In the Sensex kitty, Ultratech Cement was the top gainer, rising 2.10 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries Sun Pharma, NTPC and Asian Paints.
HDFC was the leading gainer among Sensex stocks on Thursday, rising by 1.65 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Titan and Infosys. TCS was the biggest loser, shedding 1.33 per cent. Ultratech Cement, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Bank and Tech Mahindra were among the other major laggards.
Bharti Airtel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, slipping around 1 per cent, followed by Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC, Bajaj Auto and PowerGrid.
Among Sensex shares, Bajaj Finserv fell the most by 4.08 per cent. Bajaj Finance declined by 3.01 per cent, Tata Steel by 2.2 per cent, Wipro by 2.09 per cent, Tata Motors by 1.96 per cent, IndusInd Bank by 1.9 per cent, SBI by 1.75 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 1.66 per cent and HCL Tech by 1.2 per cent. TCS, Infosys, Power Grid, Maruti, Reliance, HDFC twins, L&T, M&M, NTPC and Ultratech Cement were also among the losers.
Among major Sensex movers, Ultratech Cement rose over 4 per cent, Bajaj Finance by 2.63 per cent and Maruti by 2 per cent. BSE Sensex closed up by 133.14 points at a record high of 47,746.22. NSE Nifty rose by 49.35 points at its lifetime high of 13,981.95.
Bharti Airtel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, plunging around 6 per cent, followed by TCS, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Tech Mhindra, Infosys and Hero MotoCorp. On the other hand, Titan, Ultratech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India and ITC were among the gainers.
Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 7 per cent, followed by Ultratech Cement, L&T, ICICI Bank, SBI, M&M and Bajaj Finance. On the other hand, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel and HUL ended in the red.
The sharp correction in the Indian markets from their peak levels has made valuations attractive, say analysts, who advise buying selectively, but only from a long-term perspective. Fifty-six of the Nifty 100 stocks, according to Mahesh Nandurkar, managing director at Jefferies, now trade below the 10-year historical averages, including stocks in financial, select auto, and pharma sectors. "Valuation (one-year forward consensus price-to-earnings, PE) has declined 25 per cent from October 2021 peak, almost matching the 33 per cent price-earnings contraction during the 2011 tightening cycle when repo rates went up by 375 basis points (bps) versus 250 bps this cycle.
The cement plants at Barmana (Bilaspur district) and Darlaghat (Solan district) had closed operations on December 14 due to the dispute between the company and truckers engaged in the carriage of cement and clinkers. According to a government statement, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, "We have arrived at consensus, thereby protecting the interests of both the truck-operator unions and the management, besides welfare of all others who were being directly or indirectly hit by the stalemate."
IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance and Ultratech Cement were prominent gainers. NSE Nifty rose 176.65 points to 14,867.35.
The stock market's momentum will be guided by the ongoing quarterly earnings season, with Reliance Industries, HUL and Bajaj Finance among those scheduled to announce their results this week, analysts said. Focus would also remain on the COVID situation, global stock markets, investment pattern of foreign institutional investors (FIIs), rupee-dollar trend and Brent crude, they added. "The earnings season would gain pace this week and participants will be closely eyeing the results of some of the top names like Reliance, Ultratech Cement, Bajaj Auto, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever among others. "Before that, markets will first react to the earnings of two heavyweights -- HCL Technologies and HDFC Bank in early trade on Monday," said Ajit Mishra, VP Research, Religare Broking.
HDFC Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 3.5 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, L&T, HDFC, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC and Kotak Bank.
Investors' wealth jumped over Rs 2.95 lakh crore on Thursday, the first day of the new financial year, amid a rally in the equity market. The 30-share BSE benchmark index rallied 520.68 points or 1.05 per cent to close at 50,029.83. Driven by the bullish sentiment, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies rose by Rs 295,587.25 crore to reach Rs 295,587.25 crore at close of trade on Thursday. IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Ultratech Cement and Bajaj Finance were the prominent gainers. In contrast, HUL, HDFC Bank, Nestle and TCS suffered losses.
Quarterly earnings and global cues will be the major sentiment driver for the equity market this week, according to analysts. Of late, Benchmark indices have been on a record-breaking run. "Quarterly results will dictate market sentiment and will be the talk of this week as they pick up the pace. "D-Street will be all ears to any management insights to forecast the future earnings trajectory.
Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing 2.11 per cent, followed by Infosys, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Kotak Bank, M&M and PowerGrid. NSE Nifty jumped 142.05 points to end at 17,605.85.
The first quarter earnings season will dictate the trend in the equity markets in this holiday-shortened week amid absence of major macroeconomic drivers, say analysts. Besides, lacklustre global markets may increase volatility in the market, they added. Equity markets would remain closed on Wednesday for Bakri-Id.
Skylark Drones, a leading drone platform company that counts Tata Steel, Ultratech Cement, Softbank Energy among its customers has secured $3 million in a pre-series A funding round. It would use the funding to strengthen its product offerings and fuel international expansion.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your stock market queries.
