Sensex, Nifty Gain For Third Day Aided By Financials

India's stock benchmarks logged gains for the third day, aided by banking, realty, auto and information technology stocks, amid a moderation in crudes prices after Russia hinted at de-escalation of the conflict with Ukraine.

The S&P BSE Sensex added nearly 750 points to 58,683.99. The NSE Nifty advanced 1% to close just below 17,500.

The move was the biggest since rising 1.2% on March 22. Bajaj Finserv Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 3.8%. Today, 32 of 50 shares rose, while 18 fell.

The S&P BSE MidCap underperformed its larger peers, rising 0.8% while the S&P BSE SmallCap almost mirrored Sensex and Nifty, gaining over 1%. Twelve of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced with S&P BSE Finance rising over 1.7%. On the flipside, the S&P BSE Metal index lost nearly 3%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 2,114 stocks advanced, 1,285 declined and 110 remained unchanged.

"In the last two weeks, some recovery is visible in the market from the oversold zone led by key drivers like peace talk between Russia-Ukraine, Fed decision on an expected line, and State election results in favor of the ruling government", according to Neeraj Chadawar, Head - Quantitative Equity Research, Axis Securities. Adding that risk appetites are back in the market, he observed that the investors’ sentiments "further improved with ease in crude prices that lead to more buying interest, especially towards riskier assets like equity. In the near term, market performance is likely to be range-bound, as the clear trend is likely to emerge only after the volatility sustains at current levels for a longer time. Q4FY22 earnings commentaries remain critical at this juncture".

Shares of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. rose the most in a week after the company won an order for packaging for a state-owned refinery in Iraq.

• The order pertains to the design, engineering, manufacturing and supply of electric motor driven compressor.

• The order will be executes in the company plants at Hyderabad and Bhopal.

Source: Exchange Filing, Bloomberg

Shares of Zomato rose nearly 10%, the most in 18 weeks to Rs 86 apiece, still nearly 50% off the record Rs 169.

• Trading volume was slightly above the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• Of the 19 analysts tracking the company, 16 maintain 'buy', two suggest 'hold' and one recommends 'sell'. The return potential on the stock is at 46.8%.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Saregama India rose 5%, the most in nearly four weeks, after the company approved the demerger of entire distribution business including carvaan and other non-core assets in publication business.

• The turnover of the demerged division of the company for FY2021 was Rs 17.63 crore (3.78% of the total turnover of the company).

• The company said that the demerger would result in unlocking value of each of the business for the shareholders of the demerged entity and enable focussed growth strategy.

Source: Exchange Filing, Bloomberg

31 companies have been selected under the PLI Scheme for manufacturing of telecom and networking products.

• Reliance-backed Sanmina, Dixon Electro, HFCL Technologies, Tejas Networks, Foxconn, Nokia India among companies selected for telecom PLI scheme.

• 16 MSMEs, eight domestic manufacturers and seven global companies have been approved under the PLI scheme.

• Projected investment in the telecom sector under the PLI scheme is Rs 3,344.9 crore.

• Telecom PLI scheme to have overall financial outlay of Rs 12,195 crore over 5 years.

Source: PIB

Shares of G R Infraprojects jumps nearly 5% after the company received Letter of Award from National Highways Authority of India for five projects worth Rs 5,774 crore.

• The orders pertain to construction and upgradation of four-lane highways in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

• Of the 13 analysts tracking the company, nine maintain 'buy', three suggest 'hold' and one maintains 'sell'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 20.7%.

Source: Exchange filing, Bloomberg

• The release includes an additional instalment of dearness allowance to central government employees and dearness relief to pensioners due from Jan 1st, 2022

• The instalment represents an increase of 3% over the existing 31% of basic pay/pension.

• The impact on the exchequer would amount to Rs 9,554.5 crore/annum.

• 47.68 lakh central government employees and 68.62 lakh pensioners will benefit from this.

Source: PIB

Shares of Hindalco Industries Ltd. fell over 5%, the most in over two weeks.

• The stock is the biggest laggard on NSE Nifty Metal index.

• The fall comes amid a decline in raw material prices dropped as investors weighed prospects for a de-escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

• Of the 28 analysts tracking the company, 27 maintain 'buy' and one suggests 'sell'. The return potential on the stock is at 11.7%.

