F&O expiry: Sensex soars 997 pts on Covid-19 drug hopes; auto, IT stks gain

All that happened in the markets today

4:05 PM

MARKET COMMENT | Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

"Market ended positive for the fourth day in a row, on the back of positive signals from global markets. Successful trials of a Covid-19 vaccine helped the global markets gain some positivity. Domestically, indications of easing of lockdown measures and stimulus hopes helped drive the markets. Being F&O expiry day today, short covering and roll-overs in the market also contributed to the gains. Financials and IT contributed most to the gains in the benchmark indices alongwith Reliance, ahead of its results. Next week outlook will be driven by the way forward for resumption of business after lockdown, announcement of any stimulus package and stock specific earnings results."

4:02 PM

Sectoral gainers and losers on the NSE

4:02 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Top gainers and losers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:50 PM

RIL announces salary cuts; Mukesh Ambani to forgo entire compensation

Reliance Industries Ltd has announced that it will reduce the salaries of some of its employees in the hydrocarbon division by 10 per cent in view of the "adverse impact" of the coronavirus pandemic on fuel demand. The company’s board of directors would forgo 30 per cent to 50 per cent of their salary, and Chairman Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, his entire compensation, according to a letter signed by Reliance Industries Executive Director Hital R Meswani. READ MORE 

3:38 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 997 points or over 3 per cent to 33,717.62 while NSE's Nifty50 ended at 9860, up 306.5 points or 3.21 per cent.

3:29 PM

BUZZING STOCK | HCL Tech soars over 11%

3:19 PM

MARKET CHECK | Top 5 losers on the BSE at this hour

3:18 PM

Majority of the sectoral indices in the green; Nifty Metal index gains 8%

3:10 PM

MARKET ALERT :: ONGC, HCL Technologies locked in 10% upper circuit

>> However, the stocks are trading in future & option (F&O) segment which has no circuit limits.

3:01 PM

Top gainers on BSE today

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	CHG(%)
TATA MOTORS	91.45	17.02
UPL	411.70	14.28
MAH. SEAMLESS	221.45	12.64
TATA MOTORS-DVR	39.20	12.32
APL APOLLO	1413.00	11.76

2:58 PM

Entire sector may turn NPA, will need ventilator support: Retail body CEO

"If the banking sector and the government does not come and help now, the retail sector will become an NPA, then they will have to handle a very different problem, which would be a much larger problem. NPAs could be as much as Rs 75,000 crore from retail," he said. READ MORE

2:50 PM

UPL shares gain 11% on biz update, expectation of net debt reduction

The agrochemicals company said its net debt stood at approx. $2.9 billion as of March 31, 2020 as compared to $4.2 billion as on December 31, 2019. Net debt stood at $3.8 billion as of March 31, 2019, it said.

 

The same represents a reduction in net debt of approx. $900 million and $1.3 billion as compared to Q4FY19 and Q3FY20, respectively. The company has cash/cash equivalent of approximately $875 million (approx Rs 6,500 crore) as of March 31, 2020. READ MORE

2:34 PM

India's jewellery demand dips 41% to 11-year low in March quarter: WGC

As regards India, although the wedding season lifted demand early in the March 2020 quarter, a sharp rise in local gold prices from mid-February led to a slowdown in demand as consumers held back on purchases. However, the overall demand slumped once the country went into a lockdown mode on the rampant spread of coronavirus. Jewellery demand in March, according to WGC estimates, slumped between 60 - 80 per cent. READ MORE 

2:25 PM

Hindustan Unilever trades lower for third straight day ahead of Q4 results

Shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) were trading lower for the third straight day, down 3.2 per cent to Rs 2,160 on the BSE on Thursday ahead of the announcement of its financial results for the quarter and year ended March 2020 (Q4FY20) later in the day. In the past three trading days, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm's stock has slipped 7 per cent, as compared to 6 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. READ MORE

2:15 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW:: Axis Securities on HDFC Bank

As macro concerns loom large on Covid-19 headwind, we expect loan growth at ~14/18% in FY21/FY22E with retail book slowdown, slower fee income growth, higher provisioning but partly offset by cost rationalization (C-I improvement of 160bps). Prov/Avg. Advances will go up to 1.5% in FY21 but normalize to 1.2% in FY22E. We expect HDFCB to report lower ROAA/ROAE at 1.8%/16% in FY21, but normalize to 1.9%/17% by FY22E. Given its superior business model, bank’s resilience across cycles will play out positively. We initiate with BUY with target price of Rs 1,233 derived using the SOTP method (core bank at 3xFY22 ABV + Subsidiaries value Rs 50/-).