Stocks To Watch: Reliance Infrastructure, Greaves Cotton, Laurus Labs, Aditya Birla Capital

Asian stocks posted modest gains, tracking a rise in U.S. equities after a better than expected reading on the U.S. economy and a rally in tech shares buoyed sentiment.

Equity indexes in Japan and Australia edged higher while the South Korean benchmark slipped. Futures pointed to gains in Hong Kong and China.

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India rose 0.38 percent to 11,747 as of 6:21 a.m.

Short on time? Well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary before the opening bell!

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

• Reliance Infrastructure board approved 100 percent sale of integrated Mumbai power business to Adani Transmission.
• Aditya Birla Capital and Varde Partners create a joint venture to invest in stressed assets in India. Varde Partners will acquire 50 percent stake in Aditya Birla ARC for at least Rs 98 crore.
• Laurus Labs received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval for Metformin Hydrochloride tablets, which are used for treatment of diabetes. The product and the active pharmaceutical ingredient will be commercialised from the company’s unit two located in Visakhapatnam.
• Greaves Cotton board has approved acquiring 67 percent stake in Ampere Vehicles Pvt. for Rs 77 crore, with an option of acquiring another 13 percent stake in the electric vehicle company for Rs 75.5 crore. The main objective of this acquisition was to accelerate development of clean energy technology solutions and to address wider range of customer segments.
• ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reduced its stake in Tata Chemicals from 5.02 percent to 2.97 percent. The company offloaded 52.1 lakh shares of the chemical company for Rs 216 crore. The cost at which the shares were sold was at Rs 414.21 each.
• National Fertilizers signed memorandum of agreement with Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited to market the latter’s product including 12.71 LMT of urea under its brand ‘Kisan’.
• Jain Irrigation said that it has received a contract worth Rs 127 crore from the Rwandan government for developing irrigation and watershed facilities. This was an engineering, procurement and construction contract and the company said that it will complete the project on next 18 months, PTI reported.
• Jet Airways introduced 28 new flights in September to enhance domestic connectivity.

Bulk Deals

• Camlin Fine Sciences: Morgan Stanley (France) S.A. sold 8 lakh shares, or 0.66 percent equity at Rs 62.69 each.

Trading Tweaks

• Bharat 22 Index futures and options to be introduced with effect from Sept. 3.
• Adani Transmission Ltd and Pfizer Ltd placed under ASM framework.
• HCL Technologies and Navneet Education ex-date to determine buyback eligbility.
• Aurionpro Solutions Ltd circuit filter revised to 20 percent.

Who’s Meeting Whom

• Shemaroo Entertainment to meet Pabrai Investment Funds and Emkay Global Financial Services on Aug. 30.
• Magma Fincorp to meet Edelweiss Wealth, Vallum Capital and other investors from Aug. 30-31.
• Mahindra Lifespace Developers to meet Cardiff Asset Management on Aug. 30.
• Fine Organics to meet investors on Aug. 30.

Insider Trades

• Welspun Enterprises promoters acquired 25 lakh shares from Aug. 27-28.
• Meghmani Organics promoter acquired 43,300 shares on Aug. 27.
• Aegis Logistics promoter acquired 30,100 shares on Aug. 27.
• Nirlon promoter group sold 12,500 shares from Aug. 4-24.
• Srikahalashti Pipes promoter acquired 15,000 shares from Aug. 27-28.
• Trident promoter Trident Group acquired 18.5 lakh shares on Aug. 28.

Rupee

• Rupee ended at 70.59/$ versus 70.10/$ on Tuesday.

F&O Cues

• Nifty August futures closed trading at 11,707 premium of 15 points versus 14 points.
• Nifty September futures closed trading at 11,749.8 premium of 58 points versus 50 points.
• Rollover: Nifty at 53 percent, Bank Nifty at 45 percent.
• Across series: Nifty open interest unchanged; Bank Nifty open interest up 9 percent.
• India VIX unchanged at 12.4.
• Max open interest for August series at 11,800 Call, (open interest at 31.8 lakh, open interest up 20 percent)
• Max open interest for August series at 11,000 Put (open interest at 35 lakh, open interest down 9 percent)

F&O Ban

• In ban: Dewan Housing, IDBI Bank, Punjab National Bank.
• New In ban: None
• Out Of Ban: Jain Irrigation.

Put Call Ratio

• Nifty PCR at 1.78 versus 1.94
• Nifty Bank PCR at 1.17 versus 1.35

Active Stock Futures

Brokerage Radar

Goldman Sachs on Vedanta

• Initiated ‘Buy’ with target price of Rs 280, indicating potential upside or 23 percent.
• Attractive commodity exposure to zinc and oil.
• Strong volume growth across businesses to drive earnings.
• Expect strong dividend yield of 5 percent despite growth capex.
• Zinc price recovery and volume growth to drive stock re-rating.

UBS on Axis Bank

• Maintained ‘Buy’; raised target price to Rs 765 from Rs 675; indicating potential upside 16.5 percent.
• Well placed to gain market share in deposits.
• Asset quality clean-up nearing the end.
• Expect re-rating as visibility on asset quality improves in second half and growth accelerates.

Nomura on Indian Autos

• Delayed festive season to impact growth.
• Expect MHCVs to report single-digit growth while PVs/two-wheeler growth to remain flat in August.
• Floods in Kerala could have an impact on sales.
• Maruti Suzuki and Eicher volumes could see worse than expected impact.

BofAML on ITC

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with target price of Rs 360; indicating potential upside of 15 percent.
• Early checks suggest 3-4 percent (YoY) volume growth likely in cigarettes in second quarter.
• Expect healthy show in FMCG despite rising competitive intensity.
• Valuations undemanding; structural benefits to drive long-term growth.

Citi on Petronet LNG

• Maintained ‘Buy’; raised target price to Rs 290 from Rs 285; indicating potential upside of 24 percent.
• Management assured minimal impact from upcoming terminals.
• Exploring investment opportunities in LNG terminals; open to higher dividend.
• Buy given potential upside to earnings and attractive valuations.

JPMorgan on PNB Housing Finance

• Maintained ‘Underweight’ with target price of Rs 1,050
• Book risks are contained, and they do need monitoring given the state of real estate market.
• Near-term catalysts remain on the announced stake sale.
• Transaction price will be key; expect stock volatility to be high.

Citi on Pidilite Industries

• Maintained ‘Neutral’ with target price of Rs 1,216
• Pidilite to prioritise growth over margins; expect margin in the 20-24 percent band.
• GST-related gains have been muted so far.
• Next six months will be crucial for gauging inherent demand.

Citi on India Financials

• NPA recoveries picked up; IND-AS mixed bag for NBFCs.
• Slippages down and recoveries up.
• NIMs see pressure; loan growth led by retail.
• Expect gradual recovery in asset quality for corporate banks.
• Private banks and NBFCs to continue to see loan growth as they take share from PSU banks.