Indian Stocks End Near 6-Month High As Steel Makers Rally

Indian shares climbed for a third straight session led by steel makers and a share buyback announcement by the country’s most valued company in the last 10 minutes of trade.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.6 percent to 28,661 while the NSE Nifty rose 0.6 percent to 8,879. Both the key benchmarks are trading close to their six-month highs.

The market breadth was firmly tilted in favour of the buyers. About 1,050 shares advanced, 587 declined and 96 remained unchanged on the NSE.

Shares of the country’s largest software exporter extended gains to as much as 4 percent after it approved a buyback proposal.

The company will buying back 5.61 crore shares for at Rs 2,850 each for an amount not exceeding Rs 16,000 crore. The buyback constitutes 2.85 percent of the company’s equity.

Shares of Punj Lloyd Ltd. gained as much as 10.45 percent to Rs 22.60 after the company won two orders in its pipelines and tankages vertical for a total of Rs 348 crore.

While the first order is for design, engineering, construction and commissioning of the refrigerated double wall storage tanks and mounded bullets for the LPG Terminal at Mundra which amounts to Rs 139 crore, the second order was for offshore and onshore pipeline terminal work for the Fifth Oil Birth at the Jawahar Dweep at the Mumbai Harbour. The total order is worth Rs 209 crore.

The speculated merger between IndusInd Bank Ltd. and Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd. would, if concluded, be positive for both companies, said analysts tracking the companies in a series of research reports released since the news was first reported.

Vedanta Plc reports Ebitda of $882.3 million, a 79 percent increase from a year earlier, on higher commodity prices and production volume, according to Bloomberg News.

• Revenue rose 26 percent to $ 3.07 billion
• Net debt at $8.2 billion as of December 31
• Total copper output fell 18 percent YoY
• Total silver output rose 2 percent YoY
• International zinc production fell 35 percent YoY on closure of Lisheen mine in November 2015

Marksans Pharma today said its Goa plant has been inspected by the U.K. health regulator without any critical observations.

The plant located at Verna has had an inspection by U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) from February 14-17, Marksans Pharma said in a filing to BSE. "The same has been completed without any critical observations," it added.

The company, which makes formulations at the facility, is awaiting further instruction from the agency in this regard, Marksans Pharma said.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp. has agreed to pay more than Rs 8,000 crore of outstanding royalty to Gujarat, according to lawyer Sumit Goel who is representing the western Indian state in the case.

• ONGC to pay Gujarat 15 percent of outstanding royalty By March 31
• To pay balance royalty to the state government next fiscal: Goel
• ONGC also agrees to pay royalty to Gujarat state at pre-discount crude oil prices in future
• India’s top court disposes ONGC’s plea in matter as dispute settled

Shares of steel producers gained anywhere between 8 percent and 1.5 percent after the Central Board of Excise and Customs imposed definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of seamless tubes, pipes and hollow profiles of iron, alloy or non-alloy steel from China.

The order confirmed provisional anti-dumping duty imposed in May 2016. The anti-dumping duty will be effective for five years from the data of first imposition, according to Bloomberg News.

• Jindal Steel & Power (+8.3% to Rs 101)
• Bhushan Steel (+5.3% to Rs 58)
• SAIL (+3% to Rs 62)
• Tata Steel (+2.6% to Rs 480)
• MSP Steel & Power (+4% to Rs 14.5)
• JSW Steel (+1.6% to Rs 187)

Shares of the dairy firm jumped as much as 18 percent to Rs 87, their highest level since November 7 on volumes around 41 times 3-month full day average. About 22 lakh shares changes hands in Mumbai, as per Bloomberg data. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

Accurate Finman Services has 11.81 percent stake in the company as of February 13, according to Bloomberg data.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. were trading higher after the company announced in an exchange filing that it managed to sell 1,00,000 units of its smart hybrid vehicles - Ciaz SHVS and Ertiga SHVS in February.

Shares were trading higher by 1.24 percent at Rs 6,060 on the National Stock Exchange.

The rupee was trading lower by 4 paise at 67.05 against the dollar in early trade today.

Foreign exchange dealers said increased demand for the U.S. currency from importers and the greenback's gains against other currencies overseas, put pressure on the rupee.

On Friday, the rupee had gained 6 paise to end at 67.01 due to fag-end dollar selling by banks and exporters in view of weakness in the greenback overseas amid persistent rise in equities.

PTI

Shares of the Tata group company rose as much as 10.3 percent to Rs 6.7 after Reliance Communications was said to have initiated talks for a merged entity with RCom-Aircel.

According to an Economic Times report, Ambani approached the newly appointed chairman of Tata Sons, N Chandrasekaran, to discuss the possibilities.

