Sensex, Nifty Give Up Wednesday’s Gains; End 2.5% Lower

• Benchmark indices end near the day's low; erase all of Wednesday's gains
• Nifty ends 2.57 percent lower at 9,142
• Nifty futures trade at a premium of 11 points
• Sensex ends 2.77 percent lower at 31,122
• Nifty Bank ends 2.88 percent lower at 19,068
• Nifty Midcap Index end 0.35 percent lower
• Nifty Smallcap Index ends 1 percent lower
• India Volatility Index ends 1.5 percent lower at 38.23
• Nifty FMCG (Up 0.7 percent) and Nifty Pharma (Up 0.3 percent) end as only sectoral gainers
• Nifty I.T. ends as top sectoral loser; down 3.5 percent
• Nifty Metal, Nifty PSU Bank end with losses of over 2.5 percent
• Bharti Infratel ends as the top Nifty gainer; up 4.9 percent
• Tech Mahindra ends as the top Nifty loser; down 5.3 percent
• 722 stocks on the NSE end with gains while 1,032 end with losses

Indian equity markets gave up all of Wednesday's gains to again turn negative for the week as investors seemed to be unenthused by the relief package announcements made on Wednesday. The Finance Minister will be addressing another press conference in just a short while from now.

European markets continue to trade with losses while futures on the Dow Jones are flat, down 20 points.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 2.77 percent lower at 31,122 while the NSE Nifty 50 ended at 9,142, down by 2.6 percent. 40 out of the 50 Nifty constituents ended with losses.

For the week so far, the Sensex is down 1.5 percent while the Nifty is down 1.1 percent.

Among sectoral indices, the I.T. index was the primary laggard, ending 3.6 percent lower. Nifty Bank, Nifty Metal and the Nifty PSU Bank index ended with cuts of over 2.5 percent.

722 stocks on the NSE ended with gains while 1,032 ended with losses.

The Board of Directors of the company at a meeting held today have approved the raising of funds through listed, secured and redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs).

The aggregate amount for the same will be Rs 300 crore with a green-shoe option of Rs 200 crore. The NCDs will be issued on a private placement basis in one or more tranches, the company said in its statement to the exchanges.

Shares recovered from the day's low to gain as much as 1.74 percent to Rs 49.60.

• Buy Nifty below 9,150 for target of 9,250 and stop loss of 9,080
• Buy Bharti Infratel at Rs 211 for target of Rs 225-228 and stop loss of Rs 200
• Buy Torrent Pharma at Rs 2,410 for target of Rs 2,540 and stop loss of Rs 2,280

• Buy Ultratech around Rs 3,580 for target of Rs 3,730 and stop loss of Rs 3,520
• Sell NIIT Tech futures around Rs 1,350-1,345 for target of Rs 1,255 and stop loss of Rs 1,390

The company has informed the exchanges that the company falls under the essential services category and all its warehouses are fully functional and operational.

The statement says that the Covid-19 pandemic has had no adverse impact on the company's business. However, there have been logistical issues due to unavailability of drivers. The statement further said that the seafood storage business has not been impacted due to the pandemic.

Warehouse occupancy has increased to 91.5 percent from 84 percent in March 2020.

The company's current debt stands reduced to Rs 54 crore from Rs 90 crore in March 2019.

Shares gained as much as 5 percent to Rs 27.35 and are up for the second straight day.

• Net profit up 15.7 percent to Rs 140.4 crore
• Revenue falls 15.4 percent to Rs 1,380.7 crore
• Ebitda up 2.5 percent to Rs 194.4 crore
• Tractor volumes down 20 percent 20,108 units
• Construction volumes down 32.2 percent to 986 units
• Railways segment revenue up 4.3 percent to Rs 108 crore
• Order book for the railway division stood at over Rs 500 crore to be executed over the next 12-15 months
• All numbers are standalone and compared on a year-on-year basis

Shares are trading 2.9 percent lower at Rs 788.55, snapping a three-day gaining streak.

