Sensex, Nifty End Lower For Fifth Day Dragged By Realty Stocks
Catch all live updates on share prices, index moves, corporate announcements and more from the Sensex and Nifty, today.
Sensex, Nifty End Lower For Fifth Day
Indian equity benchmarks fell as much as 2.2% but pared losses to end 0.7% lower, which is still the worst close in five days.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 0.65% lower at 57,300.6, while NSE Nifty 50 Index closed at 17,092.2, down 0.67%. The two touched intraday lows of 56,394.8 and 16,843.8.
The larger market outperformed their broader peers, though all ended the day in the red. The S&P BSE MidCap was 0.70% and S&P BSE SmallCap 1.62% lower. Seventeen of the 19 sector sub-indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, led by realty stocks. The S&P BSE Power was the best performer, up 0.34%.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. About 692 stocks gained, 2,662 declined and 87 remained unchanged.
Shares Of Major Oil Firms Drop, BPCL Downgraded
Shares of BPCL, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and Indian Oil Corp. all dropped in trade. Motilal Oswal, in a note said prices of auto fuels and LPG will lead to massive underrecoveries for the state-run refiners.
It estimated that the companies will post a combined loss of Rs 12,100 crore till March this year, selling auto fuels at unchanged prices since early November and LPG cylinders at subsidized prices since the same month.
"Lack of transparency in LPG pricing, related underrecoveries and inventory gains/losses have unnerved the investors and weighed on their interests in these companies," it said.
It downgraded BPCL to neutral and maintained its neutral rating on HPCL because of multiple headwinds. It maintained 'buy' on IOCL due to its attractive valuations and high dividend yield.
ITC Has 18 Lakh Shares Change Hands In A Bunch Trade
Shares of ITC traded 1.5% lower after 17.9 lakh shares of the company changed hands in a bunched trade.
Suprajit Engineering Heads For Longest Losing Streak
Shares of Suprajit Engineering Ltd. are lower for the tenth day in a row, on track for the longest losing streak since 2003. The scrip has lost a total of 25% during the streak while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.2%.
BPCL Down Most In Two Months
Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corp. fell 5.2% to Rs 349.65 apiece, lower than any close since Nov. 4, 2020.
The stock was the worst performer among peers.
European Markets Open Lower As Russia Deploys Troops In Two Breakaway Regions In Eastern Ukraine
The geopolitical risk of the Ukraine-Russian standoff is adversely impacting the global market, and India is no exception, according to Aishvarya Dadheech, fund manager at Ambit Asset Management. "Both Russian indices and currency, have witnessed the biggest fall since 2008. This dispute alongside the potential threat of rising rates by global central banks to fight inflation, is dampening the sentiment of investors."
Volatality in India is at unprecedented levels, Dadheech said, as investors have had to be concerned about "the third dimension of war", with events such as state election outcomes and central banks raising interest rates already playing out.
European Union To Adopt Sanctions Against Russia As Tensions Increase: AFP
Newswire AFP said the European Union will adopt sanctions today against Russia over its recognition of Ukrainian separatist regions and further deployment of troops.
It cited EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Source: AFP
TCS Falls As Buyback Ends
Shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. fell as much as 4%, the most in over four months, after its share buyback period ended today.
India’s largest software services outsourcer had approved a proposal to buy back shares worth up to Rs 18,000 crore. The company had said it will repurchase four crore shares, or 1.08 % of the total paid-up equity, at Rs 4,500 apiece.
Russian Stocks Open 8% Lower
Russia's MOEX opened lower on continued geopolitical tensions with Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin officially recognized two self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine and ordered his forces to go into the regions despite weeks of warnings from the U.S. and its allies.
India 10-Year Bond Yield Rises To 6.75%
Indiabulls Real Estate Up 15% After Update On ED Investigation
Shares of Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd. gained as much as 15% after the company clarified that it is not related to the Enforcement Directorate's investigation.
"The ED has sought some information from Indiabulls Housing Finance regarding certain of their clients and it is understood that the necessary data has been provided. The said ED investigation did not pertain to Indiabulls Real Estate and has no bearing on the business and operations of the company," it said in an exchange filing.
Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance also rose as much as 4.6%, the most since Feb. 9.
