Nifty, Sensex End With Moderate Gains; Post Losses For The Week

Mayuresh Joshi, Fund Manager at Angel Broking sees corporate earnings for the fourth quarter to remain soft and that liquidity will continue to support the markets. He sees corporate earnings recovering by the second half of FY18.

“If earnings recovery happens by the second half, we can expect the markets to move higher. Global headwinds might act as a spanner in the wheel at this point of time. So if the markets correct atleast five percent from the current levels, it will give some entry point for the long-term investors as well as provide some respite to the valuations.” Joshi told BloombergQuint over phone.

Joshi expects the Nifty to head towards 9,500 if the global headwinds settle over the next few months as well as a recovery in earnings can act as the trigger. “It is largely going to be stock specific. The index is likely to move 300 points either side,” he added.

Cement: The Dark Horse

Joshi remains bullish on the consumption oriented sectors post the remonetisation exercise. He also sees infrastructure to be an interesting space with the government continuing to provide impetus towards this sector. “Cement will be a supporting factor for the entire infrastructure space going forward. Government objectives like affordable housing and infrastructure development can act in its favour. It is a theme that can be played cyclically,” he added.

Indian Shares cooled off from the highest point of the day but managed to eke out moderate gains on a rangebound day of trade, led by banking stocks.

The NSE Nifty 50 index gained 0.24 percent to close at 9,108. However, the 51-stock index posted a loss of 0.6 percent for the week, posting a weekly loss for the first time in three weeks.

The S&P BSE Sensex index too gained 0.3 percent to end at 29,421. The index ended lower by 0.77 percent for the week.

Advanced-Decline ratio turned in favour of the sellers towards the later part of the day. 848 stocks declined compared to 758 advancing stocks. 317 stocks remained unchanged.

Hindustan Zinc Ltd. plans to accelerate its mining expansion as India’s biggest producer of the metal sees room for a further rally in prices.

The unit of billionaire Anil Agarwal-owned Vedanta Ltd. is fresh from doling out a special dividend that takes its payments this year above $4 billion. A 57 percent gain in zinc prices over the past 12 months has helped deliver what the company says is a record return to shareholders by an Indian company.

Read The Full Story, HERE!

Indian stocks are hovering around all-time highs on signs that Asia's third largest economy had a lower-than-expected impact from the cash ban in November.

India’s domestic gas prices may stop falling for the first time two years, a welcome relief for the country’s energy explorers.

Gas prices in India have more than halved after four successive cuts since the formula was introduced in November 2014. That’s squeezed margins of explorers such as Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., while benefiting users including fertilizer companies and power generators. The forecasts compiled by Bloomberg range from $2.50 to $2.70.

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• Stock gains almost 12 percent on high volumes
• Volumes are at 67 times its 30-day average
• The stock has made a clear break out above the 50-day moving average
• The company, which distributes portland cement, has a market cap of Rs 1,600 crore.

• The stock is trading higher by 12 percent
• Volumes stand at 38 times its 20-day average on the NSE.
• The stock fell close to 2 percent in the last three days.
• The maker of electrical meters is valued at Rs 700 crore.

Indian equity benchmarks continued to consolidated on the last trading day of the week. The NSE Nifty 50 index reclaimed the 9,100 mark in early trade and has remained above that level since.

The index was trading with gains of 0.3 percent at 9,115 led by banking and financial services stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex hovered near the 29,450 mark with gains of 0.4 percent.

Advance-Decline ratio remained in favour of the buyers. 986 stocks were trading with gains compared to 568 declining stocks. 366 stocks remained unchanged.

Shares of PNC Infratech recovered from the day's low to gain as much as 2 percent to Rs 116.50 after the company was declared the lowest bidder in two hybrid annuity highway projects worth Rs 2,720 crore.

The two projects are the four laning of different sections of the Jhansi-Khajuraho section of National Highway 75/76. While the project cost for the first 76 kilometers is Rs 1,410 crore, the cost of the other section is Rs 1,310 crore.

Shares of Asian Oilfield Services Ltd. gained as much as 4.99 percent to Rs 240.85, after the company received a Letter of Award for contract of 2D Seismic Data acquisition from ONGC worth Rs 108.97 crore.

The stock has gained 109.31 percent this year, outperforming the S&P BSE Sensex index which has gained 10.63 percent on a year-to-date basis.