• India's steel output for the month of April falls 70 percent year-on-year to 2.75 million tonnes
• Reduction in production more pronounced among private players with their share falling to 62 percent from 82 percent
• Consumption of finished steel down 91 percent year-on-year to 7 lakh tonnes
• Closing stock of finished steel at the end of the month was 13.85 million tonnes, 4.7 percent higher than the previous month

Source: Bloomberg

• JSW Steel trades near the day's low; down 3.78 percent at Rs 175.45
• Tata Steel trades near the day's low; down 3 percent at Rs 268.35
• JSPL trades 4.2 percent lower at Rs 93.30.
• JSW Steel and JSPL have snapped a three-day winning streak.

• Benchmark indices give up all of Wednesday’s gains
• Nifty down 2.5 percent at 9,151
• Sensex down 2.6 percent at 31,169
• Nifty Bank down 2.5 percent at 19,140
• Nifty Midcap Index down 0.3 percent
• Nifty Smallcap Index down 0.9 percent
• India Volatility Index down 2.3 percent to 37.94
• Nifty FMCG (Up 0.5 percent) and Nifty Pharma (0.5 percent) are the only sectoral gainers
• Nifty I.T. index remains top sectoral loser; down 3 percent
• Nifty Media, Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty down over 2 percent
• Bharti Infratel remains the top Nifty gainer; up 5.8 percent
• Hindalco is the top Nifty loser; down 5.1 percent
• 680 stocks on the NSE are advancing while 1,019 stocks are declining

The rupee had another subdued session of trade but ended with marginal losses, snapping a two-day gaining streak.

The currency ended at 75.56 against the U.S. Dollar as compared to Wednesday's close of 75.45.

Yield on the 10-year bond ended at 5.78 percent as compared to the opening level of 5.77 percent.

• Among the top performers on the BSE Smallcap index
• Trades at the highest level since April 2015
• Gains as much as 7.7 percent to Rs 823.50
• Up for 3 out of the last 4 trading sessions
• Today's volumes are 4.1 times higher than its 30-day average
• Stock enters Overbought territory with Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 75
• Has nearly doubled from its 52-week low of Rs 419.3 on August 5, 2019
• 3 out of the 4 analysts tracking the stock have a buy recommendation; 0 sell calls
• The stock is trading 1.9 percent higher than its 12-month Bloomberg consensus price target of Rs 800, implying a negative return potential

• Bajaj Finance's 2,300 Call: Premium rises 25.1 percent to Rs 142.25. The contract has added 1 lakh shares in Open Interest.
• Maruti's 5,200 Call: Premium rises 16.7 percent to Rs 219. The contract has added 30,300 shares in Open Interest.
• Hindustan Unilever's 2,100 Call: Premium falls 9.5 percent to Rs 34.25. The contract has shed 18,000 shares in Open Interest.

• Top performing stock on the Nifty Smallcap Index
• Gains as much as 9 percent to Rs 122
• Up for the second straight day
• Has gained for 3 out of the last 4 trading sessions
• Up 12.6 percent in the last two trading sessions
• Today's volume are 19.5 times higher than its 30-day average
• Trading near its 50-Day Moving Average of Rs 120.5
• 16 out of the 20 analysts tracking this stock have a buy recommendation; 1 sell call
• Return potential for the stock as per Bloomberg data is 22.1 percent

Benchmark indices in Europe opened lower for the second straight day as markets process the outlook for slower exits from lockdowns.

Majority of the Asian markets ended with losses while futures on the Dow Jones are trading lower by 80 points.

The Stoxx 600 index has opened lower with all sectors trading with losses. Oil, Technology and Auto stocks are the major underperformers.

Brent Crude for the July contract is up 1 percent at $29.48 per barrel while gold remains little changed at $1,715/Oz.

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

• Euro Stoxx 50 down 1.2 percent at 2,777
• DAX down 1.2 percent at 10,414
• CAC down 1.2 percent at 4,294
• FTSE 100 down 1.35 percent to 5,824
• IBEX 35 down 1 percent to 6,569

The company has shared its annual business update with the exchanges. Total loan sanctions for the year stood at Rs 19,942 crore for the company while loans worth Rs 10,121.83 crore were released as of March 31, 2020.

The stock trades little changed after ending with gains of 10.5 percent on Wednesday.

The company has informed the exchanges that it has resumed operations at select plants and dealerships.

The carmaker has resumed production at its plants in Pantnagar and Sanand while those in Lucknow, Dharwad, Jamshedpur and Pune are in the final stages of pre-operational preparation.