• Since Feb. 24, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, Hindalco has added over 16% compared to 15% gains for Nifty Metal index.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co rose over 3%, the most in nearly two weeks after ICICIdirect.com initiated coverage of the stock with a 'buy' recommendation.

• The target price was set at Rs 1,550; an implied return of 21.49%.

• Under penetration in non-life insurance, expected revival in motor insurance, focus on digital adoption are seen as key growth triggers for the company.

• Of the 26 analysts tracking the company, 17 maintain 'buy', four suggest 'hold' and five recommend 'sell'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 20.8%

Source: ICICIdirect.com note, Bloomberg

Retail interest in the shares of Uma Exports surged on the third and final of the initial public offer of Kolkata-based agri-products' wholesaler and distributer.

The offer was subscribed 6.16 times as of 1:45 p.m.

• Qualified Institutional Buyers: 1.84 times

• Non Institutional Investors: 1.26 times

• Retail Investors: 8.35 times.

Source: NSE

Future Supply Chain Solutions failed to pay an aggregate amount of Rs 19.16 crore to Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India, the company's promoter Future Enterprises said in an exchange filing.

• The company has a review period of 30 days to pay the due amount, as per RBI circular dated Aug. 6, 2020.

Source: Exchange Filing

European markets opened lower as investors remained circumspect about de-escalation of Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Russia said it would take steps to “de-escalate” the conflict. The latest round of talks between Russia and Ukraine failed to reach agreement on a cease-fire, however, and the Pentagon said Kyiv remains under threat.

Shares of Dilip Buildcon surged nearly 4.5% after the company was declared as L-1 bidder for the development of six-lane highway project in Karnataka by NHAI under Bharatmala programme.

• The bid project cost is Rs 1,589 crore. The project is to be completed in 30 months and the operation period is for 15 years from the commercial operation date.

• Trading volume was 1.5 times the 30-day average volume for this time of the day. Of the 10 analysts tracking the company, six maintain 'buy', two suggest 'hold' and two recommend 'sell'. The return potential on the stock is 88.3%.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

India's stock benchmarks rose, aided by gains in banking, auto, realty, power and information technology stocks, amid hopes of de-escalation in Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose over 1% to 58,547.14. The 30-stock gauge rose above 58,650 in intraday trade. The NSE Nifty 50 advanced by similar magnitude and hovered around 17,500 levels.

The S&P BSE MidCap underperformed its larger peers, rising 0.75% while S&P BSE SmallCap outperformed Sensex and Nifty, gaining over 1.3%. Sixteen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced with S&P BSE Realty rising nearly 2%. On the flipside, S&P BSE Metal fell over 2%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 2,296 stocks advanced, 996 declined and 116 remained unchanged.

• ICICI Lombard: ICICIdirect.com initiated coverage of the stock with a recommendation of 'buy'; price target set at Rs 1,550.

• SRF: ICICIdirect.com initiated coverage of the stock with the recommendation of 'buy'; price target set at R 3,065.

Source: Bloomberg

• IDFC First Bank Ltd. has 16.6 million shares change hands in four bunched trades.

• Details of buyers, sellers are not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Quess Corp Ltd. rose as much as 7.5%, the most in nearly six weeks after Motilal Oswal reiterated 'buy' with the target price unchanged at Rs 850, an implied return of 30.07%.

• Motilal expects Quess to be among the biggest direct beneficiaries of the liberalisation and formalisation of labour markets.

• The brokerage notes that the company's ambitious FY2025 targets, shared at a recent investor meet, point to large headroom for growth.

• Trading volume was more than twice the 30-day average volume for this time of the day.

• Stock price crossed above 50-day simple moving average, indicating potential upward price momentum.

Source: Motilal Oswal note, Bloomberg

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVE

• Government is considering a proposal from Russia to use a system developed by Russian central bank for bilateral payments.

• Plan involves rupee-ruble-denominated payments using Russia's messaging system SPFS.

• No final decision has been taken and the matter will probably be discussion when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrives in India on Thursday.

• Under the proposal, rubles will be deposited to an Indian bank and converted into rupees and the same sytem will work in reverse.

• Russia wants India to link its Unified Payments Interface with their MIR payments systems to ensure seamless use of cards issues by Indian and Russian banks.

Source: People with knowledge of the matter

• A Finance ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for a comment.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Adani Enterprises rose 3.5% to a record Rs 1,984.9 apiece.

