Sensex, Nifty Begin 2020 On A Cautious Note

Indian equity benchmarks kicked off 2020 on a muted note as gains in HDFC twins were offset by the losses in Reliance Industries Ltd.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.13 percent or 52 points to end at 41,306.02 and the NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.12 percent or 14 points to close at 12,182.50. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index rose 0.16 percent.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of buyers. About 1,017 stocks advanced and 735 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Six out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE ended lower, led by the NSE Nifty Media Index’s 0.52 percent fall. On the flip side, the NSE Nifty IT Index was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.45 percent.

• ApeeJay Surrendra Park Hotels files DRHP for Rs 1,000-crore initial public offer.
• The IPO will include Rs 400 crore worth of fresh issue of shares.

Source: Bloomberg

SKF India

• Stock swung from a fall of as much as 1 percent to gain as much as 1 percent.
• Trading volume was almost seven times its 20-day average.

Aster DM Healthcare

• Stock rose as much as 6.4 percent to Rs 170.95.
• Trading volume was almost five times its 20-day average.

Natco Pharma

• Stock rose as much as 6.9 percent to Rs 634.80.
• Trading volume was almost five times its 20-day average.

APL Apollo Tubes

• Shares extended gains for the fifth consecutive trading session. The stock rose as much as 3.3 percent to Rs 1,939.
• The company reported sales volume of 4,80,225 MTPA during the December quarter compared to 3,14,707 clocked in the year-ago period.

Adani Green Energy

• Shares extended gains for the third consecutive trading session. The stock hit an upper circuit of 5 percent to hit an all-time high at Rs 174.75.
• The company’s arm commissioned its 75-megawatt wind power project having PPA with MSEDCL at Rs 2.85 per unit for 25 years. The commercial sale of power from the project to MSEDCL to commence from Jan. 1.

Apex Frozen Foods

• Shrimp makers rally, led by Apex Frozen Foods
• Shares rose as much as 17.9 percent to Rs 407.

Sterling & Wilson Solar

• Shares extended gains for the fourth consecutive trading session. The stock rose as much as 5 percent to Rs 339.45.
• The promoters enabled repayment of Rs 1,000 crore from date of listing to Dec. 31. The outstanding loan from date of the listing has fallen to Rs 1,644 crore from Rs 2,563 crore.
• The promoters have proposed to facilitate repayment of balance outstanding loan amount in three tranches till September 2020.

Shares of Escorts extended declines for the second consecutive trading session. The stock fell as much as 3.5 percent to Rs 607.85.

The company sold 4,114 tractors last month, a fall of 10.5 percent from the year-ago period, according to its exchange filing.

Key Highlights (YoY)

• Domestic sales declined 9.6 percent to 3,806 units.
• Export sales fell 20.2 percent to 308 units.

Shares of APL Apollo Tubes extended gains for the fifth consecutive trading session. The stock rose as much as 3.3 percent to Rs 1,939.

The company reported sales volume of 4,80,225 MTPA during the December quarter compared to 3,14,707 clocked in the year-ago period.

The scrip advanced 15 percent in the five trading sessions. The Relative Strength Index was above 70, indicating that the stock may be overbought, Bloomberg data showed.

Shares of shrimp exporters advanced, led by the rally in Apex Frozen Foods and Waterbase.

Shares of SML ISUZU fell as much as 1.9 percent to Rs 551.90.

That comes after the company’s sales declined 32.8 percent on a yearly basis to 549 units, according to its exchange filing.

Of the shares traded, 36 percent were at the ask price and 58 percent were at the bid, Bloomberg data showed.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.’s auto sales fell 1 percent on a yearly basis to 39230 units in December. Its tractor sales rose 3 percent year-on-year to 17,990 units.

Key sales highlights (YoY):

• Passenger vehicle sales rose 4 percent to 15,691 units
• Utility vehicles sales rose 10 percent to 15,225 units
• Sales of cars and vans including sales in the subsidiary of Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd. fell 61 percent to 466 units
• Commercial vehicle sales fell 5 percent to 16,018 units
• Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales fell 42 percent to 478 units
• Total domestic sales rose 1 percent to 37,081 units
• Total exports fell 30 percent to 2,149 units

Tractor sales highlights (YoY)

• Domestic tractor sales rose 4 percent to 17,213 units.
• Tractor exports fell 13 percent to 777 units.

