Sensex plunges 3,935 pts in biggest 1-day fall; investors lose Rs 13.88 trn

All that happened in markets today

12:26 PM

Stock market rout: Is now the time to bottom fish large-cap stocks?

“The Indian markets are reacting to what’s happening globally, and while some stocks look compelling after the correction, it is still early to predict if equities have ebbed or there could be more fall,” cautions Sunil Singhania, founder, Abakkus Asset Management. For him, it’s critical to see some more clarity on where the market is headed to before he can go all out on stocks. READ MORE

12:19 PM

MARKET ALERT :: Indices extend fall

12:14 PM

NEWS ALERT | YES Bank new board to convene on March 26: CNBC TV18

>> SBI-led investors looking to conclude investment in the bank by March 31

>> New board to take up fund-raising in the first meeting

(As reported by CNBC TV18 quoting unnamed sources)

12:13 PM

COMMENT ON RUPEE | Anindya Banerjee, DVP, Currency Derivatives & Interest Rate Derivatives at Kotak Securities

Pandemic is causing widespread lockdowns, causing the economy to grind to halt. In such a situation, emerging market currencies are vulnerable due to their dependence on dollar debt. A scramble for dollars would continue as long as the panic lasts. RBI would continue to sell dollars aggresively but that may not stop the fall in Rupee. Over the next couple of weeks, there is growing risk of USD/INR inching towards 78.00 levels on spot. Technically, USD/INR needs to respect 74.50 levels, previous all time high, to keep the bullish bias alive.

12:12 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: Nifty falls over 1,000 points

12:11 PM

MARKET VOICE | Even the last Bull will think twice before buying in this market

I don't know what kind of measures will help bring some sanity in the market because at these levels even the last bull would possibly think twice before deploying money. If someone was buying even three days ago, the present market is an opportunity to accumulate. That said, the key question is who would have the courage to buy in this type of market condition? READ MORE  

Ambareesh Baliga, independent market expert (Photo: Kamlesh Pednekar)

12:07 PM

STOCK ALERT :: HDFC Bank trades near 3-year low

12:06 PM

NEWS ALERT | YES Bank's new board to convene on March 26 as per govt notification: CNBC TV18

- New board to take up fund raising as top priority in first meeting

12:06 PM

Moody's Investor Service on aviation sector

After revising the industry sector outlook to negative in early March, we reassessed ratings and initiated reviews for downgrades for most of the airline companies

that we rate. In a number of cases, we also downgraded ratings — generally by one notch — for companies where pre-crisis credit metrics were already weak and it was clear that coming incremental disruption would leave them materially weaker.

We believe capacity will be cut by 40% to 60% or more for the second quarter of 2020, and in some instances, more than 75% compared with the second quarter of 2019. On a full-year basis, we expect global industry capacity to fall 25% to 35%, assuming the spread of the virus slows by the end of June and, subsequently, passenger demand returns.

12:04 PM

Sebi order: Big institutions can hedge, but not speculate

Margins have also been hiked in the cash segment for both F&O and non F&O stocks, while institutions will have to restrict their F&O positions in the index derivatives segment to stay within a new criteria of cash and cash-equivalents on the long side and value of stock holdings on the short side. In practice, this means a cap of Rs 500 crore has also been imposed on index derivative contracts.  READ MORE

12:03 PM

Emkay Global on IT sector

 The sharp correction in Indian IT Services stocks recently, along with the broader markets, appears similar to the 2008 GFC. Tier I techs had fallen to 5-10x forward P/E and 0.6-2.2x EV/Sales multiple then, suggesting more downsides if that were to repeat.
 

 We moderate FY21 growth estimate by 200-440bps YoY for our coverage universe by building in a weak H1FY21 and normalization from H2FY21 onward (although if a GFC-like situation were to repeat, these assumptions may turn out to be optimistic). We are making EPS cuts of 1.2-12.1% for FY21E for our IT Services coverage. 

 

 We also change target prices based on new valuation multiples to reflect the potential risks to financials. Upgrade Wipro to Hold from Sell earlier, primarily due to inexpensive valuations.

11:58 AM

Where is the rupee headed?

Pandemic is causing widespread lockdowns, causing the economy to grind to halt. In such a situation, emerging market currencies are vulnerable due to their dependence on dollar debt. A scramble for dollars would continue as long as the panic lasts. RBI would continue to sell dollars aggresively but that may not stop the bleed in Rupee. Over the next couple of weeks, there is growing risk of USDINR inching towards 78.00 levels on spot. Technically, USDINR needs to respect 74.50 levels, previous all time high, to keep the bullish bias alive

-- Anindya Banerjee, DVP, Currency Derivatives & Interest Rate Derivatives at Kotak Securities

11:57 AM

Edelweiss on AT-1 bonds

The YES Bank fiasco would have systemic ramifications considering its AT-1 bonds were completely marked down even as equity value remained. i) It would restrain access to capital given AT-1 forms a reasonable part of systemic capital base (>8%); this would add to current capital crunch. ii) Cost of capital would jump—AT-1 bonds were earlier mispriced (issued at 9–10%) despite their unsecured, quasi-equity nature and subordination to depositors, creditors and other bond holders. iii) Misselling to retail investor/HNIs (as substitute for deposits/NCDs) should fall.

India has seen progressive use of AT-1, largely concentrated among a few banks—more than 80% among leading private/PSU banks, particularly ICICI, HDFC Bank, Axis and SBI.

Now, AT-1 bonds’ attractiveness as an alternative to equity-raising takes a hit; besides, incremental investor interest would dwindle and yields would rise (factoring in appropriate risk). AT-1 bonds are largely held by large institutions/debt mutual funds (holding more than 45% AT-1 bonds), which would be impacted adversely. Evenas bondholders challenge the write-off in courts, it would make capital scarcer and expensive

11:54 AM

Market brokers knock Sebi's door over confusion on office opening

Equity and commodity futures market brokers have approached markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) over opening of their offices. While exchanges are open on Monday, brokers in the major tier-2 cities and trading hubs like Indore are stuck as police don't allow them to open their own offices due to country-wide lockdown amid coronavirus (Covid-19) scare. READ MORE

11:45 AM

Anmi asks Sebi to classify brokers as essential services amid virus scare

The mutual fund (MF) industry has sought certain exemptions from Sebi pertaining to compliance requirements for order executions following government’s work-from-home directive, meeting sectoral exposure norms in debt schemes amid liquidity crunch, and consider increasing borrowing limits as redemptions could spike amid Coronavirus scare. READ MORE