MARKETS ON TUESDAY: Indices end higher, Nifty holds 10,400; Axis Bank up 6%

All that happened in the markets on Tuesday

Benchmark indices rose for the fourth straight session on Tuesday, tracking gains in Asian peers as conciliatory-sounding comments from Chinese President Xi Jinping helped soothe investor concerns about an escalating US-China trade spat.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 33,880, up 92 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,402, up 23 points.

Asian shares recovered from early falls to rise as much as 0.9% after Xi said China will take measures to sharply widen market access for foreign investors, raise the foreign ownership limit in the automobile sector and protect intellectual property of foreign firms. 

Global financial markets have been rattled over the past few weeks on fears that the tit-for-tat US-China tariffs will explode into a full-scale trade war in a blow to global growth.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Metal index rose around 1.5% higher led by a rise in the stocks of Hindalco Industries and National Aluminium Company.

Among indvidual stocks, Axis Bank gained 6% and was among the top percentage gainer on the NSE index after the country’s third-biggest private-sector bank by assets said on Monday its long-time chief executive, Shikha Sharma, will step down at the end of 2018.

Investors have now turned their focus to domestic cues such as March retail inflation data due later this week and corporate results.

(with Reuters inputs)

4:25 PM

MARKET COMMENT

The Nifty50 index is getting a bit tired after seeing a decent relief rally in last 4 – 5 days and importantly as it approaches the major resistance zone of 10,400 – 10,500 levels.  For the coming session, 10,430 – 10,478 would be seen as immediate hurdles; whereas on the downside, 10381 – 10350 is likely to act as a key support zone.

 

Today’s small range in the index does not depict the right picture. There was a perfect balancing act seen from the few index heavyweights. Couple of major Private banking names, ICICI and Axis Bank had a stellar move and on the other hand, HDFC twins restricted the Nifty from extending its move. Going forward, do watch out for these counters along with Larsen and Toubro

(Source: Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking)

3:39 PM

Nifty Realty index ends over 1% up. Top gainers:

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN()	GAIN(%)
OBEROI REALTY	531.00	502.60	28.40	5.65
DLF	213.10	206.05	7.05	3.42
H D I L	42.80	41.80	1.00	2.39
UNITECH	6.75	6.65	0.10	1.50

3:37 PM

Nifty Metal index ends over 2% higher. Top gainers:

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN()	GAIN(%)
HINDALCO INDS.	230.60	221.35	9.25	4.18
NMDC	123.60	119.15	4.45	3.73
NATL. ALUMINIUM	72.55	70.35	2.20	3.13
TATA STEEL	602.90	586.15	16.75	2.86
WELSPUN CORP	146.05	142.10	3.95	2.78

3:35 PM

Sectoral Trend

3:33 PM

BSE Sensex: gainers and losers of the day

3:32 PM

Market at close

 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 33,880, up 92 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,402, up 23 points.

3:28 PM

Nifty PSU Bank index up for fourth straight day

Shares of public sector banks continued trade higher with the Nifty PSU Bank index gaining for the fourth trading sessions after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced its first bi-monthly monetary policy for the financial year 2018-19 (FY19) on April 4, 2018. READ MORE

3:20 PM

Emkay Global on NBFCs

We believe NBFC-AFCs are well poised to benefit from a cyclical upturn and early signs of recovery during H2FY18. Within the space, we like Shriram Transport as a preferred play, considering favorable risk-reward and improving demand. We continue to like Bajaj Finance’s differentiated business model and we believe the recent foray into Housing Finance further strengthens its current dominance as a retail lender. Magma Fincorp, L&T Finance Holding (LTFH)  and Mahindra Finance (MMFS) are also poised to benefit from the upturn in demand and declining credit costs

3:19 PM

Sharekhan on JSW Steel

We retain positive stance and estimates FY2019/ FY2020. JSW Steel is the fastest growing and most efficient steel producer in India, both in terms of conversion cost per tonne as well as capital cost per tonne and should be the biggest beneficiary of anticipated fall in global iron ore and coking coal prices being the least integrated amongst large steel manufacturers.

