Sensex, Nifty Gain For Second Day Led By IT Stocks

Indian equity benchmarks rose for second day in a row led by Reliance Industries, Infosys, TCS and Hindustan Unilever.

The Sensex rose 0.44 percent or 157 points to 35,807 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 0.47 percent or 50 points to 10,780.

Ten of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended higher led by the S&P Information Technology Index’s 1.32 percent gain. On the flipside, the S&P BSE Auto Index was top loser, down 0.37 percent.

Mid- and small-cap shares witnessed buying interest as the S&P BSE MidCap and S&P BSE SmallCap Indices rose 0.3 percent each.

Shares of the country's second largest IT company rose as much as 2.98 percent, the most in two weeks, to Rs 663.25 after it clarified that it may buyback shares worth $1.6 billion.

“We draw your attention to the capital allocation policy approved by the board of directors in their meeting held on April 13, 2018. The Board decided to retain the policy of returning up to 70 percent of the free cash flow of the corresponding Financial Year in such manner, as may be decided by the Board from time to time, subject to applicable laws and requisite approvals, if any”, Infosys said in an exchange filing.

Out of the cash on the balance sheet, the board identified an amount of up to Rs 13,000 crore to be paid to shareholders in the following manner:

• A special dividend of Rs 10 per share resulting in a payout of approximately Rs 2,600 crore in June 2018; and
• Identified an amount of up to approximately Rs 10,400 crore to be paid out to shareholders for the Financial Year 2019, in such a manner, to be decided by the Board, subject to applicable laws and requisite approvals, if any, the filing added.

Traders who had bet that the gauge of banking shares would fall were caught on a wrong foot as the Nifty Bank's 27,000 put option contract, which was among the most active option contracts on NSE, slumped over 50 percent ahead of December F&O expiry.

Premium on the contract plunged 77 percent to Rs 21.90. Over 11.49 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 15 lakh shares.

Click here to see the complete options chain

Shares of the Delhi-based oil exploration company rose as much as 10.43 percent to Rs 192.10 after its board approved share buyback proposal and interim dividend of Rs 5 per share.

The company will buy back maximum of 8.66 percent of capital at Rs 300 per share for total consideration of Rs 25 crore, Selan Exploration said in an exchange filing.

• Bliss GVS Pharma has 45.5 lakh shares change hands in a block on BSE. Stock up 1.85 percent at Rs 140.50.

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of the Delhi-based power project financer rose as much as 3.45 percent to Rs 103.45 after its board gave approval for acquiring entire government's stake in REC, PFC said in an exchange notification.

PFC in an exchange notification said:

• Government intends to complete REC stake sale by end of this financial year
• Power Finance to raise funds for REC deal internally, via debt
• No decision yet on merging Power Finance and REC
• Aim to maintain capital adequacy ratio as per limits prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India
• PFC does not see much impact on overall borrowing due to REC deal

Shares of the Delhi-based health insurance and healthcare services provider rose as much as 11.68 percent, the most since Dec. 14, to Rs 89.90 after it announced conference call for investors to discuss Radiant Life Care and KKR purchase of majority stake in its subsidiary Max Healthcare through merger.

Th call is arranged on Jan. 4 at 12 noon, Max India said in an exchange filing

• KNR Constructions: The Hyderabad-based construction company rose as much as 8.34 percent to Rs 224. Trading volume was almost 30 times its 20-day average.
• Brigade Enterprises: The Bengaluru-based real estate developer fell as much as 3.60 percent to Rs 227.50. Trading volume was more than 17 times its 20-day average.
• Central Bank of India: The Mumbai-based government-owned lender rose as much as 6.74 percent to Rs 36.40. Trading volume was 12 times its 20-day average.
• SBI Life Insurance: The Mumbai-based life insurer fell as much as 6 percent to Rs 540.25. Trading volume was more than seven times its 20-day average.

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains paced by Tech Mahindra, TCS and Infosys.

The Sensex rose 1 percent or 357 points to 36,007 and the Nifty 50 Index climbed 0.90 percent or 96 points to 10,826.

All sector gauges compiled by National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty IT Index's 2 percent gain.

The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 1,411 shares were advancing while 592 were declining on the BSE.

