Sensex, Nifty Log Second Worst Day In 2022 To Snap Three-Day Winning Streak

India's stock benchmarks snapped three-day winning streak, dragged by losses in information technology, banking, energy and realty stocks. This is the second worst day for S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 in 2022.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.29% to 58,788.02. The 30-stock gauge shed over 900 points to an intraday low of 58,653.94. The NSE Nifty 50 declined by similar magnitude to 17,560.20.

This is the steepest single day decline for Nifty, since falling 2.7% on Jan. 24. Housing Development Finance Corp. had the largest drop, falling 3.3%. Today 40 of the 50 shares fell, while 10 rose.

The broader indices outperformed their larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap shedding 0.90% and S&P BSE SmallCap falling 0.4%. Barring S&P BSE Auto and S&P BSE Consumer Durables, all the other 17 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, with S&P BSE Information Technology losing over 2%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of neither bulls nor bears. About 1,712 stocks advanced, 1,641 declined and 85 remained unchanged.

• MRF reassures all its stakeholders, that it follows high standards of governance in its business practices.

• MRF plans to pursue the matter before appropriate appellate forum, based on advice from legal counsel.

• CCI has imposed a penalty of Rs 622.09 crore on MRF.

Source: Exchange Filing

• The founders will continue to be on the Board.

• RS Agarwal will be the Chairman Emeritus while RS Goenka will be the Non-Executive Chairman, effective April 1.

• RS Goenka’s eldest son Mohan Goenka has been appointed the Vice Chairman and RS Agarwal’s younger son Harsha V Agarwal has been designated as Vice Chairman and Managing Director.

• Sushil Kumar Goenka has also desired to step down from his current position as the managing director as part of the transition process. He will continue to act as whole time director.

Source: Press release

• Dhani Services has 1.7% equity (10 million shares) change hands in a large trade.

• Details of buyers, sellers are not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories entered into a definitive agreefment to acquire Nimbus Health GmbH. Nimbus Health is a privately owned, licensed pharmaceutical wholesaler from Germany focussing on medical cannabis in Germany.

• Dr. Reddy's will acquire Nimbus Health for an upfront payment plus performance and milestone-based earn-outs over the next four years.

Source: Exchange filing

The board of DJ Mediaprint & Logistics Ltd. has approved 1: 1 bonus share issue, giving investors one fully paid up new equity share as bonus for every one fully paid up equity shares held.

The stock has fallen by its daily limit everyday since Jan. 27, 2022.

Shares of GAIL (India) Ltd. gained 1.5% after the company's net profit rose 121% to Rs 3,287.9 crore. That compares with the estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg at Rs 2,718.1 crore.

Key Highlights (Standalone, YoY)

• Revenues up 66.7% at Rs 25769.75 cr vs Rs 15454.29 cr (Est Rs 25211.6 cr)

• EBITDA up 120.3% at Rs Rs 4228.13 cr vs Rs 1919.52 cr (Est Rs 3805.9 cr)

• EBITDA margins at 16.4% vs 12.4% (Est 15.1%)

Shares of Adani Transmission Ltd. traded in the red after the company's profit for the quarter ended December fell 32% year-on-year to Rs 267 crore.

Key Q3 Highlights (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 14% at Rs 2,613.3 crore.

• Ebitda up 6.4% to Rs 1,330 crore.

• Margins at 14.4% Vs 11.1% (Bloomberg estimate: 17.4%)

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. were lower after Edelweiss Capital cut the recommendation on the stock to 'hold' from 'buy'.

The new price target is Rs 182, which implies a 14% increase from last price. The company had reported earnings and sales that beat estimates for the December quarter on Feb. 2.

Shares of Titan Ltd. edged higher after the Tata Group subsidiary recorded a 91% year-on-year rise in profit to Rs 1,004 crore in the quarter ended December. That compares with Bloomberg estimate of Rs 871.2 crore.

