Sensex, Nifty Log Best Weekly Gains In Over A Month; Realty Stocks Lead Rally

Indian equity benchmarks ended little changed, capping their best weekly stretch of gains in over a month as investors focussed on the quarterly earnings season amid hopes of economic revival.

The S&P BSE Sensex was little changed at 53,140.06, after hitting a new peak of 53,290.81 during the session. The NSE Nifty 50 too ended flat at 53,140.06, after touching an all-time high of 15,962.25. Both the indices have gained nearly 1.5% this week, their best performance since June 6.

Infosys Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.6%. HCL Technologies Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 3.3%.

The broader markets outperformed their larger peers. The S&P BSE MidCap rose 0.45% while the S&P BSE SmallCap advanced 0.38%. 15 of the 19 sectoral indices climbed, led by the S&P BSE Telecom index, up 2.47%. while the S&P BSE Information Technology index shed nearly 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. About 1,786 stocks advanced, 1,413 declined and 150 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The real estate index climbed 8.6%, closing at over 10-year high. It was the top performing sectoral index this week on both NSE and BSE. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Oil & Gas was the lone loser , down nearly 1% this week.

HDFC AMC reported net income for the first quarter that met the average analyst estimate.

• Net income Rs 345 crore, +9.3% QoQ, estimate Rs 348 crore

• Revenue Rs 507 crore, +0.8% QoQ

• Total costs Rs 142 crore, +28% YoY

The board of directors have proposed a final dividend of Rs 34 per share.

Navneet Munot, MD and CEO of HDFC AMC said the company has shown resilience despite the second wave but noted that the extent to which the pandemic will impact the earnings would depend on the Covid cases trajectory as well the vaccination coverage.

Out of the 23 analysts tracking the company, 14 maintained ‘buy’, 7 analysts maintained ‘hold’ and 2 maintained ‘sell’ rating.

Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp. rose 7%. Trading in the company's call options was quadruple the average. Trading volume was quadruple the average for this time of day.

• The stock was the best performer among its peers.

• Trading volume was 4.36 million shares, quadruple the 20-day average of 1.12 million shares for this time of day.

• Trading in the company's call options totaled 67,611 contracts, compared with the average of 15,264 over the past 20 days. Trading in the company's put options totaled 19,050 contracts, compared with the average of 4,888 over the same period.

• The shares are up 10% in the past 5 days and rose 16% in the past 30 days.

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

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

• The price target of Rs 2,448.29 represents a 0.8% increase from the last price

• Wipro options volume 5.7x the 20-day average, with 89,012 calls changing hands vs 46,507 puts

  • Stock down 0.2%, volume 3.4x the 20-day average for this time of day

• Divi's Labs options volume 3.7x the average, with 27,661 calls vs 7,250 puts

  • Stock up 3.3%, volume 1.8x the average

• HCL Tech options volume 3.2x the average, with 42,979 calls vs 22,375 puts

  • Stock down 3.8%, volume 1.5x the average

• Bharti Airtel options volume 2.1x the average, with 37,425 calls vs 14,447 puts

  • Stock up 3%, volume 1x the average

• ITC Ltd options volume 1.9x the average, with 53,213 calls vs 13,464 puts

  • Stock up 0.8%, volume 1.2x the average

• Sun Pharma options volume 1.7x the average, with 18,370 calls vs 3,762 puts

  • Stock up 1%, volume 0.7x the average

• Nifty 50 options volume 0.3x the average, with 2.67 million calls vs 2.74 million puts; gauge down 0.1%

  • Cost of hedging as measured by the 90/110, one-month skew ranks in the 75th percentile over the past year

• Nifty Bank index options volume 0.3x the average, with 4.75 million calls vs 4.97 million puts; gauge down 0.5%

  • 90/110, one-month skew in the 70th percentile

• India VIX Index down 1.6%

India's stock benchmarks erased gains after clocking new all-time highs as investors assessed the ongoing earnings season amid traction on the IPOs.

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 0.1% to 53,088.06, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index lost by a similar magnitude to 15,907.55. Infosys Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.5%. HCL Technologies Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 3.8%. In midday trading, 24 of 50 shares fell, while 25 rose.

The broader markets outperformed their larger peers. The S&P BSE MidCap rose 0.21% while the S&P BSE SmallCap advanced 0.33%. Thirteen of the 19 sectoral indices climbed, led by the S&P BSE Telecom index, up 2.74%. while the S&P BSE Information Technology index shed over 1%.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. About 1,680 stocks advanced, 1,409 declined and 152 remained unchanged on the BSE.

European stock benchmarks were off to a positive start as investors await corporate earnings and key macroeconomic data.

The FTSE 100 Index gained 0.45% to 7042.65, the DAX index gained 0.18%, while the CAC 40 index gained 0.4% as of 1 PM IST.

Telecommunications firm Ericsson and mining giant Rio Tinto are due to report their April-June quarter numbers today. Euro zone harmonised index of consumer prices data is awaited, which will indicate the extent of inflation uptick across the region.

Zomato was subscribed 11.30 times as of 1 p.m. on July 16.