Selected dealership for commercial and passenger vehicles too have commenced operations, the company said in a statement to the exchanges.

200 dealerships, 300 workshops for passenger vehicles along with 400 sales outlets and 885 workshops for commercial vehicles have resumed operations, according to the company.

Shares are trading 3.2 percent lower at Rs 84.4 on the National Stock Exchange.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the month of April could not be compiled for all commodities owing to the non-availability of manufactured product group index, the commerce ministry said in a statement.

Fuel, power and lighting prices fell 10.1 percent for the month of April while Food prices rose 3.6 percent on a wholesale basis.

• Top gainer on the Nifty 50 index
• Gains as much as 6.6 percent to Rs 209.1
• Up for the sixth straight session
• Longest winning streak since December 2019
• Up 30 percent in the last six sessions
• Trades at the highest level in two months
• Today's volumes are 2.2 times higher than its 30-daty average
• Trades near its 100-Day Moving Average at Rs 209.5
• Has gained 72.5 percent from its 52-week low of Rs 120 on March 19, 2020
• 11 out of the 25 analysts tracking the stock have a buy recommendation; 6 sell calls
• The stock trades 2.8 percent higher than its 12-month Bloomberg consensus price target of Rs 200.7, implying a negative return potential.

• Benchmark indices remain near the day's low
• Nifty down 1.87 percent at 9,208
• Sensex down 2 percent at 31,363
• Nifty Bank down 2.3 percent at 19,176
• Nifty Midcap Index trades little changed
• Nifty Smallcap Index down 0.7 percent
• India Volatility Index down 2.2 percent to 37.96
• Nifty FMCG (Up 1.3 percent) and Nifty Pharma (Up 1.1 percent) are the only sectoral gainers
• Nifty I.T. is the top sectoral laggard; down 2.9 percent
• Nifty Media, Nifty Metal, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Realty down between 1.5-2.5 percent
• Bharti Infratel is the top Nifty gainer; up 5.5 percent
• Infosys is the top Nifty loser; down 4.6 percent
• 615 stocks on the NSE are advancing while 1,029 are trading with losses

The state-run lender has informed the exchanges that the Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 lakh on the bank for bouncing of SGL forms.

The forms are with regards to an RBI Circular dated July 14, 2010. SGL stands for Subsidiary General Ledger.

The stock currently trades 1.7 percent lower at Rs 11.75. It is down for 8 out of the last 9 trading sessions.

Sugar demand is likely to be lower than expected due to a nationwide lockdown cuts consumption of sweets, Bloomberg News reports.

Demand from the world's biggest consumer of sugar may range between 25-25.5 million tonnes in the year starting October 1, as compared to the earlier expectation of 26.5 million tonnes, according to Abinash Verma, the Director General of the Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA).

A drop in demand may potentially cut prices and prompt sugar mills to boost overseas sales.

Shares of Balrampur Chini are trading 1 percent lower at Rs 92.80 while those of Dhampur Sugar are down 1.4 percent at Rs 93.50. Both stocks are down for four out of the last five trading sessions.

• Among the top performers on the Nifty Midcap Index
• Locked in an upper circuit of 5 percent at Rs 449.95
• Second straight day of upper circuit
• Gains for the sixth day in a row
• Longest winning streak in a month
• Gains 23.3 percent in the last six trading sessions
• Trading at a two-month high
• Trading near its 100-day Moving Average of Rs 459.3
• The stock has nearly doubled from its 52-week low of Rs 230 on March 25, 2020
• 11 out of the 13 analysts tracking the stock have a buy recommendation; 1 sell call
• Return potential of the stock as per Bloomberg data is 25.4 percent

The stock fell as much as 3.2 percent to Rs 494.8 in today's trading session, giving up half of Wednesday's 6.4 percent surge.

This after brokerages like Jefferies and HSBC cut their price targets on the stock, even a they maintained their buy recommendation.

Jefferies has cut the company's price target to Rs 560 from the earlier Rs 660, anticipating a 55-60 percent drop in sales during Q1FY21.

HSBC too has cut its price target to Rs 590 from Rs 700 in order to factor in the Covid-19 disruption and a challenging short-term outlook.

The stock is declining today on volumes that are 1.2 times higher than its 30-day average.

