Mkts end at record highs, up over 1% for the week; PSU Banks extend gains

Benchmark indices ended at record highs on Friday as Public sector banks continued their rally. The indices hit fresh highs at intra-day deals too with Nifty50 climbing to 10,461 and Sensex touching 33,726 levels.

Investor sentiment has been upbeat in India with the government’s recent announcement of a recapitalisation plan for banks.

The broader NSE Nifty ended 0.3% up at 10,452 to end the week 1.2% higher while Sensex ended 0.3% higher at 33,685, to post a weekly gain of 1.6%.

About 1,429 shares advanced against 1,316 declining shares on the BSE.

Tata Power Co Ltd reported an about 44 per cent slump in quarterly profit, hurt by lower income from its power generation business, missing analysts’ forecasts.

Shares of Amtek Group companies – Amtek Auto, Metalyst Forgings and Castex Technologies – have locked in their respective upper limit of circuit breaker on the BSE after Bharat Forge said that it has participated in the process of acquiring Amtek Auto.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) moved higher by 8% to Rs 212 on the BSE in noon deals after the bank reported a better than expected net profit at Rs 561 crore in September quarter (Q2FY18). Analysts on an average expected profit of Rs 298 crore for the quarter. The state-owned bank had profit of Rs 549 crore in a year ago quarter.

Ujjivan Financial Services soared 10% to Rs 377 on the BSE in intra-day trade after the company announced that its consolidated net loss declined to Rs 11.95 crore in September quarter (Q2FY18) from Rs 74.94 crore in June quarter (Q1FY18).

Steel Authority of India (SAIL) surged 7% to Rs 85.70 in intra-day trade, extending its 36% rally of the past two weeks on the BSE, ahead of its September (Q2FY18) results next week. The stock was trading at its highest level since December 4, 2014.

Realty firm Godrej Properties today reported a 91 percent jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 44 crore for the quarter to September. Net profit stood at Rs 23 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a filing to the BSE.

Credit Suisse has downgraded LIC Housing Finance to neutral, from outperform rating and also slashed target price to Rs 600 from Rs 800 per share as it feels best days may be behind. LIC Housing had been benefitted from favourable rates in past which may change post PSU bank recapitalisation and competition could increase, according to the research house.

AU Small Finance Bank share price gained a little over 2 percent after global brokerage firm Morgan Stanley has initiated coverage with overweight rating on the stock. The research house has set a target of Rs 725 per share for the stock, implying 19.3 percent potential upside over Thursday’s closing price.

Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management (RNAM), which successfully concluded its initial public offer last week, will make its stock market debut on Monday. The company’s IPO was oversubscribed 81.54 times during October 25-27, data available with the NSE showed.