Sensex, Nifty Gain For Fourth Consecutive Day After Volatile Session

India’s equity benchmarks closed higher for the fourth consecutive session after fluctuating between gains and losses, for the most part of the session. Both S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 closed at record, aided by gains in consumer durables, auto and metal stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex index rose 0.25% to 60,284.31, a record close for the 30-stock index.. The NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced by a similar magnitude to close at 17,991.95, a record close for the index. Titan Co. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 5.5%. Today, 29 of 50 shares rose, while 21 fell.

The broader indices almost mirrored their larger peers, with both S&P BSE MidCap gaining over 0.6% and S&P BSE SmallCap gaining over 0.25%. Fourteen of the 19 sectoral indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, with the S&P Consumer Durables index gaining over 2.75%. On the flipside, S&P BSE Information Technology index shed nearly 1%

The market breadth was skewed in favour of bulls. About 1,790 stocks advanced, 1,551 declined and 137 remained unchanged.

Shares of consumer-related companies, from footwear makers to jewelers, rose on expectations of improved earnings and a revival in demand during the festival season.

Source: Bloomberg

Shadow lenders that offer loans against gold will likely see their asset size grow by 18-20% to Rs 1.3 lakh crore ($17.2 billion) in the year to March 31, Crisil Ratings said in a note.

• Demand for gold loans from small firms and individuals has increased with the pick-up in economic activity and the onset of the festive season.

• Gold loans will continue to be a sought-after asset class, while lenders would remain cautious about growth in many other retail asset classes,” said Krishnan Sitaraman, a senior director at Crisil.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Suryoday Small Finance Bank Ltd. rose 3.35% in intraday trade to Rs 193.05 apiece after the company reported a 11.7% QoQ rise in gross advances in the quarter ended September, to Rs 4,471 crore, in its quarterly business update.

• Disbursements rose 194.4% QoQ to Rs 1,061 crore

• Total deposits slipped 5.7% QoQ to Rs 3,129 crore

• CASA at 18.49% vs 16.17% in Q1FY22

The company said that the collection efficiency rose to 86% in Q2 compared to 70% in the June quarter.

• India plans to sell Alliance Air, a unit of Air India Ltd., separately after Tata Group emerged as the highest bidder for the flag carrier in a sale that excluded the unit

• Alliance Air operates a fleet of 18 ATR turboprops, connecting smaller towns to bigger cities

• India plans to first hive off Air India ground handling unit as part of the parent company’s sale

• India expects to list state-owned Life Insurance Corp. of India in the last quarter of FY22.

Tuhin Kanta Pandey, DIPAM Secretary

PSP Projects Ltd. has emerged the lowest bidder (L1 bidder) for one government residential project with a bid value of Rs 238.70 crore (excluding GST) in Uttar Pradesh, the company said in an exchange filing.

Shares of PSP Projects rose 2.39% in intraday trade to Rs 513.5 apiece before paring some of the gains.

All the eight analysts tracking the company maintained 'buy' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 14.2%.

• Shares of Union Bank of India Ltd. rose 5.5%.

• Trading volume was triple the 20-day average for this time of day.

• The relative strength index on the stock was above 70, suggesting it may be overbought. Analysts have two 'buy', three 'hold' and three 'sell' recommendations on the stock

India's stock benchmarks declined, as losses in information technology stocks offset gains in consumer durables stocks, amid weak global cues.

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.27% to 59,972.47. The NSE Nifty 50 fell by a similar magnitude to 17898.90. Infosys Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.4%. HCL Technologies Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 4.6%. In midday trading, 34 of 50 shares fell, while 16 rose.

The broader indices outperformed their larger peers with both S&P BSE MidCap S&P BSE SmallCap indexes remaining little changed. Fifteen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. declined, with S&P BSE Information Technology index shedding over 1.5%.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of bears. About 1,563 stocks advanced, 1,654 declined and 148 remained unchanged.

