Sensex, Nifty Halt Record Run Ahead Of RBI Policy

Indian equity benchmarks halted a four-day rally to close off record highs ahead of the RBI policy.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.46 lower at 38,877.12 after hitting an all-time high at 39,720 intraday. The NSE Nifty 50 ended at 11,643.95, down 0.59 percent. The 50-share index also clocked an all-time high after hitting 11,761 intraday. The broader market index represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index ended 0.64 percent lower.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 1,156 stocks fell and 613 shares advanced on National Stock Exchange.

All the sectoral gauges compiled by NSE fell, led by the NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index’s 2.7 percent decline.

Triveni Turbine

• Stock rose as much as 10.2 percent to Rs 121.80.
• Trading volume was more than 18 times its 20-day average

Amara Raja Batteries

• Stock fell as much as 10 percent to Rs 650.
• Trading volume was more than 16 times its 20-day average.

KPR Mill

• Stock fell as much as 2.9 percent to Rs 560.05.
• Trading volume was more than five times its 20-day average.

Navin Fluorine International

• Stock rose as much as 4.2 percent to Rs 781.90.
• Trading volume was more than five times its 20-day average.

Essel Propack

• Stock fell as much as 15.3 percent to Rs 103.75.
• Trading volume was more than three times its 20-day average.

European equities advanced and mining shares led the gains on optimism the U.S. and China will come to a trade agreement.

Shares of Federal-Mogul Goetze rose as much as 6.7 percent, the most since March 20, to Rs 574.

The stock rose 1.5 percent in the past five trading session and advanced 18 percent in the past 30 sessions.

Shares of Vodafone Idea fell for the third consecutive trading session to trade at an all-time low at Rs 16.60.

The stock declined nearly 27.2 percent so far this year and fell 64.5 in the past 12 monts.

Nifty’s 11,800 call option contract was among the most active Nifty option contracts on National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract rose 12.01 percent to Rs 24.25. Over 6.21 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 21.38 lakh shares.

• Prestige Estates: About 32.4 lakh shares changed hands in a block deal.
• Tata Motors: About 12.2 lakh shares of changed hands in a block deal.

Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Godrej Properties extended gains for the second consecutive trading session to hit an all-time high.

About 26.7 lakh shares changed hands in a block deal, Bloomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

• Amara Raja Batteries: Shares of the automotive batteries manufacturer rose as much as 2.5 percent to Rs 739. The company terminated pact Galla Family, Johnson Controls (Mauritius) Pvt. Ltd. and Johnson Controls Battery Group, according to its stock exchange filing.
• Lupin: Shares of the drugmaker rose as much as 1.6 percent to Rs 789.80. The U.S. drug regulator completed its inspection at Lupin Bioresearch Centre without any observations, the pharmaceutical company said in a stock exchange notification.
• Suprajit Engineering: Shares of the autocomponent maker rose as much as 1.6 percent to Rs 249. Rating Agency CRISIL upgraded the long term rating from CRISIL AA-/ Positive to CRISIL AA/Stable, according to its notification on the exchanges. The Short term rating of CRISIL Al+ was reaffirmed. Besides, ICRA has reaffirmed the long term rating of ICRA AA (Stable) and short term rating of ICRA Al+.

Shares of Varun Beverages extended gains for the fifth consecutive trading session and rose as much as 5.2 percent to hit an all-time high.

Trading volume was 5.1 times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The relative Strength Index was 79, indicating that the stock may be overbought.

Shares of the Royal Enfield owner declined fell as much as 1.7 percent to Rs 20,240.20.

Brokerage firm Nomura downgraded its recommendation on the stock to ‘Reduce’ and also lowered its price target to Rs 18,335 per share, indicating a potential downside of 11 percent from the last regular trade.

The stock traded at 24 times the estimated earnings per share for the coming year, according to Bloomberg data.

Shares of the oil marketing companies extended declines in today’s trade after the Brent crude extended gains for the fourth consecutive trading session and rose as much as 0.7 percent to $69.87 per barrel.

Shares of Supreme Industries rose as much as 6.6 percent, the most since Feb. 14, 2019, to Rs 1,161.65.

Trading volume was 3.1 times its 30-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock declined 4.5 percent so far this year compared to a 9 percent gain in the Sensex.

The NSE Nifty 50 Index hit a new all-time high at 11,761

Indian equity benchmark S&P BSE Sensex hit a new all-time high in the opening trade.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose as much as 0.47 percent to 39,241.81 and the NSE Nifty 50 traded near its record high of 11,760.20 after rising as much as 0.37 percent. The broader market index represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index rose as much as 0.4 percent.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of buyers. About 971 stocks advanced and 474 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Eight out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE advanced, led by the NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index’s 0.83 percent gain. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Media Index was the top sectoral loser, down 0.4 percent.

