investors widened their exposure ahead of key corporate results. The January-March quarterly results posted by companies so far are largely in line with market exepectations.

Driven by realty, capital goods, IT and banking stocks, the Sensex reclaimed the 35,000-mark at the outset to hit a high of 35,213.30 before ending at 35,160.36, up 190.66 points -- or 0.55 per cent . This is its highest closing since February 1 when it read 35,906.66. The gauge had climbed 468.43 points in the previous two days.

For the 50-share NSE Nifty, the close came in at 10,739.35, higher by 47.05 points, or 0.44 per cent, after shuttling between 10,759 and 10,704.60.

Main indices - Sensex and Nifty - remained well above their key levels of 35,000 and 10,700 levels points, respectively throughout the session as investors were optimistic about upcoming results from more companies.

Domestic financial institutions continued to hold ground and retail investors built up more bets amid a firming Asian trend, said marketmen.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) picked up shares worth a net Rs 633.71 crore on Friday. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) exited, pulling out shares amounting to Rs 759.21 crore on a net basis, showed provisional data. Markets will remain shut on Tuesday (May 1) on account of “Maharashtra Day. (PTI)

Weekly outlook for MCX aluminium

After two weeks of strong rally, aluminium prices met with a key resistance and slumped in the past week. The US signalling ease of sanctions on Russia, including the top aluminium producer Rusal, triggered a sell-off in the prices. Aluminium prices had surged after the US announced sanction on Russian companies, including Rusal. Read more

The Resolution Professional (RP) for Adhunik Metaliks Ltd will present a detailed report before the Kolkata bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday seeking ‘suitable directions’ with regards to the insolvency proceedings of the company. Read more

The Government has kicked off a pilot scheme to procure 2500 MW power for 3 years under medium term agreements. A PFC statement said that this power will be procured from generators with commissioned projects but without Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Read more

The BSE Sensex was trading up by 172.54 points or 0.49 per cent at 35,142.24 and the NSE index was up 40.15 points or 0.38 per cent at 10,732.45.

Among BSE sectoral indices, IT index jumped 1.6 per cent, followed by TECk 1.20 per cent, Realty 1.59 per cent, FMCG 1.25 per cent  and capital goods 1.32 per cent. On the other hand, Energy fell 1.81 per cent, and oil & gas 0.89 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were YES Bank, TCS, HUL, Kotak Bank and SBI, while the major losers were Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Coal India and PowerGrid.

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Monday posted a 15.11 per cent increase in its net profit at ₹1,124.05 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. The bank had registered a net profit of Rs 976.48 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal. The Kotak Mahindra Bank stock hit a new 52-week high of ₹1,218.30 in intra-day trade today. At about 2.45 pm, the stock was trading at ₹1,207.50, up 1.59 per cent or ₹18.95 on the BSE.

The road ahead for LTCG tax

Taxation of gains arising from transactions in listed securities have been a subject matter of debate for quite some time now. In the past, the income tax law provided a significant tax advantage to investors by exempting long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on transfer of equity and similar instruments (subject to payment of securities transaction tax (STT)). Read more

The stock of Zensar Technologies was up over 22 per cent last week, as its March quarter results exceeded market expectations. Zensar’s fourth quarter revenues were up 3.2 per cent sequentially and a healthy 14.2 per cent y-o-y in dollar terms. Profits were up 23.8 per cent sequentially.  Read more

Gabriel India: Good shock absorber

With new vehicle sales convincingly recovering from the shocks of demonetisation and implementation of GST, stocks of auto and auto component players are good bets at this juncture. Among auto component manufacturers, Gabriel India presents an attractive buying opportunity. Read full recommendation

The Nifty index has surpassed a key resistance at 10,700 and the Sensex has breached key level of 35,000. The market breadth of the Nifty index is biased towards advances.  Read more

istock.com/wutwhanfoto

Kalpataru Power shares rise 4.3% on new orders

Engineering firm Kalpataru Power Transmission (KPTL) has bagged orders worth of Rs 1,463 crore in the domestic market. In a BSE filing today, KPTL said it has secured an order worth Rs 672 crore from PGCIL and state electricity boards (SEBs) for transmission line and gas insulated substation (GIS). Read more

Kalpataru shares rose as much 4.3 per cent to hit a high of Rs 491.90 in early trade. At about 1.30 pm, the stock was trading up 2.75 per cent or Rs 12.95 at Rs 484.45 on the BSE.