Shares of Maharashtra Seamless Ltd. rose 15.51% in intraday, to Rs 456.9 apiece. Trading volume on the stock was 12.3 times the 30-day average volume for this time of the day. The relative strength index on the stock was 83, suggesting that it may be overbought.

Shares of Maharashtra Seamless have added over 16% over the last three sessions. During market hours on Friday, the company announced that it secured Rs 237 crore order from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) for supply of seamless casing pipes

Shares of Everest Organics Ltd. rose 11.57% to Rs 335 apiece on the BSE, after the company announced it developed anti-viral API 'Molnupiravir' as additional Covid-19 treatment drug successfully. In an exchange filing, Everest Organics said that it is planning to an active player in the viral segment following the development.

• Bar to be effective from April 1, 2022 up to a period of two years.

• The action has been taken due to the audit firm's failure to comply with a specific direction by RBI with respect to its statutory audit of a Systemically Important Non-Banking Financial Company.

• Action is taken in exercise of powers vested under Section 45MAA of the RBI Act.

Source: RBI statement

Shares of Schaeffler India Ltd. rose 13.70% in intraday trade to Rs 8,199 apiece after the company said it will consider sub-division of equity shares in its board meeting on October 28. In an exchange filing post market hours Monday, Schaeffler India said it will approve its financial results for the September quarter on the same day as well.

Of the 10 analysts tracking the company, eight maintained 'buy' and two maintained 'hold' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied a downside of 9.3%. Trading volume on the stock was 26.4 times the 30-day average volume for this time of the day.

• Grasim Industries has 1.03 million shares change hands in a bunched trade.

• Details of buyers and sellers are not immediately known.

• Shares of Grasim shed 1% to Rs 1,635.25, as of 11:06 a.m.

Source: Bloomberg

The India sovereign yield curve steepened in Tuesday morning trading.

• The 4-year yield fell 0.9bps to 5.354%

• The 10-year yield fell 1bp to 6.331%

• The 14-year yield was little changed at 6.841%

• The 4-year-10-year yield spread was 97.7bps, vs previous close 97.7bps

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd. advanced 10.34% in intraday trade to Rs 22.95 apiece, after the company reported 3% QoQ rise in its gross loan book in September quarter, in its Q2 business update post market hours Monday.

Q2 Business Update

• Gross Loan Book at Rs 14,508 crore vs Rs 14,037 crore QoQ, up 3%

• Disbursements at Rs 3,122 crore vs Rs 1,311 crore QoQ, up 138%

• Total Deposits at Rs 14,090 crore vs Rs 13,673 crore QoQ, up 3%

• Retail Deposits at Rs 7,270 crore vs Rs 6,515 crore QoQ, up 12%

• CASA at Rs 3,168 crore vs Rs 2,773 crore QoQ, up 14%

• CASA Ratio at 22% vs 20% QoQ

Source: Exchange Filing

Of the 18 analysts tracking the company, nine maintained 'buy', five maintained 'hold' and four maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 22.1%.

• Kumar to mentor BharatPe team during transition into small finance bank

• Kumar will be involved in defining the company’s short-term and long-term strategy

• A consortium of BharatPe and Centrum Group are set to take over Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank

Source: BharatPe Statement

Delta Corp Ltd. shares jump as much as 12.9% to its highest intraday level since March 2018 after its second-quarter revenue almost doubled from last year, narrowing the loss.

Delta Corp reported net loss of Rs 22.57 crore vs. loss Rs 54.91 crore YoY for the second quarter

Second Quarter Results

• Net loss Rs 22.57 crore, -59% YoY

• Revenue Rs 74.72 crore, +95% YoY

• Total costs Rs 108 crore, +9.6% YoY

Among best performer on Nifty Smallcap 100, S&P BSE 500 indexes

Trading volume > 3x three-month full-day average

The relative strength index on the stock was above 70, indicating that it may be overbought.

