Sensex, Nifty Decline For Fourth Session Ahead Of Crucial Fed Meet

India's stock benchmarks fell for the fourth consecutive session, dragged by losses in information technology, metal and reality stocks, as markets ended at day's low in a volatile session. Focus now shifts to the crucial U.S. Federal Reserve meeting due later today as rapid tapering of monetary stimulus is expected amid elevated inflation levels.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.57% to 57,788.03. The NSE Nifty 50 index also declined by similar magnitude to 17,221.40. This is the fourth consecutive session in which the benchmarks have fallen, equalling the longest losing streak that ended November 22.

Bajaj Finance Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 3.1%. Today, 34 of 50 shares fell, while 16 rose.

The broader indices almost mirrored their larger peers with the S&P BSE MidCap falling 0.6% and S&P BSE SmallCap slipping 0.4%. Barring S&P BSE Auto and S&P BSE Capital Goods, all the other 17 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Realty shedding nearly 2% and S&P BSE Metal, Teck, Information Technology and Utilities falling over 1%.

The market breadth was neither skewed in the favour of bulls nor bears. About 1,711 stocks advanced, 1,624 declined and 119 remained unchanged.

"The market witnessed profit selling after positive opening and trading in a narrow range with Nifty-50 is down ~0.5%. The negative sentiments from other Asian markets due to renewed concerns about new variant restricted fresh buying. Moreover inflationary pressure in major economies is key concern in recent times", Mitul Shah, Head of Research at Reliance Securities wrote in a note. He added that "markets are anticipating that Federal Reserve policy makers will announce a faster pace of tapering response to rising prices, and will do enough rate hikes to take their main policy rate target to 2.5% by the end of 2024. This week brings a flurry of other central-bank decisions, including Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. In addition, markets will be focused on coronavirus headlines".

• India cabinet approves plan for semiconductors worth Rs 76,000 crore.

• India approves incentive plan for semiconductors for 6 years.

• India aims to develop complete ecosystem for chip manufacturing.

Source: Bloomberg

• TVS Motor Company says scope will include the design and development of future BMW Motorrad products

• BMW Motorrad and TVS Motor Company to develop common platforms by mutually tapping the emerging technologies in the future mobility space

• Exclusive products for both companies will be developed on the common platforms and the companies will retail their products globally

• TVS says first product with be showcased in the next 24 months.

Source : Exchange filing

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.'s long-term issuer default rating was upgraded by Fitch to A from A-.

Outlook changed to 'stable' from 'negative'.

Source: Fitch Statement

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVE

• KKR is nearing a deal to buy 10% stake in Shriram Capital's general insurance unit for Rs 1,800 crore

• Shriram Group is selling the stake in Shriram General Insurance Co. ahead of a potential IPO that could take place in 2022.

• KKR's proposed deal to buy stake in Shriram Capital's general insurance unit could be announced next week.

• Details of the transaction could change depending on regulatory hurdles.

Source: People familiar with the matter.

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVE

• UBS Group AG is cutting jobs and looking at relocating roles in India as it moves its investment banking coverage for the country offshore.

• Staff were informed of the move today.

• Bank plans to serve its India clients offshore.

Source: People familiar with the matter

Shares of Genus Power Infrastructures Ltd. rose over 5.27%, the biggest intraday gain in four sessions, to Rs 74.95 apiece after the company secured orders worth Rs 325 crore.

• The orders pertained to both exports and domestic geographies, the company said in an exchange filing.

• In domestic geography, the company received orders for smart meters and gas meters from multiple states. These orders will be executed over next 12 months. The company's orderbook has crossed Rs 1,000 crore.

• Trading volume on the stock was 1.9 times the 30-day average volume, for this time of the day.

• India's largest power producer NTPC will set up India's first green hydrogen microgrid project in Andhra Pradesh, Power Ministry said in a statement.

• The project will draw input electricity from NTPC's floating solar project in Simhadri to produce hydrogen.

• The hydrogen thus produced would be stored at high pressure and get electrified using 50 kW solid oxide fuel cell.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Anupam Rasayan India Ltd. rose 4%, the biggest intraday gain in nearly four weeks, to Rs 875 apiece after the company signed long term binding contract worth Rs 135 crore with Japanese multinational customer. The contract pertains to the supply of an existing life science related speciality chemical. The company earlier signed LoI for this product with the same customer and has now entered into a long term contract for next four years

Of the five analysts tracking the company, three maintained 'buy', one maintained 'hold' and one maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of over 10%.