US court orders probe into Nirav Modi’s ties with Firestar Diamond

In what could be seen as a positive development for PNB that recently objected to the expedited sale of assets by Nirav Modi’s companies — Firestar Diamond Inc, A Jaffe Inc and Fantasy Inc — the United States Bankruptcy Court has directed the appointment of an examiner to take a closer look at Nirav Modi’s ties to the US companies that filed for bankruptcy.  Read more

File Photo of Nirav Modi's Firestar Diamond company in Surat.

US Fed faces new challenge: A world without labour “slack”

Policy-makers at the Fed, which holds its latest policy meeting this week, must now decide what weight to give to signs that the economy is reaching a point where wages, inflation and other laggard indicators may turn higher. Read more

Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Board Governor

CDSL: A long-term bet

Central Depository Services India (CDSL) made its capital market debut last June at the issue price of ₹149 per share. The stock price moved up three-fold immediately post listing, but has corrected over the past few months. At ₹294, on the basis of the estimated earnings for 2018-19, the stock trades at a valuation multiple of 25 times.  Read more

Merck shares rally

Shares of Merck Ltd rose as much as 14.1 per cent to their all-time high of Rs 2,172.8. The stock posted its biggest intra-day percentage gain in a week.  Read more

The Merck logo is seen at an office building in Singapore in this file photo.

Hong Kong’s main Hang Seng index rose to a more than one-week high by lunch break on Monday, as strength in overseas markets provided support, with banks and financial stocks leading the charge, while China's H-shares index climbed to an over two-week high. Read more

Shares hit a near three-month high on Monday, in tandem with global markets, as technology shares gained and lenders rose on expectation of strong numbers from Housing Development Finance Corp and Kotak Mahindra Bank later in the day. Gains were, however, capped as index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd fell as much as much as 3.5 per cent, its biggest percentage loss since February 2, after results from the oil-to-retail conglomerate's telecoms arm Jio failed to cheer.

“We're following the global trend, and there has not been any major disappointment in the domestic earnings season,” said Sumit Pokharna, deputy vice president, Kotak Securities. There is some profit-booking in Reliance, plus the market was anticipating much better numbers from Jio, he added.

The broader NSE index was up 0.54 per cent or 57.85 points at 10,750.15 with YES Bank up 2.74%, Vedanta 2.3%,  SBI 2.18%, TCS 2.16% and ITC 1.54%.

The benchmark BSE index was 0.60 per cent or 210 points higher at 35,178.52. Both the indexes hit their highest levels since February 2 and were poised to end the month higher after two consecutive months of losses.

IT stocks rose, with the Nifty IT index gaining as much as 2.3 per cent aided by the recent weakness in the rupee.

Reliance dragged the Nifty Energy index, which was down as much as 2.1 percent, its biggest intraday percentage loss in over a month.

Bond and currency markets are closed on Monday and Tuesday for a public holiday. Stock markets will remain shut on Tuesday.  -- Reuters

 Gold, silver futures fall on weak global cues

Analysts attributed the fall in prices to trimming of positions by participants, tracking a weak trend in precious metals in global markets. Read more

MCX net profit rises 55%

Multi Commodity Exchange of India, the country’s largest commodity exchange, registered 55 per cent increase in its March quarter net profit at ₹34 crore against ₹22 crore logged in same period last year, on back of higher trading volume. Read more

Shares of India’s third-biggest telecoms carrier Idea Cellular Ltd rose as much as 4.4 per cent to Rs 71.85 in its biggest intra-day percentage gain since January 5. Read more

The Indian mobile industry witnessed another year of hyper-competition as well as high regulatory headwinds.

M-cap of top 10 Sensex stocks

Seven of the 10 most valued Indian companies together added ₹ 69,917.79 crore in market valuation last week, with RIL emerging as the biggest gainer. Read more

In the ranking of top-10 firms, TCS stood at number one position, followed by RIL, HDFC Bank, ITC, HUL, HDFC, Maruti, Infosys, ONGC and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Gold little changed

Gold prices were little changed on Monday as investor interest in the yellow metal dropped as the US dollar steadied and there were signs of easing tensions on the Korean peninsula, reducing the safe-haven demand for gold.  Spot gold fell 0.1 per cent to $1,320.80 per ounce at 0428 GMT. U.S. gold futures for June delivery declined 0.1 per cent to $1,322 per ounce.