Volatility In Markets Shouldn't Last Long: Axis Securities
The current volatility in markets because of geopolitical issues linked to Russia and Ukraine should not last long, according to Naveen Kulkarni, chief investment officer at Axis Securities.
"Chances of a major flare-up look small while sanctions on Russia are expected not to be as strong as the ones against Iran, as no one wants crude prices to stay at elevated levels on the back of already high inflation," he said.
The NSE Nifty 50 falling below 17,000 offers a good risk-reward tradeoff, and one should use this correction to gradually increase equity exposure by investing in quality companies, he added.
RBI Cautions Against Use Of Carpooling App sRide's Wallet
The Reserve Bank of India, in a press release, said it has come to its notice that sRide, a Gurgaon-based carpooling app, is operating a semi-closed prepaid wallet without obtaining the required authorisation under law.
"Any person dealing with sRide Tech Pvt. Ltd. will be doing so at their own risk," the RBI said.
Fuel Consumption Expected To Jump 5.5% Next Fiscal
India's demand for LPG, diesel, petrol and aviation fuel is seen jumping 5.5% year-on-year to 214.5 million tons in the fiscal year starting April 1, according to the Oil Ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell.
The revised estimate for fuel consumption in the current fiscal is 203.2 million tons, down 5.6% from the earlier estimate.
Jalan Kalrock Consortium Appoints Vipula Gunatilleka As CFO Of Jet Airways
The new owners of Jet Airways have appointed former SriLankan Airlines CEO Vipula Gunatilleka as the carrier’s CFO.
Source: Bloomberg
Nalco Jumps Amid Reports That Russian Aluminium Maker Rusal Could Face U.S. Sanctions
Shares of National Aluminium Co. Ltd. rose 2.5%, the biggest rise in four days on reports that after Russian aluminium producer Rusal International fell over 20% over fears of possible U.S. sanctions.
Sanctions on Rusal is likely to lead to an uptick in global aluminium prices.
Of the 11 analysts tracking Nalco, seven maintain 'buy', three suggest 'hold' and one recommends 'sell'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 17.4%.
Source: Bloomberg
India 10-Year Yields Higher
Most maturities along the India sovereign yield curve were little changed, while 10-year yields rose in Tuesday morning trading.
The 3-year yield rose 1.7bps to 5.552%
The 10-year yield rose 3.5bps to 6.728%
The 14-year yield rose 1.2bps to 6.997%
The 3-year-10-year yield spread was 117.6bps, vs previous close 115.8bps
The NSE Nifty 50 Index fell 1.3%
Source: Bloomberg
Rupee Depreciates Further Against The U.S. Dollar
Analyst Actions: Godrej Properties, Brigade Enterprises, Oberoi Realty
Godrej Properties raised to 'add' from 'reduce' at HDFC Securities; price target set at Rs 1,804.
Brigade Enterprises raised to 'buy' from 'add' at HDFC Securities; price target set at Rs 619.
Oberoi Realty raised to 'buy' from 'add' at HDFC Securities; price target set at Rs 1,143.
Source: Bloomberg
Analyst Actions: Sobha, Prestige Estates
Sobha raised to 'buy' from 'add' at HDFC Securities; price target set at Rs 1,000.
Prestige Estates raised to 'buy' from 'add' at HDFC Securities; price target set at Rs 633.
Source: Bloomberg
India 10-Year Bond Yield Rises To 6.728%
Rupee Depreciates Against The U.S. Dollar Amid Surge In Crude Prices
The Indian rupee and bonds opened lower as the geopolitical standoff over Ukraine bolstered oil prices. An auction announcement for the current week is also hurting debt.
USD/INR up 0.3% to 74.7625
Yield on 10-year bond rises 4bps to 6.73%
Source: Bloomberg
Galaxy Surfactants Slumps The Most In Over A Week
Shares of Galaxy Surfactants Ltd. fell 4.5%, the steepest fall in over a week.
Trading volume on the stock was nearly twice the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.
Of the 10 analysts tracking the company, five maintain 'buy' while five recommend 'hold'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 15.1%.
Source: Bloomberg
Dr. Reddy's Sheds The Most In Over A Week Amid Rising Ukraine-Russia Tensions
Shares of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories fell over 3.3%, the steepest fall in over a week amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and CCL Products are among Indian firms with significant exposure to Russia.
Trading volume was twice the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.
