F&O Expiry: Sensex falls 344 pts, Nifty at 10,125; Bharti Airtel slips 6%

Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank index fell 1 per cent led by fall in the share prices of YES Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India (SBI).

1:46 PM

BHEL second-quarter profit soars, but lags forecast

State-run power plant equipment manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd posted on Thursday a 60 percent surge in second-quarter profit, but missed analysts' estimates.

 

Net profit came in at 1.85 billion rupees ($25.25 million) in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with 1.15 billion rupees a year earlier, BHEL said. READ MORE

1:32 PM

Top losers in BSE500:

COMPANY	PRICE()	CHG()	CHG(%)	VOLUME
MULTI COMM. EXC.	712.00	-104.75	-12.83	415371
INFIBEAM AVENUES	33.30	-4.45	-11.79	1715061
LAK. VILAS BANK	83.70	-9.00	-9.71	146897
JUBILANT FOOD.	1104.50	-88.25	-7.40	194736
L&T FIN.HOLDINGS	117.25	-9.35	-7.39	2558374

1:13 PM

Zydus is acquiring entrenched brands with growth potential: Sharvil Patel

 

Zydus Wellness, personal care arm of Cadila Healthcare and owner of marquee brands Sugar Free, Everyuth and Nutralite, announced acquisition of the India business of Kraft Heinz. SHARVIL PATEL, chairman of Zydus Wellness, tells Sohini Das. Read full interview

Sharvil Patel, chairman of Zydus Wellness

1:00 PM

S&P BSE Sensex top losers and gainers

12:45 PM

Ever wondered how Mutual Fund houses make money?

 

Mutual funds are investment schemes which offer a bundle of securities to the investors while spreading the risk of investment at the same time. Investors have the advantage of picking one scheme of their choice and thereby avoid the Herculean task of analysing hundreds of stocks themselves before making a choice. At a nominal fee, mutual funds provide a great opportunity to investors who don’t have the knowledge of investing. Read more

12:30 PM

Devangshu Datta How to navigate markets as trend remains bearish, volatility spikes sharply

 

The market trend has become more bearish. Breadth continues to be poor with advancing stocks far outnumbered by declining stocks. Volumes have been high on sessions with net losses and in stocks that have dropped. Volatility has spiked sharply. The major indices are all trading well below their respective 200-day moving averages (200-DMA). Domestic institutional investors continued to be buyers. But FPIs (foreign portfolio investors) have sold heavily through October, dumping over Rs 210 billion of equity and over Rs 148 billion of debt. Bond market yields are elevated. Read more

12:15 PM

BSE500 index hits 52-week low; Infibeam, DHFL tank over 70% since September

 

The S&P BSE 500 index hit a fresh 52-week low of 13,381, down 1.5% on the BSE on Thursday after a sharp decline in financials, consumer discretionary goods & services, auto ancillaries and information technology (IT) sector stocks. The index has fallen below its previous low of 13,409 touched on Tuesday, in intra-day trade. It was trading at its lowest level since August 11, 2017. Read more

12:00 PM

Market at Noon

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	33,689.01	-344.95	-1.01
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	10,592.16	-111.70	-1.04
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	29,800.91	-356.33	-1.18
S&P BSE 100	10,351.35	-111.34	-1.06
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,297.50	-29.78	-0.90

11:44 AM

No such thing as a stock picker's market, says investor John Bogle

 

In the long run, it is corporate earnings and corporate dividends that drive stock prices, believes John Bogle, founder of Vanguard Group, an investment manager that manages over $5 trillion in assets worldwide. Sharing his investment philosophy at the Morningstar investment conference in Mumbai through a recorded video, Bogle said that age is just a rule of thumb and one should consider it only as a starting point for deciding one’s asset allocation. Read more

John Bogle, founder of Vanguard Group. Photo: Reuters

 

11:30 AM

IL&FS default has severely hit investor trust, says Sebi chairman Tyagi

 

The default by IL&FS has “severely” impacted the trust and confidence of investors, said Ajay Tyagi, Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). “Trust and consequently investors’ confidence has been severely impacted due to developments in the recent months, particularly as a result of default by a large entity,” he said, without naming the infrastructure financier. Click here to read more

11:15 AM

Motilal Oswal Bharti Airtel

CMP: Rs 317 

TARGET PRICE: Rs 420 

RATING: Buy

 

Airtel Africa has announced pre-IPO funding worth USD1.25b (INR92b); proceeds of which would primarily help lower its Africa biz debts and grow its operations. At post-money EV of USD8.2b (equity value of USD4.4b + net debt of USD3.75b), 28.4% equity dilution is implied and the Africa business is valued at 7.8x FY19E. We believe additional dilution of 20% stake (retaining majority ~57%) in the Africa business through an IPO for potential ~USD1.25b could reduce consolidated net debt/EBITDA to ~3x (prior: 3.9x). In our opinion, upbeat Africa business valuations should result in the valuations of the India business (ex-Africa and Infratel) appear lucrative - EV/EBITDA of 7x/6x FY19E/FY20E. We believe that once the hyper competitive market condition abates, India business should get re-rated. Maintain Buy.

11:04 AM

Motilal Oswal on Wipro

 

CMP: Rs 309 

TARGET PRICE: Rs 350  

RATING: Neutral

 

2QFY19 exhibited a marked improvement, as revenues that were languishing in the range of 2-3% YoY CC over the last four quarters inched up to 5.1%. That said, barring BFSI (+16% YoY CC) and Retail (7.7% YoY CC), no other vertical grew on a YoY basis. As a result, while the execution on margins and some growth reprieve will rub-off positively on aluations, it may structurally be still some time away before most of its engines start firing. We, nevertheless, were expecting margins to get past the 18% band from 3Q. Thus, our margin estimates are intact and revenue estimates for FY19/20 are up by 0.9%/1.3%. Our target price of Rs 350 discounts forward earnings by 15x (14% up side). Maintain Neutral.

11:00 AM

Lakshmi Vilas Bank falls 12% as Q2 net loss widens on rise of bad loans

 

Shares of Lakshmi Vilas Bank have slipped by 12% to Rs 82 per share on the BSE in early morning trade after the bank’s net loss widened sequentially to Rs 1.32 billion in September 2018 quarter (Q2FY19), on account of rising bad loans. The bank had its net loss widened from Rs 1.24 billion in June quarter. It posted a net profit of Rs 105 million in September 2017 quarter (Q1FY19). Read more

10:45 AM

L&T Finance Holdings hits 52-week low post September quarter results

 

Shares of L&T Finance Holdings (LTFH) have slumped as much as 13% to Rs 111 per share, also their 52-week low on the BSE in early morning trade, despite the company reporting a strong 66% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in its consolidated net profit of Rs 5.60 billion in September quarter (Q2FY19). Net interest income (interest income minus interest expense) grew 54% to Rs 11.26 billion over the previous year quarter. Read more
 

10:30 AM

Bajaj Auto's pursuit for volumes dents margins in Q2; sales up 25%

 

Despite being the fourth player (in terms of market share) in the two-wheeler segment, Bajaj Auto’s valuations were significantly higher than leader Hero MotoCorp, as it placed profitable growth ahead of volumes. However, with Bajaj Auto’s change in strategy, this may change. Announced in July, the company decided to increase focus on the low-end motorcycles market, and it implemented an across-the-board price cuts. Read more