All You Need To Know Going Into Trade On March 17

U.S. futures advanced and the yen slid in volatile trading after the biggest slide in Wall Street stocks since 1987. Japan’s share benchmark swung from a loss of 3 percent to a gain of as much as 1.7 percent. Australia rose, while Korea was down.

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 2.9 percent to 9,381 as 7:05 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

• The S&P 500 Index sank 12 percent Monday, erasing its gain for 2019, after President Donald Trump warned of a possible recession, with economic disruption from the coronavirus potentially extending into summer.
• Treasury yields rose after plummeting Monday. S&P 500 futures were up 3.3 percent.
• Crude oil traded near $30 a barrel after plunging almost 10 percent in New York. Gold dipped 0.6 percent to $1,504.80 an ounce.

Get your daily fix of global markets here.

Stocks To Watch

• Grasim Industries: The Competition Commission of India imposed penalty of Rs 301.6 crore with respect to its domestic man-made fibre turnover. The company said it is yet to receive the order and believes that it has sufficient grounds for an appeal.
• Reliance Industries: Saudi Aramco CFO says due diligence is underway for a potential deal with the company. (Bloomberg News)
• Sadbhav Infrastructure Project gets Rs 457.7 crore as a tranche payment in connection with a sale of seven operational projects to IndInfravit Trust. Overall the company’s infra arm has received 1291 crore units worth Rs 724.3 crore from the trust.
• ONGC declared a dividend of Rs 5 per share, with record date being set as March 24. The dividend yield is at 8.31 percent to the closing price on March 16.
• Lasa Supergenerics in collaboration with the Institute of Chemical Technology announced commencement for development of antiviral drugs for the treatment of Coronavirus.
• CSB Bank: Board approved a proposal to merge 19 branches of the Bank with the nearest branches of the Bank, with the intention of reducing overall costs and improving productivity.
• India Cements: Radhakishan Damani increased stake from 11.98 percent to 16 percent from February 27 to March 16.
• Titagarh Wagons said that operations of its Italian arm have been severely affected and the affected arm will temporarily suspend operations for 15 days as per the guidance of the Italian government to combat the spread of the Coronavirus.
• GHCL clarified that after the demerger of the company, the inorganic chemicals and textiles business will be separately listed after getting approval from NCLT. Shareholders of demerged companies will get one equity share of the resulting company, i.e. textile company.
• Delta Corp to close casinos operated by the company and its arms in Goa until March 31, as per Goa government directions in order to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.

Yes Bank

• The Enforcement Directorate has opposed Rana Kapoor's bail plea, seeking an extension of his custody. Counsel said that irregularities in sanction of loans and non-cooperation in the investigation after issuance of summons have made the extension of Rana Kapoor's custody, necessary. The Sessions Court has extended Rana Kapoor's custody for another 4 days till March 20.
• Yes Bank’s administrator has named former non-executive chairman of Punjab National Bank, Sunil Mehta as non-executive chairman of the Bank. Administrator Prashant Kumar will be the chief executive officer and the managing director. Mahesh Krishnamurthy and Atul Bheda will be non-executive directors. SBI shall have the right to nominate two directors to the board of directors of the Bank.
• Indiabulls Housing Finance has moved to Bombay High Court against Yes Bank and Reserve Bank of India. The company has filed a writ petition under provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Brokerage Radar

Nomura On GAIL

• Buy rating maintained
• Price target cut to Rs 140 from Rs 190
• Low commodity prices impact petchem, marketing segments
• Concerns rise on commodity businesses with low oil prices
• Worst seems to be priced in but stock needs a few catalysts in this volatile scenario

Morgan Stanley On Indian Financials

• Events have increased downside risks
• Large private banks remain better placed
• Near-term volatility to remain high
• Sharp fall implies attractive risk reward

SBICAP On Indian FMCG

• Valuations now below 3 and 5-year historical averages post correction
• See near-term spike in demand
• Slowdown to have negative impact in medium-term
• Correction in quality businesses with professional management offers good entry opportunity

Macquarie On Adani Ports

• Outperform rating maintained
• Price target cut to Rs 435 from Rs 473
• Less than 4% direct exposure to China mitigates volume risk
• Expect trade flows to recover quickly after COVID-19 subsides
• Cut container volume estimates for FY21/22 by 6-7 percent

Morgan Stanley On UPL

• Downgrade to equal-weight from overweight
• Price target cut to Rs 429 from Rs 654
• Increased uncertainty about demand and supply
• Crude price benefits may be passed on to consumers
• Adverse currency implies low operating cash flow & less net debt reduction

Morgan Stanley On Indian I.T.