The private lender shared its March quarter updates where its deposits rose 4.4 percent while advances were up 6 percent compared to last year.

The bank's Liquidity Coverage Ratio stood at 245 percent a compared to 214.8 percent in the year-ago period.

Shares fell as much as 2.6 percent to Rs 117.4, snapping a five-day gaining streak.

The company has been declared the L1 bidder for a NHAI project in Uttar Pradesh worth Rs 1,412 crore.

The said project is 53.95 kilometer long four-laning of Meerut-Nazibabad section of NH-119 under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. The project is a HAM project, as per the company's exchange filing.

Shares were locked in an upper circuit of 5 percent. They now trade 3.8 percent higher at Rs 114 and are up for the fourth straight day.

• Nifty May futures add 6 percent in Open Interest and 4.5 lakh shares
• Nifty Bank May futures add 12.6 percent in Open Interest and 1.53 lakh shares

Nifty: May 14 Expiry

• 9,300 Call: Premium falls 91 percent to Rs 14.45. The contract has added 32 lakh shares in Open Interest.
• 9,200 Put: Premium falls 52.8 percent to Rs 17.8. The contract has added 17.17 lakh shares in Open Interest.
• 9,400 Call: Premium falls 97.6 percent to Rs 2.55. The contract has added 25.93 lakh shares in Open Interest.

Nifty Bank: May 14 Expiry

• 19,000 Put: Premium falls 62.3 percent to Rs 40.8. The contract has added 9 lakh shares in Open Interest.
• 19,500 Call: Premium falls 91 percent to Rs 38. The contract has added 8.27 lakh shares in Open Interest.
• 20,000 Call: Premium falls 99 percent to Rs 2.8. The contract has added 2.8 lakh shares in Open Interest.

30 lakh shares of the capital goods company exchanged hands in two large trades on the National Stock Exchange, as per Bloomberg data.

Buyers and sellers in the trade were not immediately known.

The stock had three large trades taking place in Wednesday's trading session as well.

Shares gained as much as 10.1 percent to Rs 29.3, adding to Wednesday's 23.7 percent surge. The stock is now trading at the highest level in over two months.

• Benchmark indices trade with losses, give up most of Wednesday's gains
• Nifty down 1.4 percent at 9,251
• Sensex down 1.53 percent at 31,531
• Nifty Bank down 1.8 percent at 19,272
• Nifty Midcap Index trades little changed
• Nifty Smallcap index down 0.4 percent
• India Volatility Index down 3.1 percent to 37.64
• Nifty FMCG (Up 0.8 percent) and Nifty Pharma (Up 0.1 percent) are the only sectoral gainers
• Nifty Auto, Nifty Media, Nifty Metal and Nifty PSU Bank fall between 1-2 percent
• Bajaj Finance is the top Nifty gainer; up 2.3 percent
• Tata Motors is the top Nifty laggard; down 4 percent
• 673 stocks on the NSE are advancing while 932 are declining

The currency has opened weak in today's trading session. It gave up most of its gains on Wednesday to end flat.

The rupee opened at 75.55 against the U.S. Dollar as compared to Wednesday's close of 75.45.

Yield on the 10-year bond opened at 5.81 percent as compared to Wednesday's close of 5.8 percent. Traders will assess Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's announcements made on Wednesday with regards to the Covid-19 relief package.

The company has informed the exchanges that its Vishakhapatnam facility has received an Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the U.S. FDA.

The regulator had conducted the inspection at the API facility between January 13-17, 2020.

Shares recovered from the day's low and are now trading 1.2 percent higher at Rs 849.7.

The FMCG company reported a 15 percent decline in its India business volumes in the current quarter. Net profit fell 75.4 percent to Rs 229.9 crore as the base quarter had a deferred tax reversal of Rs 533.5 crore.

While Ebitda fell 17.8 percent, margins contracted to 22.1 percent from 23.6 percent.

Brokerage firm Credit Suisse has maintained its outperform rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 630 but has warned of the company's business in Africa worsening in Q1FY21.

Shares recovered from opening lows to gain as much as 3.65 percent to Rs 553.95. It is also the top performer on the Nifty FMCG index.

The company reported a 20.7 percent decline in its revenue for the quarter ending March. Net profit fell 38.2 percent in the previous year.

