MARKETS ON MONDAY: TCS market-cap hits $100 bn; Nifty ends below 10,600

Nifty closed at 10,585 levels. TCS market-cap hits $100 billion in intraday deals; but stock ends flat as investors book profit

Markets pared their day's gains to end largely flat on Monday amid weakness in their global peers as investors braced for a bevy of earnings from the world’s largest corporations, while keeping a wary eye on US bond yields as they approached peaks that had triggered ructions in the past.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 34,451, up 35 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,585, up 21 points.

Among individual stocks, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)  became India's first $100 billion information technology (IT) company in terms of market capitalisation (market-cap), after the stock of the IT bellwether hit a new high during the day. The stock had hit a new high of Rs 3,557.90 on NSE, up 4.57% in the intra-day trade, extending its Friday’s 6.7% surge, as the company reported better-than-expected March quarter earnings in post market hours on Thursday. However, the stock pared the day's gains to end at Rs 3,395.90, down 0.19% from the previous close.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.1%, with South Korea off 0.2%. Japan's Nikkei dithered either side of flat as tech stocks continued to struggle with a warning on waning demand for mobile phones.

On the geopolitical front, US President Donald Trump said on Sunday the North Korean nuclear crisis was a long way from being resolved, striking a cautious note a day after the North pledged to end its nuclear tests. 

Back, home, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Urjit Patel said the country’s growth is expected to accelerate next fiscal. Although the real GDP growth was moderated to 6.6% from 7.1% a year ago.

Meanwhile, a top Indian official has told the World Bank that India is poised to remain the fastest-growing large economy in the world and its GDP is expected to reach $5 trillion by 2025 as the economic reforms adopted in the last few years have started to bear fruit.

Investors also reacted to HDFC Bank's earnings for the March 2018 quarter, announced on Saturday, April 21,2018. HDFC Bank’s net profit rose 20.3% to about Rs 48 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, compared with Rs 40 billion in the year-ago period

(With inputs from Reuters)

3:37 PM

Nifty IT index up 0.7%; Top gainers from the pack

COMPANY	LATEST	PREV CLOSE	GAIN()	GAIN(%)	VOLUME
TATA ELXSI	1204.75	1142.75	62.00	5.43	3784333
HCL TECHNOLOGIES	1085.00	1062.35	22.65	2.13	4490123
MINDTREE	999.70	979.85	19.85	2.03	8921125
KPIT TECH.	246.60	243.10	3.50	1.44	3994887
INFOSYS	1189.30	1178.45	10.85	0.92	10738186

3:35 PM

Sectoral Trend

3:33 PM

Top Sensex gainers and losers

3:32 PM

Markets at Close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 34,450, up 35 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,584, up 20 points

3:15 PM

80 stocks gain over 25% in Sensex's 2,000 points rally in past one month

Shares of 80 companies have rallied more than 25% after the S&P BSE Sensex recovered more than 2,000 points in past one month. The S&P BSE Sensex hit an intra-day high of 34,664, rebounding 2,068 points or 6% from its recent low of 32,596 recorded on March 23, 2018. The Nifty 50 index too rose 6% to 10,638 from 9,998 levels one month ago. READ MORE

3:00 PM

Salasar Techno gains 8% on repeat order of Rs 350 million from Reliance Jio

 

Shares of Salasar Techno Engineering have moved 8% higher to Rs 385 per share, also their new high on the BSE, after the company said it has received new orders of Rs 490 million from leading telecom players in India and Nepal.

 

The company received an order of Rs 350 million from Reliance Jio to supply 300 telecom towers, Salasar Techno Engineering said in a press release.

 

The company also received export order of 100 telecom towers worth Rs 140 million to Nepal, it added. READ MORE

2:46 PM

Volume Toppers

COMPANY	PRICE()	CHG()	CHG(%)	VALUE( CR)
TCS	3443.70	37.30	1.09	143.04
LAURUS LABS	504.20	-4.45	-0.87	89.97
MINDA CORP	202.50	27.30	15.58	75.07
AJANTA PHARMA	1383.00	16.60	1.21	55.26
INFOSYS	1188.00	9.75	0.83	54.06

2:33 PM

India tops emerging markets in foreign portfolio investor flows in 2018

The Indian markets have managed to attract the highest foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows among the emerging markets (EMs) this year. According to data, overseas funds have net purchased equities to the tune of $1.5 billion in the Indian markets so far in 2018. In comparison, most other EM peers have seen overseas investors pulling out money. READ MORE

2:17 PM

Sebi proposed as regulator for spot commodity exchanges for gold, metals

Spot commodity exchanges for gold, metals and even energy products like natural gas could see the light of day under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as the regulator.

 

This has been recommended by a committee on the subject. It was appointed by the finance ministry under NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand. The panel also suggests the “existing institutional infrastructure of commodity exchanges may also be utilised, to the extent possible, to create a spot exchange for commodities”. Regulation for spot commodity exchanges has been a contentious issue for some years. Especially after the National Spot Exchange fiasco, where a Rs 56-billion fraud was revealed in 2013. READ MORE

Photo: Reuters

2:00 PM

Market Check

 

S&P BSE Sensex	34,615.69		0.58%
Nifty 50	10,632.25		0.65%
S&P BSE 200	4,674.07		0.60%
Nifty 500	9,405.30		0.62%
S&P BSE Mid-Cap	16,877.13		0.47%
S&P BSE Small-Cap	18,325.64		0.81%

1:47 PM

Investors focus on long-dated options as 2019 election draw near

 

Prashasta Seth, chief executive officer at IIFL Asset Management, said he was hoping to raise around Rs 20 billion to Rs 30 billion in his new fund offer. However, not all of that money would be allocated to capturing market gains. The IIFL Capital Enhancer Fund will invest four to five per cent of its assets in put options, with an option of increasing this to up to 8 per cent.

 

"We will be investing in put options with an expiry of June 2019. There are many investors who would like to take exposure to equity. They are afraid of the uncertainty over the next year. This will allow them to do so while limiting their risk" he said. READ MORE

1:30 PM

Danone's loss is Parag's gain: Are dairy MNCs facing challenges in India?

Last week, French food-products major Danone put its India dairy chapter to rest with the sale of its Haryana unit to local player Parag Milk Foods. Danone's exit, the second after New Zealand-based Fonterra Dairy in 2009, points to the challenges that global firms face in the world's largest milk-producing nation READ MORE

1:17 PM

TOP CONTRIBUTIORS TO SENSEX'S GAIN TODAY

COMPANY	LATEST	CHG(RS)	CHG(%)	CONTRIBUTION (POINTS)
TCS	3502.95	96.55	2.83	119.75
RELIANCE INDS.	935.70	7.65	0.82	33.18
H D F C	1839.80	8.15	0.44	31.32
INFOSYS	1183.00	4.75	0.40	23.12
SUN PHARMA.INDS.	514.15	8.75	1.73	23.08

1:15 PM

12 new IPOs to come up in June-quarter, analysts remain positive

After raising Rs 843.57 bn through IPOs in FY18, 12 new companies are planning to garner Rs 170 bn in the next two months including names like HDFC Asset Management READ THE FULL STORY HERE

1:14 PM

Bond investors dumbfounded after RBI's surprising tilt towards rate hike

A surprising hawkish tilt by India’s central bank in its April minutes has left money managers dumbfounded, prompting them to seek a higher risk premium for holding the nation’s bonds. The benchmark 10-year yield jumped as much as 17 basis points Friday, and ended last week 29 basis points higher, as minutes of the Reserve Bank of India’s April 4-5 meeting boosted speculation policy makers are moving toward raising interest rates. READ MORE