Sensex, Nifty Halt Four-Day Record-Closing Streak

Indian equity benchmarks ended with marginal losses, halting their four-day record closing streak.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.09 percent to end at 41,642.66 and the NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.07 percent to close at 12,262.75. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index fell 0.08 percent.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 969 stocks declined and 839 shares advanced on National Stock Exchange.

Six out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE ended higher, led by the NSE Nifty Media Index’s 0.86 percent gain. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index was the top sectoral loser, down 1.34 percent.

LUX Industries

• Stock fell as much as 8.2 percent to Rs 1,286.
• Trading volume was almost 13 times its 20-day average.

Nesco

• Stock rose as much as 8.7 percent to Rs 694.70.
• Trading volume was six times its 20-day average.

Bharat Rasayan

• Stock rose as much as 2.3 percent to Rs 6,390.
• Trading volume was more than 11 times its 20-day average.

BASF India

• Stock rose as much as 6.3 percent to Rs 1,019.
• Lone Star to acquire construction chemicals business for 3.17 billion Euros.

IndiaMART InterMESH

• Stock rose as much as 9.6 percent to Rs 2,174.70.
• Jefferies initiated ‘Buy’ rating with a price target at Rs 2,500, implying a potential upside of 21.5 percent form the current market price.

Reliance Infra

• Stock rose as much as 4.9 percent to Rs 24.30.
• Wins arbitration award of Rs 1,250 crore against Damodar Valley Corporation.
• Seeks immediate payment of 75 percent of dues.

Muthoot Finance

• Stock rose as much as 2.4 percent to Rs 749.65.
• Fresh longs seen with high open interest of 42 percent.

Shares of Crisil extended gains for the third consecutive trading session. The stock rose as much as 6.8 percent, the most since Aug. 14, 2019, to Rs 1,924.

The company plans to buy Greenwich Associates for $40 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed by January- March quarter, according to its stock exchange notification on Dec. 20.

Trading volume was almost five times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The Relative Strength Index was above 70, indicating that the stock may be overbought.

Shares of Heritage Foods halted their four-day losing streak. The stock rose as much as 6.7 percent to Rs 349.

Of the shares traded, 37 percent were at the ask price and 55 percent were at the bid, according to Bloomberg data.

The stock declined 36 percent in the past 12 months compared to an 16 percent advance in the Sensex. The scrip traded 19 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year, Bloomberg data showed.

Indian equity benchmarks declined after fluctuating between gains and losses in the morning trade.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.3 percent to 41,566 and the NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.2 percent to 12,243. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index fell 0.19 percent.

Shares in Asia drifted near record highs today, with volumes subdued as investors count down to the holiday break.

• MSCI Asia Pacific Index was down 0.1 percent.
• Topix index dipped 0.2 percent at the close.
• Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.4 percent, set for its biggest drop since Nov. 11.
• South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng indexes were little changed.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.5 percent.
• S&P 500 futures were little changed.

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Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Dishman Carbogen Amcis fell as much as 6.7 percent to hit an all-time low at Rs 99.25. The stock extended declines for the fifth consecutive trading session.

The Income Tax department visited company’s head offices and manufacturing sites conducting a search enquiry on Dec. 19 and the search enquiry is continuing. The company said that no impact is there on company’s routine operations.

Trading volume was more than three times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The Relative Strength Index was below 30, indicating that the scrip may be overbought.

Shares of L&T Technology Services rose as much as 2.1 percent to Rs 1,499.80.

The company bagged a multi-million-dollar engineering, procurement and construction management project in Europe, it said in a statement on the exchanges.

The stock declined 10 percent in the past 12 months compared to a 16 percent rally in the Sensex. The scrip traded at 19 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year, according to Bloomberg data.

RoC Mumbai has filed a petition under Sec. 420 (2) of the Companies Act, 2013 seeking its impleadment in the ongoing case and an amendment in the order passed by the Appellate Tribunal. The NCLAT had made observations on the conduct of RoC in its Dec. 18 order.

RoC seeks an amendment to:

• Reflect that its conduct was not illegal and was in accordance with the applicable law.
• Deletion of the aspersions made against it in the order.
• Reflect that it acted in a bonafide manner in granting approval for conversion of Tata Sons from a public to private company on account of the law prevailing at the time of granting approval.

Source: RoC Petition to NCLAT

Indian equity benchmarks fluctuated between gains and losses to trade little changed.