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. rose over 2% in intraday trade to Rs 853.7 apiece after brokerage CLSA noted that the sharp turnaround in consolidated earnings and Return on Equity are likely to drive re-rating in the stock.

CLSA estimated the consolidated RoE to rise from 9% in FY2021 to 16% in FY2023 and raised its target price to Rs 1,220 from Rs 1,090, while reiterating the 'buy' rating.

CLSA

• Reiterates 'buy' on the stock with the target price raised to Rs 1,220 from Rs 1,090; an implied return of 46%.

• Expects strong growth in core business (auto and farm) with net profit CAGR at 20% over FY2022-24.

• Expects tractor business to growth at a stable pace.

• Profitability of the company likely to improve due to a decline in commodity costs and stable pricing.

Of the 46 analysts tracking the company, 40 maintained 'buy', three maintained 'hold' and three maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 25.3%

• Juspay Technologies Pvt. will invest the money to scale its business in payments in India and globally, the company said in an emailed statement.

• Besides SoftBank Vision Fund 2, existing investors VEF and Wellington Management also took part in the Series-C funding round.

• The payments technology company processes 300 million online transactions a month with gross value of over $5 billion, according to the statement.

• Avendus Capital advised Juspay in the funding round.

Source: Bloomberg

• Shares of Bajaj Electricals Ltd. rose as much as 8.59% to Rs 1,244.95 apiece.

• Trading volume on the stock was 2.1 times the 30-day average volume, for this time of the day.

• Analysts have 17 'buy', no 'hold' and no 'sell' recommendations on the stock.

• The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 14.2%

India's stock benchmarks declined, dragged by information technology, realty and fmcg stocks, following a slide in technology shares in the U.S. markets ahead of the much awaited U.S. Federal Reserve rate decision, scheduled today.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.51% to 57,821.53 apiece. The NSE Nifty 50 also declined by similar magnitude to 17,237.60. Bajaj Finance Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 2.5%. In midday trading, 37 of 50 shares fell, while 12 rose.

The S&P BSE MidCap index almost mirrored its larger peers shedding over 0.3% while the S&P BSE SmallCap index outperformed with gains as much as 0.23%. Fifteen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Information Technology, Teck and Realty shedding 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,837 stocks advanced, 1,389 declined and 137 remained unchanged.

• Vedanta revises record date for the purpose of second interim dividend for FY2021-22

• Record date for the second interim dividend is revised to Monday, December 20, 2021.

Source: Exchange Notification

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

• The 5-year yield was little changed at 5.684%

• The 10-year yield was little changed at 6.358%

• The 30-year yield was little changed at 6.958%

• The 5-year-10-year yield spread was 67.4bps, vs previous close 67.6bps

Source: Bloomberg

• State Bank of India: InCred initiates coverage on the stock with 'add' rating; price target at Rs 700.

• SBI Life: InCred initiates coverage on the stock with 'add' rating; price target at Rs 1,450.

• SBI Cards: InCred initiates coverage on the stock with 'add' rating; price target at Rs 1,250.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. rose nearly 1% in intraday trade to Rs 1,882 apiece after the company's construction arm secured a report order from Uttar Pradesh government. The order pertained to rural water supply projects under the Jal Jeevan Mission. L&T classified the order as 'large' which is of the value of Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore.

Under the order, L&T will implement rural water supply projects to the potable water requirement of 1,900 villages in Prayagraj district.

Besides this, L&T's smart water infrastructure segment of Water and Effluent treatment business secured a contract for integrated infrastructure project in Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu by Silvassa Smart City Ltd. The project comes under 'Smart Cities Mission'

Of the 42 analysts tracking the company, 40 maintained 'buy', one maintained 'hold' and one maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 17.4%.

Shares of Ashoka Buildcon jumped nearly 4%, the biggest intraday gain since December 3, to Rs 99.6 apiece after the company received Letter of Award from Ministry of Road Transport & Highways for the Construction of six lane link road in Goa on EPC mode.