• Institutional subscription: 15.79 times

• Non-institutional subscription: 5.97 times

• Retail subscription: 6.43 times

• Employees: 0.42 times

Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem was subscribed 2.29 times as of 1:00 p.m, on July 16.

• Institutional subscription: 0.01 times

• Non-institutional subscription: 0.34 times

• Retail subscription: 4.42 times

Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. rose 7.6%. Trading volume was triple the average for this time of day.

• The stock was the best performer among its peers.

• Trading volume was 2.03 million shares, triple the 20-day average of 597,562 shares for this time of day.

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

• The shares are up 12% in the past 5 days and rose 35% in the past 30 days.

• Motilal Oswal trades at 23 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year. It trades at 14 times trailing EPS.

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

• The price target of Rs 850 represents a 23% decrease from the last price

India’s shorter sovereign bonds traded higher after the government said it would keep its fiscal first-half borrowing plan unchanged. Traders are also watching for demand at a Rs 32,000 crore ($4.3 billion) auction on Friday.

• Yield on 5.63% 2026 bond down 2bps at 5.67% after dropping as much as 5bps; 5.22% 2025 yield down 5bps at 5.47%; new 6.1% 2031 bond yield up 1bp at 6.13%

• India’s federal government has released 750b rupees from its own borrowings to compensate states for a shortfall in tax revenues due to pandemic-induced lockdowns

  • The amount has been funded via borrowings from 5-year bonds totaling Rs 68,500 crore and 2-year debt amounting to Rs 6,500 crore, the government said Thursday. The borrowings were done at a weighted average yield of 5.6% and 4.25% for the respective tenors, it said

• “The market was expecting the whole of GST borrowings will be from 3,5 and 6 or 7 year papers. Hence the yields on these are down anywhere between 4-5 bps. And there is no impact on longer maturity than that,” says Vijay Sharma, executive vice president for fixed income at PNB Gilts Ltd.

  • There is still a lot of clarity that has to come whether this borrowing is permanently reduced or only an interim arrangement before this money is paid back to the central government by states and then whether they will again, through the issuance of bonds, raise Rs 1.6 lakh crore

  • RBI said it will buy Rs 20,000 crore of government bonds on July 22 as part of its government securities acquisition program

• RBI to buy 6.18% 2024 bond, 6.97% 2026, 8.60% 2028 bond and 6.79% 2029 debt

• USD/INR steady at 74.54

One 97 Communications, which runs Paytm, has filed with the market regulator for an initial public offering to raise as much as Rs 16,600 crore ($2.2 billion), according to its draft prospectus.

• The IPO comprises new share sale of Rs 8,300 crore, while existing holders are seeking to sell Rs 8,000 crore worth shares

• The company may consider a pre-IPO placement of up to Rs 2,000 crore

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. rose 4.5%. Trading in the company's call options was quadruple the average. Trading volume was six times the average for this time of day.

• The stock was the best performer among its peers.

• Trading volume was 3.21 million shares, six times the 20-day average of 535,511 shares for this time of day.

• Trading in the company's call options totaled 14,442 contracts, compared with the average of 3,680 over the past 20 days. Trading in the company's put options totaled 1,694 contracts, compared with the average of 687 over the same period.

• One-month implied volatility was 40%.

• The shares are up 3.1% in the past 5 days and rose 6.7% in the past 30 days.

• Analysts have 16 buy, nine hold, and three sell recommendations on the stock.

• The price target of Rs 635.05 represents a 7.4% decrease from the last price

Shares of Angel Broking gained 12.7% to Rs 1,195 after reporting strong numbers in the June quarter.

Net profit increased 208.67% YoY to Rs 117.85 crore while sales almost doubled to Rs 458.72 crore in the June quarter. Both the analysts tracking the broking firm maintained ‘buy’, according to Bloomberg data.

The consensus 12-month target price of analysts implies a downside of 29.6%. Relative Strength Index (RSI) for the firm was at 80.84 indicating that it may be in overbought territory.

The brokerage services provider’s board declared first interim dividend of Rs 5.15 per share of face value of Rs 10 each, according to exchange filings.

Shares of Angel Broking have added over 16% in the past 5 sessions while for the year so far, the shares have more than tripled.

Shares of Wipro Ltd. hit a record high as analysts cheered its second-quarter guidance, healthy revenue, growth focus of the new chief executive, and deal wins, among others.

The stock, however, soon came off its peak.The software services exporter reported a 12.4% sequential growth in revenue at Rs 18,252.4 crore in the quarter ended June. That’s the fastest pace in 38 quarters. Its net profit and earnings before interest and taxes, too, rose.

Shares of Wipro rose to a record high of Rs 589.24 apiece, but soon erased gains.

Of the 50 analysts tracking the company, 17 recommend a ‘buy’, 18 suggest a ‘hold’ and 15 have a ‘sell’ rating, according to Bloomberg data. The consensus 12-month target price of analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies a downside of 8% from the current levels.

Wipro stock has gained nearly 5% over the past month, and close to 50% in 2021 so far.

