Sensex, Nifty Snap Four-Day Losing Streak Aided By Reliance, Infosys

India's stock benchmarks snapped a four-day losing streak, aided by gains in information technology and energy stocks, after fluctuating between gains and losses for most of the session.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.20% to 57,901.14. The NSE Nifty 50 also advanced by similar magnitude to 17,248.40. Both the indices rose nearly 1% in intraday trade before erasing the losses in a volatile session. Bajaj Finance Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 2.7%. Today, 25 of 50 shares rose, while 25 fell.

The broader indices underperformed their larger peers with both S&P BSE MidCap and S&P BSE SmallCap shedding nearly 0.7%. Fourteen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Power, Utilities losing 1%. On the flipside, S&P BSE Energy, Information Technology and Teck gained 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bears. About 1,509 stocks advanced, 1,842 declined and 102 remained unchanged.

"Markets managed to end marginally higher amid volatility, taking a breather after the recent fall. After the initial uptick, the benchmark drifted lower and retested the previous session’s low. However, recovery in the select index majors in the final hours helped the index to pare losses and end in the green", Ajit Mishra, VP - Research at Religare Broking Ltd. wrote in a note, and added "as all the major events are over now, we feel the performance of the global markets would be critical in days to come. At the same time, we expect the buzz to continue in the primary market. Among the sectors, only the IT pack looks decisive to us while others are witnessing mixed trends".

• Company actively looking to acquire firms that are driving innovation.

• Company looking at firms focusing on auto finance, leasing, insurance, servicing, car ownership, EVs and new age technology.

Source: Exchange Filing

BEML signs MoU with RITES to explore and jointly bid for opportunities in the fields of Metro systems and export of rolling stock.

• RITES will provide expertise in design, engineering and marketing.

• BEML will be responsible for manufacturing of customized metro coaches and rolling stock.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Zensar Technologies: Edelweiss Capital initiated coverage of the company with a recommendation of 'buy'; target price at Rs 705.

• eClerx Services: Emkay Global Financial Services reinstated coverage of the company with a recommendation of 'buy'; target price at Rs 2,700.

Source: Bloomberg

• Vedanta has 170.1 million shares change hands in a block deal.

• Details of the buyers and sellers are not immediately known.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Gujarat Fluorochemicals Ltd. tumbled nearly 12%, the steepest intraday decline in nearly 21 months since March 23, 2020, to Rs 2,112.05 apiece, after a report by the Indian Express said that a blast at the company's chemical factory in Panchmahal district in Gujarat left at least two workers dead and 14 others injured, on Thursday.

Of the five analysts tracking the company, four maintained 'buy' and one maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 10.7%. Trading volume on the stock was 4.2 times the 30-day average volume, for this time of the day.

The company has not made any disclosure yet to the exchanges about the incident or the extent of damage due to the incident. The company didn't immediately respond to BloombergQuint's emailed queries.

• This includes the sale of 21.5 lakh shares, representing 3.62% of share capital of Ansal done on Wednesday

• HDFC intends to sell 50 lakh shares of Ansal Housing, aggregating 8.42% of share capital.

• Sale done for recovery of part outstanding dues against loans availed by pledgers/borrowers.

Source: Exchange Filing

BLOOMBERG EXCLUSIVE

• Byju's is in advanced discussions to go public through a merger with one of Churchill Capital's SPACs.

• Byju's held talks with potential SPAC partners and is farthest along in working out a deal with Churchill Capital.

• Byju's looking to raise about $4 billion and seek a valuation of $48 billion.

• Announcement from Byju's could come as soon as January.

• Negotiations not yet final.

Source: People familiar with the matter

• The company will open its initial public offering from Dec. 21 to Dec. 23.

• Price band set at Rs 205-216.

• Company looks to raise Rs 1,100 crore through IPO.

• Issue is a complete offer for sale.

Source: Press briefing

India's stock benchmarks erased nearly 1% gains to trade little changed, as advances in information technology stocks were offset by losses in pharma, auto and realty stocks

The S&P BSE Sensex was little changed at 57,760.12. The NSE Nifty 50 index also traded flat at 17,203.90. Both the indices rose almost 1% in intraday trade before paring the gains. Eicher Motors Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 2%. In midday trading, 29 of 50 shares fell, while 20 rose.

