Equity benchmarks fell sharply on Thursday in line with an extremely weak trend in the global markets, with the Sensex plunging 1,154.78 points in early trade. Persistent foreign fund outflows and a spurt in crude oil prices also dampened sentiment. The 30-share BSE benchmark was trading 1,154.78 points lower at 53,053.75. The broader NSE Nifty tumbled 335.65 points to 15,904.65.
Shares of asset management companies (AMCs) have rallied in the last 3-4 sessions due to clarity on regulatory changes in total expense ratios (TER) and expectations that it won't upset profits much in the long run. HDFC AMC has gained over 12 per cent in the last four sessions, while Nippon AMC and UTI AMC are up around 5 per cent. Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL), the only other listed AMCs, has risen more than 2.3 per cent in the last four sessions.
Kotak Mahindra Bank was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, sliding 2.68 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Nestle and Titan. In contrast, NTPC, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC, Reliance and HDFC Bank were the gainers.
Gold prices are struggling and are down 18 per cent from their March highs. But stock prices have fallen even more. As a result, the precious metal has begun to outperform equities - both in the domestic market and international markets. Gold prices are up 2.6 per cent in the domestic market in the current calendar year (CY22) so far, according to the World Gold Council (WGC), compared to a 1.7 per cent decline in the Sensex year-to-date (YTD).
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Street gave a thumbs down to Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL)-TCNS Clothing deal as analysts flagged near-term profitability risks for ABFRL with its latest acquisition. At the bourses, shares of the Aditya Birla group company tumbled 6.2 per cent in the intra-day trade, before settling 3.27 per cent lower at R 207.2. Those of TCNS, meanwhile, plunged 20 per cent to end at Rs 416.64.
There's no place like home, but even for the affluent buying one in India is difficult. On top of that, the coronavirus pandemic-now in its eighteenth month-has made life uncertain. A hopeful thing is buying a house looks alluring as loan interest rates fall below 7 per cent, their multi-decadal lows. The slow decline in GDP growth after demonetisation, followed by the economic shock caused by Covid-19 waves, has hurt us unevenly.
The stock of Divis Laboratories is up 10 per cent over the last couple of trading sessions on expectations that the worst is behind and the company could see a sequential growth in the March quarter of the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23). The stock witnessed the highest downgrades among Nifty50 index stocks with earnings cuts over a third after the Q3FY23 results. The company had posted a 32 per cent drop in revenues over the year ago quarter in Q3FY23 and 8 per cent sequentially, which was sharply lower than Street expectations.
Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended on a mixed note on Wednesday as the euphoria about the Budget fizzled out, with investors going for profit-taking ahead of the Fed interest rate decision. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 158.18 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 59,708.08 after it trimmed most of the intra-day gains. During the day, it had zoomed 1,223.54 points or 2 per cent to 60,773.44.
Experts tell Ujjval Jauhari that investors need to be careful in picking stocks given high valuations and with markets possibly ignoring potential risks
The June quarter numbers of the country's largest listed healthcare services provider, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise (Apollo), were in line with Street estimates on the operational front. Net profit estimates, however, missed expectations due to higher interest and tax outgo. The revenue performance of the core hospital segment was robust, registering a 13 per cent increase over the year-ago quarter.
Reliance Industries may report a muted performance for the April-June quarter of FY24, with most brokerages expecting it to have witnessed a year-on-year (YoY) and quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) contraction in revenue and net profit during the period because of a poor showing by its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) division. The O2C division, which includes refining and petrochemical businesses, accounts for a little over half of RIL's revenue and profit. A muted showing by RIL in the first quarter of 2023-24 may weigh on the overall corporate earnings, as well as the equity markets.
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Among the Sensex firms, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Steel, ITC, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra and State Bank of India were the biggest winners. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Wipro and Tata Motors were the biggest laggards.
The broader Nifty closed at 11,993.05, falling by 233.60 points, or 1.91 per cent. On the Sensex chart, Bajaj Finance was the top loser, dropping 4.63 per cent, followed by SBI, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and RIL
SBI was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 8 per cent. Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank also ended with firm gains. On the other hand, TCS, HUL, Bajaj Auto and Infosys were among the laggards.