Of the 43 analysts tracking the company, 37 maintain 'buy' and six recommend 'hold'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 23.7%.
Source: Bloomberg
Sensex, Nifty Tumble; L&T, TCS Lead Decline
About 1.3 Million Shares Of Dhani Services Change Hands In A Large Trade
Dhani Services has 1.3 million shares change hands in a large trade.
Details of buyers, sellers are not known immediately.
Source: Bloomberg
Opening Bell: Sensex Sheds 1,000 Points; Nifty Declines 2%
India's stock benchmarks fell, amid weak global cues due to rising Russia-Ukraine tensions and its impact on crude prices.
Realty, power, banking, metal, information technology and healthcare stocks led the decline
The S&P BSE Sensex fell over 1.6% to 56,749.67. The 30-stock gauge shed nearly 1,300 points to an intraday low of 56,394.85. The NSE Nifty 50 also declined by similar magnitude to 16,932.15.
The broader indices almost mirrored their larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap losing 1.8% and S&P BSE SmallCap falling over 2.2%. All the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Utilities, Power losing over 2%.
The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bears. About 310 stocks advanced, 2,207 declined and 59 remained unchanged.
Apex Court To Consider Review Petitions Filed By Cyrus Mistry Group Challenging Tata Sons' 2021 Win
About 7.1 Million Shares of HDFC Change Hands In Pre-Market Trade
Housing Development Finance Corp has 7.1 million shares change hands in a pre-market trade.
Details of buyers, sellers are not immediately known.
Source: Bloomberg
In Focus: Edible-Oil Producers As Mills Cut Prices
Shares of firms linked to edible oil production may move after refiners said they are cutting retail prices to stem food inflation.
Mills will immediately reduce prices by Rs 3 to Rs 5 per kilograme, according to the Solvent Extractors' Association of India.
This is the third price cut in four months.
In Focus: Adani Wilmar, ITC, Godrej Agrovet, Ruchi Soya, Gujarat Ambuja Exports, Gokul Agro Resources, Vijay Solvex
Source: Bloomberg
Turnaround In The Offing For Eris Lifesciences
Trade Setup For Tuesday
Analyst Actions
Dwarikesh Sugar: Systematix Shares & Stocks initiated coverage on the stock with a 'buy' recommendation
Kotak Mahindra raised to 'buy' at Nirmal Bang; Price target set at Rs 2,240.
United Spirits raised to 'buy' at Nirmal Bang; Price target set at Rs 965.
Ukraine Tensions Could Disrupt India's Alcobev Companies, Says Motilal Oswal
Commodity cost inflation, especially in barley, due to geopolitical tensions in Ukraine is a key worry for alcobev companies in India like United Breweries Ltd. and United Spirits Ltd., according to a note from Motilal Oswal Research.
Ukraine is among the top five global producers of barley and accounted for 18% of global barley exports in CY2022. Any major escalation in geopolitical situation in Ukraine could hurt barley supply equilibrium.
The brokerage added that Indian brewers will also be impacted by such supply disruption despite them largely sourcing barley locally. It's not just the barley price, the bottling costs also contribute for the total RM costs. With brent crude surging over $90 per barrel, the bottling costs are expected to soar as well, putting pressure on United Breweries and United Spirits.
Here is the gist of Motilal Oswal's views on the two stocks United Breweries and United Spirits, in light of the Ukraine situation and rise in crude prices.
Motilal Oswal
Packaging costs for alcobev companies account for large part of total RM costs (64% for United Breweries and 34% for United Spirits, respectively).
Barley cost accounts for 30% of RM costs.
United Breweries was largely unscathed by the impact of steep rise in barley price over FY22 since it procured barley in February-March before the onset of inflation.
United Breweries could be hurt by significant RM inflation due to rise in barely prices, Ukraine crisis.
UBL's bottle procurement system will allow the company to offset due to impact from crude-led inflation, as it relies on recycled bottles to meet 75% of its bottling requirements.
United Spirits is less reliant on recycle bottles and is vulnerable to higher bottle acquisition costs, directly correlated to crude prices.
Alcobev price increases, outside of free pricing states like Maharashtra, are 'granted' by state governments, which is a time-consuming process. Hence, the margins of these firms remain impacted.
Another major raw material cost for United Spirits is Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA), whose prices have started rising as OMCs offered price increases to ethanol producers. The ripple effect of this could adversely impact margins.
