Sensex, Nifty Struggle To Hold Gains In Choppy Session

Indian equity benchmarks struggled to hold onto gains as investors, unimpressed by Modi government’s stimulus package, shifted focus to earnings.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.5 percent higher at 30,196, off around 500 points from days’s high. The NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.6 percent to close at 8,879.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank fluctuated between gains and losses through the day. The index ended 0.5 percent lower at 17,486, nearly 700 points of the day's high of 18,175.

Markets At Close

• Benchmark indices end off the day's high
• Nifty ends 0.6 percent higher at 8,879
• Sensex ends 0.56 percent higher at 30,196
• Nifty Bank ends 0.5 percent lower at 17,486
• Nifty Midcap Index ends 0.5 percent higher
• Nifty Smallcap Index ends 0.2 percent higher
• India Volatility Index ends 4.4 percent lower at 39.1
• Nifty PSU Bank Index ends as top sectoral laggard; down 2.6 percent
• Nifty Media Index ends as top sectoral gainer; up 2 percent
• Bharti Airtel ends as the top Nifty gainer, up 10.8 percent at a record high
• 36 out of the 50 Nifty stocks advanced
• UPL was the top Nifty laggard, down 9.8 percent
• 793 stocks on the NSE end with gains while 953 end with losses

• Sell Nifty Bank futures at 17,500 for target of 16,600 and stop loss of 18,056
• Sell ICICI Bank futures at Rs 301 for target of Rs 280 and stop loss of Rs 312.1
• Buy Tech Mahindra at Rs 513 for target of Rs 545 and stop loss of Rs 499

Investors in some of the credit funds run by Franklin Templeton's India unit may have to wait for as long as five years to fully recover their money, the asset manager wrote in an email to its investors.

The email and attached documents, accessed by Bloomberg lay out the latest timeline for scheduled cash flows.

The company had shut six debt schemes last months which trigger shock waves in the local credit market.

• Buy Biocon at Rs 330 for target of Rs 357 and stop loss of Rs 313
• Buy Mindtree at Rs 900 for target of Rs 978 and stop loss of Rs 843

• Top performer on the Nifty 500 index
• Gains as much as 17.3 percent to Rs 36.2
• Biggest one-day gain since July 1, 2019
• Trades at the highest level in two months
• Snaps two-day losing streak
• Today's volumes are 4.7 times higher than its 30-day average
• Breaks above its 50-Day Moving Average of Rs 31.72
• Trades nearly 50 percent below its 52-week high of Rs 73.8 on November 4, 2019
• 1 out of the 5 analysts tracking the stock has a buy recommendation; 4 sell calls
• Return potential of the stock as per Bloomberg data is 13.6 percent

• Revenue rises 9.5 percent to Rs 785 crore
• Net profit down 8.1 percent to Rs 85.4 crore
• Other income of Rs 29.5 crore
• The company on February 25 had declared a final dividend of Rs 106 and a one-time special dividend of Rs 243 per share of Rs 10 each for the year ending December 2019
• Numbers are compared on a year-on-year basis

Shares are fluctuating between gains and losses, currently trading 0.4 percent lower at Rs 7,439 and are down for the fifth day in a row.

The company has informed the exchanges that it has won export orders for over 50,000 wheels for the European Union Caravan Trailer Market.

The orders will be executed in July and August from its Chennai plant.

The company is further expecting larger orders in the coming weeks from several other regular customers.

Shares are trading 3.7 percent lower at Rs 329.95, staging a minor recovery from the lowest point of the day.

• Benchmark indices off the day's high
• Nifty up 0.7 percent at 8,884
• Sensex up 0.64 percent at 30,221
• Nifty Bank down 0.85 percent at 17,437
• Nifty Midcap Index up 0.6 percent
• Nifty Smallcap Index up 0.4 percent
• India Volatility Index down 3 percent to 39.66
• Nifty Auto, Nifty Media and Nifty Metal Index off day's high up 1-1.7 percent
• Nifty PSU Bank Index is the top sectoral laggard; down 2.2 percent
• Nifty Realty Index down 1 percent
• Bharti Airtel remains the top Nifty gainer; up 9.4 percent
• UPL remains the top Nifty loser; down 7 percent
• 818 stocks on the NSE trade with gains; 890 stocks decline

The rupee ended with gains in today's trading session, tracking positive cues from the equity markets and weakness in the U.S. Dollar.

