Sensex, Nifty End Near Six-Month High

Indian equity benchmarks resumed rally after a one-day blip to end near a six-month high.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 1.04 percent or 382 points higher at 37,054.10 and the NSE Nifty 50 ended at 11,168.05, up 1.2 percent. Both the indices closed at ther highest levels since Sept. 19, 2018.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of buyers. About 1,257 stocks advanced and 485 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Ten out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE ended higher, led by the NSE Nifty Metal Index’s 2.78 percent rally. On the Flipside, the NSE Nifty IT Index was the only sectoral loser, down 0.23 percent.

MAS Financial Services

• Stock fell as much as 5 percent to Rs 530.
• Trading volume was more than 60 times its 20-day average.

Lemon Tree hotels

• Stock rose as much as 4.1 percent to Rs 89.30.
• Trading volume was more than 20 times its 20-day average.

Forbes & Co

• Stock rose as much as 10 percent to Rs 2,398.55.
• Trading volume was almost eight times its 20-day average.

Godfrey Phillips India

• Stock rose as much as 10.3 percent to Rs 1,043.30.
• Trading volume was almost five times its 20-day average.

Shares of jet Airways extended gains for the sixth consecutive trading session, it longest gaining streak in over a year. The stock rose as much as 4.8 percent to Rs 255.

The company has secured fresh credit facilities of Rs 2,050 crore from state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) that could provide a temporary lifeline, Mint reported quoting the loan documents and copies that it accessed.

The stock gained 6.6 percent in the past five days compared to a 16 percent advance in the past 30 days.

Shares of RBL Bank extended gains for the second day and rose as much as 3.1 percent to hit a new all-time high at Rs 658

Trading volume was more than triple its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock rose 10 percent in the past five days and advanced 16 percent in the past 30 days.

Indian equity benchmarks traded at day’s high. The S&P BSE Sensex rose as 0.95 percent to Rs 37,018 and the NSE Nifty 50 traded above 11,160.

Nifty’s 11,200 call option contract was among the most active Nifty option contracts on National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract surged 122.97 percent to Rs 24.75. Over 5.71 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 16.46 lakh shares.

Shares of Infibeam Avenues rose as much as 9.9 percent to Rs 43.30.

Trading volume was 94 percent above the 20-day average, according to Bloomberg data. The stock gained 18 percent in the past five days and advanced 31 percent in the past 30 days.

Shares of Coal India rose as much as 2.9 percent to Rs 241.65, after declining for two consecutive trading sessions.

About 20 lakh shares of the company changed hands in a single block, Bloomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

The stock had declined 21 percent in the past 12 months compared to a 11 percent jump in the Sensex.

Shares of Birla Corporation fell as much as 11.5 percent on National Stock Exchange, the most since November 2014, to Rs 500.

“The National Green Tribunal on March 8 ordered the company to stop all mining activities which are being carried on within the municipal limits of Chittorgarh City and within 10 kilometres of Bassi Wildlife Sanctuary or within Eco-Sensitive Zone of Bassi Wildlife Sanctuary, if finally notified,” the company said in its stock exchange filing.

Trading volume was almost 50 times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock traded at 21 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year.

Shares of DHFL fell as much as 4 percent to Rs 134.20.

Brickwork Ratings downgraded various debt instruments by one notch citing degrowth in business on account of inability to raise funds.

• NCDs worth Rs 41,000 crore downgraded to BWR AA from BWR AA+
• Subordinated debt worth Rs 2,250 crore downgraded to BWR AA from BWR AA+
• Perpetual debt worth Rs 1,300 crore downgraded to BWR AA- from BWR AA
• Fixed deposits worth Rs 12,000 crore downgraded to BWR FAA from BWR FAA+

Shares of the Jaguar Land Rover owner rose as much as 1.5 percent to Rs 184.

About 41.8 lakh shares of tata Motors changed changes in a block deal, Bloomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

Besides, the company’s Group global wholesales, including JLR, stood at 1.1 lakh units last month, a fall of 9 percent from the year ago period. Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover were 49,695 vehicles last month.

Shares of Info Edge rose as much as 1.5 percent to Rs 1,808.75.

Brokerage and research firm HSBC hiked the company’s price target to more than double. The analsyts expects its stock to reach Rs 1,978 levels in the next 12 months, implying a potential upside of 11 percent from the last regular trade. HSBC had a price target of Rs 923 earlier.

Here’s what HSBC had to say about Info Edge:

• Upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Reduce’.
• Recruitment is driving growth after a temporary slowdown.
• Value of property and food business continues to increase.
• Hike estimates given that all major segments have seen marked improvements.

Shares of Dilip Buildcon halted a two-day decline and rose as much as 6.2 percent to Rs 593.45.

