Sensex, Nifty Halt Three-Day Gains; Mid And Small Caps Underperform

Indian equity benchmarks halted their three-day gains dragged by Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, ITC and TCS.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.21 percent or 73 points to 35,246 and the NSE Nifty 50 index slipped 0.23 percent or 25 points to 10,716.

All but three sector gauges compiled by BSE ended lower dragged by the S&P BSE Realty index's 2 percent drop. On the flipside, the S&P BSE Energy index was the top gainer, up 0.6 percent.

The mid- and small-cap shares came under heavy selling pressure as the S&P BSE MidCap index tumbled 1.5 percent and the S&P BSE SmallCap index declined 1.4 percent.

Fairchem Speciality: The Gujarat-based chemical maker rose as much as 8.2 percent to Rs 455 after its net profit more than tripled in March quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenues up 41 percent at Rs 315 crore versus Rs 224 crore
• Net profit up 237.5 percent at Rs 27 crore versus Rs 8 crore
• EBITDA up 161.5 percent at Rs 51 crore versus Rs 19.5 crore
• Margins at 16.2 percent versus 8.7 percent

Future Consumer: The Mumbai-based packaged food maker rose as much as 9.36 percent to Rs 61.95 as after founder Kishore Biyani said the group was looking to sell a minimum of 10 percent stake to a global retailer.

Mukta Arts: The Mumbai-based film maker rose as much as 17.71 percent, the most in nearly six months, to Rs 72.10. Mukta Arts' film training institute Whistling Woods has partnered with Reliance Jio to set up a virtual reality lab named 'Whistling Woods Jio VR Lab'.

Eicher Motors: The Delhi-based Royal Enfield bike maker rose as much as 2.94 percent, the most in two weeks, to Rs 31,207 despite missing Bloomberg consensus estimates in the March quarter as brokerages remain upbeat on demand outlook.

CLSA in a note said:

• Management was positive on the RE demand outlook on conference call
• Next phase of capacity expansion corroborates healthy demand outlook

Deutsche Bank in a note said:

• Volume growth momentum should continue in FY19
• Forecast RE volume CAGR (FY18-20 at 15 percent which should drive EPS CAGR of 23 percent)
• Management highlighted that volume growth had started to again pick up in the larger markets

• Idea Cellular has 14 lakh shares change hands in a block on BSE. Shares fall4 percent to Rs 58.30
• Federal Bank has 30 lakh shares change hands in two blocks. Stock down 11.42 percent at Rs 89.60.

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of the parent company of Binani Cements surged 7 percent to Rs 94.50 after the Supreme Court rejected Dalmia Bharat's plea on Binani Cements' sales process

• Top court said that it won't interfere in Binani Cements sales process.

Shares of the Mumbai-based company rose as much as 14 percent to Rs 174.80 after its profit jumped nearly four-fold.

Key earnings highlights:

• Consolidated margin at 11.2 percent versus 0.4 percent (YoY)
• Consolidated EBITDA at Rs 45.2 crore versus Rs 80 lakhs (YoY)
• Consolidated revenue up 2.4 times at Rs 405.3 crore versus Rs 182 crore (YoY)
• Consolidated net profit up nearly 4 times at Rs 25.2 crore versus Rs 6.7 crore (YoY)

Commenting on March quarter earnings company’s management said:

• Expect revenue growth to double up for FY19 and 20
• Profit margin of 11-12 percent for infra to continue for next 2 years
• New order inflows to be in range of Rs 7,000 crore in FY19 versus Rs 4,000 crore in FY18
• Expect order book to stand at Rs 12,000 crore for FY19
• Order backlog stands at Rs 3,500 crore in FY18

Shares of the Chennai-based government-owned bank slumped as much as 14 percent, the most in five years, to Rs 293.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net interest income up 18.25 percent at Rs 1,637.71 crore versus Rs 1,384.91 crore
• Net profit slumps 59 percent to Rs 132 crore versus Rs 320 crore (YoY)
• Net profit at Rs 132 crore versus Bloomberg estimate of Rs 290 crore
• Gross non-performing assets as a percentage of total advances at 7.37 percent versus 6.27 percent (QoQ)
• Net non-performing assets at 3.81 percent versus 3.30 percent (QoQ)
• Q4 provisions for bad loans at Rs 1,770 crore
• Indian Bank says used RBI option to spread bond investment losses
• Rs 369 crore provided for stresses assets resolution
• Rs 53.98 crore provided for loans under 18 IBC accounts
• FY17 gross NPA divergence at Rs 544 crore

“A correction was inevitable after an over 800-point rally from the March lows.” AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital Market, told BloombergQuint over the phone.