The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 traded little changed at 41,645 and 12,272 as of 11:35 a.m. The border markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index, too, traded little changed.

Eight out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE traded higher, led by the NSE Nifty Media Index’s 0.9 percent gain. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index was the top sectoral loser, down 0.28 percent.

Shares of Hindustan Copper rose as much as 5.9 percent to Rs 39.90.

Trading volume was more than two times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock declined 23 percent in the past 12 months compared to a 17 percent rally in the Sensex.

Nifty’s 12,300 call option contract was among the most active Nifty option contracts on National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract, which is set to expire on Dec. 26, fell 30.62 percent to Rs 34.90. Over 9.85 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 34.53 lakh shares.

Shares of IndiaMART InterMESH rose as much as 5.2 percent to Rs 2,088.90.

That comes after Jefferies initiated ‘Buy’ rating with a price target at Rs 2,500, implying a potential upside of 21.5 percent form the current market price.

Here’s what the research firm had to say:

• Initiated ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 2,500.
• Dominant B2B classified platform in India with strong moats to defend it against competition.
• Expect 20 percent revenue CAGR over FY20-22 despite macro headwinds related to economic slowdown.
• Expect sharp margin expansion to 28 percent by FY22 versus 16 percent in FY19 given strong economies of scale.
• Also free cash flow positive helped by upfront collections and low capex.

Shares of Lux Industries fell as much as 7.2 percent, the most since Jan. 10, 2019, to Rs 1,301.05.

Trading volume was more than four times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. Of the shares traded, 12 percent were at the ask price and 80 percent were at the bid.

The stock declined 1.4 percent in the past five days and returned 2.7 percent in the past 30 days, according to Bloomberg data.

Indian equity benchmarks opened lower, led by the declines in Reliance Industries Ltd. and State Bank of India.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.19 percent to 41,600 and the NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.15 percent to 12,253. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index traded little changed.

The market breadth, however, was tilted in favour of buyers. About 680 stocks advanced and 664 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Six out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE traded higher, led by the NSE Nifty Metal Index’s 0.52 percent gain. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty PSU bank Index was the top sectoral loser, down 0.5 percent.

Index Futures

• Nifty December futures closed at 12,268.9, premium of 9.2 points versus 21.5 points.
• Nifty December futures series open interest down 0.1 percent, sheds 17,000 shares in open interest.
• Nifty Bank December futures closed at 32,260.4, premium of 19 points versus 35 points.
• Nifty Bank December futures series open interest down 3 percent, sheds 38,000 shares in open interest.

Options

• Nifty PCR at 1.74 versus 1.72 (across all series).

Nifty Monthly Expiry: Dec. 26

• Max open interest on call side at 12,300 (20.9 lakh shares)
• Max open interest on put side at 12,000 (39.7 lakh shares)
• open interest addition seen at 12,200P (+13.7 lakh shares), 12,400C (+6.8 lakh shares)

• Mahindra & Mahindra to meet Rare Enterprises and HDFC Life Insurance from Dec. 23-24.
• Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services to meet Matthews International Capital Management on Dec. 24.
• Dr Lal Pathlabs to meet Ambit Capital on Dec. 23.
• Granules to meet Kotak Securities on Dec. 24.

• Sensex Changes: Titan, UltraTech Cement, Nestle to be added. While Tata Motors, Tata Motors DVR, Vedanta and Yes Bank to be dropped.
• ABB India record date for demerger.
• Magma Fincorp, VIP Clothing, ITD Cementation to move out of ASM Framework.
• Gayatri Highways, Jaypee Infratech, Ortin Laboratories to move into short term ASM Framework.
• Flexituff Ventures, SPML Infra, Tanla Solutions, Sterling And Wilson Solar, Sathavahana Ispat to move out of short term ASM Framework.
• Aarvee Denims & Exports, PMC Fincorp, Manaksia Steels price band revised to 10 percent.

• Prince Pipes and Fittings received 2.2 times demand for shares offered.

The Indian rupee opened lower against the U.S. dollar. The home currency depreciated as much as 0.07 percent to 71.17 against the greenback.

Indian equity benchmarks are set for a muted start.

The S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 traded little changed at 41,681 and 12,271.80 respecitively during the pre-market trade.

