Sensex, Nifty End Mixed After Rallying For Seven Days; SpiceJet Jumps 20%

Indian equity benchmarks ended mixed after rallying for seven consecutive trading sessions, their longest gaining streak since December 2018.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.06 percent or 23.28 points higher at 38,386.75, while the NSE Nifty 50 ended at 11,521.05, down 0.1 percent. This after the losses in ICICI Bank Ltd. and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. pressured gains in HDFC Bank Ltd. and Infosys Ltd.

The broader market index, represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index also closed lower after declining 0.18 percent.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 1,086 stocks declined and 667 shares advanced on National Stock Exchange.

Six out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE advanced, led by the NSE Nifty Realty Index’s 2.43 percent rally. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Media Index was the top sectoral loser, down 3.38 percent.

Shares of SpiceJet extended its morning gains and rose as much as 20 percent, the most since July 2012, to Rs 94.50.

Shares of Punjab National Bank pared losses and rose as much as 4 percent to Rs 94.15 on media reports that Nirav Modi was arrested in London.

Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO was subscribed 1.19 times so far, according to the NSE data. The offer closes today.

European shares traded mixed ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision. Brexit also remains in focus with nine days left until the U.K. is due to exit the European Union and uncertainty over how long it could be delayed.

Indian equity benchmarks fluctuated between gains and losses. The S&P BSE Sensex traded around 38,320 and the NSE Nifty 50 tests 11,500.

The NSE Nifty Realty Index was the top sectoral gainer among the 11 sectors compiled by NSE. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Media Index was the top sectoral loser, down 2.1 percent.

Vodafone Idea Ltd. approved issuance of equity shares on rights worth about Rs 25,000 crore at a ratio of 87:38 at an issue price of Rs 12.50 per share, according to its stock exchange filing.

The company said that the rights issue will open on April 10 and closes on April 24.

Shares of the telecom operator fell as much as 7.6 percent, the most since Jan. 28, to Rs 29.60 after the announcement.

• BHEL: Shares of the power plant equipment maker rose as much as 6.3 percent to Rs 72.40. Brokerage and research firm SBICAP Securities upgraded the stock rating to ‘Buy’ from ‘Sell’ and raised its price target to Rs 106, implying a potential upside of nearly 50 pecent from the current market price. The price target is the highest among the analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
• Lakshmi Vilas Bank: Shares of the lender rose as much as 4.4 percent to Rs 65.80. About 23.8 lakh shares changed hands in three block deals on BSE, Bloomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.
• Minda Industries: Shares of the autoparts maker rose as much as 5.3 percent to Rs 363. Brokerage and research firm Nomura initiated coverage on the stock with ‘Buy’ rating and a price target of Rs 490, implying a potential upside of 42.1 percent from the current market price. The price target is the second highest among the analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

Shares of UPL extended gains for the fourth consecutive trading session to hit a new all-time high. The relative Strength Index was above 70, indicating that the stock may be overbought.

Shares of Jet Airways extended decline for the second consecutive trading session and fell as much as 6.9 percent, the most since Feb. 8, to Rs 213.35.

The company grounded additional six aircraft due to non-payment of amounts outstanding to lessors.

Besides, SBI is said to have started looking for other potential buyers for Jet Airways as meeting with Etihad meeting remained inconclusive, two people aware of the matter told BloombergQuint.

The stock declined 21.5 percent so far this year and fell 67.5 percent over the past year.

Shares of SpiceJet rose as much as 7.2 percent, the most since Dec. 18, 2018, to Rs 84.45.

SpiceJet has joined global airlines' grouping IATA as a member, becoming the first Indian low-cost carrier to get the membership, according to a PTI report.

“The membership would help SpiceJet, which has ambitious expansion plans, to have codeshares and agreements with other carriers,” the report said, quoting company’s statement.

Trading volume was five times its 20-day average according to Bloomberg data. The stock declined 39 percent in the past 12 months compared to a 16 percent gain in the Sensex.

Shares of Arvind Fashions continued to hit an upper circuit of 5 percent for the eighth consecutive trading session. The stock rose nearly 48 percent since its listing on March 8.

Trading volume was almost 40 times its 20-day average, according to Bloomberg data. The Relative Strength Index was below 30, indicating that the stock may be oversold.

Shares of the life sciences company fell as much as 7 percent to Rs 782.55.

About 33 lakh shares of the company changed hands in a block deal, Bloomberg data showed.

While buyers and sellers were not known immediately, Bloomberg reported, “Jubilant Employee Welfare Trust to sell 35 lakh shares in Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd. to raise at least Rs 367 crore ($39 million) at the floor price,” according to terms for the deal it had obtained.

Trading volume was more than 15 times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock traded at 14 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year.

Indian equity benchmarks fluctuated between gains and losses during the opening trade. The benchmark indices rallied for seven consecutive trading sessions, their longest gaining streak in over three months.

