Sensex, Nifty Snap Three-Day Losing Streak Led By Metals, Auto

Indian shares snapped a three-day losing streak led by a rebound in metals and auto stocks. The NSE Nifty 50 index came within touching distance of the 9,100 mark but retreated from the day's highest point. The 51-stock index gained 0.6 percent to end at 9,086.

The S&P BSE Sensex too gained 0.56 percent or 164 points to close at 29,332. The market breadth was firmly in favour of the buyers with 1,059 stocks advancing compared to 563 stocks that posted losses for the session. 304 stocks remained unchanged.

The total fund raising by companies through issuance of debt securities on BSE's electronic book platform has crossed the Rs 2 lakh crore milestone.

The BSE's electronic book platform 'BSE BOND', for issuance of debt securities on private placement basis, was launched on July 1, 2016.

Since then, 68 companies have come out with 383 bonds and have successfully raised Rs 2,00,111 crore using BSE's debt platform, the stock exchange said in a statement today.

Highway developer Dilip Buildcon Ltd. has emerged as the successful bidder for road projects worth Rs 3,269 crore in Maharashtra, the company said in an exchange filing.

The projects include 4-laning of Mahagaon to Yavatmal section of NH-361 (package II) on hybrid annuity mode at a project cost of Rs 1,160.64 crore and four-laning of Yavatmal to Wardha section of NH-361 for Rs 1,043.28 crore.

The other project is 4-laning of Warciha-Butibori Section of NH-361 at a cost of of Rs 1,065.51 crore.

Shares of the company were trading higher by 1.25 percent at Rs 353.25.

Sunil Hitech Engineers Ltd. has won a Rs 982 crore highway project in Maharashtra to widen a stretch on NH 211.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) awarded the contract for constructing and widening the existing 2-lane Bodhre to Dhule road section of NH-211 to four/six lane in Maharashtra for a bid project cost of Rs 982 crore on Hybrid annuity Model (HAM) basis, the company said in its filing to the exchanges.

The stock was trading higher by 7.17 percent at Rs 11.95.

• Vikas Ecotech gains around 12 percent
• Volumes at 4.9 times its 20-day average on the NSE.
• The petroleum products distributor is valued at Rs 584.8 crore

Vedanta Resources Plc, informed the exchanges that the National Company Law Tribunal has given its approval to the company’s merger with Cairn India Ltd.

Shares of Vedanta surged as much as 3.8 percent to Rs 270 while Cairn India gained 4.6 percent to Rs 305.80, the highest since October 2014.

The Nifty 50 index has retreated from recently made lifetime highs. The India Volatility Index (VIX), while trading near 2014 lows has advanced. Options data indicates resistance building in the 9,200 call based on accumulation in open interest.

On Bloomberg Quint’s ‘Surf’s Up’, which tracks weekly trends in equity derivatives, Manoj Vayalar of Religare Securities tells Agam Vakil that the bias for Indian equity benchmarks remains positive but there could be some consolidation. For more on what levels to bear in mind listen in.

Shares of the chemical company BASF India Ltd. rose as much as 4.9 percent to Rs 1,275, the highest since February 2, 2017 on news that the company is planning to divest its leather chemical business to Luxembourg-based Stahl group for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017, the company said in a regulatory filing.

• Rises as much as 10.2 percent today
• Volumes at 35 times its previous 20-day average
• The stationery company has a market cap of Rs 870 crore.

• Rises as much as 12.4 percent today; extends winning streak to three days.
• Gains 17 percent in the last three sessions.
• Volumes are at 17.5 times its previous 20-day average.
• The real estate company has a market capitalization of Rs 3,600 crore.

Shares of Vedanta's unit Hindustan Zinc Ltd. jumped as much as 3.3 percent to Rs 322.10 after the company approved a special interim dividend of Rs 27.50 per share for the financial year 2016-17. The stock has gained 25.2 percent in 2017 compared to the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index, that has gained 10.1 percent this year.

Brokerage house Citi has retained its 'neutral' stance on Hindustan Zinc reducing its target price to Rs 300 from Rs 340. Though the brokerage remains bullish on Zinc, it believes that with valuations remaining at historical peaks, a fair bit of optimism has already been priced into the stock.

Shares of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. were trading higher between 1.9-3 percent ahead of their board meetings to consider interim dividend.

In January 2017, while HPCL had declared an interim dividend of Rs 22.50 per share, BPCL and IOC declared interim dividend of Rs 19.50 and 13.50 per share respectively.

Creditors of India’s largest paper maker Ballarpur Industries Ltd. may face costly unintended consequences from punitive U.S. duties on some of the company’s Asian competitors.

Ballarpur invested heavily in recent years to modernize its production facilities, and now may not be able to avoid defaulting on its debts, Fitch Ratings Ltd. said.

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Government-owned Bank of India Ltd., through an exchange filing said that the bank has sold its entire 5 percent stake comprising of 12.5 lakh shares in TransUnion CIBIL Ltd. to TransUnion International Inc.

The deal, concluded on March 22, 2017 was completed at the rate of Rs 1,525 per equity share for a total consideration of Rs 190.62 crore.

Shares were trading higher by 0.52 percent at Rs 126.45. The stock has outperformed the benchmark Sensex index in 2017, gaining 18.1 percent compared to the 10 percent gained by the Sensex.

