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Benchmarks end with modest losses; auto stocks tumble

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Capital Market
Last Updated : Nov 18 2021 | 5:31 PM IST

The domestic equity benchmarks ended with modest losses on Thursday, mirroring the weakness in global peers. The Nifty closed above the 17,750 mark. Selling was wide spread with autos, metals and IT stocks declining the most.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 372.32 points or 0.62% to 59,636.01. The Nifty 50 index lost 133.85 points or 0.75% to 17,764.80.

The broader market saw steep selling. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.68% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.52%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1045 shares rose and 2282 shares fell. A total of 135 shares were unchanged.

Traders booked profits ahead of the long weekend. The market will remain shut on Friday (19 November 2021) on account of Guru Nanak Jayanti.

Primary Market:

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The initial public offer (IPO) of Go Fashion (India) received bids for over 4.43 crore shares as against 80.79 lakh shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:27 IST on Thursday (18 November 2021). The issue was subscribed 5.48 times.

The issue opened for bidding on 17 November 2021 and it will close on 22 November 2021. The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 655-690.

New Listings:

Shares of Sapphire Foods India closed at Rs 1229 on the BSE, a premium of 4.15% as compared to the issue price of Rs 1180. The scrip was listed at Rs 1311, a premium of 11.1% to the issue price. So far, the scrip has hit a high of 1,383.60 and a low of 1,160 in the trading session. Over 5.31 lakh shares of the company changed hands in the counter on the BSE.

The initial public offer (IPO) of Sapphire Foods India received bids for 6,39,45,000 shares as against 96,63,468 shares on offer. The issue was subscribed 6.62 times.

Shares of One 97 Communications (Paytm) ended at Rs 1564 on the BSE, locked in 20% lower circuit. The scrip's closing price represents a discount of 27.26% compared with the IPO price of Rs 2150. The scrip was listed at Rs 1955, a discount of 9.07% to the issue price. So far, the scrip has hit a high of 1961.05 in the trading session. Over 10.06 lakh shares of the company changed hands in the counter on the BSE.

The IPO of Paytm was subscribed 1.89 times. The issue opened for bidding on 8 November and it closed on 10 November. The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 2080 to Rs 2150 per share.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index fell 2.61% to 11,747.45. The index had advanced 3.20% in the past two sessions.

Ashok Leyland (down 4.73%), Tata Motors (down 3.86%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 3.50%) Bharat Forge (down 2.99%) and Eicher Motors (down 2.85%) edged lower.

Further, Hero MotoCorp (down 2.35%), TVS Motor Company (down 2.14%), Maruti Suzuki (down 2.11%) and Bajaj Auto (down 1.01%) declined.

According to data shared by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) on Thursday, the automobile industry has faced the worst festive season this year, in the last decade, and segments like passenger vehicles (PVs) and two-wheelers (2W) have degrown by double digits on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis.

The 42 day festive season saw PV retail sales declining (26% y-o-y) to 3,24,542 units this year as compared to 4,39,564 units in the same period last year.

Similarly, the two-wheeler sales also declined by more than 18% y-o-y to 15,79,642 units during the festive period this year as against 19,38,066 units in the festive season 2020.

"Semi-conductor shortage which was already a full-blown crisis showed its true colours when in spite of an above healthy demand, we could not cater to customer's need as SUV, compact-SUV and luxury categories witnessed a huge shortage of vehicles. On the other hand, entry-level cars saw subdued demand as customers in this category continued to conserve money due to their family's healthcare needs, Vinkesh Gulati, President, FADA said.

The 2W category continues to face the brunt of low sales with entry-level category being the biggest spoilsport. The rural distress in retails coupled with frequent price hikes, triple digit fuel prices and customers conserving funds for healthcare emergencies kept the demand low. In fact, walk-in's and customer inquiries were also ultra-lean during the said period, he said.

However, the commercial vehicle (CV) and three-wheeler (3W) segments have witnessed a growth during the festive season against the last year's festive period.

Sharing the near-term outlook, Gulati said that even though the festive period is now over, there is still a huge backlog of order in the PV segment. If PV manufacturers are able to realign supply with demand, we can still see a good year end retail. It also urges to roll out attractive schemes for customers so that demand especially in the entry level category can be revived, he added.

Escorts jumped 10.24% to Rs 1797 after the company said that Kubota Corporation will increase its stake in the company. "As part of this Kubota Corporation shall increase its equity stake in Escorts by subscribing to new equity shares proposed to be issued by Escorts and shall become a joint promoter along with existing promoter of Escorts," the company said in a statement.

To reflect the spirit of joint partnership, upon completion of this transaction, the name of the company shall be changed to 'Escorts Kubota', subject to regulatory approvals.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Vedanta slumped 8.26% to Rs 310.45. The board of Vedanta has decided that the company should undertake a comprehensive review of the corporate structure and evaluate a full range of options and alternatives (including demerger(s), spin-off(s), strategic partnerships etc.) for unlocking value and simplification of corporate structure. The company intends to separate its aluminium, steel, and oil and gas businesses, and publicly list them.

Rajesh Exports fell 2.81% to Rs 722.35. The company bagged an order worth Rs 782 crore of designer range of jewellery from Germany, expected to be completed by March 2022.

Cadila Healthcare fell 2.22% to Rs 461.95. The company received final nod from US FDA and 180-day exclusivity for Nelarabine injection used to treat certain types of Leukemia and Lymphoma.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) declined 3.13% to Rs 62. The company said that a cooperation agreement was signed between the company and Zorya Mashproekt, Ukraine at New Delhi. The cooperation agreement aims to cooperate for establishing the local manufacture of the marine GTs and RGs for requirement of the Indian Navy. In addition to above, the cooperation agreement also aims to cooperate for supporting Indian Navy in Maintenance & repair of marine GTs and RGs of ZM make in their fleet.

Seacoast Shipping Services hit an upper circuit of 10% to Rs 179.35. The company has informed that the meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 24 November 2021, to consider and approve the sub division of face value of equity shares of the company.

K P I Global Infrastructure added 1.26% to Rs 209.70. The company has bagged an order for executing solar power project of 1.80 MWdc capacity from Shabnam Petrofils, Surat under 'Captive Power Producer (CPP)' segment of the Company.

Global Markets:

Most shares in Europe advanced while most Asian shares declined on Thursday.

The US stock market finished lower on Wednesday as investors opted to lock in gains on concerns about an earlier than expected rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve amid high inflation.

The Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing an unexpected decrease in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of October, although the report also showed a bigger than expected spike in building permits.

The report showed housing starts slid by 0.7% to an annual rate of 1.520 million in October after tumbling by 2.7% to a revised rate of 1.530 million in September.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits spiked by 4% to an annual rate of 1.650 million in October after plummeting by 7.8% to a revised rate of 1.586 million in September.

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First Published: Nov 18 2021 | 3:36 PM IST

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