Sensex, Nifty Clock Longest Winning Streak Since December To End At Over Six-Month High

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher for the seventh consecutive trading session, registering its longest gaining streak Dec. 19, 2018, to end at over a six-month high.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.7 percent or 268 points higher at 38,363.47 and the NSE Nifty 50 ended at 11,532.40, up 0.61 percent. The broader markets, represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index also ended higher after gaining 0.56 percent.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of buyers. About 924 shares advanced, and 827 stocks declined on National Stock Exchange.

Nine out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE advanced, led by the NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index’s 1.87 percent rally. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Auto Index was the top sectoral loser, down 0.7 percent.

Shares of Infosys pared losses and rose over 2 percent intraday to Rs 726.50.

JM Financial

• Stock rose as much as 13.6 percent to Rs 98.70.
• Trading volume was more than nine times its 20-day average.

L&T Infotech

• Stock rose as much as 6.7 percent to Rs 1,672.80.
• Trading volume was nine times its 20-day average.

Bharti Infratel

• Stock rose as much as 4.3 percent to Rs 331.80.
• Trading volume was almost triple its 20-day average.

The organisation will continue to oppose L&T’s takeover attempt, said Mindtree Chairman Krishnakumar Natarajan.

The Indian rupee erased opening gains and were trading at day’s low. The home currency depreciated as much as 0.53 percent to 68.89 against the greenback.

The local legal tender had rallied for six consecutive trading sessions, its longest stretch of gains in over a month.

European equities rallied as mining shares climbed amid higher copper prices.

The NSE Nifty PSU Bank extended gains for the third consecutive trading session, led by the rally in Bank of India, which rose over 6 percent.

Indian equity benchmarks traded at day’s high. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped over 200 points and the NSE Nifty 50 traded above 11,500.

Shares of the information technology company resumed gains after a one-day blip and rose as much as 1.3 percent to Rs 1,025.

HCL Technologies entered into a shared services arrangement with Xerox Corporation following which Xerox will outsource certain global administrative and support functions, according to its notification to the exchanges. The transaction revenue over the course of seven years will be $1.3 billion.

The stock traded at 14 times its estimated earnings per share for the current year, Bloomberg data showed.

Mindtree management had approached us a few years ago, while VG Siddharatha made his approach a few months ago, said L&T's SN Subrahmanyan.

• Action Construction Equipment: Shares of the cranes manufacturer rose as much as 3.4 percent to Rs 103.60. The company received NCLT approval for merger with its wholly owned subsidiary Frested Ltd., accruing to its stock exchange filing.
• Aurionpro Solutions: Shares of the software solutions provider rose as much as 10.3 percent to Rs 150.20. The company plans to consider share buyback on March 25, according to its statement on the exchanges.
• Prism Johnson: Shares of the building materials maker rose as much as 2.7 percent to Rs 91.80. The company acquired 27 percent stake in CSE Solar Parks Satna, it said in a statement on the exchanges.

Nifty’s 11,500 call option contract was among the most active Nifty option contracts on National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract fell 27.5 percent to Rs 28.60. Over 6.94 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 18.36 lakh shares.

Indian stocks will accelerate gains in the lead-up to the election next month as foreign investors pile back in amid a “sharp underperformance” in the market and earnings growth that’s expected to top the region, Bloomberg reported quoting Goldman Sachs Group.

“Equities of Asia’s third-largest economy were raised to overweight from marketweight—just six months after Goldman downgraded them,” the report said, adding that the Nifty 50 will reach 12,500 in 12 months, implying a 9.1 percent gain from Monday’s close, while earnings growth this year is expected to climb 16 percent.

Shares of the hotel chain operator hit an upper circuit of 5 percent to Rs 11.55.

Hotel Leelaventure said it will sell four Leela hotels in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Udaipur to a Brookfield-sponsored private real estate fund for Rs 3,950 crore, according to a stock exchange filing. The above four hotels contribute nearly 80 percent of the total income and 88 percent of the total net worth of the company.

The stock declined 35 percent in the past 12 months compared with a 16 percent gain in the Sensex.

Shares of Torrent Power rose as much a 3.1 percent to Rs 269.40.

About 4.6 crore shares of the company changed hands in a block deal during pre-market trade, Bloomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

Trading volume was five times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock advanced 11.8 percent over the past year compared to a 17.3 percent advance in the Sensex.

Shares of the IT services provider pared opening gains and fell as much as 1.6 percent to Rs 947.60.

Larsen and Toubro Ltd. seeks to buy a controlling stake in Mindtree Ltd., after it entered into an agreement with Coffee Day Enterprises founder VG Siddhartha to buy his 20.3 percent shareholding in the mid-sized information technology firm.

Besides, shares of L&T declined as much as 1.9 percent and Coffee Day Enterprise fell 2.7 percent intraday.

Shares of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company fluctuated between gains and losses to trade 0.5 percent lower at Rs 973.20.

