Stocks Radar: Alembic Pharma, Essel Propack, Godrej Consumer, HDIL, UCO Bank

Indian equity benchmarks, which rose after the RBI rate cut decision, were trading at day’s low on Friday afternoon.

At 2:00 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex fell over 600 points from day’s high to trade at 37,819 points and the NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.8 percent to 11,223. The broader market represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index fell 0.7 percent.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 1,040 stocks declined and 681 shares advanced on National Stock Exchange.

The MPC on Friday cut interest rates for the fifth time this year to support growth in the economy.

• The committee decided to pare the benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.15 percent.
• Rates have now been cut by 135 basis points since the start of the year.
• The monetary policy stance has been maintained at ‘accommodative’, suggesting the next move in rates will either be another cut or a status quo.
• "RBI would not allow a cooperative bank to collapse," said Governor Shaktikanta Das on PMC Bank crisis.
• RBI eased norms for microfinance lenders, hiked loan limit to Rs 1.25 lakh.

Here are the stocks in news moving the markets today:

UCO Bank Surges 14%

Shares of UCO Bank rose as much as 13.9 percent, the most since Aug. 30, to Rs 13.10.

This, after the lender’s board approved the proposal to issue equity shares worth Rs 2,130 crore to the Government of India.

Trading volume for the stock was 10 times the 20-day average, Bloomberg data show. Of the shares traded, 44 percent were at the ask price and 38 percent were at the bid.

Spandana Sphoorty Hits Record High After Axis Capital Initiates Coverage

Shares of Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd. snapped its four-day fall and rose 5.2 percent intraday to a record Rs 939.85 apiece.

Brokerage firm Axis Capital initiated coverage on the stock with a ‘Buy’ rating with a target price of Rs 1,200 each. That’s a potential upside of 34.3 percent from previous close.

Here’s what else Axis Capital had to say on the stock:

• Tapping into under-served rural opportunity; market attractive due to under-penetration.
• Rural market provides better market opportunity with lower competition.
• High degree of client engagement and robust risk management.
• Lowest operating expense ratio among peers.

The stock has risen 10 percent since its listing in late August this year.

Nifty Bank Falls Over 1,000 Points From Day’s High

The NSE Nifty Bank Index, which rose over 300 points intraday fell as much as 746 points to 37,668.25.

Stocks Moving On Heavy Volumes

Essel Propack

• Stock rose as much as 2.1 percent to Rs 116.70.
• Trading volume was more than 15 times its 20-day average.

Triveni Turbine

• Stock fell as much as 1.6 percent to Rs 99.90.
• Trading volume was more than 20 times its 20-day average.

Bajaj Holdings

• Stock rose as much as 3 percent to Rs 3,630.
• Trading volume was more than 14 times its 20-day average.

Alembic Pharma

• Stock rose as much as 7 percent to Rs 563.
• Trading volume was almost 13 times its 20-day average.

HDIL Falls For The 13th Straight Trading Day

Shares of Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd. fell for the 13th consecutive trading session and were locked in lower circuit of 5 percent at Rs 3.50 apiece.

The Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police has arrested HDIL directors Rakesh and Sarang Wadhawan in the PMC Bank case. The EOW also attached Rs 3,500 crore worth of properties belonging to the Wadhawans and the company, a senior official at the EOW told BloombergQuint.

Sarang Wadhawan is the managing director, while his father Rakesh Wadhawan is the chairman at the Mumbai-based slum redeveloper.

Godrej Consumer Gains After Sharing Quarterly Updates

Shares of Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. rose as much as 3.8 percent to Rs 685.

The company received a ‘relatively mixed demand’ during September quarter, according to its statement on the exchanges.

“The demand in India continued to be challenging, impacted by general consumption slowdown. Despite sluggish demand conditions, we recorded higher than mid-single-digit volume growth," Godrej Consumer said in a statement.

“The uplift in volume growth was led by recovery in household insecticides, new product launches, effective marketing campaigns and tactical consumer offers.”

Sales growth in during the period will be very close to the June quarter, the firm said.

Alembic Pharma Gains After JV Gets U.S. FDA Approval For Drug

Shares of Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd. rose 2.1 percent to Rs 537. The stock had advanced 3.1 percent intraday.

The company's joint venture, Aleor Dermaceuticals Ltd., has received approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for clobetasol propionate spray, the drugmaker said in a stock exchange filing.

The Alembic stock trades at 18 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year, according to Bloomberg data.

Essel Propack Swings After Multiple Large Trades

Shares of Essel Propack Ltd. fluctuated between gains and losses to trade 0.4 percent higher at Rs 114.80 apiece.

About 30 lakh shares of the company changed hands in three large trades, Bloomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

Trading volume was more than 20 times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed.

Manpasand Beverages Hits Lower Circuit For 19th Session

Manpasand Beverages Ltd. posted its longest ever losing streak as the beverage maker’s stock hit lower circuit for the 19th straight session.

The maker of MangoSip juice seems to have been caught in a downward spiral—faces allegations of fraud, multiple resignations by auditors and independent directors, a warning from the market regulator, arrest of its promoter and chief financial officer in a tax case, and an ongoing boardroom drama.

In a latest development, Batliboi & Purohit resigned as statutory auditor to Manpasand Beverages, citing its inability to audit because of the company’s lack of cooperation.

“The firm has considered recent developments of an ongoing litigation among the board of directors and subsequent resignation of the directors along with the company secretary. Also, our audit team members were not allowed to enter the Vadodara factory for conducting the statutory audit,” according to the auditor’s resignation letter uploaded by Manpasand Beverages on the bourses.

The stock has declined nearly 94 percent in the last 12 months. The Relative Strength Index is 11, indicating the stock may be oversold, Bloomberg data showed.

HDFC Top Gainer On Sensex, Nifty

Shares of Housing Development and Finance Corporation Ltd. rose as much as 1.6 percent to Rs 2,007 apiece.

On Thursday, HDFC shared its quarterly results for the three months ended September. Its profit on sale of investments, including profit on sale of part stake of equity shares in Gruh Finance Ltd., rose 83 percent on a yearly basis to Rs 1,632 crore in the quarter ended September, according to an exchange filing. Income from dividend stood at Rs 1,074 crore during the period versus Rs 6 crore a year ago. Last year, income from dividend was received in the first quarter.

The stock was the top gainer on the Sensex and Nifty. Of the shares traded, 45 percent were at the ask price and 36 percent at bid, according to Bloomberg data.

Yes Bank Halts Rally After Block Deal

Shares of Yes Bank Ltd. pared opening gains and fell as much as 2.4 percent to Rs 43.45 apiece.

Nearly 10 lakh shares of the Mumbai-based lender changed hands in a block deal, Bloomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

The stock closed 32.97 percent higher at Rs 42.55 on Thursday. That came after Yes Bank’s chief executive officer Ravneet Gill assured investors of the lender’s operations even as Rajat Monga resigned as group president and chief financial officer.

PSU Banks Gain, Led By Syndicate Bank

The NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index gained more than 1 percent, led by a rally in Syndicate Bank, Allahabad Bank and State Bank of India.

Other Stocks Reacting To Large Trades

Coffee Day Enterprises

• Stock halted a 13-day fall and rose as much as 4.9 percent to Rs 45.55 apiece.
• About 10.5 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade.

Jagran Prakashan

• Stock fell as much as 1.5 percent to Rs 61.35 apiece.
• About 10.2 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade.

Gujarat State Petronet

• Stock rose as much as 1.2 percent to Rs 207.40 apiece.
• About 10 lakh shares changed hands in a large trade.