Sensex Clocks Longest Losing Streak In Nearly Six Years; Nifty Ends Below 10,650

Indian equity benchmark—S&P BSE Sensex Index registered its longest losing streak since August 2013. The benchmark index fell for the eight consecutive trading session. The 31-share gauge ended 0.87 percent lower at 35,498.44.

The NSE Nifty 50 Index ended below 10,650, down 0.78 percent. The 50-stock index ended lower for the seventh day, clocking its longest losing streak in over a year.

The broader market index, represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index ended 0.82 percent lower, led by the declines in Indiabulls Ventures Ltd. and Himadri Speciality Chemicals Ltd.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 1,145 stocks fell and 575 shares advanced on National Stock Exchange.

Nine out of 11 sectoral gauged compiled by NSE ended lower, led by the NSE Nifty PSU Bank Index’s 1.25 percent fall. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Realty Index was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.76 percent.

About 8.5 percent of Emami changed hands in a block deal on Bombay Stock Exchange, Bloomberg data showed. Buyers and sellers were not known immediately.

Shares of the company fluctuated between gains and losses to trade 0.7 percent lower at Rs 358 on BSE after the block deal.

Thyrocare Technologies

• Stock rose nearly 20 percent intraday to Rs 604.70.
• Trading volume was more than 11 times its 20-day average.

3M India

• Stock rose as much as 6.6 percent to Rs 22,293.
• Trading volume was almost nine times its 20-day average.

Techno Electric & Engineering

• Stock rose as much as 6.4 percent to Rs 252.
• Trading volume was more than five times its 20-day average.

Thermax

• Stock fell as much as 4.5 percent to Rs 952.50.
• Trading volume was more than six times its 20-day average.

The Indian government The Indian government is working with states to end branded generics, but has no timeline for stripping generic medicines of their brand names, Bloomberg reported, quoting Jai Priye Prakash, secretary of the department of pharmaceuticals.

Shares of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. rose as much as 9.98 percent to Rs 135.50. The stock resumed rally after a one-day blip

“Baring, Bain and Hero Fincorp are in talks to buy a 10 percent stake in the company,” Economic Times reported, quoting people with knowledge of the matter.

Trading volume was 1.6 times its 30-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock rose 24 percent in the past five days and fell 40 percent in the past 30 days.

Nifty’s 10,800 option contract was among the most active Nifty option contracts on National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract fell 40.01 percent to Rs 27.40. Over 9.97 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 20.23 lakh shares.

Shares of Finolex Industries Fall as much as 8.9 percent, the most since July 2015, to Rs 446.90, the lowest since Jan. 18, 2017.

Trading volume was more than eight times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data. The stock fell 8.6 percent in the past five days and declined 16 percent in the past 30 days.

The NSE Nifty FMCG Index fell for the second consecutive trading session, led by the declines in Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. and Dabur India Ltd.

Varun Beverages Ltd. entered into a binding agreement with PepsiCo to acquire franchise rights in South and West regions from PepsiCo for a national bottling, sales and distribution footprint in seven states and five Union Territories, the company said in a statement on the exchanges.

“The deal is subjected to receipt of necessary statutory approvals,” the statement added.

Shares of Varun Beverages rose as much as 5.9 percent to Rs 803.

The NSE Nifty Auto Index extended declines for the second day, led by the declines in Bosch Ltd.

Shares of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail ltd. rose as much as 2.9 percent to trade at over a two-year high at Rs 224.50.

The stock is expected to touch Rs 250 in the next 12 months, implying a potential upside of over 14 percent from the last regular trade, Goldman Sachs said as they initiated coverage with a ‘Buy’ rating. The price target is the second highest among the analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

The Relative Strength Index was at 72, indicating that the stock may be overbought, Bloomberg data showed.

• Indian equity benchmarks extended losses to trade at day’s low.
• The S&P BSE Sensex Index fell over 250 points to trade at 35,557.15 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index traded below 10,650.
• About 1,083 stocks declined and 530 shares advanced on National Stock Exchange.