Foreign investors have pulled over Rs 6,400 crore from the Indian equity market in the first four trading sessions of the ongoing month when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and US Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Given the headwinds in terms of elevated crude prices, inflation, tight monetary policy among others, FPIs' flows in India are expected to remain volatile in the near term, Shrikant Chouhan, Head - Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities, said. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) remained net sellers for seven months to April 2022, withdrawing a massive amount of over Rs 1.65 lakh crore from equities. This was largely on the back of anticipation of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and due to the deteriorating geopolitical environment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
'We need people who can position a product digitally and craft the journey for customers, by improving user interface and user experience.'
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All Sensex components ended in green, with Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, L&T, TCS, ONGC and ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and SBI gaining up to 6.64 per cent.
Riding on strong June-quarter numbers and positive brokerage outlook, the stock of retail major Trent hit a fresh all-time high on Monday (August 14). The stock has gained 14 per cent in five trading sessions. Continuing the trend of strong revenue growth over the last few quarters, the company posted 53.5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in top line to Rs 2,536 crore in the June quarter (first quarter of financial year 2023-24 or Q1FY24).
NTPC was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 3 per cent, followed by M&M, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Dr Reddy's, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC.
After being underweight on domestic agrochemical companies and preferring global plays, brokerages believe that the former may perform better in the quarters ahead. Domestic crop protection companies have faced multiple headwinds over the past year and a half, given high inventory costs, pricing pressures, lower realisations in the generic segment, increased stocks due to lower infestations, and demand-led hits to volumes. Some of the overhang from previous quarters was reflected in the April-June quarter (first quarter, or Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24) as well, with aggregate revenues and operating profit for the sector down 12 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively.
The "asset-right" strategy, reiterated by ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri during the company's 112th annual general meeting (AGM) on August 11, received a thumbs up from the analysts. They, however, believe that sustained earnings growth and synergies with the demerged hotel's vertical will help the stock break out from the ongoing consolidation. "The stock is expected to consolidate between Rs 420 and Rs 450 in the near future.
ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 13 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC, TCS, M&M, Infosys and Maruti. NSE Nifty soared 306.55 points, or 3.21 per cent, to 9,859.90.
The decline of over 5 per cent in PB Fintech's shares (the parent company of PolicyBazaar) in the past two days presents an opportunity for long-term investors to consider buying the stock, suggest analysts. By comparison, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex has remained flat during the same period with a negligible gain of 40 points, or 0.06 per cent. Analysts believe that the recent selling is "overdone", as the company behind the online insurance portal remains committed to achieving profitability, and the potential threat from the government's online insurance portal, Bima Sugam, might be embellished.
Hospitals to recover from sluggish Q3; diagnostics' growth rate at pre-Covid levels.
IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding around 5 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, HUL, Titan, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC. NSE Nifty plunged 263.20 points to 16,985.20.
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty buckled under selling pressure after a nine-session rally on Monday, as massive sell-off in IT, tech and telecom counters unnerved investors.
India's first digital rupee pilot project will commence on Tuesday with nine banks, including SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, issuing the virtual currency for transactions in government securities. "...the first pilot in the digital rupee - Wholesale segment shall commence on November 1, 2022," the RBI said in a statement on 'Operationalisation of Central Bank Digital Currency-Wholesale (e?-W) Pilot'. It also announced that the first pilot in digital rupee - Retail segment is planned for launch within a month in select locations in closed user groups comprising customers and merchants.
The reserves rose to $501.70 billion helped by a whopping rise in foreign currency assets, the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India.
From the Sensex pack, NTPC, Tata Motors, Titan, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, HDFC Bank and Power Grid were among the major gainers. Wipro and Tech Mahindra were the laggards.
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This will be the lender's first result after its merger with HDFC Ltd, effective from July 1, and will keep analysts glued to the management's earnings growth guidance for the merged financial behemoth.