The rupee ended at 75.64 against the greenback, as compared to Monday's close of 75.91.

The 0.3 percent appreciation in the rupee made it the fifth best performing Emerging Market currency against its peers. The South Korean Won, Malaysian Ringgit, Indonesian Rupiah, and the Philippine Peso outperformed the rupee.

• Bharti Airtel's 600 Call: Premium rises 176.2 percent to Rs 14.05. The contract has added 1.46 lakh shares in Open Interest.
• Reliance Industries' 1,500 Call: Premium falls 29.1 percent to Rs 21.8. The contract has added 1.63 lakh shares in Open Interest.
• Bajaj Finance's 1,900 Put: Premium falls 12.4 percent to Rs 112.8. The contract has added 2.7 lakh shares in Open Interest.

The company has clarified its stance over a media report which stated that the company is under pressure owing to non-completion of its stake in Snowman Logistics by March 31, 2020.

The company has said that all of its facilities and subsidiaries are operational 24X7 and that business has been without disruption since the beginning of the lockdown.

It also added that it is fulfilling all its financial obligations through cash flows and credit limits.

Shares recovered from the day's low and now trade little changed at Rs 77.5.

The company has informed the exchanges that it has received the European Union (EU) GMP certification from the German FDA for its manufacturing facility in Khatraj in Gujarat.

The certification allows the company to market its products in all 27 member countries of the European Union, it said in an exchange filing.

The inspection was conducted by the regulator in December 2019. The approval is vaild for tablet, capsule as well as cream and ointment.

Shares are off the day's high but are trading with gains of 1.1 percent at Rs 164.65, up for the eighth straight session.

• Trades at the lowest level since May 2014
• Falls as much as 4.23 percent to Rs 765.95
• Down for the fourth straight day
• Down 8 percent in the last 4 sessions
• Has advanced only 4 times in the last 15 trading sessions
• Today's volumes are 2.9 times higher than its 30-day average
• Stock has entered oversold territory with Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 27
• Has declined 49 percent from its 52-week high of Rs 1,503 on July 5, 2019
• 9 out of the 30 analysts tracking the stock have a buy recommendation; 13 sell calls
• Return potential for the stock as per Bloomberg data is 9.4 percent

European markets have opened higher for the third straight day, tracking positive cues from Asia and on plans for a European Recovery Fund.

Most markets in Asia have ended higher while futures on the Dow Jones have reversed initial losses and are now trading higher by 240 points.

The Stoxx 600 Index has opened 0.5 percent higher with banking stocks leading the advance. Healthcare is the only underperforming sector in early trade.

Brent Crude for the July contract is up for the fourth straight day at $34.89 per barrel while Gold is little changed at $1,729/Oz.

Lets take a look at how benchmarks across Europe have opened:

• Euro Stoxx 50 up 0.66 percent to 2,931
• DAX up 1.2 percent at 11,195
• CAC up 0.8 percent at 4,535
• FTSE 100 up 1 percent at 6,110
• IBEX 35 up 1 percent at 6,847

• Snaps five-day losing streak
• Gains as much as 3.2 percent to Rs 459.75
• The five-day losing streak was the longest since March 2019
• Today's volumes are 1.4 times higher than its 30-day average
• Rebounds from its 100-Day Moving Average of Rs 445.81
• Has recovered 60.2 percent from its 52-week low of Rs 284
• 21 out of the 36 analysts tracking the stock have a buy recommendation; 8 sell calls
• Return potential of the stock as per Bloomberg data is 4.3 percent

