Sensex ends down 61 points, Nifty holds above 10,400

The Sensex closed down 61.16 points or 0.18 per cent at 33,856.78 on Tuesday. The NSE Nifty closed marginally in the green, up 5.45 points or 0.05 per cent at 10,426.85.

Selling in TCS, Kotak Bank, Infosys, HDFC Bank and ITC exerted pressure on the Sensex. Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and Sun Pharma lent some support and limited the fall.

Profit-booking in the last hour of the trade after recent gains took a toll on the indices. 

Overseas, most Asian stocks ended mixed and European equities opened sightly up as investors awaited release of the US inflation data later in the day for clues on the pace of US Fed rate hike, brokers said.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 464.59 crore on net basis, while foreign portfolio investors bought shares to the tune of Rs 374.65 crore yesterday.

Resistance can cap the upside in MCX Zinc

The zinc futures contract on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) extended its fall in the past week. The contract tumbled over 3 per cent during intra-week to mark a low of ₹207.75 per kg on Friday.

 

The bias on the charts is bearish. The resistance at ₹216.5 is likely to cap the upside in the coming days. Also, since the contract has been falling continuously over the last two weeks, it might not gain momentum immediately to breach the ₹216.5 resistance. Read more

 

 

 

The Sensex and the Nifty surrendered their morning gains and were trading lower in late afternoon trade. At about 2.50 pm, the Sensex was down 158 points or 0.47 per cent at 33,759.76 while the NSE Nifty was down 25.55 points or 0.25 per cent at 10,395.85.

Selling in TCS, ITC, Kotak Bank, Infosys, HDFC Bank, L&T and Reliance dragged the Sensex down.

The Nifty PSU Bank index was up 2.02 per cent or 57.60 points at 2,902.30, off its morning highs.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, only TECk and IT were down by up to 1.6 per cent.

 

 

Monsoon outlook : India’s monsoon rains are expected to be slightly below normal this year, while parts of Australia’s eastern grain belt could be drier as an El Nino weather pattern may develop in the second half of 2018, a private US-based weather forecaster said. Read more

 

 

Cadila Healthcare today said its group firm Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the US health regulator for its generic version of Tizanidine tablets used for treatment of muscle spasms. Read more

Silver prices drifted further lower by 0.27 per cent to Rs 39,162 per kg in futures trade today as speculators cut positions, tracking a weak trend overseas. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, silver for delivery in far-month July fell by Rs 107, or 0.27 per cent, to Rs 39,162 per kg in a business turnover of 5 lots. Read more

 

 

Taking weak cues from overseas markets, gold prices edged lower by 0.09 per cent to Rs 30,455 per 10 grams in futures trade today after participants cut positions. Read more

 

 HDFC to dilute 4.08% stake in AMC via IPO

The committee of directors of Housing Development Finance Corporation (on Tuesday approved offering up to 85,92,970 equity shares of Rs 5 each of HDFC Asset Management Company, representing 4.08 per cent of the paid-up and issued share capital of HDFC AMC as on current date, for sale in the IPO.

In a setback to Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday stayed the asset sales of its subsidiary Reliance Infratel’s (RITL) till April 6. RCom, which was expecting to complete the asset sale by March-end, now intends to move the appellate tribunal to vacate the stay. Read more

 

 

ICICI Bank has launched instant overdraft ‘InstaOD’ facility for MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) customers in a completely online and paperless manner. Customers can get overdraft facility up to Rs 15 lakh for a year anytime, anywhere using the bank’s Internet and mobile banking app. Read more

 

 

Hiring outlook

Indian companies are the eighth most optimistic lot globally in terms of hiring intentions for April-June with 16 per cent of employers likely to add more staff during the period, while Croatia topped the pack, says a survey. Read more

 

 

Claris Lifesciences to delist from March 22

Shares of Claris Lifesciences will be delisted from the BSE from March 22, the pharma firm announced on Monday and added that trading in the shares will be stopped from March 15. Read more

Vedanta interim dividend : The board of directors of Vedanta has approved an interim dividend of ₹21.20 per equity share for 2017-18. The record date for the payment of dividend is March 21, 2018. Read more

 

Bharat Dynamics IPO opens

The initial public offering of Bharat Dynamics opened on Tuesday with a price band of ₹413-428 per share. The government is selling a total of 22,451,953 shares, diluting its stake by about 12 per cent.  Read more

 

 

Shares edged higher on Tuesday, with financials accounting for over half the gains, as easing retail inflation allayed concerns of a rate hike in the near term. Retail inflation eased to 4.44% in February from 5.1% in January, but remained above the 4% medium-term target of the Reserve Bank of India.

Analysts, however, said retail inflation could accelerate to 6% by June and may remain at 5-6% in the financial year that begins on April 1, leading to pre-emptive monetary tightening.

At about 12 noon, the Sensex was trading 87.25 points or 0.26 per cent higher at 34,005.19 while the NSE Nifty was up 33.90 points or 0.33 per cent at 10,455.30.

 

 

PSU Bank stocks surge

Financial stocks led the gains on the gains, with the Nifty PSU bank index rising as much as 4.4 per cent. All the 12 stocks were trading in the green with Bank of India surging nearly 12 per cent.

Union Bank rose 9.43%, Oriental Bank (+9.35%), Syndicate Bank (+7.82%), Bank of Baroda (+7.8%), Andhra Bank (+7.37%), PNB (+6.24%), Canara Bank (+6.14%), Allahabad Bank (+5.95%), Indian Bank (+5.09%), IDBI Bank (+2.78%) and SBI (+2.61%).

“PSU (public sector) banks have been oversold, having been battered down so badly, so some sort of bounce was due and the CPI (data) coming in at a soft level became a trigger for the rise as it could lead to some pressure on RBI to re-look the interest rates,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.