The construction company was declared the lowest for the EPC project in Maharashtra costing Rs 480 crore to be completed in 24 months.

The Relative Strength Index was at 74, indicating that the stock may be overbought, according to Bloomberg data. The stock advanced 37 percent so far this year compared to an 2 percent advance in the Sensex.

Indian equity benchmarks opened higher after a one-day blip on Friday.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose as much as 0.71 percent to 36,930.51 and the NSE Nifty 50 rose as much as 0.75 percent to 11,117.95.

The market breadth, however, was tilted in favour of sellers. About 1,001 stocks fell and 798 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Seven out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE declined, led by the NSE Nifty Metal Index’s 1.5 percent fall. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty FMCG Index ws the top sectoral gainer, up 0.14 percent.

The Indian rupee strengthened in open against the U.S. dollar. The home currency appreciated as much as 0.23 percent to 69.98 against the greenback.

F&O Cues

• Nifty March Futures closed trading at 11076, premium of 41 points.
• Max OI for Mar 28 series at 11,500 Call, OI at 22.5 lakh shares.
• Max OI for Marc 28 series at 11,000 Put, OI at 33.7 lakh shares.

Stocks In F&O Ban

• In Ban: IDBI, Jet Airways, Reliance Power
• New in Ban: Jet Airways
• Out of Ban: Wockhardt

PCR

• Nifty PCR at 1.6 versus 1.66.
• Bank Nifty PCR at 1.23 versus 1.05.

HSBC on Info Edge

• Upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Reduce’, hiked price target to Rs 1,978 from Rs 923.
• Recruitment is driving growth after a temporary slowdown.
• Value of property and food business continues to increase.
• Hike estimates given that all major segments have seen marked improvements.

Credit Suisse on Wipro

• Maintained ‘Underperform’ with a price target of Rs 240.
• Margin expansion largely behind; focus now back on growth.
• Focus shifts back to closing growth gap to peers.
• Buyback announcement around the corner.

CLSA on ITC

• Maintain Buy with target price of Rs 400
• Weak earnings growth and concerns on capital allocations ailing stock
• Rising ESG focus and lower global valuations ailing ITC share price
• Expect ITC earnings growth to accelerate led by product price hike

Morgan Stanley on SBI

• Maintained ‘Overweight’ with a price target of Rs 375.
• Moving to floating rate on savings deposits – a big change.
• Move to reduce margin volatility over time.
• Key to monitor: impact on deposit growth/strategy of peers.

• Laurus Labs: Amansa Holdings bought 22.3 lakh shares or 2.1 percent equity at Rs 350 apiece.
• Thermax: Reliance MF bought 10 lakh shares or 0.84 percent equity at Rs 940 apiece.

Advanced Enzymes

• Promoter group sold 81.3 lakh shares or 7.3 percent equity at Rs 177 apiece.
• Orbimed Asia III Mauritius bought 1.1 crore shares or 10 percent equity at Rs 176 apiece.

Supreme Infrastructure

• Claricent Advisory Services LLP bought 6.8 lakh shares or 2.65 percent equity at Rs 24.8 apiece from Gagandeep Credit Capital.