• Benchmark indices hold on to steady gains
• Nifty up 2 percent at 9,001
• Sensex up 2 percent at 30,643
• Nifty Bank up 2.6 percent at 18,027
• Nifty Midcap Index up 1.5 percent
• Nifty Smallcap Index up 1 percent
• India Volatility Index down 3.65 percent to 39.42
• Nifty PSU Bank remains top sectoral laggard; down 0.22 percent
• Nifty Media, Nifty Metal and Nifty Auto hold on to gains of over 2 percent
• Bharti Airtel remains the top Nifty gainer; up 8.7 percent
• 45 out of the 50 Nifty stocks are trading with gains
• UPL remains the top Nifty laggard; down 5.6 percent
• 1,014 stocks on the NSE are trading with gains while 637 decline

• Trades at the lowest level since November 2009
• Down for the second straight day
• Fell as much as 6 percent to Rs 131.15
• Adds to Monday's decline of 12.5 percent
• Has fallen over 15 percent in the last two sessions
• Today's volumes are 8.3 times higher than its 30-day average
• The stock is in oversold territory with Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 13
• Has fallen 73 percent from its 52-week high of Rs 510 on July 3, 2019
• 7 out of the 13 analysts tracking the stock have a buy recommendation; 3 sell calls
• Return potential of the stock as per Bloomberg data is 105.1 percent

The Hyderabad-based drug-maker has informed that it has received an approval from the U.S. FDA for two Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDA). The two ANDAs are for the TLE 400 and TLE 600 tablets.

The approval has been received under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), as per the company's press release.

The TLE 400 had already received a WHO pre-qualification.

Shares surged to the day's high, gaining as much as 4.3 percent to Rs 444.05.

The company has informed the exchanges regarding the launch of the generic version of Bausch Health's Apriso capsules in the U.S. market.

The said drug is used in the maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis in adults.

Mesalamine Extended-release capsules had an annual sale of about $290 million in the U.S. market as of March 2020.

Shares recovered from the day's low and now trade 0.45 percent lower at Rs 853.

Indian carriers more than doubled their scheduled seat capacity this week, aiding the biggest aviation industry rebound globally since the Covid-19 outbreak, Bloomberg reports.

OAG Aviation Worldwide says that global airlines added nearly 1.9 million seats to reach a total of 31.7 million, a 6 percent rise from the previous week.

1.7 million of the added capacity came from India, a place where flights were grounded since March.

The industry's biggest challenge is to project how demand recovers after the pandemic, as per John Grant of OAG.

Shares of Interglobe Aviation gained as much as 2.6 percent to Rs 935.85, while SpiceJet was locked in a second straight 5 percent lower circuit at Rs 41.2.

The government of India has issued a gazette notification of a draft order banning 27 new agro-chemical formulations manufactured and sold in India.

Analysts believe that these products are some of the key products used by companies like UPL, Rallis India and Atul.

Shares of UPL fell as much as 8.44 percent to Rs 344.10 and it is also the worst performing stock on the Nifty 50 index.

The pharma company's net profit fell 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter to 9.6 crore while Ebitda more than doubled to 14.8 crore compared to last year. Margins too expanded to 7.6 percent from 3.35 percent last year.

The company in its press release has stated that business has been impacted as the lockdown measures to combat Covid-19 have affected supply chains and production of goods.

Shares fell as much as 7.9 percent to Rs 2,810 and it is the worst performing stock on the Nifty 500 index.

The pharma company's Joint Venture - Aleor Dermaceuticals has received an approval from the U.S. FDA for its Abbreviated New Drug Application.

The ANDA is for the Clobetasol Propionate Shampoo, 0.05 percent. The said drug is used in the treatment of moderate to severe forms of scalp psoriasis in adults.

The Clobetasol Propionate Shampoo, 0.05 percent, had an estimate market size of $28 million for the 12-months ending December 2019, as per the IQVIA.

Shares recovered from the day's low to gain as much as 1 percent to Rs 889.85. The stock has had three straight days of gains until Monday.

• Indian Hotels: 14.99 lakh shares of the company exchanged hands in a single large trade on the National Stock Exchange. The deal took place at a price of Rs 63.25.
• Grasim: 11.02 lakh shares of the company exchanged hands in a single large trade at a price of Rs 509.25.