Key Q3 Highlights (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 32% at Rs 10,037 crore Vs Rs 7,619 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 7426.5 crore)

• EBITDA up 70% to Rs 1,442 crore Vs Rs 848 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 1,294.7 crore)

• Margins at 14.4% Vs 11.1% (Bloomberg estimate: 17.4%)

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd. were up for the seventh day, gaining 31% during the streak.

Both Ujjivan Small Financial Bank Ltd. and DCB Bank Ltd. recorded their longest win streak in 14 months. They have gained 5.4% and 6% during the run.

Shares of GMR Infrastructure Ltd. gained for the fifth straight day, extending the longest winning streak since April 17, 2020.

GMT Infra has gained 11% during the streak, compared to S&P BSE Sensex's 3% rise.

Shares of Strides Pharma, too, rose for the fifth day, beating S&P BSE Sensex's gains by nearly 7%. It has extended its longest winning streak since Dec. 29, 2020.

Shares of Cadila Healthcare Ltd. rose 1.5% in intraday trade to Rs 420.55apiece after the company reported net income for the quarter-ended December that matched the average analyst estimate.

December Quarter Results (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 0.6% at Rs 3,655 crore Vs Rs 3,633 crore (Bloomberg consensus estimate : Rs 3,736.8 crore)

• Net profit at par at Rs 500.4 crore from Rs 500.6 crore (estimate : Rs 480.5 crore Profit)

• EBITDA down 1.8% to Rs 752.5 crore from Rs 766.5 crore (estimate : Rs 786.9 crore Profit)

• Margins at 20.6% Vs 21.1% (estimate : 21.1%)

• EPS unchanged Rs 4.89 per share (estimate : Rs 4.75)

Of the 35 analysts tracking the company, 19 maintained 'buy', six maintained 'hold' and 10 maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 30%.

Trading volume on the stock was 1.5 times the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

Source: Exchange Filing, Bloomberg

India's stock benchmarks declined, dragged by losses in information technology, energy, oil and gas and realty stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.7% to 59,140.28. The 30-stock gauge fell over 500 points to an intraday low of 59,021.88. The NSE Nifty 50 also declined by similar magnitude to 17,664.

The broader indices outperformed their larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap shedding 0.46% and S&P BSE SmallCap remaining little changed. Thirteen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Information Technology, Oil & Gas, Realty indices shedding over 1%. On the flipside the S&P BSE Auto index rose over 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,772 stocks advanced, 1,500 declined and 95 remained unchanged.

• Jubilant Foodworks raised to 'buy' at Elara Securities; price target set at Rs 4,110.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Varun Beverages Ltd. fell 3.25%, the steepest intraday decline in over a week, to Rs 942.1 apiece after the company reported net income for the quarter-ended December that missed the average analyst estimate.

December Quarter Results (Consolidated)

• Net profit at Rs 16.49 crore vs net loss of Rs 19.73 crore YoY (Bloomberg consensus estimate: Rs 22.37 crore)

• Revenue up 30% YoY at 1,764.94 crore vsestimate: Rs 1,617 crore

• Total costs up 25% YoY at Rs 1,723.94 crore

• Ebitda up 21% YoY to Rs 203 crore vs estimate of Rs 198 crore.

All the 17 analysts tracking the company maintained 'buy' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 18.6%.

Trading volume on the stock was nearly two times the 30-day average volume, at this time of the day.

Source: Exchange filing, Bloomberg

Indian bonds trade slightly higher as investors buy into the recent sharp rise in yields, spurred by the government’s record market borrowing plan for the next fiscal year. The rupee is little changed

• 10-year yields down 1bp to 6.87%; rose ~20bps in last two sessions.

• Yield on 6.1% 2031 bond also down 1bp to 6.91%.

• USD/INR steady at 74.8225.

Source: Bloomberg

• Sun Pharmaceutical Industries raised to 'buy' at KR Choksey; price target set at Rs 1,074.

Source: Bloomberg

• Infosys approves issue of 2.31 million stock incentive units to certain eligible employees of the company and its subsidiaries.

• Grant is effective Feb. 1, 2022.

• Exercise price will be equal to the par value of shares.

