Sensex, Nifty Extend Decline As IT Stocks Tumble
Catch all live updates on share prices, index moves, corporate announcements and more from Indian stock markets today.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Closing Bell
Indian equity benchmarks extended their decline to a second session as Maharastra, home to the country's financial capital, added to lockdown-like curbs amid rampant Covid cases.
The S&P BSE Sensex lost nearly 0.6% along with the NSE Nifty 50 index after the last hour selloff wiped off their early morning gains. The broader markets had a better outing with the S&P BSE MidCap and S&P BSE SmallCap indices both ending 0.5% higher.
Twelve of the 19 sector sub-indices compiled by BSE Ltd. climbed, led by a gauge of healthcare companies. The S&P BSE Information Technology tumbled the most, followed by the S&P BSE Basic Materials index.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. Around 1,654 stocks advanced, 1,228 declined and 167 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Macrotech Developers Ends Above IPO Price
Shares of Macrotech Developers gained as much as 10.5% to trade above its IPO price. The stock closed its debut trade nearly 4.3% lower at Rs 465 apiece.
This was much lower than its issue price of Rs 486. The successful listing of Macrotech ends a more than decade-long effort to take the developer public, after previous attempts in 2009 and 2018 were shelved.
Including Macrotech, 29 debutantes have raised about $3 billion so far in 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
India’s newest stocks have been performing well overall. The S&P BSE IPO Index, which tracks shares for two years after listing, has rallied 6.8% this year, outperforming the little changed Sensex.
HCL Tech Leads IT Pack Lower
Dr Reddy's, Nestle India, SBI Life in Focus: Options Watch
As India's S&P BSE Sensex Index was little changed, these were the Nifty 50 members with liquid options that saw interest from traders:
- SBI Life options volume 3.6x the 20-day average, with 12,570 calls changing hands vs 4,194 puts
- Stock up 0.5%, volume 1.3x the 20-day average for this time of day
- Tata Consumer options volume 3.4x the average, with 22,814 calls vs 4,845 puts
- Stock up 3.1%, volume 1.3x the average
- Dr Reddy's options volume 2.6x the average, with 71,376 calls vs 29,056 puts
- Stock up 4.4%, volume 2x the average
- Bajaj Finserv options volume 2.4x the average, with 8,504 calls vs 4,473 puts
- Stock up 3.7%, volume 1.2x the average
- Nestle India options volume 2.1x the average, with 2,065 calls vs 331 puts
- Stock down 0.1%, volume 0.5x the average
Source: Bloomberg
ICICI Securities Rallies Ahead Of Q4 Earnings
Shares of ICICI Securities jumped as much as 4.6% to their highest level since Feb. 4. The move outpaced the rise in India’s benchmark Sensex index which climbed as much as 1.1%.
The broking firm will report its fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.
- Net income estimate Rs 227 crore (range Rs 179 crore to Rs 2.51 crore (Bloomberg Consensus)
- Revenue estimate Rs 560 crore (range Rs 428 crore to Rs 610 crore)
ICICI Securities ranks first for equity offerings in India so far in 2021, according to the Bloomberg league table, a leap from 2020 when it finished 10th.
Rupee Gains As Government Expands Vaccination Plan
The Indian rupee advances after the government opened up vaccination for the majority of the population, easing worries over a spike in coronavirus cases. A weaker dollar also supports sentiment.
- USD/INR down 0.2% to 74.7650; rose 0.7% on Monday on surging virus cases
The rising cases of Covid-19 have soured sentiment, resulting in a broad-based rupee depreciation, says Anindya Banerjee, currency strategist at Kotak Securities.
“In spite of a weak U.S. dollar globally, the rupee is under pressure. RBI is expected to be active and may intervene aggressively to curb volatility. Over the near term, we expect a range of 74.00 and 75.50”
The rupee has been one of the best carry currencies in the region but the fundamentals are turning against it, according to a Morgan Stanley note
Morgan Stanley says
- The spike in virus cases is likely to weigh on the economic recovery, which may see the government continue to pursue an expansionary fiscal policy
- The government can’t issue so many bonds without the RBI’s support. Hence, the QE announcement two weeks ago was necessary but also negative for the currency
- What investors should pay attention to would be the inflation situation, because real rates could start to fall should inflation pick up, and this would provide less cushion for rupee
Symphony Shares Rise 14%; Trading Volume Surges
Symphony Ltd. rose 14%, testing a 50-day moving average support at Rs 1,201. Trading volume was 14 times the average for this time of day.
Of the nine analysts tracking the stock, six have a buy rating on it, while remaining three recommend a sell. The scrip is trading 16% above its 12-month consensus price target, according to Bloomberg data.