The broader indices underperformed their larger peers with both the S&P BSE MidCap and S&P BSE SmallCap shedding nearly 1%. About 15 of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. declined with S&P BSE Healthcare, Auto, Utilities and Realty falling over 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bears. About 1,304 stocks advanced, 1,942 declined and 116 remained unchanged.

Cadila Healthcare Ltd. announced that its antimalarial compound has received orphan drug designation from U.S. FDA

What is orphan drug designation?

• Classification brings incentives, tax credits, prescription drug user fee exemptions and seven-year marketing exclusivity after FDA approval

Shares of Cadila Healthcare shed 0.82% to Rs 461.7 apiece, as of 12:22 p.m. Of the 35 analysts tracking the company, 17 maintained 'buy', nine maintained 'hold' and nine maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 19.3%

• Ashoka Buildcon received work order worth Rs 262.17 crore, excluding GST, for the construction of Navi Mumbai International Airport Project.

• The order pertained to the construction of rock fill embankment and subgrade work for the airport project.

Source: Exchange Filing

Indian government bonds edge lower as traders weighed a hawkish pivot by the U.S. central bank as it signaled rate hikes at its meeting Wednesday. The rupee traded steady near an 18-month low.

• India’s 10-year yields climbed by 1bp to 6.37% on Thursday

• USD/INR steady at 76.25

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Syngene International Ltd. rose over 3%, the biggest intraday gain in three sessions, to Rs 626.5 apiece after it extended its long-standing collaboration with Amgen Inc.

• The contract is extended till the end of 2026.

• Scope of the contract includes drug discovery, peptide chemistry, antibody and protein reagents, among others. In an exchange filing, Syngene also said it will build a dedicated laboratory for R&D project acceleration.

Source: Exchange Filing

Of the 11 analysts tracking the company, eight maintained 'buy', one maintained 'hold' and two maintained 'sell' recommendation. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 7.9%.

Bharat Electronics Ltd. received an order worth Rs 2,400 crore from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. for the manufacture and supply of 20 times of airborne electronic systems to be fitted on LCA Tejas Mk1A fighter aircraft.

The order spans five years from 2023 to 2028. This is the biggest ever order received by BEL for avionic systems.

Shares of Bharat Electronics rose 0.53% to Rs 209.1 as of 11:45 a.m. Of the 31 analysts tracking the company, 27 maintained 'buy', three maintained 'hold' and one maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 14.7%

Plaza Premium Group (PPG), a global airport hospitality services provider has selected Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. to develop end-to-end digital platform to improve customer experience and operational efficiencies in 70 airport locations serving 20 million passengers annually.

In an exchange filing, TCS said it will create a first-of-its-kind customised Passenger Services Technology Platform for PPG. The platform aims to simplify reservations, consumer engagement and create a 360-degree service-delivery scope.

The platform is expected to be first deployed at Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. in early 2022.

Tata Power's wholly owned subsidiary TP Saurya Ltd. received letter of award from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. to set up 300 MW hybrid power capacity.

The project has been awarded through tariff-based competitive bidding followed by e-Reverse auction, the company said in an exchange filing.

The project will be commissioned with 18 months from the date of execution of the power purchase agreement.

With this project, Tata Power's total renewable capacity will reach 4,907 Mega Watt.

Shares of Subros Ltd. rose 8.86% to Rs 408 apiece after the company secured an order from Indian Railways for supply of coach air-conditioners in a recent tender.

The company is already a supplier of rail driver cabin air conditioning system. With this order, the complete scope of air conditioning for rail driver cabin and coaches is complete.

Of the seven analysts tracking the company, five maintained 'buy' and two maintained 'hold' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 1.4%.

Trading volume on the stock was 7.8 times the 30-day average volume, for this time of the day.

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

• The 4-year yield remained unchanged at 5.379%

• The 10-year yield rose 0.6bps to 6.37%

• The 20-year yield remained unchanged at 6.872%

• The 4-year-10-year yield spread was 99.1bps, vs previous close 98.6bps

Source: Bloomberg

The power transmission and distribution business of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. secured large orders in both India and overseas. The company defines 'large' contracts as those worth Rs 2,500-5,000 crore.

In an exchange filing, the company said that it bagged an order to provide dynamic reactive power compensator system in Abu Dhabi among several orders in the middle east besides the order to build gas insulated substation in Bangladesh.