Top Nifty Gainers

• Tech Mahindra up 2.36 percent
• Infosys up 2.29 percent
• TCS up 2.19 percent
• GAIL India up 1.92 percent
• Indiabulls Housing Finance up 1.74 percent

Top Nifty Losers

• HPCL up 1.67 percent
• BPCL up 1.65 percent
• Coal India up 1.03 percent
• Bharti Airtel up 0.89 percent
• Dr. Reddy's Labs up 0.87 percent

Shares of the Hyderabad-based drugmaker rose as much as 2.86 percent to Rs 228 after it secured two product patents in Brazil and Eurasia.

The patent is for New Chemical Entities used in treatment of Neurodegenerative diseases, Suven Life Sciences said in an exchange filing.

Shares of the country's largest drugmaker rose as much as 2.50 percent to Rs 424 after its subsidiary Dusa Pharmaceuticals got Preliminary Injunctive Relief by U.S. federal district court prohibiting defendants Biofrontera from using Dusa’s proprietary trade secret information.

Earlier this year, the Sun Pharma arm filed a lawsuit against Biofrontera alleging trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement of the company’s photodynamic therapy patents and Levulan Kerastick drug.

Nifty's 10,800 call option contract was among the most active option contracts on the National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract fell 12.42 percent to Rs 20.45. Over 7.55 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 33.34 lakh shares.

On the other hand, the Nifty's 10,800 put was the second most active option contract. Premium on the contract slumped 53 percent to Rs 33.70 and over 14.67 lakh shares were added to the open interest.

Click here to see the complete options chain

Shares of the Noida-based railroad cars maker fell as much as 8.67 percent, the most since Dec. 10, to Rs 39 after its promoter Titagarh Wagons started sale of 15.4 lakh shares (5.64 percent equity) via offer for sale.

The floor price for OFS set at Rs 38 per share, which is at a discount of 11 percent to yesterday's closing price.

Shares of the oil retailers declined after Brent crude gained the most since December 216, to close at $54.47 per barrel.

• Indian Oil fell 1.5 percent intraday to Rs 132.70 apiece.
• HCPL fell 1.6 percent to Rs 244.90.
• BPCL declined 1.7 percent to Rs 360.10.

Shares of non-banking finance companies rose on hopes of easier regulations after representatives from non-banking finance companies and housing finance industry met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to seek easier norms regulating the sector as they battle a funding crunch.

The agenda for the meeting with the prime minister comprised a number of requests for easier regulations governing the NBFC and housing finance sectors.

• Indiabulls Housing Finance up 1.57 percent
• IIFL Holdings up 1.2 percent
• PNB Housing Finance up 1.34 percent
• GRUH Finance up 1.31 percent
• Edelweiss Financial Services up 0.32 percent
• Bharat Financial Inclusion up 1.90 percent
• Dewan Housing Finance up 2.27 percent

Indian equity benchmarks rose sharply mirroring gains in other Asian markets after the biggest rally in U.S. equities since 2009 offered relief from this month’s wrenching downturn.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.88 percent or 312 points to 35,962 and the NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.83 percent or 88 points to 10,819.

Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were leading the rally ahead of expiry of December futures and option contracts later in the day.

All the 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading higher led by the S&P BSE Metal Index's 1.4 percent gain.

Indian equity benchmarks rose sharply in the pre-market session taking cues from a strong rally in U.S. markets overnight.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 352 points to 36,002 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index climbed 88 points to 10,817 compared with yesterday's close of 10,730.

Rupee opened lower at 70.21 per dollar against yesterday's close of 70.07 after crude extended its biggest advance in two years.

The local unit fell as much as 0.30 percent or 21 paise to 70.28 against the greenback.

Motilal Oswal on Petronet LNG

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 317.
• Increasing LNG glut to support prices.
• Competition to remain moderate.
• See strong earnings visibility.

Motilal Oswal on Indian Telecom

• Earnings pressure persists; revival bleak.
• High cash burn leading to dilution and asset sale.
• Airtel’s cash burn & leverage situation reaching uncomfortable level.
• Vodafone Idea on ventilator with six-to-eight quarters of cash even after recent dilution plan.

Edelweiss on Metals

• LME aluminium slipped below $1,900 per tonne for the first time since August 2017
• Weak Chinese demand in the second half of 2018 and further uncertainties to remain in 2019.
• Prefer Hindalco among non-ferrous players.

• Nifty December futures closed trading at 10,749, premium of 20 points.
• Maximum open interest for December series call at 11,000 strike price, open interest at 44.0 lakh shares.
• Maximum open interest for December series put at 10,500 strike price, open interest at 36.7 lakh shares.