The S&P BSE Sensex traded a little changed at 38,388 and the NSE Nifty 50 was hovering around 11,535 level as the gains in Infosys Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., were pressured by the losses in Reliance Industries Ltd. The broader market index, represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index also traded a little changed.

The market breadth was slightly tilted in favour of buyers. About 761 stocks advanced and 699 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Six out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE advanced, led by the NSE Nifty Realty Index’s 1.47 percent gain. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Media Index was the top sectoral loser, down 1.3 percent.

The Indian rupee opened lower against the U.S. dollar. The home currency depreciated as much as 0.22 percent to 69.11 against the greenback.

F&O Cues

• Nifty March Futures closed trading at 11,571, premium of 38 points.
• Max open interest for March 28 series at 11,500 Call, (open interest at 26 lakh shares)
• Max open interest for March 28 series at 11,000 Put, (open interest at 38.1 lakh shares)

Stocks In F&O Ban

• Adani Enterprises
• BEML
• IDBI Bank
• Just Dial
• Jet Airways
• Reliance Power
• Reliance Capital

Put-Call Ratio

• Nifty PCR at 1.77 versus 1.66.

Morgan Stanley on Oil and Gas

• Transport fuel demand grew 4 percent despite slowing auto demand and challenges in aviation sector.
• Industrial fuel demand grew 5 percent despite competition from lower LNG prices.
• Fuel prices remain in sweet spot supporting demand growth.

Citi on UltraTech

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 4,450.
• Cement industry in sweet spot with improving demand, rising prices and falling costs.
• Management expects Ebitda margin to revert to the highs of the first quarter of current financial year.
• Focus area: profitable market share, deleveraging, efficiency gains and use of alternative fuels.

HSBC on Hero MotoCorp

• Maintained ‘Buy’; cut price target to Rs 3,500 from Rs 4,000.
• Volumes are likely to remain volatile led by high inventory channel and regulatory changes.
• Cut EPS estimates by 5 percent and 7 percent led by lower volume and margin estimates.
• Valuation remains undemanding and downside limited.

CLSA on Jubilant Food

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 1,600.
• Channel checks indicate that Domino’s has introduced 10 new pizzas ahead of sporting events.
• Focus is also on reducing delivery time; some stores targeting 20 mins.
• Efficiency and cost savings too continue; expect strong of above 25 percent EPS CAGR over FY20-21.

HDFC Securities on Broking Industry

• Market share moving towards discount brokers.
• Among traditional brokers Axis securities has done better than peers.
• Cash delivery business will become intensely more competitive.
• Motilal Oswal: Maintained ‘Neutral’ with a price target of Rs 611.
• ICICI Securities: Maintained ’Neutral’ with a price target of Rs 298.

HDFC Securities on Subros

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 309.
• Increased commitment by Denso ensures that Subros will benefit from technology shifts.
• Relationship scope will be confined to the thermal products domain.
• Mgmt. intends to deleverage the balance sheet further.

ICICI Direct on Hikal

• Initiated ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 200.
• Expertise in APIs to drive pharma growth..
• Crop protection growth to piggyback on client relationship
• Expect revenue, Ebitda and net profit to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 15 percent, 18 percent and 30 percent respectively.
• Compelling risk-reward proposition considering future growth prospects.

Motilal Oswal on Torrent Power

• Initiated ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 315.
• Strong Positioning and healthy balance sheet provide strong base for growth.
• Volatility in earnings to reduce on accrual accounting in distribution.
• Expect Ebitda and net profit to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 12 percent over FY19-21.
• Growth driven by regulated electricity and franchisee-based distribution business.

Motilal Oswal on Mindtree

• Downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy’; maintained price target at Rs 1,000.
• A distraction Mindtree could have done without.
• Turn of events may be unsettling for some employees/clients.
• Development may consume a substantial bandwidth of the founders.

On L&T

Nomura

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 1,670.
• Mindtree acquisition to add value; See EPS gains from FY21.
• Acquisition rules out large near-term dividend.
• Client/senior management attrition is the major risk.

Investec

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 1,805.
• Unclear about potential synergies that can be extracted.
• Raises concern on potential employee attrition and distrust at Mindtree.
• Makes us wonder on how L&T intends to utilise its cash over the next few years.

• NTPC record date for bonus share at 1:5.
• Advanced Enzymes Technologies, Dilip Buildcon, Coromandel Engineering, Khadim India to move into short term ASM Framework.

• Sun Pharma promoter group Shanghvi Finance creates a pledge of 40 lakh shares in March 15.
• Granules India promoters revoke 1.4 crore shares on March 15.

(As reported on March 19)

Usha Martin

• Antara India Evergreen Fund acquired 17.15 lakh shares or 0.6 percent equity at Rs 35.35 each.
• Societe Generale sold 17.15 lakh shares or 0.6 percent equity at Rs 35.35 each.