Domestic orders pertained to power distribution infrastructure creation in two circle areas of Bengaluru.

Shares of L&T rose 1.45% in intraday trade. 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 16.4%

Shares of Infosys Ltd. rose 2.40% to Rs 1,775.85 apiece after the company announced extension of its digital innovation partnership with Australian Open until the end of 2026, in an exchange filing before market hours Thursday.

Tennis Australia and Infosys will continue to harness big data and analytics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and cloud technologies to elevate the viewing experience.

Infosys also announced on Wednesday 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.

Of the 49 analysts tracking the company, 45 maintained 'buy', two maintained 'hold' and two maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 13.1%.

Trading volume was 1.7 times the 30-day average volume, for this time of the day.

Shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. rose as much as 5.30% in early trade, the biggest intraday gain in seven sessions, to Rs 279 apiece after a Bloomberg report said that the company's founder is nearing a deal to sell about half his stake in the company to investors led by Blackstone Group and Abu Dhavi Investment authority, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal could be valued at Rs 1,400 crore, according to Bloomberg.

About 34.85 million shares, constituting 7.5% equity, changed hands in six pre-market bunched trades.

Of the three analysts tracking the company, two maintained 'buy' and one maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied a downside of 35.2%.

Trading volume on the stock was 36.9 times the 30-day average volume, for this time of the day.

Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem Ltd.: ICICI Securities initiates coverage with 'buy' recommendation; target price at Rs 2,920.

India's stock benchmarks opened higher, aided by information technology, energy, realty and banking stocks, after the U.S. Federal Reserve laid out the road map for eight interest rate hikes through to 2024.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index rose 0.76% to 58,226.88. The NSE Nifty 50 index also advanced by similar magnitude to 17,344.70.

The broader indices almost mirrored their larger peers with S&P BSE MidCap adding 0.50% and S&P BSE SmallCap gaining 0.80%. All the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, with S&P BSE Information Technology and S&P BSE Metal leading the gains.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,925 stocks advanced, 494 declined and 80 remained unchanged.

• Infosys Ltd. announced extension of its digital innovation partnership with Australian Open until the end of 2026. Tennis Australia and Infosys will continue to harness big data and analytics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and cloud technologies to elevate the viewing experience.

Source: Exchange Filing

• Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. has 34.85 million shares change hands in six bunches.

• Details of buyers and sellers are not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

India’s rupee may extend losses from an 18-month low on concern RBI and Fed monetary policy will diverge further after the U.S. central bank signaled rate hikes at its meeting Wednesday.

• USD/INR rose 0.5% to 76.2312 on Wednesday after climbing to 76.2425, highest since June 2020.

• Global funds sell a net Rs 3,410 crore of Indian stocks Wednesday: NSE.

• They bought Rs 403 crore of sovereign bonds under limits available to foreign investors, and offloaded Rs 209 crore of corporate debt.

• State-run banks bought Rs 1,230 crore of sovereign bonds on Dec. 15: CCIL data. Foreign banks sold Rs 859 crore of bonds.

Source: Bloomberg

CMS Info Systems Ltd. has set a price range of Rs 205-216 per share for its initial public offering, in which its founder firm Sion Investment Holdings Pte is seeking to raise as much as Rs 1,100 crore ($144 million), according to an advertisement in the Financial Express newspaper Thursday.

• The Mumbai-based cash-management services provider’s IPO will be open for subscription Dec. 21-23.

• The founder firm earlier planed to sell Rs 2,000 crore worth of shares in CMS, according to its initial prospectus filed in August.

• This is the company’s second attempt to go public after an earlier filing in 2017.

• Axis Capital, DAM Capital, Jefferies and JM Financial are managing the IPO.

• Investors can bid for minimum 69 shares of face value Rs 10 each.

Source: Bloomberg

• Vodafone Idea Ltd. is expecting equity infusion from owners Vodafone Group Plc and Aditya Birla Group.

• Vodafone Idea is expected to complete the capital raise by March 2022, reported The Economic Times, citing a BNP Paribas note on an investor call.

• Nippon Life India Asset Management Ltd. raised to 'buy' from 'hold' at JM Financial Institutional Securities; price target at Rs 435.

• Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd. cut to 'sell' from 'add' at Kotak Securities; price target at Rs 650.

Source: Bloomberg