• Sun TV Network announced a dividend of Rs 2.5 apiece.
• Oil India awarded two blocks as part of the Discovered Small Field Bid Round – II.
• Kwality will consider its December-ended period results on March 14.
• Delta Corp said it will buy 25 percent stake in Jalesh Cruises Mauritius for $10 million. Jalesh Cruises will acquire cruise ships and operate cruise services to various destinations from India and the Middle East. The cruise ships will have various entertainment and hospitality avenues, including casinos and gaming centres. As a part of the investment, Delta Corp has also obtained the right to be the preferred partner to manage and operate the casinos and similar gaming centres on such cruise ships.
• Nitish Estates reduced its debt by Rs 408 crore, i.e., 30 percent of the overall debt.
• Goa Carbon produced 18,026.8 MT of calcined petroleum coke, i.e., 54 percent higher compared to last year.
• Punj Llyod: NCLT admitted ICICI Bank’s petition under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code in respect of an alleged default amount of Rs 853.8 crore.
• Dilip Buildcon: declared L-1 for the EPC project in Maharashtra costing Rs 480 crore to be completed in 24 months.
• Solara Active Pharma Sciences said it will allot 1.05 crore warrants to promoter group and TPG Growth.
• Dredging Corp: Government signed share purchase agreement with Visakhapatnam Port Trust, Paradip Port Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Deendayal Port Trust to sell 73.5 percent stake in the company. The existing board of directors have resigned.
• CG Power and Industrial Solutions board decided to reclassify seven of its discontinued operations as continuing operations with effect from Jan. 1. The non-cash impact of such re-classification is expected to be around Rs 200 crore. Also, the company’s CFO VR Venkatesh, resigned due to personal reasons. He will continue as CFO till June 30, 2019.
• McLeod Russel India said it will sell assets of Boroi Tea Estate in Assam to Jatinga Agro Tech for Rs 28 crore.
• NCLT Ahmedabad approved Reliance Industries-JM Financialresolution plan for Alok Industries insolvency process.
• NCLT Ahmedabad approved ArcelorMittal’s bid to take over Essar Steel Ltd. ArcelorMittal will pay Rs 42,000 crore against financial creditors’ claims of more than Rs 49,000 crore.
• SBI linked interest on savings bank deposits above Rs 1 lakh to the Reserve Bank of India’s repo rate. The effective savings bank deposit rate for Rs 1 lakh and above stands at 3.5 percent.
• Tata Motors Group global wholesales, including JLR, was at 1,10,262 in February 2019. The group global was lower by 9 percent compared to the year-ago period. Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover were 49,695 vehicles last month.
• McLeod Russel signed an MoU with Jatinga Agro Tech to dispose Estate & Bearer Plant at Assam.
• Syndicate Bank reduced its MCLR by 10 bps across all the tenors .
• HG Infra Engineering: NHAI nullified the bidding process for Amritsar-Jamnagar Economic Corridor EPC Project for which the co had emerged as the L1.
• GMR Infrastructure: GMR Airports received letter of award to develop, operate and manage Nagpur airport at a revenue share of 14.49 percent of gross revenue.
• CG Power: Promoters 6.76 crore pledged shares or 10.8 percent equity invoked by lenders. Avantha Holdings will continue to have the right to re-transfer the shares to itself upon repayment of the debt. In the event of any sale of the equity shares by lenders, any amounts received by them over and above the outstanding amount of the debt will be payable to Avantha Holdings.
• Dredging Corp: Government sold its entire stake in company to four state owned ports. The centre sold 73.44 percent holding in the company at Rs 510 17 percent premium.
• Sadbhav Infrastructure: promoters pledged additional 1.5 crore equity shares (4.26 percent) as additional security towards NCDs.
• Apollo Tyres: promoters pledged additional 9.8 lakh shares (0.2 percent) as security for a loan.
• Adani Ports: promoters release pledge on 2 crore shares (1 percent).
• Adani Enterprises: promoters release pledge on 62.6 lakh shares (0.6 percent).
• Adani Transmission: promoters release pledge on 81.3 lakh shares (0.74 percent).

Brickwork Ratings Downgrades DHFL

• Brickwork Ratings downgraded various debt instruments by one notch citing degrowth in business on account of inability to raise funds.
• NCDs worth Rs 41,000 crore downgraded to BWR AA from BWR AA+
• Subordinated debt worth Rs 2,250 crore downgraded to BWR AA from BWR AA+
• Perpetual debt worth Rs 1,300 crore downgraded to BWR AA- from BWR AA
• Fixed deposits worth Rs 12,000 crore downgraded to BWR FAA from BWR FAA+

Lenders Sell Promoters Pledged Shares In Reliance Group Companies

• Reliance Infrastructure: Promoters 50 lakh pledged shares or 1.9% percent equity were sold by lenders.
• Reliance Power: Promoters 2.15 crore pledged shares or 0.77 percent equity were sold by lenders.
• Reliance Communications: Promoters 19 crore pledged shares or 6.86 percent equity were sold by lenders.

• Chinese retail sales, investment, credit and industrial production data for January and February are all scheduled for release this week. The National People’s Congress is set to wrap up with a speech on Friday from Premier Li Keqiang.
• U.K. House of Commons votes Tuesday on May’s revised Brexit deal, 20 days before Britain is scheduled to leave the EU.
• U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to release his proposed fiscal 2020 budget on Monday. Its arrival is about a month later than usual due to the lengthy partial government shutdown.
• Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will speak on Friday, after he and his board meet to decide on monetary policy. No change in stimulus settings is anticipated, though there’s likely to be a discussion of whether or not to downgrade assessments of industrial production, exports and overseas economies.

• West Texas Intermediate crude added 0.2 percent to $56.18 a barrel.
• Gold lost 0.1 percent to $1,297.10 an ounce.

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, fell 0.16 percent to 11,040 as of 8:25 a.m.

Asian stocks were mixed on Monday following the worst week for global equities since mid-December.

Shares in Hong Kong and Japan eked out small gains, while equities in South Korea and Australia retreated. S&P 500 Index futuresticked lower after U.S. stocks dipped Friday on mixed U.S. employment data.

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