Oil Stocks Drag Nifty; HUL Top Sensex Gainer

Market is likely to remain rangebound over the next few days with news based triggers like GST and expiry for the June series approaching nearby, Anita Gandhi, Director of Arihant Capital told BloombergQuint over phone. “The market is likely to continue to trade in the range of 9,600-9,700,” she added.

With markets likely to consolidate in the days to come, stock specific activity is likely to be the norm going forward, Gandhi said.

Most Indian equity benchmarks declined led by oil stocks after the commodity tumbled into a bear market. Investors were also worried about capital outflows after MSCI Inc. decided to add China’s domestic equities to its emerging markets index, with the first stocks joining next May.

The S&P Sensex ended the session little changed at 31,304 while the NSE Nifty declined little over 0.1 percent to 9,637. The market breadth was skewed in favour of the sellers. About 732 stocks declined, 692 advanced on the NSE.

Also Read: CDSL IPO Set To Become Most Subscribed IPO Of 2017

CDSL issue subscribed 51.15 times as of 2:30 p.m.

• QIB portion subscribed 72.69 times
• HNI portion subscribed 106.03 times
• Retail portion subscribed 17.8 times
• Employee portion subscribed 1.29 times

Source: Axis Capital

Shares of the aviation companies rose after oil fell into a bear market on concerns that a global supply glut will persist.

SpiceJet surged as much as 3.6 percent to a fresh record high. Jet Airways gained 3.6 percent while Indigo advanced 1.9 percent in trade.

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.'s wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Defence Ltd. signed a joint venture agreement with Thales with the proposed shareholding in the ratio of 51:49 respectively.

• JV to develop Indian capabilities to integrate and maintain radar and electronic warfare sensors
• JV to develop skills and activity in the Mihan-Nagpur SEZ
• JV, together with Indian supply chain to manufacture microwave technologies and high performance airborne electronics

Shares gained as much as 1.95 percent to Rs 58.10 on the National Seock Exchange.

• SBI has 10 lakh shares change hands in a block deal
• Power Grid has 13.8 lakh shares change hands in a block deal

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Cadila Healthcare Ltd. recovered from the day's low after the company’s formulations manufacturing facility at Moraiya in Gujarat received an establishment inspection report from the U.S. FDA.

The plant had completed the audit from the U.S. drug regulator from February 6-15, 2017 with zero 483 observations.

Post the audit, the plant has received several product approvals, most notable among them being the final approval to market Mesalamine Delayed Release Tablets USP, 1.2g in the U.S., the company said in an exchange filing.

Shares were trading lower by 0.5 percent at Rs 520.90 on the National Stock Exchange.

Brokerage firm Axis Capital downgraded downstream refiners Hindustan Petroleum Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Ltd. and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., also lowering their 12-month price targets.

• Hindustan Petroleum was downgraded to ‘Neutral’ with its price target lowered to Rs 530
• Bharat Petroleum was downgraded to ‘Hold’ with its price target cut to Rs 670
• Indian Oil Corporation was downgraded to ‘Hold’ with a price target of Rs 440.

Source: Bloomberg

Nearly 2.27 crore shares of infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro Ltd. exchanged hands in multiple block deals.

Government's Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) sold nearly 2.4 percent stake in the company through the block deals, bankers aware of the development, told BloombergQuint on the condition of anonymity.

As of March 31, 2017, SUUTI held 6.68 percent stake in Larsen and Toubro.

Shares of the Avantha group company pared losses and gained as much as 2.6 percent after it accepted a binding offer for selling its U.S. power business.

The company will sell its U.S. power unit to WEG Electric Corp. at an enterprise value of $37 million.

Indian shares opened with a negative bias owing to weak global cues and the inclusion of China's 'A' shares in the MSCI benchmark index.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.1 percent to 31,266 while the NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.2 percent to 9,633. The market breadth was firmly tilted in favour of the sellers. 705 stocks declined compared to 646 stocks that gained.

The rupee declined slightly to levels of 64.63 against the U.S. Dollar.

Indian benchmark bonds rallied with yields closing at the lowest since early February, as global funds continued to show appetite for local debt.

Investors will now look for fresh triggers and will keenly watch the minutes of the RBI's last policy meeting. The minutes may show stance of the policy makers towards inflation. In its last policy announcement, the central bank had lowered inflation forecast, boosting chances of a rate cut in future.

The market will also eye how the farm loan waivers pan out. The waivers will increase borrowings by the state governments. Still, yields on such bonds may remain favourable, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

The rupee may face pressure as the dollar rose against most of the currencies in the region for a second day. The South Korean won was the biggest loser followed by the Mexican peso.

Also, weighing on the market will be the inclusion of China’s domestic equities in MSCI’s benchmark indexes. Which means inflows into China will get a boost, probably at the expense of other countries in the region.

• Wipro: Bonus shares available for trading
• Shriram City Union: Deutsche Bank, HK releases pledge of 20.35 percent shares held by Dynasty Acquisition
• Tech Mahindra: Sells step-down arm to Talkpool AG for $5.2 million (Cogencis)
• Canara Bank: To offload 8.9 percent stake in CARE Ltd. at a floor price of Rs 1,500
• L&T: Bags EPC order worth Rs 287 crore for the development of 50 MW solar power grid from NHPC in Tamil Nadu
• NBCC: To develop smart city in Ghitorni in New Delhi. (Cogencis)

For a complete list of stocks to watch, click HERE!

• India, ADB sign $275 million loan for urban services in 64 towns
• GTPL Hathway IPO opens for subscription
• CDSL IPO subscribed 7.5 times on it slast day
• SEBI Board meeting today. Chairman to brief after meeting

Stocks in mainland China were little changed while those in Hong Kong declined after MSCI Inc. decided to add mainland shares to its benchmark indices.

“We view this announcement as an important milestone in the integration of China’s equity markets with the rest of the world,” Jonathan Garner, chief Asia and emerging-market strategist at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, wrote in a report. “But there is unlikely to be a significantly positive impact on A share index performance near term,” he added. (Source: Bloomberg)

Brokerage firms CLSA and Goldman Sachs see outflows from Emerging Markets like India on account of this move. While CLSA expects India's weightage in the MSCI EM Index to come down to 8.85 percent from 8.92 percent, Goldman Sachs sees minimal outflows from EMs like India.

The inclusion will take place in two steps: first in May 2018 and the second in August 2018.

Good Morning!

The Singapore traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of Nifty’s performance in India, fell 0.4 percent to 9,636.

The swoon in oil dragged down driller shares amid concern that unceasing production from U.S. shale fields is overwhelming OPEC efforts to ease a global supply glut.

The weakness in crude and other commodities dents arguments from American central bankers that weak inflation rates will be transitory, even as the economy shows few signs of distress and haven assets have not been in demand.

Focus will be on regional Fed Presidents Eric Rosengren, Robert Kaplan, Jerome Powell, James Bullard and Loretta Mester who are scheduled to speak while BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is scheduled to speak in Tokyo.

West Texas oil climbed 0.7 percent to $43.53, after tumbling 2.2 percent on Tuesday and touching the lowest since August.