Many people are saying that it will be a tough fight for the BJP in Karnataka, he said. That along with the crude touching $77 and rising bond yields are some reasons impacting the sentiment, he said.

“Reports of few missiles fired towards Israel, and its retaliation indicate some tensions in the Middle East, which is not good news for the markets.”

European stocks are little changed after their longest winning streak since mid-March as traders weigh profit updates and the increased likelihood of a populist government in Italy.

Shares of the Mumbai-based paint maker were trading 0.2 percent higher at Rs 1,224 ahead of March quarter earnings.

Here is what to expect from Asian Paints in March quarter:

• Revenues seen up 11.9 percent at Rs 4421 crore versus Rs 3952 crore
• EBITDA seen up 17.1 percent at Rs 834 crore versus Rs 712 crore
• Margins seen at 18.9 percent versus 18 percent
• Net profit seen up 17.3 percent at Rs 542 crore versus Rs 462 crore

Source: Bloomberg

• Indian equity benchmarks slipped as losses in ITC, Tata Motors, Power Grid and Dr Reddy's Labs outweighed gains in HDFC Bank, RIL and Bharti Airtel.
• The S&P BSE Sensex was little changed at 35,325 and the NSE Nifty 50 index was down 8 points at 10,733.
• Fifteen out of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading lower led by the S&P BSE Realty index's 1.6 percent drop.
• Overall market breadth was negative as 1,656 shares were declining while 826 were advancing on the BSE.

Click here for more stock market data

Shares of the companies under the aegis of the Future Group surged after founder Kishore Biyani said the group was looking to sell a minimum of 10 percent stake to a global retailer. This comes on the back of the mega Walmart-Flipkart deal that was announced yesterday.

• Future Retail rose as much as 5 percent to Rs 600.7.
• Future Consumer rose as much as 8.6 percent to Rs 61.5
• Future Lifestyle Fashions rose as much as 3.3 percent to Rs 470

Shares of the Mumbai-based film maker rose as much as 17.71 percent, the most in nearly six months, to Rs 72.10.

Mukta Arts' film training institute Whistling Woods has partnered with Reliance Jio to set up a virtual reality lab named 'Whistling Woods Jio VR Lab'.

Bank Nifty's 26,400 strike price call option was among the most active option contracts on the National Stock Exchange amid weekly expiry of contracts.

Premium on the contract fell 85 percent to 85 paise. Over 13.92 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 21.98 lakh shares.

Click here to see complete options chain

• Infibeam Incorporation has 20 lakh shares change hands in a block. Stock down 0.4 percent at Rs 167.85.

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of the Kalol-based water storage tank maker slumped 7.4 percent to 50.05 after it reported loss in March quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue down 3 percent at Rs 1293 crore
• Net loss of Rs 12 crore from net profit of Rs 52 crore
• Ebitda down 36 percent at Rs 118 crore
• Margin at 9.1 percent from 13.9 percent

Domestic sales of passenger vehicles in India rose 7.5 percent in April from a year ago, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers or SIAM announced in New Delhi today.

• Passenger car sales rose 4.9 percent
• Passenger vehicles sales rose 7.5 percent
• Trucks, bus sales jumped 76 percent
• Two-wheeler sales rose 16.9 percent

Percent change from year ago

Source: SIAM Data

Bank earnings can grow 50 percent in the current financial year, Nirav Sheth, head of institutional equities at SBICap Securities told BloombergQuint in an interview. He believes the banking and NBFC story will last for another 5-10 years.

Highlights of conversation:

• Expect bank earnings to grow 50 percent in FY19
• Earnings have been downgraded every time in the last 10 years
• Believe Banking and NBFC story will last for 5-10 years
• Investors will make money in corporate facing banks over the next couple of years
• Bullish on Federal Bank despite this quarter earnings
• Federal Bank and DCB Bank will benefit from the growth in SME space
• Remain bullish on housing finance companies
• Should be worried airline stocks load factor goes below 80 percent
• Should be worried if airline stocks load factor goes below 80 percent

Shares of the parent of Mumbai-based D-Mart department store operator fell as much as 2.12 percent to Rs 1,417.

Citi Research has initiated coverage on the stock with a 'sell' for target price of Rs 1,255, indicating downside of 13 percent from yesterday's close of Rs 1,448.

