Sensex settles 178 points higher; defence stocks rally up to 12%


Benchmark indices climbed off the day’s top but still ended around 0.5 per cent higher on Friday amid buying in IT, auto, and FMCG counters.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 36,021, up 178 points or 0.5 per cent, having risen to as high as 36,110 earlier in the day. The Nifty50 index settled above the 10,600 level at 10,607, up 56 points or 0.53 per cent. India VIX slipped 3 per cent to 25.69 levels.

On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 2.41 per cent while Nifty added 2.16 per cent.

Bharti Airtel (up 4 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (up 2.5 per cent) were the top Sensex gainers. Reliance Industries gained 1.5 per cent after the company announced that Intel has invested Rs 1,894.5 crore in Jio Platforms for a 0.39 per cent stake.

Further, shares of defence companies rallied in the trade and climbed up to 12 per cent on the BSE after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved the purchase of weapons and equipment worth Rs 38,900 crore. Bharat Dynamics ended 12.55 per cent higher at Rs 375.80 on the BSE while Bharat Electronics gained 9 per cent to Rs 97.25

Moreover, JB Chemicals rose 3 per cent during the day after it said global investment firm KKR will pick up a controlling stake of 54 per cent in the company. The stock, however, ended flat. Meanwhile, HDFC Life gained around 4.5 per cent as the company will replace Vedanta on Nifty with effect from July 31.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index rose 0.56 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained 0.47 per cent

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Sensex takes a breather, gains 1,628 points; Nifty ends at 8,745


After days of brutal sell-off, the domestic equity market witnessed a sharp rebound on Friday and ended with around 6 per cent gains as positive global cues and coordinated efforts by countries across the globe to fight coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic soothed investors’ nerves.

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 1,628 points or 5.75 per cent to settle at 29,916. Of 30 constituents, 28 advanced and just 2 declined. Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC and TCS contributed the most to the index’s gains. ONGC jumped over 18.5 per cent to Rs 72.45 apiece. It ended as the top gainer on the index. Other heavyweights such as RIL, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), and TCS gained in the range of 10-12 per cent.

On the downside, HDFC Bank slipped over 1 per cent to Rs 882 after global brokerage house Bernstein downgraded the stock to ‘underperform’ and sharply slashed the target price to Rs 750 from Rs 1,400 earlier.

On the NSE, headline index Nifty gained 482 points or 5.83 per cent to settle at 8,745 levels.

On a weekly basis, both Sensex and Nifty slipped over 12 per cent.

All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the green. Nifty FMCG advanced the most – up around 9 per cent to 26,073 levels while Nifty IT surged over 8.5 per cent to 12,306 points. Metal stocks, too, witnessed solid buying as the Nifty Metal index ended 7.7 per cent higher at 1,695 levels.

In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap 100 index jumped around 5 per cent to 12,642 levels while the Nifty SmallCap index gained over 2 per cent to 3,874 points.

Market breadth was in favour of buyers as out of 2,605 companies traded on the BSE, 1,447 advanced and 1,008 declined while 150 remained unchanged. Volatility index India VIX declined over 7 per cent to 66.92 levels.

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Sensex dips 162 points on US-Iran tensions; PSBs, Autos top drags


Following the global sell-off, Indian equity markets, too, settled lower on Friday after US military killed Iran Revolutionary Guards’ commander Qasem Soleimani in a surprise air-strike. The middle-east tensions sent Brent Crude Futures soaring, while market sentiment turned sour at D-Street.

Brent crude futures jumped nearly $3 on Friday after a US air strike in Baghdad killed top Iranian and Iraqi military commanders, sparking concerns of disruption to Middle East oil supplies. At 3:10 pm, Brent Crude Futures were at $68.62 per barrel-mark, up 3.5 per cent.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which hit an intra-day low of 41,348.68, recovered slightly in the fag-end of the session and settled 162.03 points, or 0.39 per cent, lower at 41,464.61 level. 20 of the 30 constituents ending the day in the red. Oil-linked stocks, such as paints, aviation, oil-marketing companies (OMCs), and financial counters remained under pressure.

