MARKET WRAP: Indices end flat, auto, metal stocks slip; SpiceJet jumps 16%

All that happened in markets today

After a seven-day rally, the domestic equity market ended on a flat note on Wednesday amid selling in auto, metals and energy counters. Moreover, investors looked for further cues before taking bets.

The S&P BSE Sensex added 23 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 38,387 while NSE's Nifty50 index closed at 11,521, down 11 points or 0.10 per cent. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended 54 points or 0.36 per cent lower at 15,166, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 14,824 levels, down 49 points or 0.33 per cent. 

BUZZING STOCKS

Shares of Vodafone Idea ended 4 per cent higher at Rs 33.40. The stock bounced back 13 per cent from its intra-day low on the BSE on back of heavy volumes. Shares of the telecom services provider slipped 7 per cent to Rs 29.65 on the BSE in intra-day trade after the company announced its board has approved rights issue of Rs 25,000 crore at price of Rs 12.50 per share.

Infosys ended over 2 per cent higher at Rs 738.50 apiece on BSE after the commencement of buyback offer.

SpiceJet rallied over 16 per cent to Rs 91.65 apiece on BSE. 

Markets will be closed on Thursday (March 21) on account of Holi. 

SECTOR WATCH

Media stocks bled the most followed by auto stocks. The Nifty Auto index slipped 1.42 per cent to 8,445 level with 15 constituents declining and 1 advancing. On the other hand, Nifty Realty index hit a six-month high during the session. The index settled 2.43 per cent higher at 265.30.
 

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares slipped from six-month highs on Wednesday as investors took profits ahead of a policy decision by the US Federal Reserve which is expected to shed more light on its interest rate plans for the rest of the year.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.4 per cent, led by losses in Australia and South Korea. Japan’s Nikkei was little changed while mainland Chinese shares fell 0.5 per cent.

(with Reuters input)

3:42 PM

Sectoral gainers and losers on NSE

3:42 PM

Top gainers and losers on S&P BSE Sensex

3:40 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE

The S&P BSE Sensex added 23 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 38,387 while NSE's Nifty50 index closed at 11,521, down 11 points or 0.10 per cent. 

3:07 PM

Embassy Office Parks REIT IPO gets fully subscribed on Day 3

The initial public offer (IPO) of Embassy Office Parks REIT got fully subscribed on Wednesday. The Rs 4,750 crore issue, which was opened for subscription on Monday, was subscribed 1.2 times till 2 pm on Wednesday, NSE data showed. Total bids received for the offer stood at 8,49,76,000 against total issue size of 7,12,56,400 units. READ MORE

2:57 PM

NEWS ALERT | Nirav Modi arrested in London, to be produced in court today: TV reports

2:54 PM

Market check

2:41 PM

ALERT :: Market holiday

Equity market will remain closed tomorrow, Thursday, March 21 on account of Holi

2:32 PM

Sebi directs FHL, FHsL to recover Rs 403 cr from Singh brothers, 7 others

Sebi Tuesday directed Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL) and Fortis Hospitals Ltd (FHsL) to continue efforts to recover more than Rs 403 crore from Shivinder Mohan Singh and Malvinder Mohan Singh as well as seven other entities. READ MORE

2:23 PM

NEWS ALERT | Nifty Bank hits fresh record high

2:15 PM

COMMENT :: R. Arora, chairman, Supertech on GST rate revision

The GST Council’s decision brings much clarity on the new tax provisions for housing units that come under the 12% or 8% tax rate with input tax credit or new rate of 5% or 1% without input tax credit is a welcome step. The clarity and transparency that comes with the new rules allow for a much smoother transaction, especially for people looking to buy their first house.

For some time now, the real estate sector has been reeling from the lack of liquidity and clarity in the transactions that go into buying a house. The new rules will also go a long way in helping the government achieve its housing for all targets. However, the government has to work on allowing easier credit for the real estate developers as many projects are stalled just before getting completed and need just a bridge loan to be finished.  We look forward to further dialogue with the government as the real estate sector is one of the most important in the country and needs immediate help

2:13 PM

Zee Entertainment dips over 4.5%

2:13 PM

Jefferies on Mindtree

L&T will acquire 20.32% stake in Mindtree for Rs33 bn and try to acquire an incremental 46% stake through market and an open offer at maximum Rs980/sh. For the deal size of Rs107 bn, L&T has Rs239 bn in cash and equivalents as of end-9MFY18. L&T’s net D:E could rise marginally from 1.3x to 1.5x and possibly see 1-2% EPS dilution in FY20E. We believe near-term sentiment overhang is a buying opportunity as fundamentals provide support in the next 6-12 months

2:10 PM

Motilal Oswal Securities on Mindtree

The turn of events may be understandably unsettling for some employees/clients, where the risks of attrition cannot be ignored. The development may also consume a substantial bandwidth of the founders, key personnel in the business. MTCL’s stock is up 12% since its 3QFY19 results, and our target price of Rs 1,000 now implies only 6% upside. As a consequence of the aforementioned factors, we are downgrading our rating to Neutral.

2:09 PM

Centrum on Mindtree

Mindtree promoters are deeply involved in the company in various senior roles (CEO, Board). They have been instrumental in scaling up Mindtree over the years and building relationships with key top accounts. A hostile bid, if it succeeds, could disenchant the promoters and also lead to loss in some businesses.

At Rs980/sh, Mindtree is being valued at 15.3x FY21E EPS. Mindtree is a scale player in midsized IT with multi-vertical expertise. Barring Fy17 and FY18, the company has delivered respectable double-digit organic USD revenue growth in FY14, FY15 and FY16. Even for Fy19E, Mindtree’s USD revenues are set to grow 18% organically. Hence, the price paid by L&T is reasonable and not high

2:08 PM

PREVIEW :: FOMC meeting

The Fed’s new set of projections is likely to reflect the more dovish statements since December. The FOMC has taken a pause, but several participants are still thinking of hiking later in the year. On balance, we may still see one hike for 2019 in the dot plot. For 2020, the chance of no more hikes in the dot plot is considerably larger.
 

The March meeting may give us more details about the balance sheet normalization that is likely to come to a halt in the second half of 2019. We still expect the US economy to slide into recession in the summer of 2020 and the Fed to remain on hold for the remainder of 2019, before cutting rates in 2020.

(Source: Rabobank International)