Closing Bell
Indian shares fluctuated between gains and losses before ending the session lower on last hour of accelerated selling. Investors chose to remain cautious, after benchmarks rose to a near two-month high, ahead of the announcement of GDP data.
The S&P BSE Sensex declined 0.3 percent 26,759 while the NSE Nifty dropped 0.3 percent to 8,243. Earlier, the 50-share index briefly went above the 8,300-mark intraday for the first time since November 11.
However, both the indices managed to advance for the week.
The market breadth, which was dominated by the bulls for the last couple of trading sessions, turned in favour of sellers at close. About 955 stocks declines, 640 advanced and 307 remained unchanged on the NSE.
Among the sectoral indices, the S&P BSE Information Technology dropped 2.1 percent. The index has declined 4 out of the last 5 trading sessions as U.S. visa concerns.
Natco Pharma Gains For Third Day On New Drug Launch
Shares of the drug maker gained 4.6 percent after it announced the launch date of its leukaemia drug in the U.S. market.
According to a statement issued by the pharma firm, the drug will be launched along with its marketing partner Breckenridge Pharmaceutical Inc and will have 180-days exclusivity.
Pursuant to the settlement of the Paragraph IV litigation, Natco plans to launch this drug on November 1, 2019, or earlier under certain circumstances, through its marketing partner Breckenridge Pharmaceutical, Inc., in the USA market.”Natco Pharma exchange filing.
The drug had U.S. sales of approximately $133 million for 12 months ending November, 2016, according to IMS Health, Natco said.
Chart Of The Day
European Shares Continue To Trade Weak
Religare Gains On Unit’s Stake Sale Plans
Shares of the brokerage house gained as much as 6 percent after it announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary has entered into definitive agreements to sell stakes in three of its units.
The transaction is expected to be closed by February 28 following the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, the company said in its exchange filing.
Citi India Cuts Lending Rate By 0.7%
Joining the lending rate cut spree, foreign lender Citi India today reduced its home loan rate by 0.7 percent.
It will reduce the interest rate to 8.80 per cent from 9.50 per cent, effective January 9, Citi India said in a statement.
The reduction in the home loan rate is reflection of our commitment to consumers who may be interested in purchasing under-construction or ready-to-move-in property, Rohit Ranjan, Head of Secured Lending, Citi India said in a press release.
The final pricing will be based on the loan amount, product or facility type offered, and internal Citi loan risk assessment parameters, it added.
BQSpotted
Uniply Industries Snaps 4-Day Losing Streak
- Plywood manufacturer with a market cap of Rs 440 crore gained as much as 6 percent.
- Stock snapped its four-day losing streak today
- The stock is nearing its 50-day moving average.
Read the full interview transcript HERE
Nifty I.T. Index Lone Loser For 2nd Day
A gauge of the country’s top 10 information technology firms dropped for a second day, compared to gains in the broader Nifty 50 index.
A Bill backing key changes in the H1-B visa programme that allows skilled workers from other countries to fill jobs in the U.S. has been reintroduced in Congress by two lawmakers who claim that it will help crack down on its abuse.
The Bill, among other things, increases the minimum salary of H-1B visa to $100,000 per annum and eliminates the Master’s degree exemption.
With inputs from PTI
Rupee Extends Gains
Maintaining its good form for the third day, the rupee appreciated 15 paise to 67.81 against the dollar in early session today, underpinned by higher opening in the domestic equity market.
Forex dealers said besides selling of the American currency by exporters and banks, the falling fortunes of the dollar against others overseas gave the rupee an upperhand.
Further, a higher opening in the domestic equity market influenced the rupee uptrend, they added.
On Thursday, the rupee had risen 9 paise to close at 67.96 on sustained dollar unwinding from banks and exporters.
PTI
BQSpotted
Kothari Petrochemicals Gains On Strong Volumes
- Producer of chemical products gained as much as 18.6 percent
- Volumes are over 14 times its 20-day average
- Stock has been rising for the last three sessions
- The stock is currently in the overbought zone as the relative strength index is above 70.
