Sensex, Nifty End Volatile Session With Minor Gains As Polls Start

Indian equity benchmarks ended marginally higher after a volatile trade as the first phase of Lok Sabha elections began today.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.06 percent higher at 38,607.01 and the NSE Nifty 50 ended at 11,596.70, up 0.11 percent. Both the benchmark indices fluctuated between gains and losses at least over 10 times in today’s trade. The broader market index represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index ended 0.12 percent higher.

The market breadth, however, was tilted in favour of sellers. About 938 shares fell and 778 stocks advanced on National Stock Exchange.

Seven out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE ended lower, led by the NSE Nifty Metal Index’s 1.2 percent decline. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Auto Index was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.53 percent.

Bharat Dynamics

• Stock rose as much as 9.9 percent to Rs 320.90.
• Trading volume was more than 40 times its 20-day average.

Forbes & Co

• Stock rose as much as 4 percent to Rs 2,500.
• Trading volume was almost 14 times its 20-day average.

Vakrangee

• Stock rose as much as 19.9 percent to Rs 68.20.
• Trading volume was almost seven times its 20-day average.

Manappuram Finance

• Stock rose as much as 8.2 percent to Rs 129.20.
• Trading volume was almost five times its 20-day average.

SpiceJet

• Stock rose as much as 9.9 percent to Rs 103.85.
• Trading volume was almost triple its 20-day average.

About 10 lakh shares of Hindalco changed hands in a block deal, Blomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

European stocks edged lower as falls among basic resources and tech stocks outweighed a rise for banks, after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting highlighted concerns around several uncertainties.

Jet Airways said that its founder Naresh Goyal pledged 26 percent stake with Punjab National Bank on April 4 as security for loans taken by the company, according to its stock exchange filing.

About 30 lakh shares of Power Grid changed hands in a single block, Bloomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

The Indian rupee reversed its opening losses against the U.S. dollar. The home currency strengthened past 69 against the greenback.

Construction company Larsen & Toubro acquired the entire stake held by Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited ('TIDCO') in L&T Shipbuilding Ltd., a subsidiary company, according to its stock exchange filing.

Shares of L&T rose nearly 1 percent to Rs 1,381 after the announcement.

Nifty’s 11,600 call option contract was among the most active Nifty option contracts on National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract fell 64.29 percent to Rs 12. Over 14.85 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 26.52 lakh shares.

State-run Rail Vikas Nigam listed at Rs 19 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock fell to Rs 18.60 thereafter. The company’s IPO received 182 percent demand.

Shares of the oil marketing companies gained as Brent crude retreats from yesterday’s 1.6 percent rally.

Shares of Siemens extended gains for the third consecutive trading session and rose as much as 1.15 percent to Rs 1,179, the heist level since Feb. 27, 2018.

The Relative Strength Index was at 77, indicating that the stock may be overbought, Bloomberg data showed.

Shares of Wockhardt rose as much as 3.5 percent to Rs 457.80, the highest in over two months.

The company received U.S. FDA approval for generic version of Dacogen, which is used to treat certain forms of cancer. The product will be manufactured in Hyderabad. The company said it will launch the product in U.S. in a short period of time.

Trading volume was 7.7 times its 30-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock declined 40 percent in the past 12 months compared to a 14 percent gain in the Sensex.

Shares of Welspun Corp rose as much as 6 percent, the most in over a week, to Rs 146.35.

The company received pipe orders of 180KMT on a global basis. The company’s order book stood at 1,661 KMT valued at Rs 14,100 crore.

Trading volume was six times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock returned 3 percent so far this year and declined 1 percent in the past 12 months.

Indian equity benchmarks extended fall for the second consecutive trading session, tracking losses in their Asian peers.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell as much as 0.09 percent to 38,551.11 and the NSE Nifty 50 fell as much as 0.08 percent to 11,575.35. The broader market index fluctuated between gains and losses to trade a little changed.

The market breadth, however, was tilted in favour of buyers. About 827 stocks advanced and 585 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Seven out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE fell, led by the NSE Nifty Pharma Index’s 0.26 percent decline. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Realty Index was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.78 percent.

The Indian rupee opened lower against the U.S. dollar. The home currency depreciated as much as 0.14 percent against the greenback.

April Futures

• Nifty open interest down 1.2 percent, sheds 1.8 lakh shares in open interest.
• Bank Nifty open interest down 1 percent, sheds 23,300 shares.
• Nifty futures premium at 68.6 points versus 70.4 points, closed trading at 11,652.9.
• Bank Nifty futures premium at 175.7 points versus 201 points, closed trading at 29,979.2.

Options

• Nifty PCR at 1.32 versus 1.47 across all series

Nifty Weekly Expiry April 11

• Max open interest at 11,700 call (25.4 lakh shares), 11,800 call (18.6 lakh shares) and 11,500 put (14.2 lakh shares).
• Open interest addition seen at 11,700 call strike, adds 11.8 lakh shares in open interest.
• Open interest shedding seen at 11,850 call (-10 lakh shares), 11,600 put (-5.6 lakh shares).

Nifty Monthly Expiry 25 April

• Max open interest at 12000 call (32 lakh shares) and 11,000 put (28 lakh shares).
• Open interest addition seen for 12,000 call, 11,700 call strikes.

Stocks In F&O Ban

In ban:

• Adani Power
• DLF
• IDBI
• Jet Airways
• PC Jeweller
• Reliance Power
• Wockhardt

UBS on BPCL

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 415.
• Retail fuel margins to remain stable despite volatility in crude.
• Focus shifting from refining to petrochemicals.
• Marketing business to remain backbone of growth in near-term.

