All You Need To Know Going Into Trade On Aug. 22

Stocks in Asia drifted Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting did little to alter expectations for more interest-rate cuts.

Japanese shares nudged higher, along with gains in Australia. South Korea opened flat. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, fell nearly 0.2 percent to 10,915 as of 7:20 a.m.

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

Here’s a quick look at all that could influence equities today.

• U.S. stocks pared gains as Federal Reserve minutes fell short of signaling the central bank was ready to cut rates sharply.
• The diverse set of views from U.S. policymakers shown in the minutes highlights the difficulties facing the Fed ahead of next month’s policy decision when investors expect another rate cut.
• Elsewhere, Germany’s first 30-year bond offering a 0% coupon saw weak demand. The British pound slipped as the possibility of a so-called no-deal Brexit gained momentum.

Get your daily fix of global markets here.

Indian ADRs

Stocks To Watch

• NTPC: Government accepted company’s request for surrendering coal block in Odisha. The mine was allotted for developing 1,320 MW Bilhaur thermal power plant at Uttar Pradesh, the company said in a statement adding, it’s now is being developed as a solar plant. Moreover, it has signed a power purchase agreement with the state government.
• NMDC cut its lump ore and fine prices by Rs 200 per tonne. Lump ore will be priced at Rs 2,900 per tonne and fine priced at Rs 2,660 per tonne effective since Aug. 20.
• Kansai Nerolac Paints: Enters a business transfer agreement with Polygel, Nerofix Promoters of Polygel. As per the arrangement, the adhesives, construction chemicals and sealants business of Polygel would be transferred to Nerofix as a going concern on slump sale basis upon payment of the proposed transfer consideration of Rs 20 crore by Nerofix.
• HDFC Bank to brief media for an important business announcement.
• LIC Housing Finance: An undisclosed institutional shareholder of the company has sought to raise between $200-$211 million through an offering of about 3.37 crore shares, according to terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg. The offering will be at priced between Rs 425.15-449.50 per share, the terms show.
• MSTC: Uttar Pradesh government has extended the agreement with for e-tendering cum e-auction of minor minerals blocks (sand and morrum) and insipu rocks blocks for another one year. Signed two selling agency agreements with Chhattisgarh State Power Generation and Jindal Power, with a combined projected volume of business estimated to be Rs 115 crore.
• Future Enterprises clarified that post the investigation Directorate of Revenue Intelligence has issued show cause notice in the matter. The company said that it is confident of no violation of any regulations for imports of garments under South Asian Free Trade Area Rules.
• HPCL: Chief Financial Officer R Kesavan said that the company will fund Rs 32,000 crore of its capital expenditure plan via debt and the debt ratio is expected to be below 2:1 at the peak of capex. He also stated that the state refiner plans to spend Rs 74,200 crore on capex for the next five years. (Bloomberg News)
• Coffee Day Enterprises clarified that news of ITC picking up stake in the company is factually incorrect. ITC stated that they received queries from an intermediary on Cafe Coffee Day. However, no progress has been made on the matter.
• BHEL: India Ratings & Research affirmed company’s long-term rating at ‘AA+’ but changed the outlook from ‘Stable’ to ‘Negative’.
• NDTV had denied the Central Bureau of Investigation’s FIR allegations and is seeking legal advice in this regard. The allegations in the FIR are that certain amounts invested in the Group Companies during the years 2004 to 2010 were of unknown public servants which were brought as foreign direct investment to India through multiple layers of complex transactions and shell companies. The FIR also alleges that an erstwhile group company of NDTV got approval of Foreign Investment promotion board in violation of FDI provisions.
• Dilip Buildcon: Board to consider the proposal of divestment of wholly owned arms to one or more potential investors on Aug. 26.
• DHFL defaulted in payment of non-convertible debentures interest worth Rs 50 lakh, which was due on Aug. 20.
• Infosys expanded its partnership with Google Cloud to become a Google Cloud Managed Service Provider.
• Redington India: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance decreased stake from 7.4 percent to 5.3 percent in the company.
• V-Mart has opened three new stores in Nagaland, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.

Brokerage Radar

IIFL on Sun Pharma

• Upgraded to 'Add' from 'Reduce'; target price raised to Rs 500 from Rs 450.
• Concerns around slow ramp-up in the specialty business are appropriately factored in.
• Believe even a marginal uptick in specialty revenues would help improve profitability.
• Strong footing in India/global markets will enable generation of sizeable free cash.