- Market Cap: Over Rs 160 crore
Opening Bell
Indian shares climbed for a second day shrugging off a weak trade in Asian equities as buying by domestic funds countered the relentless selling by foreign institutional investors.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.4 percent to 26,983 while the NSE Nifty advanced 0.3 percent to little over 8,300 – the first time since November 11. The market breadth was once again firmly in favour of the buyers with 1,030 stocks advancing, 403 declining and 451 remaining unchanged.
For a second day in a row, barring the Nifty Information Technology Index, all other 10 sectoral gauges advanced on the NSE.
5 Things To Watch
Stocks To Watch
- Birla Corp: To consider renewing NCDs issue
- GE Power: Wins Rs 199 crore contract from NTPC ALSTOM Power for steam turbine upgrade project
- Housing Development: To consider raising Rs 35,000 crore via NCDs on January 30
- Piramal Enterprises: To set up housing finance company as unit
- Sagar Cements: December standalone output 100,054 tonne versus 104,854 tonne
- SpiceJet: Boeing said close to $10.1 billion order from SpiceJet
- Wockhardt: Says Germany regulator issued EU GMP certificate
- Apar Industries to consider buy back of its shares
- Infosys raised to neutral versus sell at UBS
- Tata Consultancy raised to buy versus neutral at UBS
- Tech Mahindra raised to buy versus sell at UBS
For a complete list of stocks to watch, click HERE
Talking Points
- India regulator said company board evaluation at nascent stage
- Jobs at stake as Modi contemplates strategic sales across India
- Telenor CEO: Still looking at all possibilities for India operations
- Air India to offer fares matching premium train fares
- Sebi issues notices to three Tata Group companies (Business Standard)
- Global funds sell Rs 86.88 crore of local stocks; domestic funds buy Rs 449 crore yesterday: Provisional data
- RBI counting banned notes as Indians return 97 percent of bills
- 67 percent of the cancelled notes likely to get replaced by month-end, 80-89 percent by Feb-end: SBI report (Economic Times)
- Fiat India cuts prices of linea and Punto Evo to boost sales (Financial Express)
- Government may amend law on taxing indirect transfer of shares (Economic Times)
- AirAsia's alleged fraudulent transactions come under CBI lens (PTI)
- 85 percent Jio users to retain service even after free offer: BofA
Money Market Heads-Up
Indian economy probably grew at the slowest pace in three years after the elimination of high- currency notes. GDP is seen expanding 6.8 percent in the year through March, according to economists, compared with a pre-demonetisation estimate of 7.7 percent. Yield on the benchmark note has tumbled 13 basis points to 6.39 percent this week. Ahead of the data, market is expected to trade with a positive bias and yields could slip further.
In the world of currencies, China's central bank strengthened its yuan fixing by most since 2005 following a tumble in the dollar. Asian currencies are mixed and the rupee too could be headed for a rangebound trade ahead of the U.S. non-farm payroll data for December. The rupee this week has remained little changed.
Data To Watch
- 5:30pm: India GDP annual FY17 estimates through March 31 YoY; estimate 6.8 percent (Prior 7.6 percent); Chief Statistician T.C.A. Anant to hold briefing in New Delhi
Good Morning!
The Nifty futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange, an early indicator of Nifty’s performance in India, climbed 0.3 percent to 8,316.
Asian equities declined this morning, led by Japanese shares after yen strengthened against the dollar as asset moves sparked by Donald Trump’s election showed signs of faltering ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report.
The jobs report is expected to confirm a sixth straight year of adding more than 2 million jobs, a pace that could be difficult to sustain.
Stocks in the world’s largest economy recovered from session lows on Thursday, to end little changed as defensive counters that were battered during the post-election rally led gains. The greenback held losses for a third day after reaching a 14-year high, as China moved to stem capital outflows and investors reconsidered Federal Reserve intensions.
Gold retreated 0.1 percent to $1,178 per ounce, after a three-day 2.9 percent climb. Crude was little changed after climbing 0.9 percent Thursday following a report that Saudi Arabia is cutting production as it implements an agreement to ease a global supply glut spared the turnaround.
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