The accepted quoted offer of the project is Rs 769.41 crore, the company said in an exchange filing.

Of the 18 analysts tracking the company, 17 maintained 'buy', one 'hold' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 61.4%

Burger King India Ltd. has approved raising as much as 1,500 crore via sale of shares, the company said in an exchange filing.

The company has approved a change in name from "Burger King India Ltd." to "Restaurant Brands Asia Ltd.".

Board of Burger King India also approved the increase in authorised share capital from Rs 505 crore, divided into 50.50 crore shares of Rs 10 each to Rs 600 crore, divided into 50 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each.

Shares of Burger King India jumped 3% after the announcement. Of the 10 analysts tracking the company, seven maintained 'buy', two maintained 'hold' and one maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 24.9%

India's stock benchmarks opened little changed, as gains in power, auto and telecom stocks were offset by losses in information technology and healthcare stocks, ahead of the crucial policy decision from Federal Reserve, due later today.

The S&P BSE Sensex was little changed at 58,087.19. The NSE Nifty 50 also opened flat at 17,320.

The broader indices outperformed their larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap adding 0.2% and S&P BSE SmallCap rising over 0.35%. Thirteen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. advanced, with S&P BSE Auto and Power gaining 0.4%. On the flipside, S&P BSE Information Technology shed 0.7%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,742 stocks advanced, 732 declined and 86 remained unchanged.

India’s rupee may extend losses after data showed the nation’s trade deficit surged to the highest in about three decades and amid caution ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy review.

• USD/INR rose 0.1% to 75.8700 on Tuesday

• Global funds sell net Rs 763 crore of Indian stocks Tuesday: NSE

  • They sold Rs 534 crore of sovereign bonds under limits available to foreign investors, and withdrew Rs 294 crore of corporate debt

  • State-run banks sold Rs 77.86 crore of sovereign bonds on Dec. 14: CCIL data. Foreign banks bought Rs 342 crore of bonds

Source: Bloomberg

• Both parties agreed to settle all disputes under and related to aircraft purchase agreement and component solution agreement.

• All related proceedings before UK Court and Delhi High Court will be withdrawn.

Source: Exchange Filing

Background Of The Legal Dispute

• The conflict between the two firms is over SpiceJet's non-payment of pre-delivery dues for 14 aircraft.

• A UK Court had ruled that De Havilland was entitled to recover $42.9 million in damages from SpiceJet

Source: Approved Judgment, Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London, dated December 7, 2021.

• SBI Cards & Payment Services Ltd.: Spark Capital Advisors initiated coverage with a 'buy' recommendation; target price at Rs 1,255.

• Sheela Foam: Investec initiated coverage with a 'buy' recommendation; target price at Rs 4,200.

Source: Bloomberg

Saudi Aramco and a group of financial investors are mulling investment in Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd., the Mint reported citing two people it didn't name.

A spokesperson for Reliance Industries Ltd. did not respond to Mint's emails.

Infosys Ltd. said that its wholly owned subsidiary Infosys Consulting Pte. Ltd. is acquiring 100% of the share capital of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.'s (Singtel) delivery center in Malaysia as part of a strategic partnership. The cost of the acquisition is 6 million Singapore dollars.

• In an exchange filing, Infosys said that the acquisition will bolster the company's presence in Malaysia.

• The delivery centre, Global Enterprise International Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. is a step-down subsidiary of Singtel and is based in Kuala Lumpur. The acquisition is expected to be completed by end of this month.

Source: Exchange Filing

The Indian government is considering amendments to the proposed cryptocurrency framework, The Economic Times newspaper reports, citing an unnamed senior government official.

• This bill, scheduled to be introduced to parliament in the current winter session, is unlikely to be tabled, the newspaper said

• Government discussing the need for wider consultation and public comments as well as whether the Reserve Bank of India backed digital currency should be part of the bill, the report added.

Lenskart seeks to raise $250 million in the latest funding round at $5 billion valuation to help strengthen its supply chain and expand distribution, Economic Times reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

• Temasek, KKR, Falcon Edge Capital, Chiratae Ventures, and Bay Capital and some other investors are participating in the round

• Lenskart CEO Peyush Bansal didn’t respond to requests for comment: ET