Source: Exchange Filing

Ceat denies all allegations of anti-competitive practices and said it’s studying CCI’s order for appropriate legal recourse.

• Apollo Tyres said it does not agree with the findings of the Commission and will take necessary steps under the law to appeal against the order after a more detailed examination of the full order.

• Ceat was fined Rs 252.1 crore, while Apollo was fined Rs 425.5 crore.

Source: Exchange filings

• Maturities across the India sovereign yield curve were little changed in Thursday morning trading.

• The 5-year yield fell 1.3bps to 6.066%.

• The 10-year yield fell 1.4bps to 6.867%.

• The 14-year yield fell 1.2bps to 7.304%.

• The 5-year-10-year yield spread was 80.1bps, vs previous close 80.1bps.

Source: Bloomberg

• Toyota Motor India has halted bookings for Hilux citing inability to meet demand due to supply issues.

Source: Bloomberg

• Navin Fluorine cut to 'sell' from 'reduce' at Kotak Securities; price target set at Rs 3,750.

• Indoco Remedies raised to 'buy' from 'accumulate' at Nirmal Bang; price target set at Rs 464.

Source: Bloomberg

• Apple had its strongest quarter for iPhone sales in India.

• Sales rose 34%YoY to 2.3 million units in the quarter-ended December.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Bharat Dynamics climbed over 10% in intraday trade to Rs 536.3 apiece after the company signed a contract worth Rs 3,131.82 crore with Indian Army.

The order pertains to the manufacture and supply Konkurs - M Anti-Tank Guided Missiles to the Indian Army.

With this order, the order book position of Bharat Dynamics stands at Rs 11,400 crore.

• Of the five analysts tracking the company, four maintained 'buy' and one maintained 'hold' recommendations.

• The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied a downside of 5.7%.

• Trading volume on the stock was over 21 times the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• The relative strength index on the stock was at 76, suggesting it may be overbought.

Source: Exchange Filing, Bloomberg

India's stock benchmarks were little changed, as gains in consumer durables stocks were offset by losses in metal stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.15% to 59,467.02. The NSE Nifty 50 fell by similar magnitude to 17,745.80.

The S&P BSE MidCap index almost mirrored its larger peers while S&P BSE SmallCap outperformed Sensex and Nifty with gains of nearly 0.25%. Ten of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Information Technology shedding 0.75%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,556 stocks advanced, 994 declined and 104 remained unchanged.

• HDFC raised to 'buy' from 'hold' at Antique Stock Broking; price target set at Rs 3,165.

• Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Co raised to 'buy' from 'hold' at Antique Stock Broking; price target set at Rs 730.

• Jubilant Food raised to 'buy' from 'hold' at Antique Stock Broking; price target set at Rs 3,840.

Source: Bloomberg

• Jubilant Foodworks raised to 'buy' at IDBI Capital Market; price target set at Rs 4,036.

• VIP Industries cut to 'hold' from 'buy' at IDBI Capital Market; price target set at Rs 670.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of tyre manufacturers in India may move after the country’s antitrust regulator imposed penalties totaling about 18 billion rupees ($239m) on five companies, including top players MRF and Apollo Tyres, over alleged cartelization in a decade-old case.

• In Focus: Apollo Tyres, MRF, Ceat, JK Tyre and Birla Tyres, which have been fined

• Also In Focus: Goodyear India, Balkrishna Industries

Source: Bloomberg

• VIP Industries cut to 'add' at Spark Capital Advisors; price target set at Rs 710.

• M&M Financial Services cut to 'reduce' from 'add' at Spark Capital Advisors; price target set at Rs 156.

Source: Bloomberg

Bloomberg Exclusive

• Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal is considering a potential merger of his commodity empire's indebted holding company with Vedanta.

• Anil Agarwal has help preliminary discussions with prospective advisers about the combining Vedanta Resources Ltd. with Vedanta.

• Deliberations are at an early stage, thereis no certainty that Agarwal will decide to pursue a transaction.

Source: People familiar with the matter