• The company achieved financial closure of Navi Mumbai International Airport project through execution of financial documents with State Bank of India.

• SBI has underwritten the entire debt requirement of Rs 12,770 crore for the project.

• Trading volume on the stocks is more than 1.5 times the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• The relative strength index on the stock is at 71, suggesting it may be overbought.

Source: Exchange Filing, Bloomberg

Shares of private sector lender Axis Bank rose 3.8%, the most in two weeks.

• Press Trust of India reported that Axis Bank is close to acquiring Citigroup's retail banking business in India and a deal is likely to be announced soon, citing sources it did not identify.

• According to the report, the deal, to be valued at $2.5 billion (about Rs 18,000 crore), will be subject to regulatory approvals.

• The bank will hold a press conference on a 'Strategic Business Announcement' after markets hours Wednesday.

• An e-mail sent to Axis Bank by PTI seeking comments on the proposed deal did not elicit any response immediately.

• Earlier this month, Axis Bank said it was yet to take a decision on the purchase of Citigroup's India retail business.

Source: PTI, Bloomberg

Shares of AurionPro Solutions rose 5%, the most in four days, after its subsidiary based in Singapore bagged orders from two large banks in the country.

• The orders, together valued at over 3 million Singapore dollars, pertains to the upgradation of Smart Lender system.

• The orders will be executed over next two quarters.

• Trading volume on the stock is nearly 2.5 times the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• Share price surged above 50-day simple moving average, suggesting potential upward price momentum.

Source: Exchange Filing, Bloomberg

Sun Pharma's subsidiary entered into an exclusive patent licensing agreement with H Lundbeck to market and distribute its own version of Vortioxetine in India.

• The drug, used to treat major depressive disorder in adults, will be sold under the brand name, Vortidif in Indai.

• The product is approved in over 80 countries, including the U.S., European Union, Canada and Australia.

Source: Exchange Filing

Retail interest in the shares of Uma Exports surged on the third and final of the initial public offer of Kolkata-based agri-products' wholesaler and distributer.

The offer was subscribed 5.21 times as of 11:27 a.m.

• Qualified Institutional Buyers: 1.02 times

• Non Institutional Investors: 1.19 times

• Retail Investors: 7.01 times.

Source: NSE

Retail investors continued to lead bidding for shares of Veranda Learning Solutions Ltd., an offline hybrid edutech company based out of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, on the second day of its initial public offering.

The offer was subscribed 74% on the first day.

Subscription Details: Day 2

The IPO was subscribed 86% or 0.86 times as of 11 a.m. on March 30.

• Institutional investors: 0.05 times.

• Non-institutional investors: 0.90 times.

• Retail investors: 4.98 times.

Most yields along the India sovereign yield curve fell, with 2-year bonds moving the most in Wednesday morning trading.

• The 1-year yield remained unchanged at 4.735%

• The 10-year yield fell 2.6bps to 6.795%

• The 18-year yield remained unchanged at 7.18%

• The 2-year-10-year yield spread was 182.6bps, vs previous close 181.3bps.

Source: Bloomberg

S&P Global expects the company’s operating performance to remain weak over the next 12 months due to issues in its generics business.

• "The negative outlook on Jubilant Pharmova reflects the uncertainty around the group’s revenue growth and margins amid regulatory issues and tough operating conditions,” analysts at S&P said in a note

Source: Bloomberg

• Mindtree cut to 'reduce' from 'accumulate' at Dolat Capital; price target set at Rs 4,150.

• L&T Technology Services cut to 'sell' from 'accumulate' at Dolat Capital; price target set at Rs 4,650.

• Persistent Systems cut to 'sell' from 'accumulate' at Dolat Capital; price target set at Rs 4,400.

• Coforge raised to 'reduce' from 'sell' at Dolat Capital; price target set at Rs 4,400.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of IDBI Bank rose over 3.5%, the most in over a week after the company approved sale of 20 crore equity shares in Ageas Federal Life Insurance to Ageas Insurance International.

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

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange Filing

Shares of Restaurant Brands Asia rose over 5.25%, the most in over a month after analysts at Motilal Oswal reiterated 'buy', citing multiple levers to unlock growth in the company.

• Motilal Oswal slashed the target price from Rs 210 to Rs 150, to account for the recent correction. The current target implies an upside of 55%.

