BSE Sensex: ONGC, Bharti Airtel among top gainers of the day, Dr. Reddy top loser
3:34 PM
Market at close
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,246, down 73 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,717, down 25 points.
3:20 PM
Edelweiss on Mahindra Holidays
Mahindra Holidays & Resorts’ (MHRL) Q4FY18 performance surpassed our estimate—member addition flat at ~6,300 (estimate 4,990) and EBITDA beat on cost optimisation. Another key highlight was improvement in Holiday Club Resorts (HCR)—PAT jumped ~3x to EUR7.4mn.
The company’s overall cash balance also continued to improve. In FY18, MHRL focused on quality member addition and cash accumulation, which impacted member addition growth (down 2%). Going forward, given the underpenetration in vacation ownership segment, we estimate member growth to bounce back, which will be key monitorable. We value the standalone business on DCF basis leading to target price of Rs 429. Maintain ‘BUY
Given the current environment, we could experience volatility in the oil market in the near term. We are in a situation where geopolitical premium is overshadowing the fundamentals of crude oil and driving prices higher. The extent to which U.S. sanctions would impact Iranian oil exports remains to be seen.
Although the markets were expecting such an action and had been factoring the same into oil prices, more upside from current levels cannot be ruled out. Over the medium term WTI crude oil could find support at $67-65 range and could extend the current rally towards 74-76 zone.
(Source: Motial Oswal report)
2:51 PM
Prabhudas Lilladher on ABB
ABB continues to focus on introduction of new products and tailor the technology to meet Indian requirement. ABB also continue to collaborate with customers, deploy solutions from digital portfolio and support the new era of growth through smarter, greener grids, electrification of transport and digitalizing industries for greater efficiency and productivity. We expect stock to deliver 20% earnings CAGR over CY16‐19E. We maintain ‘Accumulate with target price of Rs1,533
2:47 PM
MARKET COMMENT
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) believes India’s trade deficit will widen to a four-year high of 6.4% of GDP in FY19 ($178.1 billion). In FY18, merchandise trade deficit stood at $156.8 billion (6.0% of GDP) on account of a rise in oil and gold imports. Widening trade deficit, escalation in commodity prices, particularly oil, coupled with the expectation of the US Federal Reserve raising its rate further, is exerting pressure on the rupee. Even other emerging market currencies are facing headwinds. Rupee has depreciated below 67/USD mark in May 2018 from the high of Rs 63.35/USD in January 2018
2:46 PM
MARKET COMMENT Gautam Chhaochharia, head of India research at UBS Securities
Rural-exposed stocks should continue to do well, irrespective of whether the rural/agri tilt is real or just rhetoric. Any major populism/stimulus would likely drive bond yields higher and possibly hurt the currency. We remain neutral on SOE banks. Our end-2018 Nifty base/ upside/downside scenarios of 10,500/11,900/8,800 imply an unattractive risk-reward for the market overall
Gautam Chhaochharia Head of India research, UBS Securities
2:31 PM
Walmart has a lot riding on Flipkart
For most, $16 billion might seem like a huge amount, but for Bentonville-based Walmart Inc it is a small price to pay as it looks to take on global e-commerce giant Amazon, which is now making rapid moves in offline retail.
For the money it is spending on acquiring a 77 per cent stake in Bengaluru-based online marketplace firm Flipkart, Walmart hopes to finally prop up a formidable opponent against the Jeff Bezos-run juggernaut that is out to create a one-stop solution for possibly every problem in the world. READ MORE
2:13 PM
BJP's spending analysis: Not populist in the election year
How does one judge the performance of the government amid the clamour of paid reports, favoured opinions, generation bias, media management, and political fights? An unbiased approach, free from even personal opinions, is important. I choose data analysis precisely for this reason – data does not lie, and data is impartial. I have examined the government’s spending, both centre and state, on various sectors for the last five years in order to gauge its performance. READ MORE
Analysis: Starbucks deal gives Nestle more punch in fight with JAB
Nestle's $7 billion licensing deal for Starbucks' retail business gives it a much-needed boost in its battle against JAB, the privately owned investment firm stirring up the coffee industry with a string of deals.
JAB, the family office of Europe's billionaire Reimann clan, has built up the world's second-largest coffee business over the past five years. READ MORE
1:32 PM
Asian Oilfield tanks 20% as unit gets termination notice from Koral Energy
Shares of Asian Oilfield Services are locked in lower circuit of 20% at Rs 134 per share, also their 52-week low on the BSE, after the company said that its unit Asian Oilfield & Energy Services DMCC allegedly got termination notice from Koral Energy International. READ MORE
1:16 PM
Gold little changed amid firm dollar; Iran tensions support
Gold traded sideways in a tight range on Thursday as the dollar held firm near its 2018 peak on strong US bond yields, with investors also keeping an eye out for any further impact from US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of a nuclear deal with Iran. Spot gold was nearly unchanged at $1,311.82 per ounce. READ MORE
The markets ended marginally lower on Thursday despite firm global markets.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,246, down 73 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,717, down 25 points. The BSE Midcap index and BSE Smallcap index, however, underperformed the frontline indices and lost over 1.5% and 1.4% respectively.
Realty stocks were among the worst hit on Thursday with DLF, Unitech and HDIL slipping over 3% each. Weakness was also visible in Indiabulls Real Estate, Godrej Properties and Oberoi Realty. The Nifty Realty index ended nearly 2% lower at 311 levels.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian stocks rose on Thursday, with energy shares leading the way as crude oil prices bolted higher after US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of a nuclear deal with Iran.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 0.4 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei climbed 0.1 per cent. South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.4 per cent and Shanghai edged up 0.3 per cent.
CRUDE OIL
Oil price rose on Thursday and was set for its largest weekly increase in a month, as the market prepared for potential disruption to crude flows from major exporter Iran in the face of US sanctions.
Brent crude futures were up 29 cents at $77.50 a barrel, having gained 3.5 per cent so far this week, the largest weekly increase since mid-April. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 42 cents at $71.56 a barrel.
The oil price is at its highest since late 2014 and is on track for its fourth consecutive quarterly gain, the longest such stretch for over 10 years.
 "MARKETS ON THURSDAY: Nifty ends at 10,717, Midcaps slip; Realty stocks hit")