Shares of M&M pared losses and rose as much as 1.02 percent to 536.95.

Shares of Adani Green Energy extended gains for the third consecutive trading session. The stock hit an upper circuit of 5 percent to hit an all-time high at Rs 174.75.

The company’s arm commissioned its 75-megawatt wind power project having PPA with MSEDCL at Rs 2.85 per unit for 25 years. The commercial sale of power from the project to MSEDCL to commence from Jan. 1.

Trading volume was more than four ties its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. Of the shares traded, 52 percent were at the ask price and 21 percent were at the bid.

Indian equity benchmarks erased most of the opening gains.

The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 traded little changed at 41,292 and 12,177 respectively. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 index rose 0.1 percent.

Eight out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE traded lower, led by the NSE Nifty Metal Index’s 0.7 percent gain. On the flip side, the NSE Nifty IT Index was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.46 percent.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.’s sales rose 3.9 percent on a yearly basis in December

The company sold 1,33,296 units last month compared to 1,28,338 units sold in December 2018, India’s largest carmaker said in a stock exchange filing.

Key sales highlights (YoY)

• Sales of mini segment fell 13.6 percent to 23,883 units.
• Sales of compact segment rose 27.9 percent to 65,673 units.
• Sales of Ciaz fell 62.3 percent to 1,786 units.
• Sales of utility vehicles rose 17.7 percent to 23,808 units.
• Sales of Vans fell 51.8 percent to 7,634 units.
• Sales of Super Carry fell 5 percent to 1,591 units.
• Total domestic passenger vehicle sales rose 2.5 percent to 1,22,784 units.
• Total domestic sales rose 3.5 percent to 1,25,735 units.
• Total exports rose 10.2 percent to 7,561 units.

The sales of new WagonR are reported under compact segment and the sales number of old discontinued WagonR are, however, reported in the mini sub-segment effective February 2019, the company said.

Shares of Maruti Suzuki erased gains and fell as much as 0.98 percent to 7,296.40 after the announcement.

Catch all the live updates of auto sales announcement here.

Shares of IndusInd Bank extended declines for the second consecutive trading session. The stock fell as much as 1.4 percent to Rs 1,488.55.

The scrip was the worst performer on Sensex and the second-worst performer on Nifty. Of the shares traded, 43 percent were at the ask price and 41 percent were at the bid, according to Bloomberg data.

Nifty’s 12,200 call option contract was among the most active Nifty option contracts on National Stock Exchange.

The premium on the contract, which is set to expire on Jan. 2, fell 17.5 percent to Rs 30.45. Over 23.76 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 33.87 lakh shares.

Shares of Titan rose as much as 0.9 percent to Rs 1,198.35.

That comes after Crisil upgraded its rating on the long-term bank facility of the company to ‘CRISIL AAA/ Stable’ from ‘CRISIL AA+/Positive’, and reaffirmed the rating on the short-term bank facility and commercial paper programme at ‘CRlSIL Al+’, according to its statement on the exchanges.

The stock traded at 63 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year, according to Bloomberg data.

Shares of IRCTC extended gains for the fourth consecutive trading session. The stock rose as much as 2 percent to Rs 952.

The railways announced fare hike across its network, excluding suburban trains, effective from Jan. 1, 2020, according to an order issued on Tuesday, according to a PTI report. “While suburban fares remain unchanged, ordinary non-air condition, non-suburban fares have been hiked by 1 paise per kilometre of the journey,” the report added.

The Relative Strength Index was above 70, indicating that the stock may be overbought, according to Bloomberg data.

Shares of Sterling & Wilson Solar extended gains for the fourth consecutive trading session. The stock rose as much as 3.6 percent to Rs 335, the highest since Nov. 28, 2019.

