MARKET WRAP: Indices end flat, Sensex slips 25 pts; financials, autos fall

All that happened in the markets today

After remaining range-bound for most part of the session, benchmark indices turned highly volatile in the last hour of the trade on Friday with the indices briefly swinging into positive territory, before settling flat with negative bias. Except metal stocks, selling was witnessed across the board.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 31,098, down 25 points or 0.08 per cent. Of 30 constituents, 20 declined and 10 advanced. Mahindra & Mahindra (down around 5 per cent) ended as the top loser on the index while telecom major Bhart Airtel (up nearly 3 per cent) was the biggest gainer. 

ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and Infosys contributed the most to the index's loss. Market breadth was inclined towards bears as out of 2,493 companies traded on the BSE, 1,230 declined and 1,086 advanced while 177 remained unchanged. 

On the NSE, Nifty ended at 9,137, down 6 points or 0.06 per cent. 

On a weekly basis, Sensex fell 1.72 per cent while Nifty lost 1.23 per cent.

Sectorally, PSU bank stocks bled the most with the Nifty PSU Bank index ending at 1,186.10, down 1.64 per cent. Nifty Bank ended at 18,834, down 235 points or over 1 per cent. Nifty Auto ended 1 per cent lower at 5,745.70. 

On the other hand, Nifty Metal index rallied 1.6 per cent to 1,742.60-mark. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index settled 0.3 per cent lower at 11,500.32 and the S&P BSE SmallCap index shed 0.16 per cent to 10,688.86 levels. 

Buzzing stocks

India Cements jumped 13 per cent to Rs 114 on the BSE after the company said the Damani family’s stake in the company increased to nearly 20 per cent in the March quarter. The stock was trading close to its 52-week high level of Rs 117, touched on May 28, 2019. READ MORE

Shares of Unichem Laboratories jumped as much as 9.6 per cent to Rs 139.70 apiece on the BSE after the company informed that it has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) facility at Roha. The stock ended at Rs 133, up nearly 4.5 per cent. 

On the other hand, shares of multiplex operators PVR and Inox Leisure hit their respective 52-week lows in the early deals on the BSE on Friday amid reports that the Maharashtra government could extend lockdown in Mumbai, Pune and other hotspots in the state till May 31. READ MORE    

Global markets

Asian stocks edged up on Friday but were on course to end the week lower as deteriorating US-China relations add to uncertainties over how fast economies can recover as they start to emerge from lockdowns. Worries about confrontations between the two largest economies in the world eclipsed Chinese economic data, which showed its economy is gradually recovering from the shock of the coronavirus outbreak.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.6 per cent but finished the week down 0.7 per cent while mainland Chinese shares were mixed. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 per cent but has lost about 1 per cent so far this week.

In Europe, shares rose with miners and energy firms gaining. 

In commodities, oil prices jumped more than 3 per cent, touching more than one-month highs amid signs that demand for crude was picking up with China reporting increased refinery runs, and rounding out a week of bullish news on the supply front.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:19 PM

Technical Observation by Nagaraj Shetti - Technical Analyst, HDFC Securities

After witnessing sharp weakness with range bound action in the last session, Nifty shifted into a range bounce action and showed lower levels recovery on Friday. A small negative candle was formed with long lower shadow. Technically, this pattern indicates a formation of hammer type candle pattern (not a classical one). This pattern was formed at the immediate support of 9,150 (previous swing low of 12th May).

The bearish island reversal pattern is still intact with unfilled two gaps (4th May). This pattern could be negated on a decisive move above 9,500-9,600 levels. As long as this pattern is active, the chances of Nifty sliding down to 8,900 levels can't be ruled out (downside pattern target of bearish island reversal).

Nifty formed negative candle pattern on the weekly chart with upper shadow. This indicates sell on rise in the market in the last few sessions. We observe overlapping negative candles in the last two weeks, which signals choppy movement in the market with weak bias.

The near term trend of Nifty is range bound with weak bias. Having placed at the immediate support of 9,150, there is a possibility of minor upside bounce in the early part of next week up to 9,350 levels. But, one may use this upside bounce as a sell on rise opportunity.

4:17 PM

MARKET COMMENT | Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

The market exhibited volatility before ending flat today following Tranche 2 of the stimulus package by the government. Although in the right direction, the package did nothing to enthuse the markets. Without this boost, markets were left to worry about the rising virus cases and lacklustre earnings commentary. Concerns are emerging on the make-up of Lockdown 4.0. It is this uncertainty that is weighing on Investor’s minds. The 3rd press conference of the FM today and the new norms of Lockdown 4.0, alongwith global developments will determine market moves for next week.