HUL was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 5 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Asian Paints and RIL.
The much-talked-about sale of Ambuja Cement and ACC by Holcim Group will see the single-biggest outflow of foreign capital from the country if the two cement firms are acquired by Indian investors. The deal, valued at nearly $10.35 billion, will put in the shade Cairn Energy Plc's exit from India in 2010, when it sold Cairn India to Vedanta Group for $4.48 billion. According to various reports, big business groups such as AV Birla, JSW Group, and Adani Group are in the fray to acquire Holcim's assets in India.
India's largest cement firm, Ultratech Cement, has joined the race to acquire the Holcim stake in Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary, ACC. UltraTech - part of the Aditya Birla Group - submitted a non-binding bid on Wednesday. Swiss multinational Holcim, which manufactures building material, is exiting India by selling its 63.19% stake in Ambuja Cements. According to banking sources, UltraTech has submitted a plan to Holcim, outlining divestiture details that would meet the norms set by anti-trust body Competition Commission of India.
On the Sensex chart, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj FinServ, SBI, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's, Tech Mahindra, ITC and Kotak Bank were the prominent gainers - rising up to 7.29 per cent. NSE Nifty climbed 102.40 points to end at 15,737.75.
On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Dr Reddy's, NTPC, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and Bajaj FinServ emerged as major laggards.
Among Sensex stocks, L&T was the top loser, shedding 2.19 per cent, followed by ONGC, Titan, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp and Infosys.
On the Sensex chart, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finance emerged as the major laggards, dropping over 6 per cent.
After opening on a weak note, the 30-share BSE index settled 226.79 points, or 0.55 per cent, higher at 41,613.19 -- hitting an intra-day high of 41,697.03 and a low of 41,275.60. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty closed 67.90 points, or 0.56 per cent, up at 12,248.25.
Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding 3.01 per cent, followed by M&M, Maruti, Asian Paints, PowerGrid, ITC and Axis Bank.
The possible acquisition of Holcim India business will be one of the biggest inbound corporate deals in the country. Currently, Walmart Inc.'s $16-billion acquisition of Flipkart Online Services in 2018 remains the biggest acquisition of an Indian asset by any acquirer, followed by BP plc acquisition of 30 per cent stake in Reliance Industries' 23 oil and gas production blocks in 2011 for $7.2 billion. Bloomberg reported late on Wednesday night that Holcim - the world's biggest cement maker - is considering a potential sale of its India business and gauging interest in its controlling stake in Ambuja Cement.
Tesla Inc chief Elon Musk is set to acquire micro-blogging site Twitter for about $44 billion. Back home, India Inc, too, is seeing aggressive merger and acquisition (M&A) activity with PVR-Inox and HDFC-HDFC Bank announcing their mergers recently. While Axis Bank recently acquired Citi India's India retail business, reports suggest Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) and Mindtree could be eyeing a merger.
SFIO, the investigation arm of the Corporate Affairs Ministry, has been ordered to probe alleged fraud in 83 companies in the last four years, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
As the demolition date of Supertech twin towers in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, inches closer, the company entrusted with the tricky task is putting the finishing touches to its preparations.
Indian companies had raised $2.39 billion from foreign markets in May 2015.
On the Sensex chart, Sun Pharma was the top loser, followed by Maruti, L&T, Hero Motocorp, Infosys, ONGC and RIL.
In a circular dated May 20, Sebi had directed the listed companies to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 on their capital and financial resources, profitability, liquidity position, assets, and ability to service debt. Instead, companies have spoken about the number of plants, warehouses and distribution centres that have resumed operations; work-from-home and safety measures undertaken for employees; and the labour shortage they are facing.
Domestic investors were also concerned about possible stagflation in India due to low growth and high inflation in wake of recently released government data. IndusInd Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, dropping 5.44 per cent. Infosys, SBI, PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank too fell up to 1.21 per cent.
Top companies have grabbed a bigger pie of their sectors in the pandemic period, leading to a further rise in market concentration in many industries as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI). The HHI score, which indicates competitive intensity in an industry (or a lack of it), reached a new high in FY21 as bigger firms raised their revenue market shares either organically or through mergers and acquisitions. A higher HHI score indicates a rise in market concentration in favour of a few firms while a lower score means that the industry's revenue is more evenly divided among many companies
The combined dividend payout by early-bird companies -- those that have declared their results for FY21 -- is up 8.9 per cent, lower than the 21.9 per cent rise in in FY20 but ahead of the underlying growth in India Inc business last year. Combined net sales of these early birds were down 1.8 per cent last financial year while net profit was up 27.3 per cent in FY21. Some top companies that have stepped up dividend payout in FY21 include Hindustan Unilever, Indus Towers, Tata Steel, Ultratech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Dabur, Asian Paints, and UPL. In contrast, banks have skipped dividends under an RBI diktat while companies such as Marico, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, and Godrej Consumer are paying lower dividends for FY21.
Among major Sensex gainers, ITC rose the most by 2.32 per cent, followed by TCS, M&M, SBI and Bharti Airtel.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries
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