Credit Suisse on Maruti

• Maintained 'Neutral'; target price fixed at Rs 5700.
• Company-specific concerns too cropping up now.
• Competition not letting up; Maruti joins in with new XL6 model.
• Confusion on diesel seems to be hurting while discounts inching up further.
• Rupee depreciation versus Japanese Yen could add to margin pressure.

JP Morgan on Biocon

• Maintained 'Overweight'; target price fixed at Rs 380.
• Value unlocking at Biocon Biologics likely in the near-term.
• Fulphila still a financial year 2020-21 opportunity for Biocon despite near-term share moderation.
• Early competition in bHerceptin does not write-off the opportunity for Biocon.

Nomura on KNR Consuructions

• Maintained 'Buy'; target price raised to Rs 363 from Rs 305.
• Quality stock at inexpensive valuations.
• Short-cycle and higher-margin irrigation projects should boost earnings in financial year 2020-21.
• Asset sales should keep debt levels low over financial years ending 2020 and 2021.
• Appointed Date on three Hybrid Annuity Model projects provides revenue visibility.

Bulk Deals

NRB Bearings

• Acacia Conservation Fund acquired 6.76 lakh shares (0.7 percent) at Rs 90 each.

Gulshan Polyols

• Antara India Evergreen Fund sold 19 lakh shares (4.05 percent) at Rs 39 each.

Reliance Naval & Engineering

• Morgan Stanley Mauritius sold 53.1 lakh shares (0.72 percent) at Rs 1.28 each.

Trading Tweaks

• Britannia Industries ex-date for bonus of 1 debenture for 1 share.
• Swelect Energy Systems ex-date for bonus issue at 1:2.
• Shreyas Shipping & Logistics to move into ASM Framework.
• CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Parag Milk Foods price band revised to 10 percent.

Who’s Meeting Whom

• Advanced Enzymes Technology to meet APG Investments on Aug. 22.
• Torrent Power to meet Quantum Advisors on Aug. 22.
• India Energy Exchange to meet Motilal Oswal Private Equity on Aug. 22.
• Greenlam Industries to meet Seven Canyon Advisors on Aug. 23.
• TVS Motor to meet HDFC AMC, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and other investors from Aug. 22-23.

Insider Trading

• Vodafone Idea promoter IGH Holdings acquired 20 lakh shares on Aug. 20.
• Nava Bharat Ventures promoter Ashwin Devineni acquired 1 lakh shares from Aug. 14-20.
• Aarti Drugs promoter Prakash Prakash Moreshwar Patil acquired 1 lakh shares from Aug. 16-19.
• Jagran Prakashan promoters acquired 1.9 lakh shares from Aug. 19-20.
• Lakshmi Vilas Bank promoter group Tangerine Capital Asset Holdings sold 1 lakh shares on Aug. 19.
• Spencer’s Retail promoter group Castor Investments acquired 97.5k shares on Aug. 20.

Money Market Update

• The rupee snapped its two-day losing streak to close at 71.56/$ versus 71.71/$ on Tuesday.

F&O Cues

August Futures

• Nifty futures closed at 10,932.6, premium of 13.9 points versus 11 points.
• Nifty futures open interest up 3 percent, adds 5 lakh shares in open interest.
• Bank Nifty futures closed at 27,739.8, premium of 20.8 points versus 12.6 points.
• Bank Nifty futures open interest up 9.5 percent, adds 1.3 lakh shares in open interest.

Options

• Nifty PCR at 0.94 versus 1.12 (across all series).

Nifty Weekly Expiry Aug. 22

• Max open interest on call side at 11,100 (30.9 lakh shares).
• Max open interest on put side at 10,900 (13 lakh shares).
• Max open interest addition seen in 11,000C (+13.6 lakh shares), 11,100C (+12.2 lakh shares).
• open interest shedding seen at 11,000P (-7.5 lakh shares), 10.950P (-3.5 lakh shares).

Nifty Monthly Expiry Aug. 22

• Max open interest on call side at 11,000 (33.2 lakh shares).
• Max open interest on put side at 11,000 (35.3 lakh shares).