Shares of Sintex Ltd. surged as much as 3.75 percent to Rs 102.40 after the National Company Law Tribunal sanctioned the composite Scheme of Agreement between Sintex Industries, Sintex Plastic Technology Ltd., Sintex-BAPL Ltd. and Sintex Infra Projects Ltd., the company said in an exchange filing.

Shares of the private lender rose as much as 1.7 percent to Rs 1,544 after announcing the launch its qualified institutional placement to raise as much as $750 million (about Rs 4,900 crore). The bank has set the floor price for the issue at Rs 1,498.95 per share.

Yes Bank also has the option to raise $100 million through a greenshoe option, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. A greenshoe option allows the company to sell more shares than had been planned if the demand for the issue is higher than expected.

Also Read: Stocks Radar: Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Yes Bank

Shares of Skipper Ltd. surged as much as 9.6 percent to Rs 178 after the company bagged orders worth Rs 405 crore.

The orders are for supply of transmission towers to the projects of Power Grid Corporation, Transmission Corporation of Telengana and Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand

The rupee recovered 5 paise to trade at 65.47 against the U.S. dollar in morning session on Friday.

Fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks amid higher opening in the domestic equity market bolstered the domestic currency, dealers said.

However, a strong dollar in global markets capped the rupee gains, they added.

The rupee had lost 8 paise to close at 65.52 against the U.S. currency due to bouts of dollar demand from importers and banks on Thursday.

• Balkrishna Industries: 19 lakh shares change hands in a single block
• Indiabulls Housing Finance: 19 lakh shares change hands in a single block
• Sinclair Hotels: 13.4 lakh shares change hands in a single block
• Cosmo Films: 24 lakh shares change hands in a single block
• SH Kelkar: 12 lakh shares change hands in a single block
• Meghmani Organics: 13.4 lakh shares change hands in a single block
• SREI Infra: 1.38 crore shares change hands in five block deals

Indian shares began Friday's trade on a tepid note in-line with its Asian peers. Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were the top gainers on the NSE Nifty 50 index.

The 51-stock benchmark gained 0.2 percent to 9,104 while the S&P BSE Sensex index too gained 0.2 percent to 29,404. All sectoral indices except Auto and I.T. index traded positive.

Advance-Decline ratio remained in favour of the buyers with 912 stocks advancing compared to 430 declining stocks. 473 stocks opened unchanged.

Uday Kotak-led Kotak Mahindra Bank became the second largest private bank in terms of market capitalization after its shares gained as much as 7 percent over a one month period. The bank surpassed ICICI Bank, shares of which fell as much as 6.2 percent over the corresponding period.

While Kotak Mahindra Bank's market capitalization now stands at over Rs 1.59 lakh crore, that of ICICI Bank stands at Rs 1.55 lakh crore.

• Yes Bank: Launches Rs 4,900 crore Qualified Institutional Placement; floor price: Rs 1,498.95/share
• Bharti Airtel: To acquire Tikona Digital Networks' 4G business for Rs 1,600 crore
• NTPC: May buy government’s Rs 8,720 crore stake in SJVN: Bloomberg
• Siemens: Wins Rs 187.4 crore order from Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board
• Bharat Petroleum: To pay Rs 12/share mid-year special dividend
• Shankara Building Products: IPO subscribed 2.5 times on day 2
• RBI: Puts IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, UCO Bank Under Asset Quality Watch: PTI
• Suzlon: To restructure some overseas subsidiaries
• Reliance Infrastructure: Emerges as lowest bidder for Tamil Nadu road project

• India's Current Account Deficit widens less than estimated
• Government approves nine FDI proposals worth Rs 659 crore
• NSE unit creates NIFTY AAA corporate bond index series
• Power Finance Corporation may consider mid-year dividend
• Tata Motors to consider raising Rs 500 crore via non-convertible debentures

Good Morning!

The Singapore traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of Nifty’s performance in India, was little changed at 9,102.

Asian shares edged higher, shrugging off weak overnight cues from the U.S. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose for the 10th time in 11 days, while the yen fell for the first time in nine days.

U.S. stocks fell after Republicans postponed voting on the health-care bill until Friday, raising speculation President Donald Trump may struggle with other policies as well.

Gold fell for the second session, while oil is headed for its lowest weekly close in four months.

Investors also grappled with mixed economic data. Filings for unemployment benefits rose to a seven-week high, while purchases of new homes increased in February to a seven-month high.