Nifty Manages To Hold 8,400 As Metals Support

Indian shares closed little changed, erasing early gains as investors remained cautious awaiting cues from the December quarterly earnings amid the biggest drop in the dollar since July while oil extended its climb.

The S&P BSE Sensex was unmoved at 27,257 while the NSE Nifty gained 0.2 percent to 8,417. The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. About 870 stocks advanced, 729 declined and 308 remained unchanged on the NSE.

Shares of multiplex chain operator PVR Ltd. gained 2.7 percent after Warburg Pincus bought a 14 percent equity stake in the company.

The value of the total investment stands at around Rs 820 crore, according to an email statement by the private equity major. Earlier in the day, around 6.3 percent of shares of PVR had changed hands on a single block deal.

Following the deal, the stock had risen 19.7 percent intraday on volume 24.6 times its three-month full-day average.

PVR currently operates a cinema circuit comprising 562 screens in 122 properties in 48 cities pan India.

The government will seek to list New India Assurance, United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and General Insurance Corp of India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said at briefing after cabinet meeting in New Delhi.

• Government to cut stake in state-run general insurance cos to 75 percent from 100 percent currently
• Jaitley said listing will open way for companies to raise resources from capital market to meet fund requirements
• Approved amendment in Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme to give more incentives to electronic sector

Shares of the e-payment solutions provider extends losses to 3.1 after reporting its third quarter earnings.

• Net loss at Rs 4.24 crore versus Rs 7.53 crore YoY
• Group net sales Rs 18.06 crore versus Rs 22.68 crore.

Shares of the company slipped 1.2 percent after it reported a 7.45 percent fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 43.82 crore for the third quarter ended December 31. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 47.35 crore in the corresponding three months a year ago.

HMVL's total income from operations for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, also decreased by 4.18 percent to Rs 230.28 crore, as against Rs 240.35 crore in the same period of the previous year, it said in a filing to the BSE.

The company publishes Hindi daily 'Hindustan' and magazines like Nandan and Kadambini.

Shares swung between gains and losses after the company’s net profit for the third quarter increased to Rs 4.2 crore as compared to Rs 3.2 crore in the year ago period. The company’s income from operations came down to Rs 5.5 crore as against Rs 6.1 crore in the year ago period.

In-line with the government’s divestment plans, state-run oil explorer ONGC Ltd. is planning to sell 49 percent stake in helicopter operator Pawan Hans. The management told Bloomberg that the offloading of the government stake will also result in a windfall for the company.

Shares of ONGC reversed its opening losses of around 0.8 percent and rose 0.1 percent.

Shares of the pharmaceutical company jumped 12.5 percent to a new 52-week high after it received approval from the U.S. drug regulator for its migraine tablet.

“The U.S. FDA has granted the approval for the company’s abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to make a generic version of Rizatriptan Benzoate Tablet, orally disintegrating, 5mg and 10mg,” Panacea said in its exchange filing.

The company plans to launch the product within the first quarter of 2017 through its distribution partner in America. The current annual sales for the tablets in the U.S. market is approximately $60 million, the drug maker said.

The stock has gained for all three days of this week on heavy volumes. The momentum indicator RSI is 74 indicating that the stock may be overbought.

Shares of the transformer maker gained as much as 12.8 percent to Rs 427.

• Volumes at almost 27 times its 30-day average
• Momentum indicator RSI is 75 indicating the stock may be overbought

• Sun Pharma has 1 million shares change hands in a block deal
• PVR has 6.3 percent equity trade in single block deal

The rupee advanced 5 paise to 67.90 against the U.S. dollar in early session on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.

Besides, a higher opening in domestic stocks and fresh foreign fund inflows kept the domestic unit in good spirits, forex dealers said.However, the dollar's recovery against some currencies overseas restricted the rupee's upmove.

The rupee continued its impressive run against the broadly weak dollar for the second straight day yesterday, surging by a solid 15 paise to end at 67.95 amid hopes for a speedy rollout of GST.

Indian shares climbed and rupee strengthened against the dollar for a third straight session as investors assessed the political rumblings in two of the world’s largest economies.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.4 percent to 27,346 while the NSE Nifty too advanced 0.4 percent to 8,433. The market breadth was encouraging as well with more buyers than sellers. About 943 stocks advanced, 460 declined and 472 remained unchanged.

Movers & Shakers: Tata Motors, United Spirits, Mercator And More

• Mercator: Sets issue price at Rs 40.75 a share to allocate 25 million shares as per QIP plan
• NBCC: In pact to develop AIIMS housing units at Rs 4,700 crore cost
• Reliance Defence: Company denies report on interest on ABG Shipyard
• Tata Motors: Names Chandrasekaran as chairman
• United Spirits: Says ICRA revised rating on Rs 2,900 crore term loans to AA from A+
• DCB Bank: Raised to buy at Nirmal Bang Securities

For a complete list of stocks to watch, click HERE

Offerings

• Further Fund Offer (FFO) for CPSE ETF opens on MFSS segment, closes January 20
• Madhav Copper: IPO opens on January 23; to raise Rs 4.48 crore. Priced at Rs 81 per share.

Asian currencies, led by the South Korean won, rallied tracking the overnight dollar weakness after Donald Trump said the dollar was “too strong” and is impacting the U.S. economy.

The pound jumped the most since 1993 against the dollar after Prime Minister Theresa May pledged to give both houses of Parliament a vote on the final Brexit deal. On the deal itself, May's agenda is to quit the EU single market.

In bonds, State Bank of India got orders worth more than $1.5 billion for its five-year bond. The lender intended to raise one third of the amount.

The yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond fell yesterday after rising in the previous two sessions.

• Finance Ministry suspends December 21 circular on indirect transfer provisions under Income Tax Act
• India December crude imports rise 0.8 percent YoY to 17.9 million tonne; oil product imports in December rose 39.6 percent YoY to 3.07 million tonne
• Diageo said to weigh raising United Spirits stake in open offer
• National Company Law Tribunal had reserved its order on Cyrus Mistry’s contempt petition against Tata Sons to Wednesday
• Shell books Aframax to load Indian Oil products to Europe
• Global funds buy Rs 142 crore of local stocks; domestic funds sell Rs 607 crore yesterday: Provisional data
• Asian stocks fall as investors weigh policy uncertainty
• India govt to get Rs Rs 3,000 crore from anchor-investor part of CPSE ETF (PTI)
• India said to seek up to Rs 15,000 crore dividend from Hindustan Zinc (ET Now)
• Prime Minister Modi said India can’t walk alone the path of peace with Pakistan
• Pakistan must walk away from terror if it wants to have talks with India, Modi said

Good Morning!

The Nifty futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange, an early indicator of Nifty’s performance in India, climbed 0.1 percent to to 8,422.

Asian stocks declined this morning as investors weighed policy uncertainty ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration. The U.S. dollar fell against most of its peers after Trump told the Wall Street Journal its value is too high in part because China holds down its own currency.

Meanwhile the pound paused following its biggest rally against the greenback since 1993 on British Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans to leave the European Union. May promised a ‘smooth and orderly Brexit’ as she outlined her plans to quit the EU single market and seek a customs agreement with the bloc. However, she also warned the EU not to reject the model proposed by her.

U.S. stocks retreated on Tuesday as investors remained cautious in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s charge that a strong dollar is hurting the economy. Gold extended its winning streak to seven days, the longest since November.

Oil continued to hover near the $52 per barrel mark ahead of U.S. inventory data. Stockpiles are expected to have fallen by 1 million barrels last week, according to a survey conducted by Bloomberg.