Ebitda was down 50 percent while margins narrowed to 1 percent from 7.9 percent. Margins were impacted by higher other expenses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Board of Directors have also agreed in-principle to sell its Mechanical Drives business to its parent company Siemens AG. The said business accounts for 5 percent of the total revenue.

Shares are recovering from the day's low after falling as much as 5.1 percent to Rs 991.

Indian equity markets gave up almost all of Wednesday's gains at the start of trade today owing to weak cues from Asia and the U.S.

Most markets across the Asia Pacific remain in risk-off mode. Futures on the Dow Jones, however, have pared losses and are now trading higher by 30 points.

The S&P BSE Sensex opened 1.7 percent lower at 31,466 while the NSE Nifty 50 opened at 9,213, down 170 points or 1.8 percent. Both benchmark indices snapped a two-day losing streak on Wednesday, ending with gains of 2 percent each.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto and the Nifty I.T. index opened with cuts of over 2 percent each. The Nifty Realty was the relative outperformer, opening little changed.

512 stocks on the NSE have opened with gains while 797 have opened with losses.

• Buy Container Corporation for target of Rs 398 and stop loss of Rs 368
• Buy Bata for target of Rs 1,460 and stop loss of Rs 1,344

• Buy Nifty near 9,210 for target of 9,350-9,450 and stop loss of 9,100
• Buy Container Corporation for target of Rs 410 and stop loss of Rs 360
• Sell Apollo Hospitals futures for target of Rs 1,220 and stop loss of Rs 1,320

• REC, PFC: To extend loans up to Rs 90,000 crore to power discoms to pay dues to power companies.
• CSB Bank: The lender shared its March quarter update where total deposits rose 4.4 percent to Rs 15,790.7 crore. Gross Advances were up 6 percent to Rs 11,558.9 crore. Liquidity coverage ratio stood at 245 percent as compared to 214.8 percent during the same period last year.
• PNC Infratech: Declared the lowest bidder in NHAI’s HAM project worth Rs 1,412 crore in Uttar Pradesh.
• Maruti Suzuki: Board approved supply of derivative model of Vitara Brezza to Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Board had also approved supply of derivative model of Baleno to Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Company said this will result in incremental sales.
• Future Consumer: To consider proposal of rights issue on May 16.
• Siemens India: Board has agreed in-principle to sell its mechanical drives business to parent company Siemens AG. The aforementioned segment accounts for 5 percent of the turnover of the company.
• Companies That Resumed Operations: Kirloskar Electric, Kirloskar Pneumatic, Pricol, Finolex Industries, Schaeffler India.
• Non-Nifty Earnings Today: Escorts, Aavas Financiers, Biocon, Oracle Financial, Manappuram Finance, Tata Consumer, Indian Energy Exchange, Zensar Technologies, TV Today Network, Datamatics Global Services
• Mphasis: Revenue in Q4 rises 3.1 percent while margins were flat. 45 percent rise in other income led net profit growth of 20.3 percent.
• GCPL: Net profit falls 75.4 percent owing to deferred tax reversal in the base quarter. The company does not declare a dividend in order to conserve cash.
• Havells India: Jefferies cuts price target to Rs 560 from Rs 660
• Blue Star: Emkay downgrades to sell from hold. Price target cut to Rs 422 from Rs 491.

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

• Benchmark indices fall to a three-week low
• S&P 500 falls briefly below 2,800 mark, a level previously acting as a support
• The S&P 500 is heading for its worst week in two months
• Goldman Sachs economists believe unemployment rate will peak at 25 percent
• Investor David Tepper called the stock market the most overvalud ever outside the 1999 bubble
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell says negative interest rates are not being considered although he did not completely rule out the move.
• Yield on the 10-year treasury fell two basis points while oil prices ended 1 percent lower.

Catch all the action in the global markets here.

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, fell 1.7 percent to 9,242 as of 8 a.m.

The stock rally in Asia has come to a halt after major investors continue to fuel doubts about valuations.

Markets in Japan, Hong Kong and China have retreated, although the losses are shallower than those seen on Wall Street. Futures on the Dow Jones are currently trading 80 points lower after the benchmark ended with cuts of 2.2 percent on Wednesday.

Yield on the 10-year treasury stood at 0.64 percent, while West Texas Intermediate crude gave up gains to trade flat at $25.37 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.