Citi said in a note:

• D-Mart's small free-float/liquidity factors may have swayed stock performance/valuations
• Slower growth or more modest margin delivery on elevated expectations can hurt
• Q4FY18 results have missed the elevated expectations, both in terms of revenues and profits
• Could see a shift away from D-Mart’s proven store ownership model
• Ratio of owned to leased stores could move to 80/20 (versus around 87/13 as of now)
• Higher ratio of owned to leased stores could weigh on D-Mart’s margins
• Competitive dynamics in the e-commerce market could impact overall profitability

Shares of the Delhi-based steel maker and power producer fell as much as 3.2 percent to Rs 253.45 after it reported loss in March quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue up 37 percent at Rs 8599 crore
• Net loss of Rs 308 crore from net loss of Rs 49.5 crore
• Ebitda up 38 percent at Rs 2,136.5 crore
• Margin at 24.8 percent from 24.7 percent
• One-time exceptional expense of Rs 437.6 crore

Shares of the Kerala-based private sector lender fell as much as 12.75 percent, the most in over 30 months, to Rs 88.25 after its asset quality deteriorated and provisioning surged in March quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net interest income up 11 percent at Rs 933 crore versus 842.39 crore (YoY)
• Net profit down 44 percent at Rs 145 crore versus Rs 256.59 crore (YoY)
• Provisions up 129 percent at Rs 371.5 crore from Rs 162 crore (QoQ)
• GNPA as a percentage of total advances at 3.0 percent versus 2.52 percent (QoQ), the highest level in at least last eight quarters.
• NPA as a percentage of total advances at 1.69 percent versus 1.36 percent (QoQ)

Shares of the Royal Enfield bike maker rose as much as 2.94 percent, the most in two weeks, to Rs 31,207 despite missing Bloomberg consensus estimates in the March quarter as brokerages remain upbeat on demand outlook.

CLSA has maintained its 'buy' call on the stock for target price of Rs 39,300.

CLSA in a note said:

• Management was positive on the RE demand outlook on conference call
• Next phase of capacity expansion corroborates healthy demand outlook

Deutsche Bank also maintained its 'buy' call and raised target on the stock to Rs 34,500 from Rs 34,000.

Deutsche Bank in a note said:

• Volume growth momentum should continue in FY19
• Forecast RE volume CAGR (FY18-20 at 15 percent which should drive EPS CAGR of 23 percent)
• Management highlighted that volume growth had started to again pick up in the larger markets

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue up 33.9 percent at Rs 2,528 crore versus Rs 1,888.1 crore
• EBITDA up 36.3 percent at Rs 797.2 crore versus Rs 584.79 crore
• Net profit up 0.5 percent Rs 461.5 crore at versus Rs 459.4 crore
• Margin at 31.5 percent versus of 31 percent

Opening Bell

Indian equity benchmarks edged higher led by HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Reliance Industries.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.40 percent or 141 points to 35,461 and the NSE Nifty 50 index gained 0.37 percent or 40 points to 10,781.

Seventeen out of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading higher led by the S&P BSE Auto index's 0.5 percent gain. On the flipside, the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index slipped 0.1 percent.

• Indian rupee fell 10 paise or 0.14 percent to 67.37 per doallar against yesterday's close of 67.25.

The rally in Indian sovereign bonds was over even before you knew it. Yield on the 10-year benchmark note climbed 13 basis points in the last session to 7.71 percent. The outlook remains weak.

Higher crude oil prices pose a threat of accelerated inflation which will keep the bulls away from the market. Investors are expecting yield to stay in a range of 7.69-7.75 percent in the day.

For the rupee, implied opening from forwards suggest a weaker opening around 67.32 a dollar. However, the closely tracked South Korean won is up 0.4 percent and the Bloomberg dollar index too is down after four sessions of gains.

If local stocks maintain momentum, the pair may stay in a range of 67.15-67.50 a dollar in the session.

Insider Trades

• Kwality Ltd promoter Sanjay Dhingra acquired 4.50 lakh shares on May 7
• Mold-Tek Packaging promoter Lakshmi Pattabhi sold 50,000 shares on May 9
• Adani Power promoter Pan Asia Trade and Investment Pvt. Ltd acquired 55 lakh shares on May 8

(As reported on May 9)

Trading Tweaks

• Sunil Hitech Engineers Ltd. placed under added surveillance by BSE.
• Deccan Gold Mines shifted to XT group from T group.