Brokerage and research firm Jefferies initiated coverage with a ‘Buy’ rating on the stock and set a price target at Rs 1,136, implying a potential upside of Rs 15.8 percent from the current market price. This is the highest price target so far among the analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

Here’s what Jefferies had to say about ICICI Lombard:

• Expect strong demand for consumer-oriented products and low correlation to markets.
• Long-term motor insurance RoE accretive; expect benefits over FY19-21.
• Well positioned to deliver RoE’s in excess of 20 percent.
• Expect book value and net profit to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 19 percent and 25 percent respectively over FY19-21.

Shares of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group companies gained after Reliance Communications paid Rs 550 crore to Ericsson as per the directions of the Supreme Court. (Read the full story here)

Besides, Reliance Communications and Reliance Jio terminated their agreement for sale of specified assets by mutual consent.

Indian equity benchmarks extended gains for the seventh consecutive trading session.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose as much as 0.39 percent to 38,243.86 and the NSE Nifty 50 rose as much as 0.34 percent to trade above 11,500.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of buyers. About 843 stocks advanced and 577 shares declined on NSE.

Nine out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE advanced, led by the NSE Nifty Pharma Index’s 0.74 percent gain. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Auto Index was the top sectoral loser, down 0.6 percent.

The Indian rupee opened a little changed at 68.58 after rallying for six consecutive trading sessions.

The rupee rose nearly 1 percent on Monday to end at 68.53 on Monday, adding to last week’s 1.5 percent rise amid rising foreign fund inflows into India's stock and bond markets. Foreigners have bought over $3 billion in Indian assets so far this month, and there are little signs of those flows waning in the near term, giving plenty of support to the rupee.

Indian sovereign bonds may open lower on higher crude prices and as states prepare to sell 109.3 billion rupees of debt. Oil is trading near its highest level this year after OPEC and its partners committed to continue production cuts until at least June, when they will meet to discuss an extension.

Yield on India’s most-heavily traded govt bonds due Jan 2028 fell two basis points on Monday to 7.48 percent while the yield on benchmark 10-year debt due January 2029 dropped three basis points to 7.2 percent.

F&O Cues

• Nifty March Futures closed trading at 11494, premium of 32 points.
• Max OI for March series at 11,500 Call, OI at 25.4 lakh shares.
• Max OI for March series at 11,000 Put, OI at 38.3 lakh shares.

Stocks In F&O Ban

• In Ban: Adani Enterprises, BEML, IDBI, Just Dial, Jet Airways, Reliance Power, Reliance Capital
• New in Ban: BEML, Just Dial, Reliance Power
• Out of Ban: Reliance Infrastructure

Put-Call Ratio

• Nifty PCR at 1.77 versus 1.68

• MSTC IPO was subscribed 117 times after BRLM extended offer period till March 20 and revised price-band to Rs120-128 per share.
• Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO gets 20 percent demand on first day sale; offer to close on March 20.

Spark on Real Estate

• Oberoi Realty: Initiated ‘Reduce’ with a price target of Rs 470.
• Persistent pain in Mumbai premium residential segment.
• Godrej Properties: Initiated ‘Add’ with a price target of Rs 700.
• Aggressive project additions provide strong volume visibility
• Sobha: Upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Add’; hiked price target to Rs 500 from Rs 470.
• Strong launch pipeline, volume growth and strong execution record.
• Prestige Estates: Upgraded to ‘Buy’ From ‘Sell’; hiked price target to Rs 300 from Rs 165.
• Residential business expected to see traction; debt to peak out by the current financial year.

ICICI Securities on Alembic Pharma

• Maintained ‘Add’; cut price target to Rs 610 from Rs 656.
• Believe near term earnings pressure would remain.
• Believe profitability would be impacted over next two years with new facilities getting started.
• Cut earnings estimates by 3-10 percent for FY20-21.

HDFC Securities on Print Media

• Expect recovery in ad revenue growth and benign newsprint costs.
• Robust free cash flows and high dividend pay-out to support valuations.
• DB Corp: Initiated ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 282.
• Expect revenue, Ebitda and net profit to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 5.5 percent, 21 percent and 25 percent respectively over FY19-21.
• Jagran Prakashan: Initiated ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 148.
• Expect revenue, Ebitda and net profit to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 6 percent, 16 percent and 21 percent respectively over FY19-21.

Jefferies on ICICI Lombard

• Initiated ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 1,136.
• Expect strong demand for consumer-oriented products and low correlation to markets.
• Long-term motor insurance RoE accretive; expect benefits over FY19-21.
• Well positioned to deliver RoE’s in excess of 20 percent.
• Expect book value and net profit to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 19 percent and 25 percent respectively over FY19-21.

Haitong on HDFC Bank

• Initiated ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 2,615.
• Infrastructure in place for next phase of growth; developed sustainable economic moats.
• Operating efficiencies and lower cost to income ratio to aid earnings.
• Expect loan book and EPS to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 21 percent and 19 percent respectively over FY19-21.

• NTPC ex-date for bonus share at 1:5.
• Dhampure Speciality Sugars to move into ASM Framework.