• Dine-in business, BK Cafes are identified as key growth drivers. Motilal Oswal believes that the stock is trading at the significant discount to its QSR peers after the recent correction.

• Of the 10 analysts tracking the company, eight maintain 'buy', one recommends 'hold' and one suggests 'sell'. The return potential on the stock is at 66.1%.

Source: Motilal Oswal Note, Bloomberg

Shares of Hero MotoCorp surged over 3%, the most in nearly three weeks after the company increased prices of its motorcycles and scooters by Rs 2,000 effective April 5.

• Hero MotoCorp also dismissed media reports of alleged bogus expenses incurred by the company.

• Trading volume was more than eight time the 30-day average volume at this time of the day.

• Of the 52 analysts tracking the company, 33 maintain 'buy', 14 suggest 'hold' and five recommend 'hold'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 33.6%.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange Filing.

Shares of most commodity-linked stocks fell as investors weighed prospects of de-escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

• Twelve of the 15 constituents in NSE Nifty Metal index declined with National Aluminium Co, Hindalco, Vedanta, JSW Steel shedding over 2.5%.

• ONGC, Adani Total, Oil India were among the losers in S&P BSE Energy index.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Bharat Electronics rose over 2%, the biggest intraday gain in over a week after the company bagged contracts totalling Rs 3,109 crore from the Ministry of Defence.

• State-owned Bharat Electronics has won two contracts worth Rs 1,109 crore and Rs 1,993 crore each for supply of its electronic warfare range to the Indian Air Force.

• ICICI Securities reiterated Bharat Electronics and Hindustan Aeronautics as the top picks in defence sector and expects the government's focus on indigenisation to benefit the sector.

• Trading volume on the stock was more than twice the 30-day average volume for this time of the day. Of the 29 analysts tracking the company, 25 maintain 'buy', three suggest 'hold' and one recommends 'sell'. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 19.5%.

Source: Exchange filing

India's stock benchmarks opened higher, aided by gains in auto, banking, consumer durables, power and realty stocks, amid hopes of progress in talks between Russia and Ukraine, which drove down oil prices.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.72% to 58,362.85. The NSE Nifty 50 also advanced by similar magnitude to 17,468.15.

The S&P BSE MidCap almost mirrored its larger peers while S&P BSE SmallCap outperformed Sensex and Nifty, rising 0.9%. Fifteen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced with S&P BSE Telecom and Realty adding over 1%. On the flipside, S&P BSE Metal fell nearly 2%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,889 stocks advanced, 551 declined and 72 remained unchanged.

• Tata Consumer raised to 'add' from 'reduce' at YES Research; price target set at Rs 806.

Source: Bloomberg

Diligent Industries completed the implementation of a green field multiple refinery-vegetable oil plant for Rs 15 crore,

• About Rs 11 crore has already been spent and the blance will be infused in a phased manner in FY2022-23.

• The commercial production from the plant is expected to commence soon. Palm oil, Super Olein and Soft Stearin are the products that can be processed in the plant, initially.

Source: Exchange Filing

Indian markets are likely to open gap up tracking strong global cues with encouraging progress in ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine.

• Domestic markets ended higher on the back of gains across BFSI and IT stocks amid a breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine conflict and slide in crude oil prices. US markets ended higher tracking gains in technology stocks amid positive development in Russian-Ukrainian war.

Source: ICICI Direct note

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has acquired 68,86,500 shares, representing 11.28% of equity share capital of Zenotech Laboratories from Daiichi Sankyo.

• The total cash consideration for the transactions is Rs 5.32 crore.

• After the acquisition, Sun Pharma holds 68.84% of the total paid-up capital of Zenotech Laboratories.

Source: Exchange Filing

Motilal Oswal

• Maintains 'buy' and cuts target price to Rs 150 from Rs 210, still an implied upside of 55%.

• Covid-19 has augmented business opportunities for QSRs.

• Restaurant Brands Asia is expected to benefit from the shift in QSR business model towards an omni-channel play.

• Dine-in business, which is lagging in recovery currently, is likely to rebound sharply with the return of full mobility.

• Revival in dine-in business is likely to support margins.

• Company's focus to introduce 75 BK Cafes by March 2023 is drive growth as coffee is a strategic offering that will aid volumes, realisations, SSSG, gross margin.

• Expects India and Indonesia businesses to deliver strong double-digit sales growth and marked margin expansion.

• BK Cafe is likely to be a key growth driver for the company going forward.