The Indian rupee opened higher against the U.S. dollar. The home currency appreciated as much as 0.25 percent to 68.57 against the greenback.

F&O Cues

• Nifty April Futures closed trading at 11780, premium of 67 points.
• Max open interest for April 25 series at 12,000 Call, open interest at 23.4 lakh shares.
• Considerable open interest for April 25 series at 11,500 Put, open interest at 19.3 lakh shares.
• Max open interest for April 25 series at 11,000 Put, open interest at 24.8 lakh shares.

Stocks In F&O Ban

• In Ban: Adani Power, IDBI, Reliance Power

Put-Call Ratio

• Nifty PCR at 1.52 versus 1.48

CLSA on Marico

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 465.
• Q2 commentary seems decent and stands out in current context.
• Stable demand conditions in India.
• Reasonable international and overall margin expansion.

Macquarie on Marico

• Maintained ‘Outperform’ with a price target of Rs 394.
• Domestic business delivers near-term volume growth guidance of 8-10 percent.
• Operating margin expected to improve on lower input cost and leverage.
• Significant pick-up in new launched in Q4FY19.

CLSA on Bharti Airtel

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 410.
• India mobile revenues to grow from March quarter.
• Non-mobile operations to drag India business.
• Africa business to be stable.

JPMorgan on Zee Entertainment

• Maintained ‘Neutral’; cut price target to Rs 455 from Rs 530.
• Short term concerns on revenue growth emerge.
• Margins to face pressure from slower topline and need for higher investments.
• Expect 100 basis point decline in Ebitda margin over FY19-21.

Nomura on Eicher Motors

• Downgraded to ‘Reduce’ from ‘Neutral’; cut price target to Rs 18,335 from Rs 20,653.
• Competition could further impact growth.
• Company may need to re-look their pricing strategy to drive customer interest.
• Cut Ebitda margin estimates by 100 basis points and EPS by 12 percent for for the current and the next financial year.

HSBC on Indian IT

• Infosys: Downgraded to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy’; cut price target to Rs 780 from Rs 860
• TCS: Maintained ‘Hold’; cut price target to Rs 1,900 from Rs 2,060.
• Rise in bank spending to be patchy with uncertain macro environment in the U.S.
• Margin worries at peak with onshore wage pressures compounding.
• Infosys best positioned to grow in 2019, but not immune to macro shocks.

PhillipCapital on Jubilant Foodworks

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 1,850.
• SSSG is expected to moderate to 11 percent in Q4 from above 15 percent seen in the past few quarters.
• Considering a high base SSSG in Q4FY19 has been encouraging.
• Offers favourable risk-rewards to long-term investors, given 37 percent EPS CAGR over FY18-21.

Motilal Oswal on Reliance Industries

• Downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’; hiked price target to Rs 1,457 from Rs 1,426.
• Downgrading to neutral due to limited upside.
• Expect the core business to face headwinds in 2019.
• Retail growth to be at lower margins; Jio’s growth may slow down.

• Bharat Gears record date for rights issue of equity shares.
• Arshiya, Ganesha Ecosphere, JK Agri Genetics to move into short term ASM Framework.
• Ganesha Ecosphere price band revised to 10 percent.
• Lakshmi Vilas Bank price band revised to 5 percent.

• Saurashtra Cement promoter Vila Trading revoked 24.9 lakh shares on March 29.
• Adani Enterprises promoter group Gautam Adani revoked pledge of 1 lakh shares on March 30.
• Mercator promoter and director Harish Mittal invoked pledge of 5 lakh shares on March 27.
• Jindal Steel & Power revoked pledge of 10.85 lakh shares from March 27-29.
• GTL Infra promoter GTL invokes pledge of 204.65 crore shares on March 28.
• Future Consumer promoter Future Capital Investment created a pledge of 1.75 crore shares on March 28.
• Adani Transmission promoter group Gautam Adani revoked pledge of 3.6 lakh shares on March 30.
• Future Retail promoter Future Corporate Resources released pledge of 2 lakh shares and created a pledge of 16.25 lakh shares from March 29-30.

• Shoppers Stop: Abakkus Growth Fund acquired 4.8 lakh shares or 0.44 percent equity at Rs 474.35 each.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals

• SBI Mutual Fund acquired 39 lakh shares or 0.62 percent equity at Rs 212.5 each.
• Nordea 1 Sicav sold 77.57 lakh shares or 1.24 percent equity at Rs 212.5 each.

SH Kelkar

• Fidelity Investments acquired 29.5 lakh shares or 2.04 percent equity at Rs 151.5 each.
• Virtus Kar International Small Cap Fund sold 30 lakh shares or 2.07 percent equity at Rs 151.5 each.