Stocks Moving Into Short-Term ASM Framework

• IFB Agro Industries
• Mercator
• AXISCADES Engineering Technologies
• IIFL Holdings
• Indiabulls Integrated Services
• MT Educare
• Skipper
• Jindal Stainless
• Manpasand Beverages
• GVK Power & Infrastructure
• Khadim
• Matrimony.Com
• CESC Ventures
• Religare Enterprises
• Sadbhav Engineering

• Jindal Steel & Power promoter group OPJ Trading revokes pledge of 3 lakh shares.
• Bajaj Consumer Care promoter Bajaj Resources creates a pledge of 1.12 lakh shares.

(As Reported on March 18)

• Dewan Housing Finance: PGGM World Equity BV acquired 25.17 lakh shares or 0.80 percent equity at Rs 136.55 each.
• Justdial: Morgan Stanley France SAS acquired 4.07 lakh shares or 0.63 percent equity at Rs 639.34 each.
• Reliance Infrastructure: PGGM World Equity BV acquired 14.6 lakh shares or 0.57 percent equity at Rs 135.93 each.

• Larsen & Toubro seeks to buy a controlling stake in Mindtree after it entered into an agreement with Coffee Day Enterprises founder VG Siddhartha to buy his 20.3 percent shareholding in the mid-sized information technology firm. In a three-step transaction, L&T will get between 20.3 to 66.3 percent of Mindtree at a total cost of up to Rs 10,730 crore.
• Hotel Leelaventure said it will sell four Leela hotels in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Udaipur to a Brookfield-sponsored private real estate fund for Rs 3,950 crore, according to a stock exchange filing. The above four hotels contribute nearly 80 percent of the total income and 88 percent of the total net worth of the company.
• HCL Technologies entered into a shared services arrangement with Xerox Corporation pursuant to which Xerox will outsource certain global administrative and support functions from HCL. The transaction revenue over the course of seven years will be $1.3 billion.
• HDFC considered issuing rupee bonds to overseas investors under its medium-term note program. The terms of this bond issue are to be decided on or after March 22.
• Pidilite Industries’ P Ganesh resigned from the post of CFO with effect from May 24.
• Adani Ports approved a buy-back of NCDs worth Rs 1,400 crore.
• Majesco acquired insurance software business from its parent company Majesco Ltd.
• Canara Bank said it will raise long-term foreign currency funds worth Rs $500 million under its medium-term notes program. They will meet investors between March 19-20 for this program.
• BEML said it will consider interim dividend on March 21 with a record date set for March 29.
• Voltas launched adjustable inverter air conditioner range which allows the use to switch from 1.5 ton to 1 ton capacity and vice versa, depending on the ambient heat or number of people.
• Aarti Industries said it will raise funds via qualified institutional buyers and will approve the price of equity shares to be allotted to QIP on March 22.
• The Reserve Bank of India renewed authorization issued to the Vakrangee for white label ATMs
• Reliance Communications and Reliance Jio terminated their agreement for sale of specified assets by mutual consent. Next date on hearing in this matter is set for April 8.
• Allahabad Bank board said it will consider raising equity capital on March 26.
• Vedanta said two people were killed in protests in its Odisha alumina refinery
• IGSEC Heavy Engineering fixed March 29 as record date for share split of 1:10.
• Hindustan Aeronautics declared a dividend of Rs 19.8 per share, with a record date on March 29
• Tata Motors clarified that JLR made voluntary recall of vehicles due to carbon dioxide issue, cost associated with this step were not material. (Bloomberg News)

• Company earnings include FedEx, China Telecom, Tencent, Porsche, BMW, Hermes, Tiffany, Micron, Nike and PetroChina.
• The Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady, announce plans for the end of asset roll-off from its balance sheet, and lower projections for the number of interest-rate hikes this year. The decision is due Wednesday.
• Central banks in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia are all scheduled for policy meetings.
• In the euro zone, purchasing manager survey numbers on Friday will give an indication of the health of the region’s industrial and service sectors at the end of the first quarter.

• Brent crude traded 0.07 percent lower at $67.49 per barrel.
• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2 percent to $59 a barrel, trading near a four-month high.
• Gold was stable at $1,303.89 an ounce.

London Metal Exchange

• Nickel ended higher for the second day, up 0.72 percent.
• Aluminium halted a two-day fall, ended 1.2 percent higher.
• Lead ended lower for the third day, down 1.07 percent.
• Tin ended 0.47 percent higher.
• Copper ended 0.09 percent lower.
• Zinc ended lower for the third day, down 0.32 percent.

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.1 percent to 11,523 as of 8:25 a.m.

Asian equities were mixed Tuesday as traders awaited central bank meetings amid expectations of dovish signals to monetary policy.

Stocks dropped in Tokyo and fluctuated in Sydney and Seoul. Futures pointed to a flat start to trading in Hong Kong. U.S. equity futures were little changed after American stocks posted modest gains Monday that were enough to see benchmarks reach a five-month high.

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