The promoters enabled repayment of Rs 1,000 crore from date of listing to Dec. 31. The outstanding loan from date of the listing has fallen to Rs 1,644 crore from Rs 2,563 crore.

The promoters have proposed to facilitate repayment of balance outstanding loan amount in three tranches till September 2020.

Trading volume was almost 60 times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock returned 13 percent in the past five days and 9.7 percent in the past 30 days.

Shares of Embassy Office Parks REIT extended gains for the second consecutive trading session and rose as much as 0.9 percent to Rs 427.

The company executed agreements with Embassy Sponsor to acquire 0.6 million square feet leasable area at a 9.25 percent initial yield.

The development is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2022-23 and is located in Embassy Manyata Business Park campus in Bengaluru. The acquisition cost for this transaction is Rs 740 crore which will be funded through additional debt.

Indian equity benchmarks began 2020 on a positive note, led by the gains in Reliance Industries Ltd. and Infosys Ltd.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.3 percent to 41,381 and the NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.3 percent to 12,205.40. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 index rose 0.3 percent.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of buyers. About 916 stocks advanced and 457 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

All the 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE traded higher, led by the NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index’s 0.54 percent gain.

Futures

• Nifty January futures closed at 12,246.2, premium of 77.8 points versus 73.5 points
• Nifty January futures OI up 1.3 percent, adds 1.5 lakh shares in OI
• Nifty Bank January futures closed at 32,366, premium of 204.4 points versus 199 points
• Nifty Bank Jan futures OI down 6 percent, sheds 82,000 shares in OI

Options

• Nifty PCR at 1.12 versus 1.39 (across all series)

Nifty Monthly Expiry: Jan. 2

• Max OI on call side at 12,300 (32.7 lakh shares)
• Max OI on put side at 12,200 (19.8 lakh shares )
• OI addition seen at 12,200C (+13.9 lakh shares), 12,250C (+13.2 lakh shares)
• OI shedding seen at 12,250P (-8.3 lakh shares), 12,200P (-6.8 lakh shares)

Nifty Monthly Expiry: Jan. 30

• Max OI on call side at 12,500 (21.9 lakh shares)
• Max OI on put side at 12,000 (34.5 lakh shares)

• Mirc Electronics promoters acquired 10.5 lakh shares on Dec. 27.
• Sudarshan Chemical Industries promoter Ajoy Rathi sold 4 lakh shares on Dec. 27.
• Anant Raj promoter Amar Sarin acquired 3.2 lakh shares from Dec. 26-27.
• UltraTech Cement promoter Pilani Investment sold 1.8 lakh shares from Dec. 26-27.
• J Kumar Infraprojects promoters acquired 1.5 lakh shares on Dec. 30.
• Godrej Agrovet promoter Godrej Industries acquired 40,000 shares from Dec. 24-26.

• Bhageria Industries, Gateway Distriparks, Hisar Metal Industries, Simplex Infrastructures to move into short term ASM Framework
• Jaypee Infratech, Manaksia Steels, Gayatri Highways, Nitco to move out of short term ASM Framework

The Indian rupee opened higher against the U.S. dollar. The home currency appreciated as much as 0.11 percent to 71.30 against the greenback.

Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.32 percent to 41,383.90 during the pre-market trade and the NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.47 percent to 12,226.65.

Mindspace Business Parks REIT has filed a draft offer document for IPO. The company plans to raise Rs 1,000 crore by issuing fresh shares, while the existing shareholders—K Raheja Corporation and Blackstone Real Estate Partners—plans to sell part of their shares via offer-for-sale.