L&T Construction, the construction arm of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. secured various order in India for its metallurgical and material handling, buildings and factories, and water and effluent treatment businesses.

Metallurgical & Material Handling business won an order to set up coke over, coke dry quenching plants in steel sector.

Buildings and Factories business won an order for construction of office space at Hyderabad with an approximate built-up area of 20 lakh square feet, scheduled to be completed in 14 months.

Water & Effluent Treatment business won an order from Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. to construct a demineralization plan for Barauni Refinery in Bihar.

Besides these, L&T Geostructure Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of L&T, secured a strategic order from Department of Water Resources, Government of Odisha for construction of concrete cut-off wall for the Kanupur Irrigation Project at Keonjhar district in the state.

L&T termed the orders 'significant', meaning that the orders are worth between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,500 crore.

Tata Power Solar Systems Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Power Ltd. received 'Letter of Award' to build 100 Mega Watt of solar projects for Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. The total order value is Rs 538 crore, Tata Power said in an exchange filing.

The commissioning date of projects is 12 months. The EESL project sites are located in Maharashtra.

The Utility Scale EPC order book of Tata Power Solar is at 4 Giga Watt capacity with a value of nearly Rs 9,264 crore (excluding GST), after this order.

Shares of Tata Power rose 3.76% in intraday trade to Rs 198.7 apiece. Of the 25 analysts tracking the company, 20 maintained 'buy', two maintained 'hold' and three maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied a downside of 20.8%.

Shares of Radico Khaitan Ltd. rose nearly 11% in intraday trade to Rs 1,132.2 apiece. Trading volume was six times the average for this time of the day.

• The relative strength index on the stock was above 70, indicating it may be overbought.

• Radico Khaitan trades at 44 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year.

• Analysts have 12 'buy', one 'hold' and one 'sell' recommendations on the stock.

Shares of Radico Khaitan have risen over 15% over the last two sessions.

• The company unveiled two new luxury products in brown and white spirit categories on Monday, Magic Moments Dazzle Vodka and Royal Ranthambore Heritage Collection-Royal Crafted Whisky to mark the onset of festival season, according to an exchange filing by the company during market hours Monday.

Shares of Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd. rose 5.37% in intraday trade to Rs 864.05 apiece. Trading volume was 35 times the 20-day average volume for this time of the day.

Over the last two sessions, shares of Alembic Pharma have risen 10.8%. Alembic Pharma received Establishment Inspection Report for its new injectable facility at Karakhadi from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to an exchange filing during market hours Monday. The USFDA had carried out the inspection at the new facilities between January 28 and February 6, 2021.

Alembic Pharma said that the U.S. FDA found the company's responses to their observations adequate. Compliance verifications would be performed by U.S. FDA during reinspection of the facility in the next review cycle.

Of the 19 analysts tracking the company, eight maintained 'buy', six maintained 'hold' and five maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied an upside of 5.2%.

Shares of Tata Motors Ltd. rose 4.80% in intraday trade to Rs 435.7 apiece after the company reported a 24% YoY rise in the group's global wholesales in Q2FY22.

• In an exchange filing post market hours Monday, Tata Motors said global wholesales of all Tata Motors' commercial vehicles and Tata Daewoo range in Q2FY22 were at 89,055 units, up 57% YoY.

• Global wholesales of all passenger vehicles in September quarter rose 11% YoY to 1,62,634 units.

• Global wholesales for Jaguar Land Rover were at 78,251 units.

Of the 32 analysts tracking the company, 21 maintained 'buy', six maintained 'hold' and five maintained 'sell' recommendations. The overall consensus price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implied a downside of 13.9%.

• The relative strength on the stock was 86, suggesting it may be overbought.

• Trading volume on the stock was 6.1 times the 30-day average volume for this time of the day.