Shares of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications Ltd. gained after the Competition Commission of India approved the proposed sale of the tower division of its subsidiary Reliance Infratel Ltd. to Towercom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., a unit of Brookfield Infrastructure Group.

Brookfield will acquire 100 percent of Towercom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. post the demerger through a scheme of arrangement and subject to certain approvals.

Shares were trading higher by 1.74 percent at Rs 38.10 per share.

Shares of the infra firm rose as much as 12 percent to Rs 108 after it emerged as the lowest bidder for a hybrid annuity model project to be awarded by the National Highway Authority of India.

While the cost of the project is Rs 1,059.7 crore, as per NHAI, Sadbhav's bidding price stood at Rs 982 crore, according to its exchange filing.

Movers & Shakers: Cairn India, Hindustan Zinc, Delta Corp

Gains that sent Indian stocks to a record are at risk of reversing as investors ignore the possibility of earnings disappointments in the wake of Narendra Modi’s currency clampdown, according to UBS Group AG.

Results for the March quarter have the “potential to surprise” as the full impact of the prime minister’s cash ban filters through, Gautam Chhaochharia, head of India research at UBS, said in an interview.

To read the full article, click HERE

The rupee strengthened by 5 paise to 65.39 per dollar in early trade on some selling of the U.S. currency by exporters and banks. Stock markets opening with gains also boosted the domestic currency, dealers said.

The rupee had lost 14 paise to close at 65.44 per dollar on fresh dollar demand from importers. In global trade, the US dollar had strengthened against major world currencies with the dollar index inching up by 0.08 per cent against a basket of currencies yesterday.

PTI

Indian shares snapped a three-day losing streak as a rebound in U.S. equities provided a measure of calm to the market after a selloff spread across the region on Wednesday.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.3 percent to 29,254 while the NSE Nifty rose 0.3 percent to 9,060. The market breadth was firmly skewed in favour of the bulls. About 1,136 stocks advanced, 300 declined and 469 remained unchanged on the NSE.

All sectoral indices on the NSE were trading higher led by Nifty Metal index while the Nifty FMCG index moved the least.

A global selloff in equities that spurred demand for haven assets appears to be settling down. Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index has gained 0.1 percent today after a six-day slump.

With risk appetite gradually returning, Asian currencies are trading stronger with the South Korean won rising 0.4 percent against the dollar.

The rupee, which dropped 0.3 percent to 65.4425 a dollar in the last session, is likely to regain some lost ground against the greenback. Also, the market will be closely tracking Janet Yellen's speech later in the global day.

Sovereign bonds rallied in the last session as lower prices attracted whole host of buyers, sending the yield on the 10-year note down 8 basis points to 6.81 percent. For today, the market is likely to take a breather from the rally and yield could rise a couple of basis points in line with US Treasuries.

• Andhra Bank: To consider raising of equity capital
• Apollo Tyres: Raised to buy versus hold at Sharekhan
• Axis Bank: Approves allotment of $16.2 million notes under MTN program
• Ballarpur Industries: Hasn’t raised any money overseas
• Cadila Healthcare: Rated new buy at Jefferies
• Confidence Petroleum: To consider stake sale in Gold Bid
• Dilip Buildcon: Signed an accord with Shrem Infraventure
• Divi Labs: Import alert by FDA issued for some products
• DLF: Unit DLF Home ceases to hold any stake in DLF Southern Homes
• Just Dial: NCLT approves company’s arrangement with Just Dial Global
• Hindustan Zinc: Approves special interim dividend of INR27.5/Shr
• Oil India: To buy back shares via tender offer process
• Religare: Names Maninder Singh as group CEO
• Sadbhav Infra: Declared L1 for NHAI Ham project

For a more detailed copy on stocks to watch, click HERE

• India court names Google, Facebook to panel to combat child pornography

• India will achieve revised tax collection targets, FM Jaitley says
• Jet Airways names Ranjan Mathai as independent director
• Cabinet approves Rs 6,000 crore of road projects and Rs 2,000 crore to expand dredging capacity
• India CCI invites comments on Dow Chemical, Dupont merger plan
• Tata Coffee gets permit for $63 million Vietnam plant (Saigon Times)
• India said seeking state oil firms’ merger plans (Economic times)

Good Morning!

The Singapore traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of Nifty’s performance in India, gained 0.4 percent to 9,084.

Asian shares traded mixed on Thursday, as overnight gains in U.S. equities provided a measure of calm to the market after a selloff spread across the region on Wednesday.

The yen halted its seven days of gains against the dollar and gold also took a step back after a six-day rally. Oil held above $48 a barrel as concerns over growing U.S. crude supplies were offset by a decline in gasoline inventories.

Investors are focusing on progress of U.S. president’s pro-growth policies as Republican lawmakers and Trump struggled to garner support for controversial healthcare legislation scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

Losing or delaying the vote would bruise investors' confidence in Trump's legislative ability and his ability to keep his big promises to business.

U.S. stocks rebounded after posting the biggest decline since October as technology stocks posted strong gains.

Markets will also be keenly awaiting cues from Fed this week with Chair Janet Yellen due to speak later today. The Fed raised its benchmark lending rate a quarter point last week and continued to project two more increases this year.