Buyers and sellers in both the trade were not immediately known, as per Bloomberg data.

• Shares of Indian Hotels gained as much as 4.17 percent to Rs 64.90.
• Shares of Grasim gained as much as 3.26 percent to Rs 511.95.

• Nifty May futures add 12.3 percent in Open Interest and 9.7 lakh shares
• Nifty Bank May futures add 15.7 percent in Open Interest and 2.2 lakh shares

Nifty: May 21 Expiry

• 9,000 Call: Premium up 52.7 percent to Rs 120.45. The contract has shed 26,775 shares in Open Interest.
• 8,800 Put: Premium falls 60.3 percent to Rs 52.4. The contract has added 4.28 lakh shares in Open Interest.
• 9,100 Call: Premium up 44.1 percent to Rs 76.9. The contract has added 3.43 lakh shares in Open Interest.

Nifty Bank: May 21 Expiry

• 17,000 Put: Premium falls 61 percent to Rs 95. The contract has added 1.43 lakh shares in Open Interest.
• 18,500 Call: Premium up 10.2 percent to Rs 194.4. The contract has added 46,740 shares in Open Interest.
• 19,000 Call: Premium falls 2.5 percent to Rs 92.1. The contract has added 48,700 shares in Open Interest.

The company has announced that it will acquire 50 percent of PepsiCo's shareholding in NourishCo Beverages. The said company is a 50:50 Joint Venture between PepsiCo India Holdings and Tata Consumer Products.

As a result of this acquisition, the joint venture will stand terminated and NourishCo will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Consumer Products.

Shares gained as much as 2.82 percent to Rs 356.9, snapping a two-day losing streak.

• Benchmark indices see a volatile first hour of trade; but surge to the day's high
• Nifty up 1.82 percent at 8,983
• Sensex up 1.85 percent at 30,583
• Nifty Bank up 2 percent at 17,935
• Nifty Midcap Index trades 1.4 percent higher
• Nifty Smallcap Index trades 0.8 percent higher
• India Volatility Index down 2.2 percent to 40.02
• Nifty PSU Banking index is the only sectoral laggard; down 0.4 percent
• Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal index up 2.2 percent each
• Nifty I.T. and Nifty Media Index up over 1 percent
• Bharti Airtel is the top Nifty gainer; up 8.2 percent and trades at an all-time high
• UPL is the top Nifty laggard; down 7 percent
• 46 out of the 50 Nifty constituents are trading with gains
• 1,045 stocks on the NSE are trading with gains while 537 are declining

The rupee opened stronger in today's trading session after ending as the worst performing currency among Emerging Market peers on Monday.

The currency opened at 75.77 against the U.S. Dollar, as compared to Monday's close of 75.91. It would snap a three-day losing streak today, on ending the session with gains.

Bond traders will keep an eye out for the state government bond auctions which will be held by the Reserve Bank of India.

The power generator and distributor reported a 2 percent decline in its revenue for the quarter gone by. A Rs 1,000 crore provision for impairment losses led to the company posting a net loss of Rs 274.92 crore in the current quarter.

Ebitda for the company rose 16.5 percent to Rs 827 crore while margins expanded to Rs 27.7 percent from 24.2 percent.

It will not declare any new dividend as the one declared on February 12, 2020 worth Rs 11.6 will be counted as the final one.

Shares gained as much as 6.3 percent - the most in eight weeks to Rs 315.60.

The power transmission company informed the exchanges that its various businesses have won orders amounting to Rs 1,203 crore.

• The company's T&D business won orders worth Rs 917 crore for projects in India, Bangladesh, Africa and the Americas.
• Its Civil business has won orders worth Rs 176 crore for industrial and residential projects in India.
• The cable business too has won orders worth Rs 110 crore for various types of cables/cabling projects.

Shares gained as much as 3.7 percent to Rs 202.4.

Indian equity markets opened with gains after Monday's declines, tracking positive cues from Asia and Wall Street. Futures on the Dow Jones are currently trading lower by 80 points.

