Indices end slightly lower ahead of GDP data; PSU banks, realty stocks fall

All that happened in the markets today.

The benchmark indices ended marginally lower on Tuesday ahead of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to be released on Wednesday.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 34346, down 99 points while the broader NIfty50 index settled at 10554 down 28 points.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank index ended over 3% lower led by a sharp fall in shares of Punjab National Bank (PNB).

Shares of PNB hit a 20-month low, slipping over 9% on the BSE earlier in the day, after the government-owned bank said it has revealed an additional unauthorized transactions by around Rs 13 billion (USD 204 million). The stock was trading at its lowest level since June 24, 2016.

The market participants will look forward to key economic data such as  Nikkei Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), Fiscal Deficit and GDP to be released on Wednesday.

In the global markets, Asian shares extended their recovery on Tuesday, hitting a three-week high as US borrowing costs eased ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s highly-anticipated first congressional testimony later in the day.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.1 per cent to three-week highs while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan also hit a three-week high before giving up gains on profit-taking in Chinese shares.
 

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 advanced 1.18 per cent on Monday helped by fall in US bond yields.

(with Reuters inputs)

3:44 PM

Market rundown by Nikhil Kamath, Co-Founder and Head of Trading, Zerodha

"Markets opened the session slightly higher for the day on the back of positive global cues, this rally was sold into and the indices corrected throughout the session to close over a quarter percent lower for the day.
 

Cement and banking were the weakest sectors for the session, with both Orient Bank and PNB tanking in trade."

3:36 PM

Top Sectoral loser: Nifty PSU Bank slips over 3%

3:34 PM

Sectoral Trend

3:33 PM

Sensex top gainers and losers

3:32 PM

Markets at Close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 34346, down 99 points while the broader NIfty50 index settled at 10554 down 28 points

3:24 PM

PNB scam: Bank ignored warnings from Gitanjali Gems auditor in March 2017

The Indian lenders led by Punjab National Bank ignored warnings from the auditor of Gitanjali Gems in March 2017 that the latter has defaulted to loans of Life Insurance Corporation. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY

3:20 PM

Event update: ACC - Ambuja merger deferred for now

 

ACC-Ambuja have called off their proposed merger plan (for now) announced in May last year highlighting certain constraints in relation to implementing the merger at present (possibly related to transfer of mineral concessions). Instead, the board has approved an arrangement within companies for swap of materials and services on mutually agreed terms - to realize synergies; the details of the arrangement would be disclosed to its shareholders when it seeks their nod via postal ballot. 

 

The announcement is negative for the both companies, in our view. Although, we highlight that off late both companies have been indicating in their respective investor interactions that merger was only a bull case scenario and not a base case scenario. But the street still seems to factor in some kind of synergy benefits in the estimates. The outlook on fructification of these swap based synergies is hazy. Both companies have been amongst the less preferred names in the space for us. We currently have HOLD rating on both the stocks.

 

(Source: Antique Stock Broking)

 

3:20 PM

Gitanjali Gems, Vakrangee plunge 66% in one month

Shares of Gitanjali Gems and Vakrangee continued to remainunder pressure, eroding two-third of their market valuation in the past one month. Gitanjali Gems hit a new low of Rs 22.45, down 5% on the BSE. The stock of jewellery maker was locked in lower circuit for the nine straight trading days. In past one month, it tanked 66% from Rs 66.30. READ MORE

3:13 PM

Modi winning 2019 polls: Market has priced in 2nd term for BJP, says UBS

The 2019 general elections are still about a year away, but markets seem to have already priced in a second term for the incumbent Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. In a recent client note, brokerage UBS said while most investors had assigned a ‘very high probability’ of Modi winning the 2019 elections, markets had already priced this in. READ MORE

3:00 PM

ICICI Securities on ISGEC Heavy Engineering

 

The stock trades at 19x FY20E standalone EPS. We expect execution to improve in FY19 and FY20 leading to 22% and 26% revenue growth in the respective years. We expect EBITDA margins to improve gradually with reduction in working capital. 

 

Driven by strong execution and margin improvement, earnings are expected to grow by 37%/33% in FY19/FY20 respectively. Improvement in RoCE with healthy cashflows will aid in valuation rerating. Strategic tie-ups have further strengthened the company’s competitive ability to enter new technology areas, which will fuel incremental growth. Maintain BUY.

2:50 PM

Nifty PSU Bank index slips over 3%

2:40 PM

Kotak Securities on Kansai Nerolac

 

KNPL has been experiencing double digit volume YoY growth across segments since the last 12 quarters surpassing the performance of Asian Paints and Berger. The strong out-performance is on the back of: 1) Strong volume growth witnessed by the paint sector;2) New and innovative product launches by the company; 3) Strong distribution network of the company (20000+ dealers and 102 depots);4) Heavy promotion through multiple media platforms and 5) Sales aggression exhibited by the company. 

 

Management (and we agree) expect the growth momentum to continue in medium term as well with increasing disposable income, healthy GDP growth, strong automotive demand and private/public sector capex in the country. Maintain BUY with an unchanged target price of Rs 600 at 44x FY20E earnings.

2:28 PM

Market check

 

S&P BSE Sensex	34,360.38		-0.25%
Nifty 50	10,556.35		-0.25%
S&P BSE 200	4,611.25		-0.34%
Nifty 500	9,302.85		-0.32%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	16,588.27		-0.58%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	18,100.37		-0.30%

2:15 PM

Korea Summit: Modi woos foreign investors, says India most open economy

Pitching for foreign investments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India is one of the most open economies in the world and is ready to do business with the world.
 

Speaking at the India-Korea Business Summit, he said his government has worked towards creating a stable business environment and removed arbitrariness in decision-making. READ MORE

2:03 PM

Sensex top losers and gainers