• Welspun India Ltd. has 1.52 million shares change hands in a bunched trade

• Details of buyers and sellers are not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Rupee sovereign bond traders are awaiting a report that’s forecast to show India’s retail inflation slowed in September. They’ll also watch for the sale of Rs 13,230 crore ($1.8 billion) of state government debt. 10-year yields rose 3bps to 6.35% on Monday

• USD/INR climbed 0.5% to 75.3587 on Monday

• Global funds sold net Rs 1,303 crore of Indian stocks Monday: NSE

• They bought Rs 23 crore of sovereign bonds under limits available to foreign investors, and withdrew Rs 254 crore of corporate debt

Source: Bloomberg

India's stock benchmarks opened little changed, as losses in information technology, banking, consumer durables stocks were offset by gains in power, metal and energy stocks, amid weak global cues, as concerns over spike in inflation due to energy costs and prospect of slowdown in recovery from the pandemic sapped sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex was largely unchanged at 60,146.42. The NSE Nifty 50 also little changed at 17,965.20 . Reliance Industries Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.8%. Tata Motors Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 2.7%. In early trading, 28 of 50 shares rose, while 22 fell.

The broader indices outperformed their larger peers with the S&P BSE MidCap and S&P BSE SmallCap gaining 0.5%. Barring S&P BSE Oil & Gas and S&P BSE Realty indexes, all the other 17 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. advanced, with S&P BSE Metal index gaining over 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of bulls. About 1,676 stocks advanced, 689 declined and 105 remained unchanged

• NMDC raised to 'Reduce' at Kotak Securities; Price target: Rs 150

• Canara Bank raised to 'Buy' at JM Financial; Price target: Rs 225

• Kotak Mahindra Bank cut to 'Reduce' at Elara Securities India

• Ramkrishna Forgings cut to 'Hold' at Anand Rathi Securities

• Prestige Estates cut to 'Reduce' at ICICI Securities

Source: Bloomberg

Tata Steel Ltd. appointed David Crane as Additional Director (Non-Executive, Independent) with effect from Monday, subject to shareholders' approval, the company said in an exchange filing post market hours Monday.

• David Crane has also been appointed as a member of the Audit Committee and Safety, Health and Environment Committee.

• David Crane has 13 years of experience as CEO of three publicly traded energy companies, International Power plc, NRG Energy, Inc. and NRG Yield Inc. and over 30 years of experience in the energy sector.

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. clarified to exchanges that it entered into a non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with MSD Pharmaceuticals Ltd. for their investigation antiviral drug to treat Covid-19, Molnupiravir.

The trials for molnupiravir in mild Covid-19 patients has been been completed, and the results, which has come out exceedingly well, have been submitted to Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) already, the company said in an exchange filing before market hours Tuesday.

Aurobindo Pharma said that it also conducted trials for molnupiravir in 100 moderate Covid-19 patients and added that it faced challenges in patient recruitment at the moment. Aurobindo Pharma confirmed that it is evaluating further course of action.

The clarification came in response to a new report titled 'Aurobindo, MSN to halt Phase 3 trial in moderate Covid patients'

Shares of companies linked to India’s Future Group may move after the Economic Times newspaper reported the retailer and Amazon.com Inc may consider a possible out-of-court settlement on a dispute over the proposed sale of Future’s assets to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail.

The Singapore International Arbitration Center will decide whether Future Retail Ltd. should be party to arbitration

The settlement may be initiated after the Singapore arbitrator gives its initial rulings this month

Future, Amazon discussions could be on how to financially compensate Amazon for its minority stake in a promoter company of Future Retail, the report said citing two people it didn’t identify

“Amazon has consistently offered to assist FRL during the economic downturn caused by Covid-19 and reiterated our openness for a dialogue, even during the Delhi High Court hearings,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an email response to the newspaper; Future Group didn’t respond

Stocks In Focus:

• Future Retail Ltd.,

• Future Enterprises Ltd.,

• Future Consumer Ltd. and

• Future Lifestyle Fashons Ltd.