If The Merger Goes Through

• The merged entity would hold over 649 megahertz (Mhz) of spectrum across four bands.
• It would have revenue market share of 15 percent.
• It will be market leader in only one circle, Jammu and Kashmir, with 44 percent of the market share.
• It will rank second in market share in four circles, namely - Tamil Nadu & Chennai (30 percent), Himachal Pradesh (21 percent), Orissa (22 percent) and North East (23 percent).

Shares of the electronic equipment maker slumped as much as 15 percent, the most since November 9, after Havells India on Saturday agreed to buy the company’s consumer durables business for Rs 1,600 crore.

The stock was the second most traded by value on the NSE with volumes around 10 times its three-month full-day average.

At the time of closing the deal, Havells will pay Lloyd Electric Rs 1,200-1,300 crore in cash and will either take Rs 300-400 crore debt on its books or pay lenders, Amit Rai Gupta, chairman and managing director of Havells India, told BloombergQuint over the phone. (Read the full conversation HERE)

The deal will give the maker of Havells electrical fans and switches a foothold in the competitive air conditioners segment, bringing it in direct competition with large players like Samsung Electronics, LG Corporation and Voltas Ltd.

Management Speak: Havells India Will Continue To Source Products From Lloyd’s Facilities

Lenders Put ABG Shiyard On The Block

A consortium of lenders led by ICICI Bank Ltd. have decided to put debt-laden ABG Shipyard on the block. SBI Capital Markets and PricewaterhouseCoopers have been appointed as advisors for the identification of an investor, according to an advertisement by the consortium in a news daily.

“SBICAP and PwC invite expression of interest from investors with adequate financial capability satisfactory to the lenders for the acquisition of the majority shareholding, management and control of the company [ABG Shipyard] or acquisition of assets,” the consortium ad in the Mint read.

Indian shares fluctuated between minor gains and losses as investors take stock of the market ahead of this week’s derivatives expiry. Brokers said besides profit-booking by participants after recent gains, a mixed trend in Asian regions mainly influenced sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex slid 0.1 percent to 28,428 while the NSE Nifty 50 declined 0.1 percent as well to 8,812. The market breadth, however, was encouraging. About 828 stocks advanced, 594 declined and 463 remained unchanged on the NSE.

Movers & Shakers: Hindustan Unilever, McNally Bharat, Religare Enterprises And More

Sovereign bond yields which have been rising for the past three weeks has made money managers like Aberdeen Asset and Aviva Investors positive on local bonds. Expectation of more economic reforms and the government sticking to its the path of fiscal consolidation in the budget are the other reasons cited for the attractiveness.

BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest money manager, is adding to its holdings of Indian bonds this year, drawn by attractive carry returns.

But it looks like, it will take sometime for all the positiveness to translate in the Indian rupee. The currency, which ended down 0.2 percent last week, may sustain losses against the greenback in today's session as most Asian currencies are trading in the red.

• Indian Oil Corp. said to review $8 billion spend on tax shock
• Tata Consultancy: Board meeting to decide on share repurchase
• Kraft Heinz withdraws $143 billion takeover offer for Unilever
• India green court seeks vehicle recall roadmap from Volkswagen
• India’s new auction lights way to Modi green target, dims coal
• India imposes anti-dumping duty on some Chinese steel products
• Indian panel clears bill to compensate states for loss of revenue from GST
• India said to cut Sebi chairman-designate Tyagi’s Term (PTI)
• Tata said in early talks on phone merger with Rcom-Aircel (Economic Times)
• Vodafone, Idea said likely to seal merger within a month (PTI)
• HUL beefs up Ayurvedic portfolio with three shampoos to take on Patanjali
• IRB InvIT gets SEBI nod for Rs 4,300-crore IPO
• December quarter earnings of Sensex companies miss estimates: Motilal Oswal Securities

Good Morning!

The Singapore traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of Nifty’s performance in India, was little changed at 8,828.

Asian stocks were trading mixed in early trade, after the S&P 500 Index reached a fresh record last week. Deals remained in focus after Kraft Heinz withdrew its $143 billion bid for Unilever. Japan’s Topix was down for a third straight session while the Hang Seng index returned to the highest levels since September.

Gold edged lower after climbing for seven out of the past eight weeks, while the yen dropped after a three-day gain. Oil held above $53 a barrel, as investors weighed rising drilling activity in the U.S. against the production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers.

With U.S. bond and stock markets shut on Monday for President’s Day, investors are turning to corporate and political developments. Europe was thrown back into focus after a poll showed Angela Merkel’s ruling party was behind the Social Democrats for first time under her leadership.

PMI surveys for the euro area and its two largest economies this week may show growth momentum is solid while the Ifo business confidence survey may support that view for Germany.

Investors will also look forward to minutes of the most recent Fed meeting this week for possible insight into how members see Trump’s polices.