• Embassy Office Parks REIT executed agreements with Embassy Sponsor to acquire 0.6 million square feet leasable area at a 9.25 percent initial yield. The development is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2022-23 and is located in Embassy Manyata business park campus in Bengaluru. Acquisition cost for this transaction is Rs 740 crore which will be funded through additional debt.
• Sterling & Wilson Solar: Promoters enabled repayment of Rs 1,000 crore from date of listing to Dec. 31. The outstanding loan from date of the listing has fallen to Rs 1,644 crore from Rs 2,563 crore. The promoters have proposed to facilitate repayment of balance outstanding loan amount in three tranches till September 2020.
• CARE Ratings said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India concluded its adjudication proceedings and has imposed a penalty of Rs 25 lakh on the company. The notice was received from SEBI for proceedings in relation to credit ratings assigned to one of the company's customers and the customer subsidiaries.
• Adani Green Energy’s arm commissioned its 75-megawatt wind power project having PPA with MSEDCL at Rs 2.85 per unit for 25 years. The commercial sale of power from the project to MSEDCL to commence from Jan. 1.
• IRCTC, Ircon International: Indian Railways to raise the fare for passengers travelling by ordinary non-air-conditioned class of trains by 1 paisa per passenger kilometre, while hike will be 2 paise for longer distance mail, express trains, according to a statement.
• PTC India selected as an aggregator under the Ministry of Power’s scheme for the resolution of stressed thermal assets. The scheme is for procurement and supply of 2,500 MW power on medium-term basis for a three-year period. The earlier bid process was cancelled due to lack of response for Discoms in February last year. The bid process for selection of generators to be completed by Jan. 2020.
• CreditAccess Grameen completed the direct assignment of Rs 435 crore on Dec. 31, which is also the total amount drawn during Dember quarter in the form of Direct Assignment. The company has completed one securitization and four Direct Assignment transactions and have drawn a total of Rs. 816.69 Crore in 2019-20.
• Yes Bank: CARE Ratings downgraded ratings across various types of bonds aggregating to Rs 21,017 crore. Infra Bonds, Lower Tier II Bonds and Tier II Bonds (Basel III) downgraded to ‘CARE A’ from ‘CARE A+’ with the outlook remaining negative.
• Lakshmi Vilas Bank’s S. Sundar resigned from chief financial officer’s post.
• Religare Enterprises extended long stop date for the proposed sale of Religare Finvest and Religare Housing Development Finance to TCG Advisory Services from Dec. 31 to March 3.
• JSW Steel said that it infused Rs 63.5 crore in Vardhman Industries for a 100 percent stake in the company and now it has become wholly-owned arm of the company.
• Jagran Prakashan: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance reduced stake from 5.06 percent to 3.02 percent.
• Premier Explosives has received a contract for the supply of explosives from Jaiprakash Power Ventures for Rs 15.44 crore.
• Bajaj Electricals to consider raising funds on Jan. 6.
• Federal Mogul Goetze: Reliance MF reduced stake from 9.17 percent to 6.79 percent on Dec. 27.
• South Indian Bank: Reference rate for external benchmark linked loans has been reduced from 5.4 percent to 5.15 percent with effect from Jan. 1.
• Skipper: CARE Ratings downgraded bank facilities worth Rs 1,966 crore to ‘CARE BBB+’ from ‘CARE A’, with outlook changing from Negative to Stable. The revision in the ratings is on account of deterioration in the financial performance of the company in the previous financial year and for first half of the current financial year on account of weak operational performance. There was a decline in the operating income during the period with lower sales from both the engineering and polymer division.
• Corporation Bank accepted the buyback offer of its wholly-owned arm CorpBank Securities to an extent of 25 percent of its total equity capital.
• HG Infra Engineering: Rajat Dutta has resigned as a chief operating officer of the company with effect from Dec. 31.
• Punjab National Bank reduced marginal cost of funds based lending rate across various tenors with effect from Jan. 1. One-month MCLR at 7.5 percent and one-year MCLR at 8.05 percent.

• The S&P 500 advanced 29 percent in 2019 and a record $5.9 trillion in value was added. The Nasdaq 100 Index notched a 38 percent gain for the year, its best since 2009.
• Gold looked to cap its best year since 2010, while crude oil pared its rise to 35 percent.
• European equities slipped Tuesday, but notched a 23% gain in 2019, the most since 2009.

Source: Bloomberg

Happy New Year!

Most Asian markets are closed, with the U.S. stocks capping one of the best years of the past decade with a slight gain in thin pre-holiday trading.

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, fell 0.71 percent to 12,239 as of 8:10 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.