Risk of excise increases in state budgets in FY23 and expensive valuations are also other key reasons for the cautious view on the sector.
Bond Traders To Weigh RBI's $5 Billion U.S. Dollar/Rupee Swap
Indian rupee traders will weigh the impact of central bank’s move to announce a $5b dollar rupee sell-buy swap against the negative geopolitical cues.
USD/INR forward premiums are set to rise on RBI’s swap move, traders say
USD/INR fell 0.2% to 74.5150 on Monday
10-year yields rose 3bps to 6.69%
Foreign investors bought Rs 285 crore of sovereign bonds under limits available to foreign investors, and withdrew Rs 69 crore of corporate debt
State-run banks bought Rs 300 crore of sovereign bonds on Feb. 21: CCIL data. Foreign banks bought Rs 111 crore of bonds.
Source: Bloomberg
In Focus: India TV Stocks As RIL Said To Plan Cricket Bid
Stocks of television and entertainment companies in India may move after RIL is said to form a consortium to bid for broadcasting rights for Indian Premier League.
In Focus: TV18 Broadcast, Network 18 Media, Zee Entertainment, Sun TV Network, TV Today Network.
Source: Bloomberg
Stocks To Watch
Adani: The company signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Ballard Power Systems to evaluate a joint investment case for the commercialisation of hydrogen fuel cells in various mobility and industrial applications in India.
Tata Power: The company’s subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with RWE Renewables GmbH to explore the potential for a joint development of offshore wind projects in India.
ICICI Bank: The company has entered into an agreement to acquire 9.49% stake in Verve Financial Services for Rs 19.99 crore.
Hero MotoCorp: The company has created a new position of chief growth officer, integrating marketing, sales and aftersales functions. Ranjivjit Singh, head of marketing, has been elevated to this new role with immediate effect.
Hindalco: The company’s wholly owned subsidiary Novelis will invest approximately Rs 372.74 crore ($50 million) to build a recycling centre with annual casting capacity of 100 kilotonnes of low-carbon sheet ingot at its Ulsan Aluminium joint venture in South Korea. It expects the recycling centre to reduce the company’s carbon emissions by more than 420,000 tonnes each year.
IDFC First Bank: Managing Director and CEO V. Vaidyanathan has gifted 900,000 equity shares to five persons including his trainer, househelp, driver and office support staff. Rukmani Social Welfare Trust has disposed 200,000 equity shares to support social activities.
IndiaMart InterMesh: The company entered into an agreement with Fleetx Technologies to acquire 16.35% stake for an aggregate amount of Rs 91.42 crore.
Affle India: The company’s subsidiary Affle International has acquired 28.33% stake in Appnext.
Krsnaa Diagnostic: The company has bagged a tender for providing diagnostic/laboratory services in healthcare institutions run by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Government of Himachal Pradesh.
ISGEC: The company has commissioned its largest Biomass Boilers for a Bio Ethanol project in Thailand for GKBI, a joint venture of PTT, Thailand Petroleum Company and KTIS, through an EPC company, Sbang, Thailand.
SIS: The company said that former promoters of the SLV, Vishal Swara and Ruchi Swara, have withheld the transfer of remaining 21,474 shares (8.59%) with a dishonest intention, in spite receiving full consideration for the shares. The company said it has thus completed and fulfilled its obligations of payments to purchase 100% of the shares of SLV.
CG Power: Mumbai High Court dismisses tax claim on CG Power.
L&T Finance: Citigroup sells 57.87 million shares of the company, while BNP Paribas buys 57.87 million shares at Rs 71.35/share.
Panacea Biotec: The pharma company has partnered the central government for Betacoronavirus vaccines.
Vedanta: Makes oil discovery in Barmer, Rajasthan
SGX Nifty Falls Over 1%; Adani Power, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, Hero Moto In Focus
Stocks fell on Tuesday on escalation of tensions between the West led by the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine, supporting a rise in crude oil prices and shift to safe haven.
Equities in Japan, Australia and South Korea fell. U.S. markets will resume trading following a holiday on Monday. Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of India's Nifty 50 Index’s performance, fell 1.3% to 16,982 as of 8:30 am.
Gold pushed past $1,910 an ounce, the dollar was steady. Oil surged while bitcoin hovered around $37,200.