Most stocks in Asia advanced on Thursday after solid American economic data buoyed U.S. shares and sent 10-year treasury yields. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, traded flat at 10,769 as of 6:50 a.m.
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Here’s a quick look at all that could influence equities today.
U.S. Market Check
- U.S. stocks advanced and 10-year Treasury yields pushed toward 3.1 percent as retailer results and solid economic data boosted confidence in the American economy.
Europe Check
- European shares climbed, led by miners, as the prospect of a populist Italian government weighed on local stocks and the euro.
- The pound got a boost from a Telegraph report that the U.K. will tell the European Union that it is prepared to stay in the customs union beyond 2021.
Asian Cues
- Topix index gained 0.4 percent as of 9:06 a.m. in Tokyo.
- S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.1 percent.
- Kospi index added 0.4 percent.
- Hang Seng Index futures climbed 0.8 percent.
- S&P 500 Index futures were up less than 0.1 percent. The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent.
Here are some key events coming up this week:
- Indonesian assets will be in focus Thursday as the central bank meets.
- Malaysian first-quarter GDP growth is expected to slow to 5.6 percent year-on-year, but remain comfortably above the 10-year average.
- Australian jobs are due Thursday.
- New Zealand’s budget is due Thursday.
Commodities Check
- West Texas Intermediate crude added 0.3 percent to $71.72 a barrel.
- Brent crude traded 0.003 percent higher at $79.30 a barrel.
- Aluminium traded 0.3 percent higher $2,349 per MT.
- Gold was steady at $1,291.56 an ounce, near the weakest in 20 weeks.
- LME copper rose 0.3 percent to $6,849 a metric ton.
Indian ADRs
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Stocks To Watch
- Divi’s Labs says U.S. FDA completes inspection of unit 1 at Telangana with no observations under Form 483.
- Transport Corporation to hive off cold chain unit.
Nifty Earnings To Watch
- Bajaj Finance
- Bajaj Finserv
Other Earnings To Watch
- Alembic
- Balkrishna Industries
- Central Bank Of India
- Coffee Day Enterprises
- Escorts
- JK Tyre & Industries
- Kei Industries
- McDowell Holdings
- SRF
- Taj Gvk Hotels & Resorts
- Voltas
- Wabco India
Earnings Reaction To Watch
Tata Steel (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue up 7 percent at Rs 36,132 crore.
- Net profit of Rs 10,187 crore from a net loss of Rs 725 crore.
- Ebitda down 7.5 percent at Rs 6,499 crore.
- Margin at 18 percent versus 20.7 percent.
JSW Steel (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue up 25 percent at Rs 20,817 crore.
- Net profit at Rs 2,996 crore from Rs 1,014 crore.
- Ebitda up 67 percent at Rs 5,290 crore.
- Margin at 25.4 percent versus 19 percent.
Prataap Snacks (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue up 30 percent at Rs 279.5 crore.
- Net profit down 13 percent at Rs 10 crore.
- Ebitda up 75 percent at Rs 21 crore.
- Margin at 7.5 percent versus 5.6 percent.
Manali Petrochemical (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue up 26 percent at Rs 190 crore.
- Net profit at Rs 27 crore from Rs 7 crore.
- Ebitda at Rs 44 crore from Rs 11 crore.
- Margin at 23.2 percent versus 7.3 percent.
JK Lakshmi Cement (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue up 11 percent at Rs 897 crore.
- Net profit up 62 percent at Rs 34 crore.
- Ebitda up 40 percent at Rs 101 crore.
- Margin at 11.3 percent versus 8.9 percent.
Gujarat State Fertilizers (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue up 33 percent at Rs 2,055 crore.
- Net profit down 17 percent at Rs 156 crore.
- Ebitda up 97 percent at Rs 227 crore.
- Margin at 11 percent versus 7.5 percent.
Birla Corp (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue up 16 percent at Rs 1,651 crore.
- Net profit up 30 percent at Rs 131 crore.
- Ebitda up 7 percent at Rs 252 crore.
- Margin at 15.3 percent versus 16.7 percent.
Muthoot Finance (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue from operations down 9.3 percent at Rs 1,551 crore.
- Net profit up 40 percent at Rs 451 crore.
- Other income at Rs 57 crore versus Rs 3.6 crore.
- Provisions and write-offs at Rs 59.6 crore.
Tasty Bite Eatables (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue up 12 percent at Rs 79 crore.
- Net profit down 5.5 percent at Rs 7.8 crore.
- Ebitda up 3 percent at Rs 15 crore.
- Margin at 19 percent versus 20.6 percent.
Praj Industries (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue down 9 percent at Rs 274.5 crore.
- Net profit up 17 percent at Rs 27 crore.
- Ebitda down 18 percent at Rs 31 crore.
- Margin at 11.3 percent versus 12.6 percent.
Dishman Carbogen Amcis (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue down 15 percent at Rs 451.5 crore.