ICICI Prudential Surges After Q4 Performance
Nirmal Bang says
- Growth was largely supported by the establishment of new partnerships and product launches.
- Raised our revenue estimates and expect better growth than previously expected
- Expect stable growth in the linked business going forward though a sharp correction in equity markets is a risk.
- Believe that annuity would be one of the key drivers in the management’s pursuit to achieve a 28% CAGR in VNB up to FY23.
- Group term business was supported by pricing and client stickiness.
- Like the fact that strong growth in non-linked savings is expected to diversify the VNB pool contribution.
- Revised our estimates for FY22/FY23 and have retained Buy rating on the stock with a revised target price of Rs 624
Kotak Institutional Equities Says:
ICICI Prudential Life’s recent initiatives on product and channel diversification will
- drive superior growth on a low base in FY2022E and
- give the management leeway to modulate its business strategy over time.
We are raising our estimates reflecting higher opening EV and building in superior medium-term growth.Kotak Institutional Equities Note
Dr. Reddy's Gains After Morgan Stanley Upgrade
Shares of the drugmaker rose as much as 4.4% to Rs 5,186, making it the fourth session of gains.
Morgan Stanley analyst Sameer Baisiwala raised the recommendation on Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. to overweight from equal-weight. He set a price target of Rs 5,859 a share, which implies a16% increase.
Stock Insights
- Stock advanced 33% in the past2 weeks. The Sensex gained 53%.
- The relative strength index on the stock was above 70, indicating it may be overbought.
Cement Makers Rise After ACC’s Earnings Beat Estimates
Shares of Indian cement makers rose after LafargeHolcim subsidiary ACC reported first-quarter net income that beat estimates.
ACC is the first big Indian cement maker to report quarterly earnings this season.
Ambuja Cements, LafargeHolcim’s bigger unit in India by market value, is set to announce earnings on April 29
India’s biggest cement maker UltraTech is estimated to announce results on April 30: Bloomberg data
- ACC jumped as much as 5.6% before paring gain to around 1.7%
- Among others, Ambuja Cements climbed as much as 8.7%, JK Lakshmi Cement 5.5%, India Cements 4.4%, Ramco Cements 3.2%, UltraTech Cement 2.8%
“The positive change continues at ACC which managed to beat our consensus estimates, meaningfully,” Jefferies Analyst Vivek Maheshwari wrote in a note, raising CY21-23 earnings estimates by 8% to 9%
Opening Bell: Sensex Nifty Rebound After Monday Rout
Indian equity benchmarks rebounded after a drubbing on Monday as the country decontrolled Covid-19 vaccination amid a record surge in cases.
The S&P BSE Sensex climbed as much as 1.1% to 48,478 while the Nifty rose 1.1% as well to 14,526. Both the indices snapped a three-session winning streak yesterday. 18 of the 19 sector sub-indices compiled by BSE Ltd. gained, led by a gauge of metals.
Lenders including ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd. and Bajaj Finance Ltd. gave the biggest boosts to the Sensex.
The S&P BSE IT index was trading slightly lower after bucking the losing trend on Monday. The broader market slightly outperformed their larger peers. The S&P BSE MidCap and S&P BSE SmallCap indices both were up around 1.5%
The market breadth too was skewed in favour of the bulls. Around 1,688 stocks advanced, 361 declined and 77 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Seeks SEBI Nod For IPO
Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd., a unit of Aditya Birla Capital Ltd., filed a draft red herring prospectus for an initial public offering via a secondary sale of as many as 38.88 million shares, according to a statement to stock exchanges.
- Aditya Birla Capital is seeking to sell as many as 2.85 million shares in the IPO
- Sun Life (India) AMC Investments Inc., the joint-venture partner in the Indian asset management co., will sell as many as 36 million shares
Good Morning!
Asia stocks fell in early trade Tuesday after weakness in the technology sector pulled U.S. indexes from all-time peaks, with investors weighing corporate earnings and recent spikes in virus cases.
Shares opened lower in China and Hong Kong and Japan led declines across the region. U.S. contracts edged higher, after the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index underperformed in the U.S. session, while the S&P 500 Index also fell.
Treasury yields traded around 1.6%, well off recent highs, and the dollar dipped. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3% to $63.55 a barrel and Gold was 0.1% lower at $1,769.77 an ounce.
India’s SGX Nifty 50 Index futures for April delivery rose 0.4% to 14,448.00, while MSCI Asia Pacific Index -0.4%. The NSE Nifty 50 Index fell 1.8% Tuesday to 14,359.45.
ACC, ICICI Prudential may react as the companies reported quarterly results after the market closed Monday. Nestle India, TV18 Broadcast, Network 18 are the companies scheduled to report earnings Tuesday. Foreign investors sold net Rs 745 crore of stocks yesterday, according to NSDL website.
