Key equity benchmarks reversed early gains and hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 160.20 points or 0.42% at 37,822.54. The Nifty 50 index was down 64.80 points or 0.57% at 11,266.25. The Sensex once again slipped below the psychological 38,000 level.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.25%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.71%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 629 shares rose and 1159 shares fell. A total of 89 shares were unchanged.
Asian Paints (down 0.62%) and Bharti Infratel (up 0.90%) will announce their Q1 June 2019 results today.
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) was up 0.49% to Rs 1701.55 after the company's net profit rose 11.47% to Rs 1,750.24 crore on 6.71% increase in net sales to Rs 9,984 crore in Q1 June 2019 over Q1 June 2018.
HUL said that domestic consumer growth was 7% with underlying volume growth at 5%. It reported an EBITDA improvement of 250 bps with a reported EBITDA growth of 18%. Margin expansion was driven by improved mix, leverage in operating and advertising spends and the firm's savings agenda. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at Rs 2647 crore, was up by 18% (13% on comparable basis after adjusting for accounting impact of IndAS 116).
HUL's consolidate net profit rose 11.27% to Rs 1,787.23 crore on 6.04% increase in net sales to Rs 10197 crore in Q1 June 2019 over Q1 June 2018. The result came after trading hours yesterday, 23 July 2019.
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Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was down 1.24% to Rs 1392.50 after the company announced its Q1 result after trading hours yesterday, 23 July 2019. L&T said that consolidated profit after tax (PAT) from continuing operations rose 20.5% to Rs 1361 crore on 10% growth in gross revenue to Rs 29636 crore in Q1 June 2019 over Q1 June 2018. The overall PAT, including the PAT from discontinued operations grew by 21.2% to Rs 1473 crore in Q1 June 2019 over Q1 June 2018.
L&T won new orders worth Rs 38700 crore at the group level in Q1 June 2019, registering a growth of 11%. Consolidated order book of the group stood at Rs 294014 crore as at 30 June 2019, with international order book constituting 21% of the total order book.
L&T said that order wins in infrastructure and power segments were the major contributors to the order inflow during the quarter. While orders from the central and state governments were affected during the general elections, strong PSU and private sector orders enabled growth for the quarter.
In its outlook, L&T said that the company looks forward to a period of increased investment momentum and continued growth. Initiatives towards improved productivity, cost efficiencies derived from leveraging digital technology, capacity utilization and capability enhancement are expected to help the company maximize its shareholder returns (RoE) on a sustainable basis.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was down 1.15% to Rs 1258.20.
Another index heavyweight TCS was down 1.50% to Rs 2080.10.
Housing finance major HDFC was up 1.48% at Rs 2169.30.
Power Grid Corporation of India (up 0.48%), State Bank of India (up 0.42%), HDFC Bank (up 0.18%) and Yes Bank (up 0.06%) edged higher.
Auto shares tumbled. Eicher Motors (down 4.36%), Ashok Leyland (down 3.2%), Escorts (down 2.45%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.68%), Tata Motors (down 1.66%), TVS Motor Company (down 1.62%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.55%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.38%) and Bajaj Auto (down 0.75%), edged lower.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in its World Economic Outlook report that the global economy is expected to expand by 3.2% in 2019, down 0.1 percentage points from its April forecast and 0.3 percentage points below the estimate at the start of the year. The IMF cited concerns about the ongoing U.S.-China trade war and noted that global technology supply chains were threatened by the prospect of U.S. sanctions, Brexit-related uncertainty continued, and rising geopolitical tensions roiled energy prices.
Meanwhile, the IMF also projected a slower growth rate for India in 2019 and 2020, a downward revision of 0.3% for both the years, saying its GDP will now grow respectively at the rate of 7 and 7.2% reflecting a weaker-than expected outlook for domestic demand.
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