Manpasand Beverages Q1FY20 Standalone (year-on-year)

• Revenue fell 89.2 percent to Rs 36.1 crore.
• Net loss at Rs 31.3 crore versus Net Profit of Rs 36.4 crore.
• EBITDA Loss of Rs 8.4 crore versus EBITDA Gain of Rs 68 crore.

• Hindalco: Novelis received approval from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation for its aquisition of Aleris, as part of which Novelis agreed to sell the Aleris plant in Duffel, Belgium to an independent, third party, according to Bloomberg report.
• ICICI Bank acquired 45 lakh shares or 18.75 percent stake in Karvy Data Management Services pursuant invocation of pledged shares of the company for recovery of outstanding dues of Karvy Stock Broking. On Dec. 19, Bajaj Finance had acquired 10 percent stake in the same arm due to invocation of pledged shares.
• Glenmark Pharma: Bausch Health will grant Glenmark non-exclusive license effective till 2026 for its intellectual property relating to Bryhali Solution, according to Bloomberg report.
• Prestige Estate Projects: Board approved allotment of 1.34 crore shares at a floor price of Rs 323.22 to Gamnat aggregating to Rs 434.5 crore. The floor price is at discount of 7 percent to the closing prices on Dec. 20. Gamnat is an investment firm managed by Singapore’s wealth fund GIC.
• Power Finance transferred a transmission project in UP to Power Grid Corporation.
• Tata Global Beverages appointed Sunil D’Souza as the managing director and chief executive officer with effect from April 4, 2020 till 2025. He will leave the post of MD in Whirlpool in March next year.
• Gateway Distriparks completed the sale of its container freight station in Chennai for Rs 48.41 crore to Team Global Logistics.
• International Paper APPM promoter West Coast Paper Mills pledged 2.03 crore shares or 51 percent equity amounting to Rs 343 crore in favour of Standard Chartered Bank, Aditya Birla Finance and Axis Finance. This has been done to fund the acquisition of shares in International Paper APPM. West Coast Paper Mills has a stake of 72.2 percent in the company. The shares were encumbered as the promoter has issued non-convertible debentures of Rs 198 crore and availed term loan facility of Rs 145 crore.
• Godawari Power & Ispat will consider proposal of scheme of arrangement with Jagdamba Power and Alloys on Dec. 24.
• Tourism Finance Corporation: Merlin Holdings increased stake to 8.08 percent from 5.55 percent in the company.
• J&K Bank Divergence in net NPA stood at a positive 689 crore and divergence in provisioning stood at Rs 884 crore for the financial year ended-2019.
• Care Ratings Rajesh Mokashi resinged at as managing director and chief executive officer of the rating agency. TN Arun Kumar to continue to act as Interim CEO of the company.
• Rallis India: Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal approved merger of Metahelix Life Science with self. NCLT Bengaluru had approved this scheme on Nov. 11.
• UFO Moviez: Board approved an investment of Rs 20 crore by way of convertible instruments in Cinestaan Digital. The company will acquire up to 62.5 percent stake in the target company over the period of three years.
• KEC International secured Rs 1,520 crore for various business segment i.e. urban & transport, railways and T&D.
• Dilip Buildcon bagged an EPC four-laning project with a cost of Rs 458 crore.
• PSP Projects emerged as L1 bidder for EPC design and build construction of tech hub at Gift city. The company has emerged as the lowest bidder with bid value of Rs 308 crore.
• NBCC received LOI from HIL to provide PMC services. This will be for development of 5.12 acre Land parcel on self-sustainable model. The estimated cost of the project will be Rs 350 crore inclusive of a fee of Rs 35 crore.
• Jet Airways: NCLT allowed 90- Day extension for Jet's Resolution Process, according to PTI report.
• Reliance Industries: Centre seeked to restrain Reliance Industries Stake sale to Saudi Aramco Times of India reported.
• Sun Pharma: Promoters released pledge on 68.5 lakh shares.

• U.S. equities finished the week at a record high as investors counted down to the holiday break.
• Oil eased in Asian trading on Monday, extending Friday’s losses, with little news on the China-U.S. trade front and as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signaled they were close to a deal to renew oil output along the border.

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Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.1 percent to 12,271.80 as of 7:50 a.m.

Asian shares started the week mixed, with volumes subdued as investors count down to the holiday break.

Equities were little changed in Tokyo and Seoul, and fell in Sydney and Shanghai. They were little changed in Hong Kong. S&P 500 futures were flat.

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