- Net profit up 19 percent at Rs 51 crore.
- Ebitda down 17 percent at Rs 121 crore.
- Margin at 26.8 percent versus 27.3 percent.
Zee Media (Q4, YoY)
- Revenue up 33 percent at Rs 180 crore.
- Net profit down 44 percent at Rs 2.5 crore.
- Ebitda down 43 percent at Rs 20 crore.
- Margin at 11.1 percent versus 25.9 percent.
Bulk Deals
- Syngene International: Promoter Biocon sold 15.56 lakh shares or 0.8 percent equity at Rs 612.1 each.
- Shree Renuka Sugars: Promoter Khandepar Investments Pvt Ltd. sold 3.16 crore shares or 1.6 percent equity at Rs 15.5 each.
- Reliance Communication: Sistema Shyam Teleservices sold 2.76 crore shares or 1 percent equity at Rs 10.57 each.
Saksoft Ltd
- Promoter SAK Industries bought 94,400 shares or 0.9 percent equity at Rs 240 each.
- Ajit Thomas sold 1 lakh shares or 1 percent equity at Rs 240 each.
Uttam Galva Steel
- Neera Gupta bought 10 lakh shares or 0.7 percent equity at Rs 12.95 each.
- Lydia Construction Pvt Ltd bought 7.25 lakh shares or 0.5 percent equity at Rs 13.24 each.
Who’s Meeting Whom
- Pidilite to meet Rondure Global Advisors and Grandeur Peak Global Advisors on May 28.
- Concor to meet Edelweissfin Investment, B&K Securities, HSBC Securities and others from May 23 to June 8.
- Dr Lal to meet Select Equity Group and Wasatch Advisors from May 22-25.
Insider Trades
- Donear Industries promoter Rahul Agarwal acquired 12,168 shares on May 15.
- Rico Auto Industries promoter Shivani Kapur sold 40,000 shares on May 9.
- Meghmani Organics promoter Popatbhai Meghjibhai Patel acquired 45,000 shares on May 8.
- Ashoka Buildcon promoter Ashok Katariya acquired 74,498 shares from May 14–15.
(As reported on May 16)
Rupee
- Rupee closed at 67.80/$ on Wednesday from 68.11/$ on Tuesday.
Trading Tweaks
- Rain Industries and Ruchi Soya circuit filter revised to 10 percent.
- Smartlink Network Systems ex-date to determine buyback eligibility.
F&O Cues
- Nifty May Futures closed trading at 10,761 with premium of 20 points versus 16.8 points.
- All series-Nifty open interest down 2 percent and Bank Nifty open interest down 6 percent.
- India VIX ended at 13.4, up 2 percent.
- Max open interest for May series at 11,000, open interest at 60.9 lakh, open interest down 4 percent.
- Max open interest for May series at 10,500, open interest at 55.3 lakh, open interest down 9 percent.
F&O Ban
- In ban: Dewan Housing, Jet Airways, JP Associates, Justdial, PC Jewelers, Wockhardt, PC Jewellers.
- New in ban: Reliance Communications
- Out of ban: None
Only intraday positions can be taken in stocks under F&O ban. There is a penalty in case of a rollover of these positions.
Active Stock Futures
Put-Call Ratio
- Nifty PCR at 1.51 versus 1.59
- Nifty Bank PCR at 0.79 versus 1.03
Fund Flows
Brokerage Radar
Investec on Pharma
- Aurobindo Pharma and Cipla: Initiate coverage with a ‘Buy’ rating and price target of Rs 760 and 660 respectively.
- Sun Pharma, Lupin and Dr. Reddy’s: Initiate coverage with a ‘Sell’ rating and a price target of Rs 435, 665 and 2,030 respectively.
- Remain cautious on the sector as challenges in U.S. will persist.
- Prefer stocks not too reliant on large US products with stable base earnings.
Edelweiss on ITC
- Maintained ‘Hold’ with a price target of Rs 320.
- Margins shine; recovery in cigarette volumes underway.
- Cigarette volumes fell 1‐2 percent on a yearly basis on a flat base.
Morgan Stanley on ITC
- Maintained ‘Overweight’ with a price target of Rs 320.
- Cigarette volume decline of 2.5 percent was broadly inline.
- Key positive is the cigarette EBIT growth of 7.6 percent.
- Overweight rating is premised on the expectation of a steady cigarette tax policy.
Credit Suisse on TVS Motor Co.
- Maintained ‘Underperform’; cut price target to Rs 490 from Rs 510.
- Good execution on products, but double-digit margins seem to be a pipe dream.
- Management now refused to give any guidance on achieving double-digit margins.
- Raw Materials, competition key headwinds in near term.
Macquarie on TVS Motor Co.
- Maintained ‘Underperform’; cut price target to Rs 575 from Rs 540.
- Margin improvement remains elusive.
- Think the valuation for TVSL is expensive at 25x FY20E PER.