Shares of Mumbai-based lender were the worst performer on Sensex and Nifty. The stock fell as much as 8.2 percent to Rs 201.

The country’s central bank reprimanded the private lender for selectively revealing a “confidential” report by the regulator that led to a 30 percent surge in the lender’s shares on Thursday, calling the disclosure a “deliberate attempt” to mislead the public.

Yes Bank traded at 12 times its estimated forward earnings per share for the coming year, Bloomberg data showed.

Shares of KPIT Technologies fell for the second day and declined as much as 13.6 percent, the most since July 2016, to Rs 94.10, the lowest in over 15 months.

Trading volume was 12.1 times its 20-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The Relieve Strength Index was at 19, indicating that the stock may be oversold.

Shares of the construction company extended gains for the third day and rose as much as 1.3 percent to Rs 1,259.55.

The company’s unit—L&T Construction bagged order for design and construction of a major airport, according to its statement on the exchanges. The order is valued at over Rs 7,000 crore, according to the company’s deal classification.

The stock traded at 17.6 times its estimated forward earnings per share compared to a 22.1 times for the two-year historical average, Bloomberg data showed.

Shares of the pharmaceutical company rose as much as 4.9 percent to Rs 2,689.65.

The U.S. drug regulator cleared the company’s Duvvada facility for exports to the American market, providing relief a day after its shares tumbled nearly 30 percent on repeated concerns about its Telangana plant.

The stock advanced 16 percent in the past 12 months compared to an 5.3 percent advance in the Sensex.

Shares of the Anil Ambani-led group companies rallied in today’s trade.

Reliance Group has reached a “standstill agreement” with more than 90 percent of its lenders under which they will not sell any of the shares pledged by promoters till September.

Indian equity benchmarks fluctuated between gains and losses in the opening trade. Both the S&P BSE Sensex Index and the NSE Nifty traded at little changed at 35,817.80 and 10,725.80 respectively.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of sellers. About 732 stocks declined and 712 shares advanced on National Stock Exchange.

Six out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE advanced, led by the NSE Nifty Pharma Index’s 0.75 percent gain. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty Auto Index was the top sectoral loser, down 0.56 percent.

The Indian rupee weakened for the fourth consecutive day against the U.S. dollar. The home currency depreciated as much as 0.24 percent to 71.39 against the greenback.

F&O Cues

• Nifty February Futures closed trading at 10,747, a premium of 23 points.
• Max Open Interest for February series at 11,000 Call, OI at 41.5 lakh shares.
• Max OI for February series at 10,700 Put, OI at 32.1 lakh shares.

Stocks In F&O Ban

• In ban: Adani Enterprises, Jain Irrigation, Jet Airways, Reliance Power, CG Power and PC Jeweller.
• Out of ban: IDBI Bank.

Put-Call Ratio

• Nifty PCR at 1.3 versus 1.35.
• Bank Nifty PCR at 1.06 versus 1.2.

Goldman Sachs on Aditya Birla Fashion

• Initiated ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 250.
• Renewed focus on in-house brands, optimising space will drive margin.
• Good mix of premium and affordable with expansion into smaller cities.

Edelweiss on Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target Rs 3,450.
• Duvvada clearance lifts a big overhang for the stock.
• Facility accounts for almost 20 of the total 100 products in pipeline.

Credit Suisse on GlaxoSmithKline Consumer

• Downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’; lowered price target to Rs 8,330 from Rs 9,000.
• Healthy volume growth, margin tailwinds may be behind.
• GSK stock is now a proxy for HUL; cut target on share-swap ratio.

Macquarie on RIL

• Downgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Outperform’, cut price target to Rs 1,280 from Rs 1,315.
• Believe the positives have been discounted at current price.
• See structurally disruptive growth ahead for Jio and retail businesses.