• Key Risks: Global growth moving lower, dislocations in some verticals
• I.T. vendors have alluded to small impact on business so far
• Downgrade industry view to in-line from attractive
• Lower growth estimates for large caps

Bulk Deals

• Astra Microwave Products: Aditya Birla Finance sold 6.17 lakh shares (0.71 percent) at Rs 57.56 per share
• Gujarat State Petronet: Platinum Asia Fund sold 31.68 lakh shares (0.56 percent) at Rs 200.4 per share.
• Best Agrolife: Resonance Opportunities Fund acquired 2.5 lakh shares (3.13 percent) at Rs 229.83 per share

Pledged Share Details

• Wockhardt promoter Themisto Trustee created pledge of 33.75 lakh shares between March 12-13
• Adani Enterprises promoter SB Adani Family Trust created pledge of 2.73 crore shares between March 11-12
• Fortis Malar Hospitals promoter Fortis Hospitals revoked pledge of 56.22 lakh shares on March 13
• Future Retail promoter Future Corporate Resources created pledge of 20 lakh shares on March 12

(As Reported On March 16)

Trading Tweaks

• Arvind Fashions ex-date for rights issue at 16:47 at a premium of Rs 146 per share
• Karnataka Bank ex-date for bonus issue at 1:10
• Somany Home Innovation, GIC Housing Finance to move into ASM Framework
• UFO Moviez, GPT Infraprojects, Den Networks to move into short term ASM Framework
• Jindal Stainless (Hisar), Kitex Garments, Thomas Cook, Adani Gas, IG Petrochemicals, Raymond, Automotive Axles, Prakash Industries, Globus Spirits, Navkar Corporation, Bharat Wire Ropes, Capacite Infraprojects, Muthoot Capital Services, Indo Count Industries, Venkys (India), Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, Future Enterprises, Ramkrishna Forgings, Everest Kanto Cylinder, Delta Corp, V2 Retail, Kiri Industries price band revised to 10 percent
• Aban Offshore, State Trading Corporation of India price band revised to 5 percent

Who’s Meeting Whom

• Dixon Technologies to meet ASK Asset Managers and Allard Partners on March 17

Insider Trading

• GMR Infra promoter GMR Enterprises acquired 4.18 crore shares between March 13-16
• Great Eastern Shipping promoter Ravi Sheth acquired 1.37 lakh shares between March 11-12
• Alembic promoter Nirayu acquired 5.41 lakh shares between March 12-13
• Aarti Industries promoters sold 60,000 shares between March 12-13
• Sanghi Industries promoter Aditya Sanghi acquired 7.2 lakh shares on March 13
• PVR promoters acquired 10,800 shares on March 12
• LT Foods promoter Raghuvesh Holdings acquired 7.15 lakh shares on March 13
• Hubtown promoter Kushal H. Shah acquired 1.39 lakh shares on March 13
• Man Infra promoter Parag Shah acquired 98,000 shares on March 13
• Wonderla Holidays promoter K. Chittilappilly acquired 53,924 shares between March 12-13

(As Reported On March 16)

Money Market Update

• The rupee ended weaker at Rs 74.27 against the dollar on Monday versus Rs 73.90 against the dollar on Friday.

F&O Cues

Futures

• Nifty March futures closed at 9,118.4, a discount of 78.9 points versus 57.5 points
• Nifty March futures open interest up 10 percent, adds 15.2 lakh shares in open interest
• Nifty Bank March futures closed at 22,960.7, a discount of 140 points Vs 137.5 points
• Nifty Bank March futures open interest up 6 percent, adds 69,000 shares in open interest

Options

• Nifty Put-Call Ratio at 0.98 Vs 1.10 (across all series)

Nifty Weekly Expiry: March 19

• Maximum open interest on call side at 10,000 (14.5 lakh shares)
• Maximum open interest on put side at 8,100 (10.2 lakh shares)
• Open interest addition seen in 10,000 Call (Adds 9.4 lakh shares), 8,500 Put (Adds 4.7 lakh shares), 9,800 Call (Adds 3 lakh shares)

Nifty Monthly Expiry: March 26

• Maximum open interest on call side at 12,000 (22.6 lakh shares)
• Maximum open interest on put side at 9,000 (21.9 lakh shares)