To read what brokerages made of Wipro's Q1 performance, click here

Shares of logistics and supply chain solutions provider gained 5.47% to Rs 167.30 apiece upon transferring equity holding in Gati Kausar.

Gati informed the bourses on Thursday that it had entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) with its subsidiary Gati Kausar India Ltd. and Mandala Capital AG Ltd. as an investor and transferred 69.79% of its equity holding in Gati Kausar to Mandala Capital AG on July 14.

Shares of Gati gained over 64% for the year and is trading 7% off its 52-week high of Rs. 179.95 apiece.

Shares of India’s top lenders show investors are looking past what is expected to be a lackluster round of quarterly earnings reports and toward growth in loan demand as local economies reopen from the latest Covid-19 lockdowns.

A gauge of lenders has climbed 3.2% so far this month, outpacing the 1.4% gain in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex, as shops and businesses reopened amid a declining trend in new coronavirus cases.

To read what analysts expect for the biggest banks' earnings, click here

Indian equity benchmarks climbed to new record highs helped by the dovish remarks by the Federal Reserve chief and as investors focus on the ongoing earnings season.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose as much as 0.25% to 53,290.81 while the NSE Nifty 50 too rose by a similar magnitude to 15,962.25 -- a new all-time high for both the indices. Reliance Industries Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.7%. Divi's Laboratories Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 2.5%. In early trading, 33 of 50 shares rose, while 16 fell.

So far this week, the index has risen 1.7%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended May 30.

The broader markets kept up with their larger peers. The S&P BSE MidCap rose 0.2% while the S&P BSE SmallCap advanced 0.5%. Fourteen of the 19 sectoral indices climbed, led by the S&P BSE Healthcare index, up 1.3%.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bulls. About 1,774 stocks advanced, 901 declined and 88 remained unchanged on the BSE.

India’s shorter sovereign bonds are expected to gain after the government said it will keep its fiscal first-half borrowing plan unchanged. Traders are expected to bid at a Rs 32,000-crore ($4.3 billion) auction on Friday.

• India’s federal government has released Rs 75,000 crore from its own borrowings to compensate states for a shortfall in tax revenues due to pandemic-induced lockdowns

  • The amount has been funded via borrowings from 5-year bonds totaling Rs 68,500 crore and 2-year debt amounting to Rs 6,500 crore, the government said Thursday. The borrowings were done at a weighted average yield of 5.6% and 4.25% for the respective tenors, it said.

• RBI said it will buy Rs 20,000 crore of government bonds on July 22 as part of its government securities acquisition program

  • RBI to buy 6.18% 2024 bond, 6.97% 2026, 8.60% 2028 bond and 6.79% 2029 debt

• USD/INR down 0.1% at 74.5462 on Thursday

  • Implied opening from forwards suggests spot may start trading around 74.58

• Yield on 5.63% 2026 bond steady at 5.69% on Thursday; 5.22% 2025 yield steady at 5.52%; new 6.1% 2031 bond yield up 1bp at 6.12%

• RBI to hold Rs 2 lakh crore of 14-day reverse repo auction Friday

• June trade deficit at $9.37b, est. -$9.4b: government statement

• India’s current spike in inflation is driven by “adverse supply shocks” caused by the pandemic and is expected to ease in the final three months of 2021, the RBI said Thursday

  • The easing will occur once monsoon-sown crops arrive in the markets, the RBI said in its monthly bulletin

Good morning!

Asian stocks and U.S. equity futures dipped Friday amid concerns about the economic growth outlook and coronavirus flareups in some parts of the world.

Shares posted modest drops in Japan, China and Hong Kong. China Evergrande Group soared after the country’s most-indebted developer said it will consider a special dividend. U.S. contracts slipped after energy and technology sectors led Wall Street lower. Moderna Inc. rallied in extended trading on an announcement that the vaccine maker is set to join the S&P 500.

India's SGX Nifty 50 Index futures for July delivery rose 0.2% to 15,954.50, while MSCI Asia Pacific Index down 0.4%. The NSE Nifty 50 Index added 0.4% Thursday to 15,924.20.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell overnight defended the central bank’s accommodative stance in the face of uncomfortably high inflation. Officials expect a transient surge in price pressures amid the reopening from the pandemic, but some others fear stickier inflation that could hurt economic prospects. The 10-year Treasury yield is set for a third weekly retreat.

Crude oil steadied but was on course for the biggest weekly decline since mid-March, hurt by virus flareups and amid uncertainty over an OPEC+ deal to boost supply. New Zealand’s dollar jumped after the nation’s inflation breached the central bank’s target range, reinforcing bets on an interest-rate increase.

Back home, Wipro, L&T Infotech, Cyient, Tata Elxsi, Angel Broking may react as the companies reported quarterly results after the market closed Thursday. HDFC Asset, L&T Finance, Just Dial are among the companies scheduled to report earnings Friday. HDFC Asset, Century Textiles, L&T Technology, Piramal Enterprises, Indian Bank among companies holding their annual shareholders’ meeting. Foreign investors sold net Rs 1,220 crore of stocks on Wednesday, according to NSDL website.