MARKETS: Financials drag indices, Sensex slips 81 pts; midcaps outperform

All that happened in the markets today

Volatility continued to dominate Dalal Street on Monday as the frontline indices erased all their morning gains to settle in the negative zone. Financial stocks such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and HDFC contributed the most to the indices' losses. However, buying in auto and IT counters gave the much-needed support to the market.

At the index level, the S&P BSE Sensex shed over 81 points or 0.26 per cent to 31,561.22 levels. Of 30 constituents, 16 declined and 14 advanced. ICICI Bank (down over 5 per cent) ended as the top loser on the index while Hero MotoCorp (up over 6 per cent) emerged as the top gainer on the index. 

On the NSE, Nifty slipped 12 points or 0.13 per cent to settle at 9,239.20. 

In the broader market, midcaps, however, outperformed the market as the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 0.65 per cent to 11,498.01 levels. The S&P BSE SmallCap index, on the other hand, ended 0.10 per cent down at 10,628 levels. 

Sectorally, auto stocks advanced the most with the Nifty Auto index ending over 4 per cent higher at 5,680 levels. On the flip side, Nifty Bank slipped over 2 per cent to 18,950.50 points and Nifty Private Bank index settled at 10,379.25, down over 2 per cent. 

Buzzing stocks

VIP Industries moved higher by 10 per cent to Rs 234.80 during the day on the BSE after ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala acquired additional 285,000 shares of the company during the January-March 2020 quarter (Q4FY20). The stock ended at Rs 223.80, up over 5 per cent. READ MORE

Shares of Hero MotoCorp ended over 6 per cent to Rs2085.85 on the BSE after the country's largest two-wheeler maker Hero on Sunday said it has resumed operations across 1,500 touch-points, including authorised dealerships, across the country. These outlets contribute to around 30 per cent of the Company’s total domestic retail sales. READ MORE  

Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) were locked in the upper circuit band of 5 per cent at Rs 1,302.85 apiece on the BSE after Ministry of Railways announced that the Indian Railways will gradually restart passenger train operations from May 12, initially with 15 pairs of trains.

Shares of Reliance Industries (RIL) gained 3.4 per cent to Rs 1,615 during the day after the company fixed Thursday (May 14) as the record date for determining shareholders eligible to apply for its rights issue of Rs 53,125 crore. The stock ended nearly 1 per cent higher at Rs 1576.75 apiece. READ MORE

Global markets

European shares climbed on Monday as investors clung to signs that more countries were restarting their economies and looked past reports of a pick-up in new coronavirus cases. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 opened softer but bounced as the Asia day wore on and were last up 0.1 per cent.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.86 per cent. World shares, measured by the MSCI world equity index which tracks shares in 49 countries, ticked 0.1 per cent higher - it has now risen 16 per cent from its March lows.

In commodities, oil prices slipped more than 1 per cent as concern over a persistent glut and economic gloom caused by the coronavirus pandemic cancelled out support from supply cuts at some of the world’s top producers.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:05 PM

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

"In yet another day characterised by fluctuations, Nifty ended flat after gaining by almost 160 pts. The negative impact was mainly due to financials, led by ICICI Bank, which missed earnings estimates. This closing was in spite of gains in Reliance, autos and IT. Globally, with countries talking about emerging from lockdown measures, there were also warnings of resurgence in infections from others. This has added to the uncertainty in the markets, with the number of infections in India continuing to rise. March IIP and April CPI figures will be out tomorrow."

3:48 PM

SECTOR WATCH | Auto stocks jump; banks decline

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 81 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 31,561 while Nifty ended at 9,239, down 12 points or 0.13 per cent. 

3:27 PM

Life Insurers bleed in April as Covid-19 shrinks new biz premium by 33%

The new business premium of the life insurers contracted for the second consecutive month, significantly impacted by the spread of the deadly virus and the subsequent lockdown enforced by the government. new business premium in April declined 32.6 per cent to Rs 6,728 crore from Rs 9,928 crore in the same period a year ago. READ MORE

3:25 PM

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

3:17 PM

BUZZING STOCK | Mahindra Holidays zooms 20%

3:07 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: ICICI Securities on SKF India

Recovery, particularly in the auto segment, is still hazy in terms of velocity and magnitude. While the real impact of Covid-19 can only be known, going ahead, the stock at 26x FY22E has discounted the recent special dividend announced by the company. In lieu of the current scenario and the quality of balance sheet the company possess, we believe the stock is priced fairly given the current valuation. Thus, we revise our rating on SKF from REDUCE to HOLD at 25x FY22E EPS of Rs 55.6, to arrive at a TP of Rs1,390.

2:58 PM

Vodafone Idea jumps 15% intra-day on heavy volume; gains 46% in a month

The trading volume more than doubled on Monday with a combined 832 million equity shares, representing 10.4 per cent of total free-float equity of Vodafone Idea, changing hands on the NSE and BSE. As of March 2020, public shareholders held 27.95 per cent or 8,031 million equity shares in Vodafone Idea, shareholding pattern data shows. READ MORE

2:50 PM

MARKET CHECK

2:46 PM

EXPERT COMMENT | Quote on Rupee by Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities

"Rupee extends losses during trades on Monday on likely buying by oil importers, A lot of buying took place in USD by oil importers. Bond yields are up and government borrowing has almost being doubled. It is expected the Rupee will keep basing between 75-76 for some sessions".

2:36 PM

Opportunity in crisis: 5 sectors that may gain from coronavirus pandemic

Analysts say the situation has the potential to impair the purchasing power and dent demand. The pandemic will not only hit purses, but also the psychology of a generation and how it spends. The impact is already visible across geographies and financial markets, with experts slashing their growth projections as measured by gross domestic product (GDP). READ MORE

2:26 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: Axis Securities on L&T Infotech

LTI Management is optimistic & confident about the future growth potential capitalizing its core strategy (Digitizing the core, Data-driven organization, Experience transformation, and Operate to transform) with customer centricity as the key engagement tool. LTI’s sales strategy (hunting pack) has been yielding good results, which is evident from their stronger annual growth in large deal pipeline. LTI had secured 2 large deals with net new TCV of ~US$75 mn+ in Q3FY20 taking it to US$219 mn+ for 9MFY20; ramp-up of these deals and a strong exit rate in Q4FY20 would auger well for pick-up in revenue growth in FY21.

We recommend Buy with target price of Rs 1,744.

2:19 PM

Weekly economic indicators show slight improvement as restrictions eased

These two indicators along with pollution levels were tracked till the end of the working week on May 8. Other data tracked by Business Standard include internet speeds, Google location data and railway freight numbers. Some of this appears with a lag. For example, the internet speed data is as of May 3rd. The Google location data is as of May 2nd. READ MORE

2:14 PM

MARKET UPDATE | HUL trades over 0.5% lower