JPMorgan on Reliance Industries

• Maintained ‘Neutral’; hiked price target to Rs 1,300 from Rs 1,100.
• Downside risk of refining and petchem increases due to weakness in operating environment.
• Jio growth to remain strong, but not large enough to offset weak core energy business.
• Deleveraging and cash inflow via stake sale key event for investors.

Nomura on Wipro

• Maintained ‘Neutral’ with a price target of Rs 270.
• Likely to announce a buyback of $1.7 billion.
• Buyback largely EPS neutral.
• Stock prices to be supportive in near-term.

UBS on Tata Motors

• Maintained ‘Neutral’ with a price target of Rs 200.
• JLR 2018-19 volumes – ex-China growth modest.
• Volume growth to remain weak in 2019-20.
• Medium term outlook for JLR remains challenging.

UBS on Delta Corp

• Maintained ‘Buy’; hiked price target to Rs 340 from Rs 310.
• Continuing on path of strong growth momentum.
• Multiple investments to aid growth in long term.
• Believe there is lack of clarity on Goa gaming policy contours at least in near term.

• Glenmark Pharma ex-date for stock split from Rs 10 to Re 1.
• SQS India BFSI ex-date for share buyback.
• Sakuma Exports to move into short term ASM Framework.
• Tanla Solutions price band revised to 5 percent.

• Ashok Leyland promoter Hinduja Automotive created pledge of 3.9 crore shares on April 8.
• Adani Transmission promoter group Gautam Adani revoked pledge of 2 lakh shares on April 8.
• Olectra Greentech promoter Trinity Infraventures created pledge of 19 lakh shares on April 9.
• Sanghi Industries promoter Ravi Sanghi created pledge of 15.64 lakh shares on April 8.
• Adani Ports & SEZ promoter group Gautam Adani revoked pledge of 10 lakh shares on April 8.
• Emami promoters revoked pledge of 37 lakh shares on April 8.
• Sun Pharma promoter group revoked pledge of 1.25 crore shares via off-market transaction on April 9.

State-Run Rail Vikas Nigam’s shares to start trading on the exchanges after IPO gets 182 percent demand at Rs 19 per share.

• Wipro to consider share buyback on April 16. This will be the third buyback proposal for the company in three years.
• Jet Airways: SBI modified terms for expression of interest for Jet Airways hours before the deadline ended. The new terms allow interested bidders to take over management control of Jet Airways or restructure existing debt of the company by issuing fresh loans or taking over equity pledged with lenders. The bidding deadline has been extended to April 12. Separately, Indian Oil has stopped fuel supply to Jet Airways in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad airports.
• Welspun Corp received additional pipe orders of 180KMT on a global basis. The company’s order book stands at Rs 1,661 KMT valued at Rs 14,100 crore.
• Reliance Industries clarified that the company neither setup any gas pipeline in 2006 nor has any contracts with any Netherland company for setting up any gas pipeline. Separately, the Indian government has challenged tribunal order freeing Jio from Reliance Communications past dues.
• NMDC March sales down 13 percent at 3.59 million tonne versus 4.15 million tonne. Yearly sales down 10 percent to at 32.39 million tonne.
• Bharti Airtel sets April 24 as rights issue record date.
• TCS partnered with Google Cloud to build digital solutions.
• Kansai Nerolac Paints completed acquisition of Perma Construction Aids.
• Blue Star filed a petition for liquidation of its Oman-based joint venture in the jurisdictional court in Oman.
• NBCC said that it secured orders worth Rs 3,031.7 crore in March.
• Confidence Petroleum India said that it has received license for ten more auto LPG Dispensing Stations taking the number from 186 stations to 196 stations.
• Info Edge increased stake in Gramophone to 37.2 percent for Rs 14 crore.
• Vedanta ruling from U.K. top court opens door to foreign claims: Bloomberg News.
• Tanla Solutions board approved allotment of 2.19 crore shares to Blackstone arm.
• Shoppers Stop opened a new store in Guwahati.
• Oil India named Harish Madhav as CFO with effect from April 10.
• Bank of Maharashtra’s employee share purchase scheme has been fully subscribed. The bank says that it had offered 10 crore equity shares to its employees under the said scheme.
• Wockhardt received U.S. FDA approval for generic version of Dacogen, which is used to treat certain forms of cancer. The product will be manufactured in Hyderabad. The company says it will launch the product in U.S. in a short period of time.
• Tata Steel European Works Council voiced doubts on Thyssenkrupp merger: ANP

• U.S. banks begin reporting first-quarter earnings, led by JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
• China inflation data due Thursday may show a pick up in February. New lending and money-supply data will also arrive as early as Thursday.

• Brent crude traded 0.11 percent lower at $71.65 a barrel.
• West Texas Intermediate crude slid 0.4 percent to $64.35 a barrel.
• Gold was little changed at $1,308.13 an ounce.

London Metal Exchange

• Aluminium resumed declines after a one-day breather, ended 0.75 percent higher.
• Copper ended a two-day rally, closed 0.35 percent lower.
• Lead ended lower for the second consecutive trading session, closed 1.14 percent lower.
• Tin resumed declines after a one-day breather, ended 0.12 percent lower.
• Zinc halted a two-day decline, ended 0.42 percent higher.
• Nickel ended higher for the third consecutive trading session, up 0.19 percent.

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, fluctuated between gains and losses to trade a little changed at 11,655 as of 8:30 a.m.

Asian stocks declined after the Federal Reserve did little to alter investor expectations that interest rates in the U.S. are likely on hold for the remainder of this year.

Chinese companies led losses, while declines were more modest in Japan and Australia. Futures on the S&P 500 Index were flat.

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