All You Need To Know Going Into Trade On Dec. 31 

Asian stocks may get some relief Monday from recent wild swings after U.S. President Donald Trump reported “big progress” in trade talks with his Chinese counterpart. U.S. futures opened higher.

Trading will be thin with major markets in Japan and China closed and shortened sessions elsewhere on the last day of 2018. Futures on the S&P 500 Index jumped and Australian shares gained at the start, while Hong Kong futures tipped a firmer open. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.38 percent to 10,963.50 as of 7:15 a.m.

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

U.S. Market Check

• U.S. stocks halted a two-day rally on Friday as thin trading added to already-volatile markets ahead of the weekend.
• The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped five basis points to 2.72 percent Friday.

Asian Cues

• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.7 percent.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index futures climbed 0.3 percent.
• S&P 500 futures rose 0.8 percent. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent Friday.

Commodity Cues

• West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.4 percent to $45.52 a barrel, extending a 1.6 percent advance Friday.
• Brent crude jumped 2.3 percent higher to $53.41 per barrel.
• Gold dipped 0.1 percent to $1,279.28 an ounce.

London Metal Exchange

• Aluminium ended lower for the fifth day, down 0.35 percent.
• Copper ended higher for the second day, up 0.2 percent.
• Zinc resumed declines, ended 2.2 percent lower.
• Nickel ended lower for the second day, down 0.3 percent.
• Lead ended higher for the third day, up 1.6 percent.
• Tin resumed rally after a one-day blip, up 0.9 percent.

Indian ADRs

Stocks To Watch

• Marico: Minimum Support Price for Copra has been hiked by over Rs 2,000 per quintal for 2019 season by CCEA. The MSP of Copra has been increased from Rs 7,511 per quintal to Rs 9,521 per quintal. (Bloomberg News-All India Radio)
• IDBI Bank allotted 239 crore shares via preferential issue to LIC at a price of Rs 60.73 per share aggregating to Rs 14,500 crores in tranche 1. This exercise is the part of ongoing acquisition of 51 percent controlling stake by LIC in IDBI Bank.
• Aavas Financiers received fresh refinance assistance of Rs 500 crore from National Housing Bank. The company says that this refinance will strengthen the liquidity position of the company and will provide a strong boost to retail home loan activities in semi-urban and rural areas.
• Power Grid Corporation entered into a loan agreement for 200 million euros with Germany’s KfW for financing of transmission project for integration of clean energy and system strengthening.
• Government conveyed its decision to invest Rs 5,500 crore in Oriental Bank of Commerce by way of preferential allotment. The meeting to consider this capital raise will be held on Jan. 2.
• JK Cement approved qualified institutional placement Issue price at Rs 695.8 per share which is at a discount of 5 percent to the floor price of Rs 732.42.
• CreditAccess Grameen completed a direct assignment transaction of Rs 176.59 crore. The company says that with this transaction, the entity has has completed five secularisation transactions and two direct assignment transaction amounting to Rs 909.70 crore in financial year 2019. The financial services company also stated that the entire pool qualifies for priority sector treatment as per the Reserve Bank of India’s Priority Sector lending guidelines.
• Rane Holdings increased its stake in its arm ‘Rane Madras Ltd.’ from 3.05 percent to 61.64 percent for a consideration of Rs 20 crore.
• Manali Petrochemicals clarified that there was no strike or lockout and no insurance cover based on notice received from the Pollution Control Board for closure of Plant 1 on Dec. 25. The company also stated that quantum of loss would depend on the period of closure and the company has taken actions for an early restart to recoup the production loss.
• Karnataka Bank raised its deposit interest rate by 10 basis points for domestic and NRE Rupee term deposits to 7.40 percent with effect from Dec. 28.
• Government conveyed its decision to invest Rs 1,632 crore in Syndicate Bank by way of preferential allotment of equity shares.
• Piramal Enterprises said it was considering raising Rs 100 crore via NCDs on Jan.2.
• Central Bank of India’s board approved raising Rs 200 crore via employee stock option.
• Ashok Leyland changed its object clause in which the company will engage in the business of developing, manufacturing and selling light commercial vehicles up to 7.5 tonne gross vehicle weight, power train for LCVs, and spare parts in India and other countries. This change in object clause comes after NCLT approved the order of amalgamating its three arms with as on Dec. 17.
• Omaxe clarified that the NCLT issuing contempt notice against its CMD Rohtas Goel was wrongly interpreted as the notice is related in Buildwell Builders Pvt. Ltd., where Rohtas Goel is the director as well as the shareholder. There is no effect on the operations or the performance from the above news as stated by the company.
• Bank of Baroda to consider raising funds on Jan. 02 through Basel III compliant tier II bonds.
• Tata Investment Corporation fixed Jan.11 as the record date for buy-back.
• Infibeam Avenues terminated the proposed acquisition in the entire stake of Unicommerce, as the conditions precedent were not fulfilled within stipulated time period.
• NLC India commissioned 1000 MW (2*500 MW) of thermal power project. The project has been completed in four months as against a target of six months.
• Asian Granito’s promoter and MD was arrested by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence for a case related to an amount of Rs 3.5 crore. Currently Mukeshbhai Patel is out on bail.
• Fortis Healthcare: Pursuant to share issue, IHH prefers to align its auditors on a group wide basis which may streamline the audit process and bring in efficiencies. After due consideration, Deloitte – the statutory auditors – have tendered their resignation.
• Cadila Healthcare: received final approval from the U.S. FDA to sell an anti-acne medication. The drug will be made in Ahmedabad facility.
• Bank of India: Government to infuse Rs 10,086 crore via equity in the bank. Board to consider resolution for the same on Jan. 02.
• Bharat Financial Inclusion: NBFC assigned a pool of receivables of an aggregate value of Rs 849.36 crore to private sector banks on a direct assignment basis. With this transaction, the Company has completed five direct assignment transactions worth Rs 3,864.91 crore in the current financial year.
• Kotak Mahindra Bank in focus today as it is the RBI deadline date for owner Uday Kotak to cut stake in the company.