On Eicher Motors

CLSA

• Maintain ‘Buy’ with target price Rs 39,300
• Management was positive on the RE demand outlook on conference call
• Next phase of capacity expansion corroborates healthy demand outlook

Deutsche Bank

• Maintain ‘Buy’ raises target price to Rs 34,500 from Rs 34,000
• Volume growth momentum should continue in FY19
• Forecast RE volume CAGR (FY18-20 at 15 percent which should drive EPS CAGR of 23 percent)
• Management highlighted that volume growth had started to again pick up in the larger markets

CLSA on Arvind

• Maintain ‘Buy’, raises target price to Rs 557 from Rs 524
• Focus shifts to proposed demerger post strong beat led by the B&R business
• B&R cashflows addressed investor concerns on Arvind’s ability to fund its own growth
• Profitability of B&R at an inflexion point while strong capacity expansion ahead for Textiles

Deutsche Bank on Federal Bank

• Maintain ‘Buy’ cuts target price to Rs 120 from Rs 130
• Cleaning up impacts earnings but core trends are also a shade weaker
• Operating metrics were also weak leading to weak NII growth

Credit Suisse on Persistent Systems

• Maintain ‘Outperform’ with target price of Rs 960
• Growth and margin expansion story intact; valuations attractive
• Management indicates Q4 revenue miss in IBM alliance unit was not structural
• Better momentum in services, ample scope for growth in digital

Nomura on Lupin

• Maintain ‘Buy’ with target price of Rs 1,078
• Japan Enbrel biosimilar filing is a positive
• Estimate global sales of $8.3 billion at the manufacturer level
• Would use any falls from here as an opportunity to accumulate

Deutsche Bank on ABB India

• Maintain ‘Hold’ cuts target price to Rs 1,210 from Rs 1,230
• Risk of slippage to single digit growth
• Stock trades at a high valuation despite weak growth prospects

Other Earnings

• Adani Enterprises
• Adani Transmission
• Apollo Tyres
• Chennai Petroleum Corporation
• Indian Bank
• Mphasis
• Nestle India
• Shankara Building Products
• Tata Communications
• TV Today Network
• Ujjivan Financial Services
• Union Bank Of India
• Welspun Enterprises

JSPL (Q4, YoY)

• Revenue up 37 percent at Rs 8599 crore
• Net loss of Rs 308 crore from net loss of Rs 49.5 crore
• Ebitda up 38 percent at Rs 2,136.5 crore
• Margin at 24.8 percent from 24.7 percent
• One-time exceptional expense of Rs 437.6 crore

Eicher Motors (Q4, YoY)

• Revenue up 33.9 percent at Rs 2528 crore
• Ebitda up 36.3 percent at Rs 797.2 crore
• Net profit up 0.5 percent at Rs 461.5 crore
• Margin at 31.5 percent from 31 percent

Sharda Cropchem (Q4, YoY)

• Revenue up 29 percent at Rs 769 crore
• Net profit up 14.5 percent at Rs 113 crore
• Ebitda up 21 percent at Rs 197 crore
• Margin at 25.7 percent from 27.3 percent

Kokuyo Camlin (Q4, YoY)

• Revenue flat at Rs 190 crore
• Net profit up 2 percent at Rs 5.7 crore
• Ebitda up 51.4 percent at Rs 16.5 crore
• Margin at 8.7 percent from 5.8 percent

Navin Fluorine International (Q4, YoY)

• Revenue up 5 percent at Rs 208 crore
• Net profit up 5 percent at Rs 39 crore
• Ebitda up 25 percent at Rs 46.1 crore
• Margin at 22.2 percent from 18.7 percent

SIS (Q4, YoY)

• Revenue up 29 percent at Rs 1592 crore
• Net profit down 36 percent at Rs 36 crore
• Tax credit of Rs 23 crore in base quarter
• Ebitda up 32 percent at Rs 86 crore
• Margin at 5.4 percent from 5.3 percent

Oriental Hotels (Q4, YoY)

• Revenue up 5 percent at Rs 98 crore
• Net profit down 14 percent at Rs 6 crore from Rs 7 crore
• Ebitda unchanged at Rs 20 crore
• Margin at 20.4 percent from 21.5 percent

Federal Bank (Q4, YoY)

• Net interest income up 11 percent at Rs 933 crore
• Net profit down 44 percent at Rs 145 crore
• Provisions up 129 percent at Rs 371.5 crore from Rs 162 crore (QoQ)
• GNPA at 3.0 percent
• NPA at 1.69 percent

Linde India (Q4, YoY)

• Revenue up 2.5 percent at Rs 528 crore
• Net profit up 100 percent at Rs 2 crore
• Ebitda down 67 percent at Rs 3 crore
• Margin at 0.6 percent from 1.7 percent
• Profit higher on account of tax credit

Sintex Plastics Technology (Q4, QoQ)

• Revenue down 3 percent at Rs 1293 crore
• Net loss of Rs 12 crore from net profit of Rs 52 crore
• Ebitda down 36 percent at Rs 118 crore
• Margin at 9.1 percent from 13.9 percent

