Nifty settles August F&O series above 9,900; Wipro top gainer

All that happened in Thursday's trade

9:50 AM

Drop in bank deposit rates to make mutual funds attractive

 

The reduction in interest rates on savings deposits is an opportunity for mutual funds (MFs) to popularise their low-risk debt offerings, says rating agency Icra.

 

A month ago, State Bank of India (SBI) announced a 50 basis points (bps) reduction in the interest rate on savings deposits, of less than Rs 1 crore million to 3.5%. Following SBI's lead, many other public and private sector banks have reduced the interest rates on saving deposits.

 

"This is expected to create an opportunity for liquid mutual funds to tap into retail savings, by providing an avenue for parking surplus liquidity while earning a premium over savings rate," said Icra in a release. READ MORE

9:41 AM

RIL gains

Reliance Industries gained 1% after the company said it will make an offer for issuing nonconvertible debentures (NCDs) worth Rs 2,500 crore next week. The net proceeds of the issue will be utilised inter-alia for refinancing of existing borrowings and for any other purpose in the ordinary course of business, the company said. 

9:30 AM

NTPC slips

 

NTPC fell 1.6% making it the  top loser on BSE Sensex after the investor demand for the offer for sale (OFS) fell short as the govt raising only Rs 9,100 cr. The centre had put on block a total of Rs 13,800 crore worth of shares.

 

9:29 AM

NTPC (NTPC IN): 31% positions have been rolled on the D-1 which is on the lower side. The near month OI of around 42 million shares is 7-day average daily volume in cash market. Roll levels during the day were ~ 59bps (profit to short roller adjusted to dividend). On the back of OFS, fresh arbitrage positions have been set up. As we expect these positions to get unwound resulting in selling action in the volume weighted average price (VWAP).

 

(Source: Edelweiss Research)

9:27 AM

F&O watch:

 

With a session left in August series, market-wide rollovers moved to 53% compared to average rollovers of 57% (last three series). Market wide futures open interest (OI) is around Rs 1.36-lakh crore as compared to Rs 1.4-lakh crore on the D-1 of July expiry. Average roll levels across stock futures were ~48-50bps (cost to long rollers) in most of the names. Nifty has rolled 37% as compared to average rollovers of 58% (last three series). Although roll levels have been under pressure, we believe most of the short aggression is nearing an end.

 

(Source: Edelweiss Research)

9:26 AM

Sectoral trend

Source: NSE

9:25 AM

Realty index was the top sectoral gainers led by gains in Delta Corp, Godrej Properties, Oberoi Realty and Unitech

Source: NSE

9:22 AM

Top gainers and losers on BSE Sensex

Source: BSE

9:19 AM

Broader Markets

In broader markets, while BSE Midcap index was in line with the benchmark indices, down 0.06%, the BSE Smallcap index underperformed. It was trading 0.3% lower.

9:18 AM

Markets at open

Benchmark indices open flat as investors stay on egde ahead of the expiry of August series F&O contracts.

At 9:17 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 31,630, down 15 points while the broader Nifty50 index was ruling at 9,875, down 9 points.

9:05 AM

Stocks to watch

NTPC, ONGC, RIL, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, DHFL, Fortis Health, Biocon and Ajanta Pharma are few of the stocks to watch out for in today's trade

9:03 AM

Today's picks

 

Ambuja Cements

 

Current price: Rs 280 

Target price: Rs 285

Keep a stop at Rs 277 and go long. Add to the position between Rs 282 and Rs 283. Book profits at Rs 285.

 

Hindalco

 

Current price: Rs 236

Target price: Rs 240

Keep a stop at Rs 234 and go long. Add to the position between Rs 238 and Rs 239. Book profits at Rs 240. 

Click here for more

8:58 AM

Harvey floods US refineries, roils global fuel markets

 

Tropical Storm Harvey further damaged the heart of the US energy industry on Wednesday, churning into Louisiana after flooding the biggest US refinery in Texas, forcing major pipelines to halt operations and threatening a supply squeeze for weeks.

 

Benchmark US gasoline prices and margins surged to two-year highs as Colonial Pipeline, the biggest US fuel system, said it would shut its main lines to the Northeast by Thursday, hit by outages at pumping points and lack of supplies from refiners.

8:56 AM

CLSA's top India bets

 

As the capex-cycle recovery sets in, earnings growth can improve materially for corporate banks ICICI and SBI), giant E&C player L&T and cement (Ambuja). The expected housing boom should augur well for housing-finance companies, buildingmaterials names (cement firms and Astral) and property developers (Godrej Properties). We also like IndusInd, Jubilant Foodworks and metals players (Vedanta and JSW Steel).

8:56 AM

Govt mops up Rs 9,100 cr through NTPC share sale

 

The government has raised Rs 9,100 crore through a share sale in power utility NTPC. The investor demand for the offer for sale (OFS) fell short as the centre had put on block a total of Rs 13,800 crore worth of shares.

 

The OFS saw a total of 548 million bids against 824 million shares on offer, which includes the green-shoe portion. The retail portion of the share sale saw only 73 per cent subscription on Wednesday. Shares of NTPC closed at Rs 168, also the floor price for the OFS. Retail investors were offered an additional five per cent discount. READ MORE

NTPC Photo: Wikipedia