With limited capacity addition, that too by large steel manufacturers, domestic demand supply scenario should consolidate and turn favourable for existing players. We thus estimate consolidated EBITDA to compound at 13% annually during FY’17-’20 and continue with a positive outlook expecting 15-18% returns.

3:17 PM

COMMENT Q4 revenue growth seen at 9%, margin pain to ease: CRISIL Research

Growth in corporate revenue – excluding that of banking, financial services & insurance and oil companies – is likely to print at ~9% on-year for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, CRISIL Research’s analysis of over 400 companies, which account for 65% of the market capitalisation of the National Stock Exchange shows.

 

That’s slower than the 12-quarter high of 10.9% seen in the third quarter, which had benefited from low-base effect following demonetisation in the corresponding year-ago period. The slowdown is largely on account of higher base for consumption-linked sectors, which had partially recovered from demonetisation in fourth quarter of last year.

3:15 PM

IMPACT NOTE Kotak’s best chance to merge Axis Bank, says Nomura

Axis Bank CEO’s request to revise down her term to Dec-18 (earlier Jun-21) has been accepted by the board. Our assessment suggests that Axis Bank will have to look for an external CEO. We believe this presents a great opportunity for Kotak Bank (KMB IN, Buy) to acquire one of the largest liability/retail asset franchises. 

At current prices, the deal would be +40% accretive to EPS/BPS of Kotak Bank This should make it possible for Kotak Bank to offer some premium to Axis Bank shareholders to make the deal attractive to Axis Bank minority shareholders. The deal would be +25% accretive for Kotak Bank even after paying a 10-30% premium for Axis Bank

(Disclaimer: Kotak Mahindra and associates are significant shareholders in Business Standard Pvt Ltd)

3:11 PM

MARKET COMMENT Gautam Duggad, Head of Research, Motilal Oswal Securities

As we step into FY19, the clamor for an earnings recovery has become louder. This is particularly because the last three years were characterized by a muted earnings performance due to macro disruptions and several policy changes pertaining to asset quality in the banking sector. Although we expect Nifty earnings to grow by a decent 11% in FY18, it is much below our FY18-beginning estimate of +17% – this can be mainly attributed to the drag from corporate banks (ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI, which together accounted for 62% of the cut in Nifty PAT estimate in a span of a year).

3:10 PM

BSE500 Gainers

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN()	GAIN(%)
SUDARSHAN CHEM.	505.00	466.05	38.95	8.36
NILKAMAL LTD	1740.65	1630.75	109.90	6.74
BALRAMPUR CHINI	81.00	75.90	5.10	6.72
PRAJ INDS.	97.60	91.75	5.85	6.38
BAJAJ HINDUSTHAN	10.07	9.47	0.60	6.34

2:56 PM

Stocks at 52-week high

COMPANY	LATEST	52 WK HIGH	PREV HIGH	PREV DATE	VOLUME
AVENUE SUPER.	1484.00	1494.80	1442.40	09-APR-2018	146392
BALKRISHNA INDS	1283.80	1296.45	1290.00	09-APR-2018	32871
CHOLAMAN.INV.&FN	1564.85	1573.95	1548.00	04-APR-2018	12620
DIVI'S LAB.	1149.35	1166.70	1141.75	27-DEC-2017	47686
INDUSIND BANK	1852.05	1869.60	1867.85	09-APR-2018	17302

2:47 PM

After IndiGo, Jet Airways not to participate in bid for stake in Air India

 

Jet Airways has decided not to participate in the bid for a stake in Air India, further denting the divestment process. The move comes four days after IndiGo’s decision to back out of bidding.

 

While Jet Airways had never formally announced its interest in Air India, the management had held discussions with its alliance partners Air France-KLM, Delta, and other investors to put up a proposal. But the airline has now decided to call off its efforts. READ MORE