Data Watch

• 5:30 p.m.: November Eight Infrastructure Industries, prior 4.8 percent.

Bulk Deals

Sanghi Industries

• Franklin Templeton MF acquired 51.82 lakh shares or 2.06 percent equity at Rs 59.51 each.
• Max Life Insurance sold 20 lakh shares or 0.80 percent equity at Rs 59.52 each.
• Nomura Trust and Nomura India Stock Mother Fund sold 35.46 lakh shares or 1.41 percent equity at Rs 59.51 each.

Trading Tweaks

• Coal India record date for interim dividend at Rs 7.25 per share.
• Indo Rama Synthetics price band revised to 10 percent.

Insider Trading

• Bliss GVS Pharma promoters sold 1 crore shares on Dec. 27.
• Confidence Petroleum India promoter group acquired 88,000 shares on Dec. 24.

(As reported on Dec. 28)

Money Market Update

• The rupee on Friday ended at 69.95/$ versus Thursday’s closing of 70.35/$.

F&O Cues

• Nifty January futures closed trading at 10,907, premium of eight points.
• Max open interest for January series at 11,000 call option, (open interest at 26.5 lakh shares).
• Max open interest for January series at 10,500 put option, (open interest at 32.3 lakh shares).

Stocks In F&O Ban

• Adani Power

Put-Call Ratio

• Nifty PCR unchanged at 1.54.
• Nifty Bank PCR at 1.11 from 0.89.

Fund Flows

Brokerage Radar

UBS on JSW Energy

• Maintained ‘Sell’ with a price target of Rs 68.
• Cooling spot rates pose downside risks.
• Spot rates decline to Rs3.3/kWh in December.
• Market not pricing in medium term volume/realisation risks.

PhillipCapital on NCC

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 145.
• The first half of the current financial results was a testimony to strong fundamentals and expectations being met.
• Strong order inflow and orderbook, despite slowdown in road and metro segments.
• Current price to be an opportune time, to buy a stock with immense growth potential.

Emkay on SBI

• Maintained ‘Accumulate’ with a price target of Rs 345
• Growth acceleration, MCLR reset and NPA resolution to drive Q4 exit NIM of 2.9-3 percent.
• Earnings trajectory improving, but upcoming capital raise a minor irritant.
• Believe SBI offers a good near-term trade.

HDFC Securities on Consumer

• The current financial year is challenging for cooling products.
• Green shoots visible for building electricals.
• Small electrical appliances provide avenue for growth.
• Competitive intensity is rising in lighting.
• Top Picks: Voltas, Symphony and Crompton.