Sensex gains 197 points on Friday; RIL pips TCS to become most valued firm
The benchmark indices ended over 0.5 per cent higher led by a rise in the financial stocks and Reliance Industries (RIL).
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,457, up 197 points (0.56 per cent), while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,682, up 66 points (0.62 per cent). In the broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended flat at 14,998, while the S&P BSE SmallCap slipped 0.4 per cent to end at 14,486.
Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank index settled 2 per cent higher led by Oriental Bank of Commerce and Bank of India.
The rupee traded on a firm note on Friday rising to 71.71 per US dollar in intra-day trade, up from its previous close of 71.98 against the greenback.
Shares of RIL on Friday rose 2.7 per cent to Rs 1,127 on the BSE helping the oil-to-telecom major pip Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to become the most-valued company in terms of market capitalisation. On the BSE, RIL’s market capitalisation was at Rs 7,14,668.54 crore, while India’s largest IT firm by revenue TCS slipped to the second spot with a valuation of Rs 7,06,292.61 crore.
Shares of Rallis India, Deepak Fertilisers & Chemicals, Dixon Technologies (India), Hexaware Technologies, Take Solutions and BASF were among 22 stocks from the S&P BSE Allcap index hitting their respective 52-week lows on Friday in intra-day trade.
Shares of Divi’s Laboratories hit a new high of Rs 1,574 per share, up 3% in intra-day trade on the BSE, extending their rally in the past three weeks, after the pharmaceutical company reported a healthy 92% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) jump in its net profit at Rs 3.98 billion in the September quarter (Q2FY19). It had a profit of Rs 2.07 billion in the year-ago quarter. The company’s revenue from operations during the quarter grew 45% at Rs 12.85 billion against Rs 8.88 billion in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.
Shares of ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), State Bank of India (SBI) and Axis Bank were among the S&P BSE Sensex index stocks, rising over 15% during benchmark index’s over 2,000-point rally in three weeks.
The lack of its own banking distribution channel has weighed on Max Financial Services’ (Max) stock price, amidst fears of market share loss. Firstly, since its merger with HDFC Life Insurance was called off (July last year), the stock has fallen over 35 per cent on worries that growth may slow down. Secondly, uncertainty regarding the continuation of distribution tie-up with Axis Bank after FY21 too kept valuation (price to embedded value) around 50 per cent below the industry average of close to three times, on growth worries.
Shares of Shankara Building Products hit a 52-week low of Rs 858, down 4%, extending their past four days decline in otherwise firm market after the company reported a weak set of numbers for the quarter ended September 2018 (Q2FY19). In the past one week, the stock has underperformed the market by falling 17%, as compared to 1% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.
Shares of YES Bank continued to remain under pressure, slipping 7% to Rs 191 on Friday, extending their 7% fall on Thursday on the BSE, after the private sector lender said that its non-executive Chairman Ashok Chawla has resigned. The bank had also said that Independent Director Vasant Gujarathi too quit citing personal commitments.
Reversing all its opening losses, Jet Airways made a sharp comeback in the morning trade on Friday, as shares surged over 11 per cent to Rs 356.60 apiece on BSE. In the opening deals, the stock tanked nearly 7 per cent to hit a low of Rs 299.75 apiece. Shares of Jet Airways on Thursday ended 24.5 per cent higher amid reports Tata Sons will acquire a controlling stake in the cash-strapped airline.
Here are some picks from the week gone by.