3:46 PM

SECTOR WATCH | Here's how sectoral indices on NSE performed today

3:45 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Losers and gainers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 25 points or 0.08 per cent to 31,097.73 levels while NSE's Nifty ended at 9,137, down 6 points or 0.06 per cent. 

 

3:28 PM

India Cements jumps 8% as Damani family increases stake to 20% in Q4

Gopikishan Damani and Radhakishan Damani’s combined stake in India Cements increased to 19.89 per cent at the end of March 2020 quarter, according to shareholding pattern disclosed by the company. Radhakishan Damani is the founder of Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which promotes DMart. READ MORE 

3:14 PM

MARKET CHECK | Top 5 gainers on the BSE at this hour

3:00 PM

Virus-hit German economy plunges into recession: Reuters

The German economy plunged into a recession after suffering its steepest quarterly contraction since the 2009 financial crisis as shops and factories were shut down in mid-March to fight the spread of the coronavirus, preliminary data showed on Friday. The 2.2% first-quarter contraction was a foretaste of worse to come. Economists expect a deeper slump in the second quarter as the lockdown extended well into April and early May and sectors like tourism and in-door gastronomy remain shut, Reuters reported. 

2:54 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: Inox Leisure, Kajaria Ceramics, and PVR hit their respective 52-week lows on BSE in today's session

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	52 WK LOW	CHG(%)
INOX LEISURE	193.05	191.25	-4.03
KAJARIA CERAMICS	315.00	306.20	0.90
PVR	852.60	835.70	-3.99

2:45 PM

NEWS ALERT | GAIL halts LNG imports at Ratnagiri port, reports Reuters

Indian utility GAIL (India) Ltd has stopped importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes at its 5 million tonnes/year Ratnagiri terminal as the start of monsoon makes operations difficult without a breakwater, a company source said. GAIL hopes to resume receiving cargoes at the Ratnagiri Port in western Maharashtra state in October, the GAIL source said, adding that the company received its last LNG cargo at the port from Russia’s Gazprom on May 8, said a Reuters report.

2:40 PM

BUZZING STOCK:: Bharti Airtel at day's high, up 2%

2:30 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: Edelweiss Securities on Siemens

Siemens Gas & Power Holding BV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG (parent of Siemens Ltd) has proposed to acquire a 24% stake in Siemens India. In our view, this largely puts to rest investor concerns on the treatment of Siemens India’s gas & power business. In its recent Q2 results, Siemens AG had reiterated it would list the gas & power entity by FY20E.  Over the past two–three years, Siemens India has sharpened its business portfolio, aligning it to potential opportunities in the Indian/global markets. We see rising product mandates for Siemens India as a clear sign of its growing prominence for the parent, which is well complemented by efficient & much empowered top management as reflected in past 2-3 years performance. We maintain a non-consensus ‘BUY/SO’ with a TP of Rs 1,400 (42x March 2022E EPS).

2:25 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: Sensex pares losses

2:13 PM

Rupee closing

Rupee ends unchanged vs Thursday's close of 75.56 against the US dollar

2:10 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: Emkay Global Fin Services on Escorts

TP: Rs 898 | 12 months | Rating: BUY | Upside: 13.0%

• EBITDA margin, adjusted for one-offs, expanded 50bps yoy to 12.1% (est. 10.2%), owing to better product mix, softening of commodity prices and cost-reduction efforts. One-off item of ~200bps relates to increase in inventories.
• Due to the impact of the lockdown and expectation of a gradual pick-up in demand, we reduce our FY21 tractor volume estimate by 8% to 78,073 units, but increase FY22E volume forecast by 3% to 95,670 units. Volumes are expected to turn positive by Aug’20, led by low base, pent up demand and better rural sentiment.
• We expect Escorts to sustain market share in domestic tractors ahead, led by a continuation of aggressive marketing efforts, success of its dual-brand strategy – Farmtrac and Powertrac series – and focus on network expansion.
• We expect 8% CAGR in revenues and 15% CAGR in earnings over FY20-22E, driven by volume up-cycle and margin expansion. Retain OW stance in EAP and Buy rating with a TP of Rs 898 (Rs 815 earlier), based on 14x FY22E core EPS.