The S&P BSE Sensex opened 1.4 percent higher at 30,450 while the NSE Nifty 50 opened at 8,961, up 1.57 percent. Both the benchmarks fell over 3 percent in Monday's trading session.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank and the Nifty Auto index opened with gains of over 2 percent while the Media, Metal, PSU Bank and Realty indices saw gains of 1-1.5 percent each.

990 stocks on the NSE have opened with gains while 315 have seen losses in the early minutes of trade.

• Sell Nifty Bank for target of 17,232 and 17,075 keeping a stop loss above 17,775
• Buy Reliance Industries May futures between Rs 1,400-1,360 for target of Rs 1,580 and stop loss below Rs 1,325. This is a positional call.
• Sell Bajaj Finance below Rs 1,900 for target of Rs 1,681 and Rs 1,576, keeping a stop loss above Rs 1,940. This is a positional call.

• Buy TCS for target of Rs 2,050
• Buy Bharat Electronics for target of Rs 75
• Buy Coal India for target of Rs 130-145

• Bharti Airtel: Revenue sees the biggest jump in 30 quarters while net loss widens to Rs 5,237 crore. The company reported an exceptional loss of Rs 7,004 crore due to reassessment of regulatory cost related to spectrum charges. The company's ARPU rose to Rs 154 from Rs 135.
• Coal India: The government has clarified that it does not intend to privatise the state-run company even as it opens up the sector for commercial mining.
• Vedanta: Board approves the proposed delisting of mining baron Anil Agarwal's flagship Indian unit from the stock exchanges. Agarwal announced the intention to take his company private last week.
• PVR: Said that it will not play any films that have already been released on streaming platforms. The multiplex operator said it expects to receive permission to re-open cinema halls in a staggered manner by the end of July or early August.
• Tata Consumer Products: Will acquire 50 percent of PepsiCo’s share in NourishCo Beverages Ltd. NourishCo is a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Consumer and PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. This will consequently terminate the joint-venture, making NourishCo a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Consumer Products.
• Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail: To raise Rs 400 crore by issuance of 4,000 redeemable unsecured non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of Rs 10 lakh each, on a private placement basis on or after May 21, 2020.
• Raymond: Board to consider and approve issue of non-convertible debentures worth Rs 100 crore on a private placement basis on May 21, 2020.
• GSK Pharma: Board recommends a dividend of Rs 40 per share which includes a special dividend of Rs 20 per share
• Companies That Resumed Operations: Deepak Nitrite's subsidiary Deepak Phenolics, Garware Technical Fibres, Kirloskar Oil Engines
• Bajaj Finance: To report Q4 earnings today
• Non-Nifty Earnings Today: Sanofi India, Tata Power, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Embassy Office Parks REIT, GNA Axles, L&T Infotech, NESCO, Transport Corporation of India.

For all that you need to know going into today’s trade, click here.

• Benchmark indices surge the most in almost six weeks
• S&P 500 ends 3.2 percent higher while Dow Jones gains 3.9 percent
• Moderna Inc. said its vaccine tests yielded signs that it can create an immune-system response in the body
• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the central bank has more ammunition to combat the economic weakness.
• Gold retreated after hitting a seven-year high.
• MSCI All-Country World Index gained 3 percent to rise to the highest in nearly three weeks
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot index fell 0.6 percent
• West Texas Intermediate Crude gained 10.2 percent to $32.43 per barrel. The commodity trades higher today as well.

Catch all the action in the global equity markets here.

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 2.3 percent to 8,990 as of 7:50 a.m.

Asian markets are taking cues from an overnight rally on Wall Street by advancing in early trade. Markets in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong are outperforming, although the magnitude of gains was lesser than that in the U.S.

Futures on the Dow Jones are currently trading lower by 50 points after the gauge advanced 3.9 percent on Monday — the most in six weeks.

Treasuries held near their highest in five weeks, while West Texas Intermediate Crude cooled off from the day’s high to trade 2.6 percent higher at $32.65 a barrel.

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