In the intra-day trade, Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), for instance, declined 2.9 per cent each on the BSE. Reliance Industries, Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), too, slumped up to 0.7 per cent.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 lost 55.50 points, or 0.45 per cent, to settle at 12,226.65-mark. Sectorally, Nifty PSU Bank index slipped the most, down 2 per cent at close. Besides, Nifty Bank, Auto, Private Bank indices slipped over 1 per cent. On the upside, Nifty IT index advanced 1.3 per cent on the back of a weaker rupee.

In the broader market, small-caps traded in the green territory, while mid-caps followed benchmarks. The S&P BSE mid-cap index was down 0.44 per cent, while the S&P BSE small-cap index was up 0.01 per cent at close.

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Sensex gains 336 points; Nifty above 11,750; financials advance


A sudden surge in the benchmark indices, lifted by gains in financials and metals, took Sensex nearly 300 points higher and Nifty beyond the 11,700 mark after a range bound morning trade.

At 2:10 PM, Sensex was trading at 38,980, up 250 points, or 0.64 per cent, with TATA Steel, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS and State Bank of India being among the top gainers. Nifty broke past the crucial 11,700 mark to trade 80 points, or 0.69 per cent, higher at 11,722.

Most of the sectoral indices on Nifty were trading in green, with Nifty Metal the top gainer at 1.63 per cent higher while Nifty Bank too was up over 1 per cent.

In broader markets, S&P BSE MidCap had slid 0.42 per cent, or 63 points, to trade at 15,067 while S&P BSE SmallCap was down 20 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 14,818.

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Indices end flat, Nifty holds 10,900; Sun Pharma tanks 9%


Continuing with their lacklustre performance for the third straight day, the equity benchmark indices settled on a flat note on Friday. While the day witnessed solid buying in bluechips such as Reliance Industries (RIL), HCL Tech, HDFC Bank and TCS, the gains in the index were capped by drubbing in counters including Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel and L&T.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended just 13 points higher at 36,387, while NSE’s Nifty50 index held the crucial 10,900 level to close at 10,907, up 2 points. On a weekly basis, both the indices ended 1 per cent higher.

Sectorally, barring IT, all other indices ended in the red with the pharma stocks bleeding the most. The Nifty Pharma pack lost nearly 3 per cent to end the day at 8,690.

Shares of pharma bellwether Sun Pharma crashed to their six year- low of Rs 375.40 apiece in the early trade on Friday after news reports suggested fresh whistleblower documents were sent to Sebi. The stock plunged as much as 12 per cent on BSE. The company, however, in a BSE filing clarified that it was not privy to the news reported by MoneyLife. The stock, eventually, ended nearly 9 per cent lower at Rs 390.75.

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Reblog: Nifty ends the week at 9,108; logs 1st weekly fall in March; banking stocks gain


The benchmark indices on Friday settled higher thanks to gains in banking stocks following news reports that the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has promised to offer a solution to the growing non-performing assets (NPA) crisis in next few days.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 29,421, up 89 points, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 9,108, up 22 points. Both the indices logged their first weekly loss in March, retreating from a record high hit last week.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap ended 0.1% down, while the S&P BSE Smallcap index gained 0.3%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative. On the BSE, 1,471 shares declined and 1,346 shares advanced. A total of 218 shares were unchanged.

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Reblog: Avenue Supermarts DMart IPO review


Issue Summary

Avenue Supermarts Ltd (ASL) is an emerging national supermarket chain (D mart) , with a focus on value-retailing. According to Technopak, in Fiscal 2016 ASL was one of the largest and the most profitable F&G retailer in India. It offers a wide range of products with a focus on the Foods, Non-Foods (FMCG) and General Merchandise & Apparel product categories. ASL opened its first store in Mumbai, Maharashtra in 2002. As of January 31, 2017, it had 118 stores with Retail Business Area of 3.59 million sq.ft, located across 45 cities in Maharashtra (59), Gujarat (27), Telangana (13), Karnataka (7), Andhra Pradesh (4), Madhya Pradesh (3), Chhattisgarh (1), NCR (1), Daman (1) and Rajasthan (2). At the end of the nine months period ended December 31, 2016 and Fiscals 2016, 2015 and 2014, the company had 117, 110, 89 and 75 stores with Retail Business Area of 3.57 million sq. ft., 3.33 million sq. ft., 2.66 million sq. ft. and 2.14 million sq. ft., respectively.

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