Stocks To Watch: HT Media, Infosys, IndusInd, NMDC, Tata Steel, Yes Bank

Asian stocks followed a rally in the U.S. to open higher amid optimism on the potential for progress in trade talks between the U.S. and China. Treasuries were steady after their recent slide and the dollar dipped.

Equities advanced in Japan, Australia and South Korea after all major U.S. indexes climbed. U.S. President Donald Trump is eager to strike a deal to boost financial markets that have been roiled by the trade war, according to people familiar. Earlier, he tweeted that talks are “going very well” as the negotiations continued with China. Crude climbed above $50 a barrel for the first time this year.

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India rose 0.63 percent or 68 points to 10,906 as of 6:58 a.m.

Short on time? well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary of All You Need To Know before the opening bell.

Here Are The Stocks To Watch Out For In Today’s Trade

• Yes Bank to hold board meet today to appoint new MD and CEO.
• Tata Steel said it is in talks to sell south-east Asian assets under NatSteel to China’s HeSteel. The report sourced from S&P Global Platts newsletter also stated that the company may also sell its Thailand Operations. (Bloomberg News)
• Tata Steel’s standalone sales for third quarter, on a yearly basis, stood at 2.97 million tonnes versus 3.3 million tonnes. Tata Steel Europe Sales at 2.3 million tonnes versus 2.44 million tonnes. Company said that standalone production was marginally up at 3.33 million tonnes versus 3.27 million tonnes due to plant utilization, but sales volume was lower due to seasonal headwinds caused by softer automotive demand and inventory replenishment.
• NMDC board approved share-buyback of 10.2 crore shares (3.23 percent of total equity shares) at Rs 98 per share aggregating to Rs 1,000 crore. Record date for buyback set on Jan. 18.
• Infosys said it was considering share buy-back and special dividend on Jan. 11.
• DB Corp, Jagran Prakashan, HT Media: The Information & Broadcasting Ministry hiked the advertisement rates for print media by 25 percent for a period of three years. The ministry stated that this decision will be of immense benefit to small and medium newspapers.
• Kridhan Infra’s Singapore arm won sewer construction order worth Rs 168 crore from the Public Utilities Board of Singapore.
• Oriental Bank of Commerce board approved raising Rs 5,500 crore through issuance of equity shares via preferential allotment to the Government of India.
• Indian Bank board approved issuing equity shares worth Rs 800 crore under ESOP scheme and said it will raise Rs 3,300 crore via bonds in financial year 2019-20.
• Eros International Media’s south Asian OTT platform ‘Eros Now’ entered into a platform and content association agreement with BSNL.
• EID Parry December Sugar Operations Update: Domestic sugar sales at 0.28 LMT, domestic sugar exports at 0.14 LMT. Alcohol sold at 97 LL. During the month 7.17 MT of cane was crushed and recovery stood at 10.38 percent.
• Kiri Industries: Singapore Commercial Court directs all parties to assess value of Kiri’s shares, where the minority discount should not be factored in the calculation. Regarding the issue of costs, Kiri is entitled to full costs on its claim.

Earnings To Watch

• IndusInd Bank
• Delta Corp
• Bajaj Corp

Trading Tweaks

• AGC Networks, Raj Television Network, Mishtann Foods to move into ASM Framework

Bulk Deals

CL Educate

• ICICI Lombard General Insurance sold 76,600 shares (0.54 percent) at Rs 115 per share.

Who’s Meeting Whom

• Inox Leisure to meet Investec on Jan.10 .

Insider Trading

• Aarti Industries promoter Chandrakant Gogri sold 20,000 shares on Jan.4.
• Vaibhav Global promoter group Brett Plastics acquired 50,000 shares on Jan. 4.
• Aster DM Healthcare promoter Dr. Azad Moopen acquired 19,000 shares on Jan. 7.

Money Market Update

• The rupee on Tuesday ended at 70.20/$ versus Monday’s closing of 69.69/$.

F&O Cues

• Nifty January futures closed trading at 10,845, premium of 42 points.
• Max open interest for January series at 11,000 strike value call, (open interest at 38.6 lakh shares.)
• Max open interest for January series at 10,500 strike value put (open interest at 39.5 lakh shares.)

Stocks In F&O Ban

• Adani Power
• Jet Airways

Put-Call Ratio

Nifty PCR at 1.41 versus 1.36.

Nifty Bank PCR at 1.3 versus 1.11.

Brokerage Radar

CLSA on Bharti Airtel

• Maintained Buy; Hiked target price to Rs 425 from Rs 415.
• Recommended buy on back of sector consolidation, turn in ARPU, deleveraging and valuations.
• Airtel’s market-share defence was commendable.
• Expect Airtel to retain its market share led by a 23 percent growth in data subscribers.

Macquarie on Jagran Prakashan

• Maintained outperform with target price of Rs 157.
• Government rate hike to provide much-needed fillip.
• Positive impact of 10-12 percent on FY20/21 EPS estimates.
• Advertisement growth to pick up in second half; stock trading at attractive valuations.

Morgan Stanley on ICICI Bank

• Maintained overweight; Hiked target price to Rs 510 from Rs 460.
• Asset quality continues to improve, and underlying earnings are accelerating.
• Core earnings CAGR likely to top 20 percent over FY19-21 on stronger asset growth and net interest margin.
• Valuation is attractive; foreign ownership remains at 15-year low.

Kotak Securities on Ashok Leyland

• Maintained buy; Cut target price to Rs 150 from Rs 170.
• Commercial vehicle cycle downturn is transient in nature and growth to come back in FY20.
• Cut volume/earnings assumptions by 11-17 percent/13-17 percent over FY19-21 to factor in weakness in demand.
• Truck volumes to grow in second half of FY20 due to pre-buying ahead of change in emission norms in April 2020.

Motilal Oswal on Tata Elxsi

• Kept rating under review from buy rating earlier.
• Deceleration of dollar revenue growth disconcerting.
• Recent trend in growth raises concerns about sustainability of valuation multiples.
• Seek more clarity on business outlook, segmental traction and causes for recent slowdown.

Motilal Oswal on Coal India

• Maintained Buy; Cut target price to Rs 338 from Rs 354.
• Lowering volume growth expectation as production sputters.
• Power plants restocking demand squeezing high margin e-auction volumes.
• Cut earnings estimate by 5-7 percent for FY19-20; valuations still attractive.