• State-run Rail Vikas Nigam IPO gets 48 percent demand on third day sale. Offer closes today.
• Metropolis Healthcare IPO at Rs 877-880 open for sale, closes on April 5. The company raises Rs 530 crore from anchor investors.
• Polycab India IPO Price Band Set at Rs 533-538, Offer opens April 5.
• Annai Infra Developers seeks SEBI’s approval for IPO.

• Wipro completed the divestment of its workday and cornerstone on demand business to Alright Solutions, receiving $95.27 million out of the total $100 million. The company said that the impact of this divestment will be reflected in the March quarter results. The divestment is likely to completed by the June quarter of financial year 2020. Upon completion of such divestment the company will receives the remaining $4.73 million.
• Marico said that during the fourth quarter they have witnessed stable demand conditions and healthy offtake growth on the back of the competitive strength of franchise. Value added hair oils had a weak quarter and domestic business delivered volume growth in-line with near term outlook. Operating margin is expected to improve moderately as pressure from input costs eased and operating leverage benefits kicked in.
• Mindtree said L&T has made a cash offer of Rs 980 per share to acquire 5.13 crore shares representing 31 percent of the voting share capital from its shareholders. Mindtree said that its U.K. arm Bluefin Solutions stands dissolved with effect from April 2.
• Jet Airways said that additional 15 aircraft have been grounded due to non-payment of dues to lessors.
• Infosys arm selected by Ahli United Bank (Kuwait) to automate the bank’s operational process.
• JK Tyres & Industries: India Ratings revised its long-term rating from IND A+ to IND A, negative outlook remains the same. The rating agency says that company’s net leverage has been a matter of concern.
• HEG to increase stake in Bhilwara Energy from 29.48 percent to 49 percent for Rs 162.05 crore. The acquisition will be completed in financial year 2020.
• TCS said its banking solutions has been successfully deployed in China based Harbin Bank.
• Karnataka Bank entered in to MoU with Bharti Axa Life Insurance for distribution of latter’s life insurance products. This is the third such tie-up by the bank after PNB MetLife Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and LIC of India.
• Mahindra Lifespace Developers: Jayant Manmandkar resigned from CFO’s post with effect from April 30, to pursue professional opportunities outside realty sector.
• Forbes Company said that they have handed over 50 percent of the Business Undertaking in Project Vicinia to Paikar Real Estates Private Limited towards completion of the transaction.
• Biocon to sell and transfer drug substance business to its wholly owned biologics unit for Rs 33.3 crores. The company says the transfer of business will help in consolidation of the business.
• Emami won case against HUL for the third time in in last one year on unfair disparagement. Delhi High Court rejected HUL’s plea who claimed Fair and Handsome’s TV Commercial to be disparaging to its own brand – Fair & Lovely. Court Upheld upheld the right of Fair and Handsome to run the advertisement that shows how women’s fairness creams are not designed for use on men’s tough skin.
• Lumax Auto Technologies said it has closed its PCB manufacturing unit in Haryana from April 1. The news of discontinuation was informed to the exchanges on March 16.
• Arvind Fashions said Kannan Soundararajan resigned from CFO’s post with effect from April 2. Pramod Gupta will take over the post.
• Mastek appointed Dennis Badman as Chief Business Officer of the Group.
• Rushil Décor said that Pollution Control Board has allowed the company to operate its manufacturing facility in Gujarat till July 1. The orders were given by the pollution control to completely shut the operations for the said plant on March 29.
• HUDCO said it has achieved loan sanctions of Rs 34,453.8 crore and loan releases of Rs 31,008.6 crore for the financial year 2018.
• Essel Propack received repayment of Inter Corporate Deposit of Rs 30.7 crores. The company says with this said payment it has realized a total amount of Rs 96 crores against with entity, which was earlier classified as related party.

• India’s central bank will set policy on Thursday.
• The monthly U.S. jobs report on Friday is projected to show nonfarm payrolls up 175,000 in March, similar to the 186,000 average over the prior three months, after recent readings whipsawed analysts.

• Brent crude extended gains for the fourth consecutive trading session. The Asian crude benchmark rose 0.37 percent to $69.63 a barrel.
• West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.1 percent to $62.54 a barrel.
• Gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,291.35 an ounce.

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, traded a little changed at 11,791.50 as of 8:05 a.m.

Asian stocks bounced with U.S. equity futures Wednesday after a report that the U.S. and China have ironed out most of their differences in trade negotiations.

Hong Kong shares led the pack, with Tokyo and Seoul seeing more modest gains.

Short on time? Well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary of All You Need To Know before the opening bell.