• Stock is trading at a significant discount to its QSR peers after the recent correction.

Source: Motilal Oswal Note

The Indian rupee and government bonds are likely to gain after the central bank announced a forex swap amid broad risk-on in the region. Traders are also waiting on the fiscal first-half borrowing program likely Wednesday.

• The USD/INR sell/buy swap auction of $5 billion will be held on April 26, RBI said after close of markets on Tuesday

• India’s central bank will hold swap auction with a view to elongate the maturity profile of its forward book and smoothen the receivables relating to forward assets: statement

• USD/INR fell 0.2% to 75.9875 on Tuesday

• 10-year yields fell 2bps to 6.82% on Tuesday

• Domestic funds buy net Rs 1,710 crore of India stocks Tuesday: NSE

• They sold Rs 113 crore of sovereign bonds under limits available to foreign investors, and withdrew Rs 774 crore of corporate debt

• State-run banks sold Rs 256 crore of sovereign bonds on March 29: CCIL data. Foreign banks bought Rs 649 crore of bonds.

Source: Bloomberg

Stocks linked to oil, aluminum and other metals, and wheat may be active amid speculation that the availability of commodities could improve after Russia offered to “fundamentally cut back” its military operations in northern Ukraine.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 2.1% Tuesday after Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Moscow has decided to cut military activity near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the city of Chernihiv.

Oil rebounded in early Asian trading on Wednesday after two days of losses.

• Adani Group: The company achieved financial closure of Navi Mumbai International Airport project through execution of financial documents with State Bank of India. The lender has written down the entire debt requirement of Rs 12,770 crore for the project.

• InterGlobe Aviation: Jiten Chopra, the chief financial officer of the IndiGo airlines operator, has resigned from the post effective March 28. The company has appointed Gaurav Negi as the CFO with effect from March 29.

• Welspun: The company’s Saudi Arabia associate East Pipes Integrated Company for Industry has won an order of Rs 1,001.38 crore from Saline Water Conversion Corp.

• Ruchi Soya: The Patanjali Ayurved-owned company has rescheduled for March 31 its board meeting to determine the issue price of its follow-on public offer, or FPO.

• Emami: The company is looking to grow its personal and healthcare businesses in India mainly through acquisitions, Bloomberg reported. CFO NH Bhansali said the strategy is to grow through the inorganic route.

• Hero MotoCorp: The company dismissed media reports of alleged bogus expenses incurred by the company. It also increased prices of its motorcycles and scooters by Rs 2,000 effective April 5.

• ONGC: The company will sell 1.5% stake via an offer for sale on March 30. The floor price is Rs 159 per share.

• IDBI Bank: The lender has approved sale of 20 crore equity shares in Ageas Federal Life Insurance Co. to Ageas Insurance International NV after exercise of call option by Ageas.

• State Bank of India: The lender will acquire the entire stake (13.82%) of existing shareholders of SBI Global Factors. Shareholders include Sidbi, Bank of Maharashtra and Union Bank of India.

• ICICI Bank: The bank has acquired 5.97% stake in Open Network for Digital Commerce for a consideration of Rs 10 crore.

• Tata Consumer: The company acquired 10.15% stake in its U.K. arm for Rs 570.8 crore through a preferential issue of equity shares. TCP UK will become a wholly owned subsidiary upon completion of the deal.

• Future Enterprises: The firm's credit rating has been downgraded to ‘D’ by Care Ratings after it failed to pay Rs 19.16 crore to PNB, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India under the one-time resolution plan.

• ICICI Lombard: To consider declaration of dividend on April 21.

• Exide: The company approved scheme of amalgamation of wholly owned subsidiary Chloride Power Systems & Solutions with itself.

• Lemon Tree: The company has signed a licence agreement for 132-room hotel project in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. The property is likely to be operational by March 2025.

• Edelweiss: Declared interim dividend of Rs 0.25 per share.

• Rail Vikas Nigam: The firm will sign a memorandum of understanding with Bharat Electronics to explore feasibility and execution of large projects through special purpose vehicles and other consultancy and project management services.

• Strides Pharma Science: The company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer R Ananthanarayanan resigned. Arun Kumar, the founder of the company, will take over the role of MD and CEO.

• NMDC: Appoints Amitava Mukherjee as director (finance).

• Cerebra Integrated: To consider rights issue on April 4.