• Rites ex-date for interim dividend at Rs 4.75 per share.
• Sayaji Industries ex-date for stock split from Rs 10 to Rs 5.
• Triveni Turbine ex-date for share buyback.
• Ortel Communications to move into ASM Framework.
• SPL Industries price band revised to 10 percent.
• Kushal price band revised to 2 percent.

Insider Trades

• Grasim Industries promoter Pilani Investment and Industries acquired 2,233 shares on Dec. 24.

Who’s Meeting Whom

• Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals to meet HDFC Securities on Dec. 27.
• Mahindra Logistics to meet Motilal Oswal AMC and Morgan Stanley from Jan. 3 to Jan. 7.

• Sun Pharma arm ‘Dusa Pharmaceuticals’ got awarded Preliminary Injunctive Relief by U.S. federal district court prohibiting defendants Biofrontera from using Dusa’s proprietary trade secret information. Earlier this year, the Sun Pharma arm filed a lawsuit against Biofrontera alleging trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement of the company’s photodynamic therapy patents and Levulan Kerastick drug.
• Hindustan Unilever clarified on the news of GST Authority finding guilty of profiteering Rs 383 crore stating that no methodology has been determined by National Anti-Profiteering Authority as required under the law to determine if benefit has been passed or not. HUL will consider legal options available to it. On Dec. 24 the anti-profiteering authority ruled passed on order against the company to deposit Rs 223 crore.
• Man Industries: Securities and Exchange Board of India slapped Rs 10 crore fine on three promoters of the company for failing to make an open offer to the company’s shareholders. The regulators conducted a probe in the shareholding of the company during June to September in the year 2010, while observing that shareholding of the promoter’s increased from 51.29 percent to 55.18 percent. Under the SEBI regulations, it is mandatory to make an open offer if the promoter’s shareholding crosses the threshold limit of 55 percent.
• NTPC: Investment approval has been accorded for Bilhaur Solar Project of 140 MW capacity and Auraiya Solar Project of 20 MW capacity. Previously on Oct. 11, the company had won 160 MW solar capacities in Uttar Pradesh’s Energy Agency’s Solar Tender.
• Entertainment Network (India) clarified that terrestrial broadcasting was disrupted for only 30 hours due to fire in its Mumbai’s Common Transmission Infrastructure and the amount of damage is not significant and the equipment of the company at these common infrastructures is already insured.
• Cimmco’s promoter Titagarh Wagons to sell 15.4 lakh shares (5.64 percent equity) today and tomorrow through an offer for sale route. The floor price for OFS set at Rs 38 per share, a discount of 11 percent to the last regular trade.

• RBI sets up Bimal Jalan-led panel on economic capital framework
• Asian debt defaults are expected to rise
• Oil extends biggest gain in two years after stock market surge
• At meeting with PM Modi, non-bank lenders seek easier regulations
• Commerce ministry mulling import duty hike on aluminium, says Suresh Prabhu
• India’s economy is picking up as it moves past cash-crunch bump
• Online retailers can’t sell products of entities in which they own stake
• Mumbai’s newest premium food store bets on jet-setting Indians
• The two issues that will test GST Council’s ability to forge consensus

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.26 percent or 27 points to 10,789 as of 7:17 a.m.

Asian stocks climbed on Thursday after the biggest rally in U.S. equities since 2009 offered relief from this month’s wrenching global market downturn.

Japanese benchmarks jumped about 4 percent at the open and Australian shares advanced more than 1 percent as trading resumed after holidays there. Korean stocks were flat, however, and U.S. futures dipped, suggesting the follow-through from the blow-out session on Wall Street -- where key indexes climbed about 5 percent or more -- has limits.

Stocks

• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.1 percent as of 9:08 a.m. in Tokyo.
• Japan’s Topix gained 3.9 percent and the Nikkei 225 rose 3.8 percent.
• Futures on the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.2 percent. The underlying gauge rose 4.96 percent at the close in New York, after falling within two points of a bear market earlier in the session. The Nasdaq 100 surged 6.2 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1,086 points.
• Futures on the FTSE China A50 climbed 1.2 percent earlier.
• Kospi dropped 0.3 percent.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.3 percent Wednesday.
• The euro was at $1.1365 after falling 0.3 percent.
• The Japanese yen traded at 111.30 per dollar after sliding almost 1 percent Wednesday.
• China’s offshore yuan was little changed at 6.8915 per dollar.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6 percent to $46.49 a barrel after gaining 8.7 percent Wednesday.
• Gold was flat at $1,269.48 an ounce.

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