Dhampur Sugar (Q4, YoY)

• Revenue up 22 percent at Rs 921 crore
• Net loss of Rs 36 crore from net profit of Rs 108.5 crore
• Ebitda loss at Rs 17 crore from Rs 176 crore
• Margin at -1.8 percent from 23.4 percent

• Nifty May futures closed trading at 10,769 with premium of 27.6 points versus 17.2 points.
• All series-Nifty open interest up 2 percent and Bank Nifty open interest up 3 percent.
• India VIX ended at 14.2, up 1.5 percent.
• Max open interest for May series call at 11,000 strike price call option, open interest at 53.7 lakh shares, down 6 percent.
• Max open interest for May series put at 10,500 strike price put option, open interest at 56.7 lakh shares, up 3 percent.

Nath Bio-Gene

• Birla Sun Life MF bought 1.06 lakh shares (0.6 percent) at Rs 560 each

Gitanjali Gems

• Morgan Stanley France SAS sold 37.80 lakh shares (3.2 percent) at Rs 3.45 each

Shree Renuka Sugars

• Murkumbi Investments Pvt Ltd sold 2.61cr shares (1.4 percent) at Rs 15.5 each

KSB Pumps

• Old Bridge Capital Management bought 3.80 lakh shares (1.1 percent) at Rs 830 each
• Vantage Equity Fund bought 4 lakh shares (1.1 percent) at Rs 830 each
• DSP Blackrock Small Cap Fund sold 4.61 lakh shares (1.3 percent) at Rs 830 each

• Fortis board will meet today to decide on various bids/proposals
• Ashoka Buildcon says Arbitral Tribunal awards SPV additional 1,384 toll days. Besides, the company to receive Rs 37.71 crore as compensation for toll loss.
• Reliance Infra to consider rights issue, QIP proposals on May 14.
• Federal Bank CEO says IDBI Federal Life deal expected to be final by July.
• Welspun Enterprises emerges as L1 for road project in Tamil Nadu at Bid price of Rs 1,837 crore.
• Cipla partners with Mannkind for exclusive marketing, distribution of Afrezza in India.
• PNC Infratech gets Rs 33.7 crore bonus annuity from Raebareli unit.
• Star cement receives Rs 200 crore towards subsidies claim.
• Tata Metaliks says main production unit including Blast furnace expected to be back on stream by May 17.
• KKR Infuses Rs 1250 crore in Sintex Plastics Technology Subsidiary, SBAPL via structured finance.
• Hikal Ltd board approves 1:2 bonus issue.
• Avanti Feeds board approves 1:2 bonus issue.

Also Read:

• India’s Strides Shasun targets Aussie market domination with Apotex deal
• JSPL March quarter losses widen sixfold due to one-time payment
• Airtel plans paring $4.6 billion of debt in three years
• Fortis Healthcare directors make a case against their removal

IPO Watch

• IndoStar Capital Finance continues on day 2. Issue subscribed 0.4 times on day 1

• Walmart’s $16 billion India investment hits Waltons' fortune
• Flipkart readies to burn billions with Walmart’s backing
• 'Oops': SoftBank's CEO spills the beans hours before Walmart
• 5 things to know about the 3-way war for India’s e-commerce market
• How Africa's biggest company made $1.6 billion on the Flipkart deal
• What Walmart will do next after buying in India, selling in U.K.
• BloombergQuintOpinion: Walmart's 21st century game
• BloombergView: Walmart's India deal is admission of defeat

• Mahathir ousts Najib in historic Malaysia power shift
• 15th Finance Commission forms panel to advise on terms of reference
• India prepares to hit the reset button on trading ties with Iran
• How long can Asia’s tryst with low inflation last?
• Karnataka elections could set the agenda for 2019 polls
• Tinder gets rejected: Seven judges won’t hear its ageism defense
• Coca-Cola taps pharmacies for its new India health drinks

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, was little changed at 10,767 as of 7:27 a.m.

Asian stocks edged higher in early trading today after a positive session on Wall Street, while oil extended its climb past $71 a barrel, a level it breached for the first time since 2014.

Commodities Check

• West Texas Intermediate crude added to a 3 percent surge on Wednesday, advancing 0.5 percent to $71.49 a barrel.
• Gold fell less than 0.1 percent to $1,311.92 ounce.
• LME copper rose 0.1 percent to $6,818.00 a metric ton, after gaining 1 percent.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

• 10:30 am: India car sales data for April.
• The Bank of England decides on policy Thursday.
• U.S. inflation data for April are also due.