BofA ML on Zee

• Upgraded to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Underperform’, hiked price target to Rs 455 from Rs 375.
• Not included any potential M&A in upgrading stock.
• Pledged share overhang appears largely to be behind us.
• Not a ‘Buy’ as fundamentally we expect the OTT market to be competitive.

• Ashapura Intimates Fashion, Zee Media Corporation, Jindal Stainless , IG Petrochemicals, Reliance Home Finance to move into short term ASM framework.

• Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories: U.S. regulator cleared the company’s Duvvada facility for exports to the American market, providing relief a day after its shares tumbled nearly 30 percent on repeated concerns about its Telangana plant.
• Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has reached a “standstill agreement” with more than 90 percent of its lenders under which they will not sell any of the shares pledged by promoters till September.
• Yes Bank: Reserve Bank of India reprimanded the private lenderfor selectively revealing a “confidential” report by the regulator that led to a 30 percent surge in the lender’s shares on Thursday, calling the disclosure a “deliberate attempt” to mislead the public.
• Sun Pharma Advanced Research: Sun Pharma Global FZE said that it is not planning to launch Elepsia in the U.S. market, thus it will return the product rights back to Sun Pharma Advanced Research. The license was given to Sun Pharma Global in July 2016 and was eligible for royalties upon the commercialisation of the product. The research company said that it will find another partner for commercialising the aforementioned product.
• BPCL’s arm executed long term liquefied natural gas sale purchase agreement with Mozambique LNG1 for 1MMTPA of LNG for 15 years.
• Coffee Day Enterprises: Income Tax Department provisionally attached 2.04 crore encumbered shares of promoter VG Siddhartha for six months. The company says that the promoter has filed required revised returns and discharged all the tax liabilities.
• Tech Mahindra withdrew the scheme of merger with its arm ‘Tech Mahindra Growth Factories’ with self.
• Jet Airways said its gross debt stands at Rs 7,654 crore of which aircraft debt stands at Rs 1,585 crore as of Dec. 31. It said the stake sale of JetPrivilege will be done at a later stage and not now.
• SAIL annuls Expression of lnterest for 100 percent stake sale in Durgapur Alloy Steel Plant. The fresh process for stake sale has been initiated with the approval of the government. The company will issue Preliminary Information Memorandum and EoI shortly.
• MBL Infrastructures: Toll Road Company Private Ltd., a special purpose vehicle of the company, commenced commercial operation for a national highway project of Suratgarh-Bikaner section in Rajasthan. The company has equity investment of Rs 185 crore. This is the fourth public interest project substantially completed by the company after the approval of resolution plan. The company expects to complete five more public interest projects by March 31.

Media Reports

• PE firms vie for 20 percent in DHFL (Economic Times).

• The Federal Reserve will on Wednesday publish minutes from its recent meeting. Bloomberg Economics thinks officials aimed to over-correct to avoid a repeat of the negative reaction to December’s statement, so a focal point will be how much the hawks were on board with the switch.
• Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz speaks on Thursday and Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe gives parliamentary testimony on Friday.

• Brent crude extended its rally for the fifth day, up 0.8 percent to $66.78 per barrel.
• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5 percent to $55.88 a barrel.
• Gold dipped 0.1 percent to $1,321.23 an ounce.

London Metal Exchange

• Copper ended higher for the third day, up 0.83 percent.
• Aluminium halted a seven-day fall, ended 0.49 percent higher.
• Nickel halted a five-day fall, ended 1.64 percent higher.
• Lead ended higher for the second day, up 2.01 percent.
• Tin ended 1.44 percent higher.
• Zinc halted a five-day fall, ended 2.39 percent higher.

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.2 percent to 10,776.50 as of 8:45 a.m.

Asian stocks rose Monday following a strong U.S. session on Friday amid optimistic signs on the economy and trade discussions.

Shares in Japan, Hong and China led the advance, while gains in Australia and South Korea were more modest.