Torrent Power

• Gujarat State Financial Services acquired 4.68 crore shares or 9.8 percent equity at Rs 260.85 each.
• Gujarat State Investments sold 4.68 crore shares or 9.8 percent equity at Rs 260.85 each.

• MSTC IPO subscribed 1.18 times after BRLM extended offer period till March 20 and revised price-band to Rs 120-128 per share.
• Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO gets 47 percent demand on the second day; offer closes today.

Corrects earlier version that misstated MSTC IPO was subscribed 118 times.

• Jet Airways grounded additional six aircraft due to non-payment of amounts outstanding to lessors. Besides, SBI is said to have started looking for other potential buyers for Jet Airways as meeting with Etihad meeting remained inconclusive, two people aware of the matter told BloombergQuint.
• DLF arm announced second joint-venture with Hines for developing high-end commercial project in Gurugram. The arm will hold 67 percent stake while Hines will hold the remaining stake. The investment by the joint-venture partners will be around Rs 1900 crore over 11.76 acres of land owned by the JV company.
• Bodal Chemicals completed the expansion of Dyestuff plant by 6,000 MTPA. After the said Expansion, the total capacity of Dyestuff plants of the company stands at 35,000 MTPA, excluding Liquid Dye Stuff. The company also stated in its press release that it has completed facility for production of Thionyl Chloride Plant for 36,000 MTPA.
• Muthoot Capital Services completed securitization of Rs 236.36 crores on March 15. With this transaction, the company has so far raised Rs 749.2 crores through securitization during financial year 2019.
• Rallis India received letter from pollution control board directing the company to suspend its operations at one of its unit in Gujarat caused by a flash fire during transfer operations. The company also stated there was no environmental and material impact to the plant and the annual shut down of the unit is also being advanced from April 1 as planned earlier to mitigate any financial impact.
• ONGC said it will consider interim dividend on March 23. Record date set on March 27.
• Aarti Drugs board of directors approved a share buyback of 2.82 lakh shares or 1.2 percent of the total equity shares at Rs 900 per share aggregating to Rs 25.38 crores. March 29 has been set as the record date.
• Jubilant Life secondary offering of 3.5 million shares: terms (Bloomberg News)
• Coffee Day Enterprise board said it will consider raising capital via NCDs up to Rs 200 crores on March 22.
• Cox & Kings opened its first hotel in Hungary with 184 rooms.
• Maruti Suzuki said it will raise prices for EECO model from Rs 400 to Rs 23,000 across variants as additional features get added in the product.
• Colgate Palmolive India said it will consider dividend on March 29. Record date set as April 8.
• V-Mart Retail opened a new store in Assam.
• Newgen Software Technologies receives patent for its invention- Integrated and Automatic Generation of Carbon Credits. This digital solution will enable organizations to manage carbon credits.
• IDBI Bank board approved continuation in office by fresh appointment of Rakesh Sharma as Additional Director and MD, CEO of the bank for three years with effect from March 19. The board also approved rupee bond borrowing limit of Rs 4,000 crore for financial year 2020.
• Fortis Healthcare board approved the appointment of Dr Ashutosh Raghuvanshi as MD and the CEO of the company with immediate effect for a period of three years.
• Rushil Décor said that there was a fire accident in its Karnataka factory on March 18. The company says that assets damaged by the fire are adequately covered by insurance.
• Reliance Communication clarified that NCLAT did not pass any orders on the use of tax refunds for payment to Ericsson, but the matter has become infructuous in view of the full payment to Ericsson yesterday as per separate intimation already sent to stock exchanges.

• Company earnings this week include Tencent, Hermes, Tiffany, Micron, Nike and PetroChina.
• On Wednesday, 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.
• Central banks in the U.K., Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia are all scheduled for policy meetings.
• Euro-zone purchasing manager survey numbers on Friday will give an indication of the health of the region’s industrial and service sectors.

• Brent crude traded 0.07 percent lower at $67.56 per barrel.
• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1 percent to $58.97 a barrel.
• Gold fell 0.1 percent $1,305.60 an ounce.

London Metal Exchange

• Aluminium extended gains for the second day, ended 1.3 percent higher.
• Nickel extended gains for the third consecutive trading session, ended 0.97 percent higher.
• Lead ended lower for the fourth consecutive trading session, down 0.1 percent.
• Tin ended higher for the second day, up 0.47 percent.
• Copper ended 0.53 percent higher.
• Zinc halted a three-day decline, ended 1.3 percent higher.

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, traded a little changed at 11,566.50 as 7:50 a.m.

Asian stocks dipped Wednesday as investors adopted a cautious stance prior to the Federal Reserve’s policy decision and further news on U.S.-China trade talks, where negotiators remain at odds.

Shares in South Korea bore the brunt of losses as Samsung Electronics said it expects a difficult year ahead. Hong Kong and Australia saw modest declines and Japan was flat. Earlier, a rally in U.S. stocks fizzled amid concern China is pushing back on American demands.

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