Spot gold looks neutral in a range of $1,317-$1,326 per ounce, and an escape could suggest a direction

Shares of Reliance Industries fell as much as 3.3 per cent after it announced plans to shut oil and gas production at its main fields in KG-D6 block in the coming months and begin complying with the government’s guidelines for decommissioning facilities in the Bay of Bengal block where output has hit its lowest ever. The company on Friday reported a 17.3 per cent jump in its fourth quarter net profit on the back of robust petrochemicals margins and telecom arm Jio’s maiden profits.

At about 10.20 am, the RIL stock was down 2.4 per cent or Rs 23.95 at Rs 970.80 on the BSE. It opened at Rs 984.70 against the previous close of Rs 994.75 and traded between Rs 961.10 and Rs 992.

The Sensex continued to trade higher in the morning trade. At 10.05 am, the Sensex was up 147.52 points or 0.42 per cent at 35,117.22 and the Nifty was higher by 41 points or 0.38 per cent at 10,733.30.

Among BSE sectoral indices, Energy index fell the most by 1.72 per cent, followed by oil and gas 0.70 per cent. All other indices were up by up to 1.08 per cent, led by IT and Teck.

Top five Sensex gainers were SBI, Wipro, YES Bank, TCS and M&M, while the major losers were Axis Bank, Reliance and ICICI Bank.

Early trade

The BSE Sensex reclaimed the 35,000-mark and Nifty went past 10,700 today on sustained buying by participants, driven by strong corporate earnings and positive global cues.  The 30-share index again crossed the 35,000-mark by surging 228.73 points, or 0.65 per cent, to trade at 35,198.43. The NSE Nifty reclaimed the 10,700-mark by climbing 62.70 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 10,755.

Asian shares rose again on Monday as tensions in the Korean Peninsula eased and first-quarter earnings shone, although some investors pondered whether this sunny outlook could dim in the near future. Read more

Asian markets rose on Monday (file photo)

MEP Infra: Buy

Investors with a medium-term perspective can consider buying the stock of MEP Infrastructure Developers (₹82.6), a leading infrastructure operator, manager and toll collection company. In December 2016, the stock found support at around ₹34 and bottomed-out from this level. Read more

Is this the right time to buy LIC Housing Finance and Jet Airways for the long term? What is the medium to long-term technical view for these two stocks  Read on

 Red alert: Indian stocks are now the priciest

The Indian stock market, along with its global peers, witnessed a steep sell-off in February and March this year, but the rebound in April has erased a large part of these losses. However, with the Indian benchmark index, the Nifty 50, once again edging close to its life-time high, the valuation of Indian stocks appears to be the priciest when compared to other global markets. Read more

Weekly trading guide for five bellwethers

Support limits the downside in SBI

SBI fell as expected last week to test the crucial support level of ₹231. But contrary to our expectation of it breaking below ₹231, SBI reversed higher from this support. The stock made a low of ₹232 and reversed sharply higher on the final trading day, recovering all the loss made during the week. The downside pressure has eased after Friday’s recovery. 

Bullish outlook is intact for ITC

A flag formation is visible on the daily chart. This is a bullish continuation pattern that indicates that the up-move is likely to continue.

Infosys hovers below key barrier

A revisit of ₹1,200 is possible. Butwhether the stock manages to breach this hurdle or not will decide the next trend.

A key resistance is ahead for RIL

RIL surged last week, breaking  above the key resistance level of ₹960. The stock made a low of ₹926 early intheweek but rallied all through thereafter.

Resistance may cap upside in Tata Steel

Tata Steel snapped its four-week  rally last week. It tumbled about 5 per cent intra-week and made a low of ₹578 on Thursday.

Read more

Opening bell

The Sensex opened higher by 51.50 points at 35,021.20 against the previous close of 34,969.70 and the Nifty rose 13.45 points to 10,705.75 against 10,692.30.

Indices in a short term upmove

With the recent rally, the index regained its bullish momentum and reinforced the short-term uptrend that has been in place from the March low recorded at around 10,000. The index hovers well above its 50 and 200-day moving averages. Read more