Indices snap 10-day winning streak; Sensex tanks 264 pts; ITC, RIL drop 3%

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended the day in the green, up 0.4 per cent at 18,749 level.

9:25 AM

MARKET VIEW | V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services

Banks, which underperformed the Nifty in 2020, are staging a comeback. Data regarding deposit growth and loan growth for Q3 for HDFC Bank is very positive. This trend is likely to be repeated for other top private sector banks too. The high volume of delivery based buying in these stocks is an important indicator. While macroeconomic news continues to be positive, the rising crude is a dampener. Higher crude means higher cost-push inflation, which, in turn, might  force the RBI to depart from the accommodative policy stance.

9:23 AM

BPCL adds 1% in early deals

9:23 AM

ONGC jumps 4% as oil prices climb

9:22 AM

Bajaj Finance gains around a per cent

9:21 AM

HDFC Bank up 0.4% post Q3 biz update

>>  HDFC Bank witnessed a loan growth of 19 per cent to Rs 10,82,000 crore during the third quarter ended December 2020. The bank had an outstanding loan of Rs 9,36,000 crore as of December 31, 2019, and a growth of around 4 per cent.

9:21 AM

HDFC Bank up 0.4% post Q3 biz update

>>  HDFC Bank witnessed a loan growth of 19 per cent to Rs 10,82,000 crore during the third quarter ended December 2020. The bank had an outstanding loan of Rs 9,36,000 crore as of December 31, 2019, and a growth of around 4 per cent.

9:20 AM

Sectoral trends on NSE :: IT stocks slip on profit booking

9:18 AM

Sensex Heatmap at Open

9:18 AM

Opening Bell

9:17 AM

Opening Bell :: Sensex hits record high of 48,616.6

9:10 AM

Commodity Heatmap :: Silver slips around 1%

9:08 AM

Top gainers and losers on S&P BSE Sensex at Pre-open

9:06 AM

Markets at Pre-open

9:05 AM

Markets at Pre-open

9:00 AM

BROKERAGE VIEW :: MOFSL on Cement sector

>> Our channel checks indicate the seasonal uptick in demand is playing out as expected, with volumes bouncing back in the last few weeks from the weakness seen in November (due to festive holidays). While prices weakened in December (falling 3% MoM), we expect recovery in the next few weeks as peak season demand sets in. Cost inflation from higher fossil fuel prices (petcoke, coal, and diesel) should be offset, in our view, by price hikes, keeping margins in 4QFY21 at elevated levels.

>> We remain constructive on the sector and expect our Coverage Universe EBITDA to grow 37% YoY in 2HFY21 – as demand and margins remain above consensus estimates.

>> While we are structurally positive on the industry outlook, we prefer North and Central as these markets have a higher clinker utilization of over 80%.

>> We adopt a bottom-up stock-picking approach and prefer companies that: a) are moving down the cost curve, b) have the potential to gain market share, and c)

provide valuation comfort.

>> UltraTech is our top large-cap pick, while Dalmia Bharat is the top mid-cap pick. We also like ACC as a value pick, but do not see much upside in Shree, Ramco, and Ambuja, whose potential market share gains are already priced in.