Meanwhile, IT stocks declined led by Tata Consultancy Services (-5.02%), which posted its biggest intra-day percentage fall since November 2016 after a term sheet showed that parent Tata Sons is set to sell a stake in the company.  - - Agencies

 

 

 

Grounded:

Budget carrier IndiGo has cancelled as many as 47 flights today after the country’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) grounded its eight A320Neo planes with faulty Pratt & Whitney engines , along with three such aircraft of GoAir.

InterGlobe  Aviation shares were trading down 0.34 per cent or Rs 4.30 at Rs 1,272.90 on the BSE.

 

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session, as the inexorable rise in U.S. crude output weighed on markets.  Read more

 

 

 

State Bank of India in Tuesday said it will reduces charges for non-maintenance of the average monthly balance (AMB) by up to 75 per cent with effect from April 1, 2018. This move will benefit 25 crore customers, India's largest bank said in a statement.

SBI shares were trading higher by up to 2.5 per cent at Rs 259.25 on the NSE.

Read more

The rupee inched up by 9 paise to 64.95 against the US dollar in opening trade today on better-than-expected inflation numbers and mild selling of the greenback by exporters amid sustained foreign capital inflows. However, the dollar gains against most major global currencies overseas limited the gains for the domestic unit.

At about 11 am, the local currency was quoting at 64.96, up 8 paise. It traded in a range of 64.97-64.91 in morning trade. Read more

 

The benchmark Sensex  and the broader Nifty were trading higher at about 10.40 am.

The Sensex rose 150.63 points or 0.44 per cent to 34,068.57 while the NSE Nifty climbed 47.10 points or 0.45 per cent to 10,468.50.

The benchmark BSE Sensex turned choppy in early trade on tepid cues from overseas market, despite positive macroeconomic data and appreciating rupee. A weak trend in other Asian markets following negative lead from Wall Street, restricted the gains. The gauge rallied 610.80 points in the previous session, logging its biggest single-day gain in two years.

Barring IT, TECk and metal, all other BSE sectoral indices led by telecom, oil and gas, banks, realty and capital goods, were trading in the green, rising up to 1.62 per cent.

Major gainers were Axis Bank, SBI, Wipro, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Auto, rising up to 2.3 per cent. TCS, Coal India and NTPC were the top losers.

 

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services cracked nearly 5 per cent after Tata Sons yesterday sold a 1.48 per cent stake in its flagship IT services firm to raise Rs 8,127 crore (USD 1.25 billion).

Buying picked up on select counters on positive economic data. Industrial production expanded to 7.5 per cent in January while retail inflation eased to 4.4 per cent in February, raising industry clamour for a rate cut by the RBI next month to maintain growth momentum.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth Rs 374.65 crore while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 464.59 crore yesterday, provisional data showed. - - Agencies

 

 

What to watch

Shares of BSE-listed Schablona India will remain in focus, as the open offer from Shreekant Somany, Abhishek Somany and Shrivatsa Somany opens for subscription on Tuesday. Read more

 

 

Japan stocks trend lower

Japanese shares ticked lower in Tuesday morning trade, with shares in steelmakers and automakers still battered by concerns about US tariffs on imported steel and aluminium. The Nikkei average dropped 0.15 per cent to 21,791 while the broader Topix shed 0.1 per cent to 1,739.21 as their rally on Monday driven by strong US jobs data ran out of gas. Read more

 

(Long read) As fears of a market downturn cloud sentiment, the factors that led up to the bull run and their implications need to be studied and learnt from Read more

 

 

 

Kotak Securities

Petronet LNG (Buy)

CMP: ₹230.8

Target: ₹276

 

 

We believe Petronet’s earnings will continue to rise over the next 2-3 years, driven by higher volumes from Dahej LNG regasification terminal and a higher operating rate of the currently stranded Kochi terminal. 

  Read more

 

Asian stocks rally stalls

Asian stocks stalled on Tuesday as Wall Street shares lost steam, while the dollar sagged on the back of declining US yields. Investors were focused on US inflation data due later in the day (1230 GMT) for clues on the pace of Federal Reserve interest rate rises this year. Read more

 

 

Yen holds gains as Abe cronyism scandal simmers

The yen held firm against the dollar on Tuesday as a political scandal engulfing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government raised doubts about his ability to continue to pursue his economic policies, including monetary easing. The yen traded at 106.44 per US dollar, after gaining 0.4 per cent the previous day as Abe's cronyism scandal attracted fresh attention from market participants. Read more

 

 

 

What to Watch: Siti Networks - Financier invokes pledged shares

Shares of Siti Networks may remain under pressure following a financier invoking the pledge of shares by its promoters. Read more

 

The domestic share indices opened lower on Tuesday. The Sensex opened 99.72 points lower at 33,818.22. Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 31.90 points lower at 10,389.50.

The Sensex had closed 610.80 points or 1.83 per cent higher at 33,917.94 on Monday, logging its biggest single-day gain since March 2017. The NSE Nifty rose 194.55 points or 1.9 per cent to end at  10,421.40.

 

Day Trading Guide for March 13 gives s upports and resistances for Nifty 50 futures and seven key stocks

Click on link for the daily call on ITC, ONGC, RIL, SBI and TCS

₹1866 • HDFC Bank

 

₹1185 • Infosys

 

Today's Pick: Bharat Gears (₹188.90)

Investors with a short-term perspective can buy the stock of Bharat Gears at current levels. On Monday, the stock gained ₹15 or 8.6 per cent with an above average volume, witnessing buying interest at lower levels. Long-term trend is up for the stock. Read more