MARKET WRAP: Sensex sheds 378 pts, Nifty ends below 10,700; JSPL tanks 7%

The S&P BSE Sensex lost 378 points or 1.05 per cent to settle at 35,514 with HCL Tech (up 0.50 per cent) being the top gainer and ONGC (down 3.59 per cent) the worst laggard.

12:56 PM

Jewellery exporters welcome govt move to exempt gold import from IGST

Jewellery exporters have welcomed the government's decision to exempt 3 per cent of integrated goods and services tax (IGST) on gold sourced from nominated agencies, effective January 1. READ MORE

12:47 PM

L&T Construction bags orders worth Rs 1,060 crore in domestic market

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Thursday said its construction arm has won orders worth Rs 1,060 crore in the domestic market.

 

"The smart world and communication business has secured a major order from the Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Limited (APSFL) for Bharatnet Phase-II works to establish an IP/MPLS Infrastructure covering the 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh," the engineering and construction major said in a BSE filing. READ MORE

12:37 PM

Pledged-share firms lagged in December quarter, IL&FS arm shed 39% in value

Certain companies with high pledging saw up to a third of their value wiped out in the three months ending December.

 

Pledging is a process by which shareholders can raise capital by offering their stake in a listed company as collateral. Details of such pledges are required to be periodically disclosed. READ MORE

12:23 PM

Web Exclusive What does the merger say for BoB, Dena and Vijaya Bank on technical chart?

The Union Cabinet gave its nod to the proposed merger of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank with Bank of Baroda on Wednesday.

 

The opening trades indicate negative sentiment for Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank as both the stocks had gap down opening. Currently, Dena Bank is down 18 per cent, while Vijaya Bank is trading 7 per cent lower. On the other hand, shares of Bank of Baroda rose 2 per cent. READ HERE

12:11 PM

Staying away from mid, small-caps not an option: DHFL AMC CEO Ajit Menon

The fall in global liquidity with the end of restriction on money supply needs to be watched closely, says Ajit Menon, chief executive officer of DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund. In an interview with Ashley Coutinho, he says valuation of indices are at the current levels due to extreme overvaluation in certain pockets but not all segments are at historical highs. Click here to read full interview

Ajit Menon, chief executive officer of DHFL Pramerica Mutual Fund

 

 

12:03 PM

Market check

S&P BSE SENSEX	35,723.16	-168.36	-0.47
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	11,234.93	-55.20	-0.49
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	32,530.62	-113.64	-0.35
S&P BSE 100	11,026.99	-52.02	-0.47
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,433.11	-30.30	-0.87

11:53 AM

Telecom stocks slip as data shows poor growth in mobile phone customer base

Indian telecom stocks such as Vodafone Idea Ltd lost ground on Thursday after the industry regulator released monthly data that showed a bleak rise in the country's mobile phone customer base. The country's mobile phone customer base rose 0.06 per cent, or a net 0.72 million, to 1.17 billion in October, data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) showed on Wednesday. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd added 10.5 million subscribers to its network, making it the third biggest in the country. Read more

 

11:37 AM

Top losers on BSE500

COMPANY	PRICE()	CHG()	CHG(%)	VOLUME
DENA BANK	14.65	-3.30	-18.38	1795776
VIJAYA BANK	47.80	-3.25	-6.37	232436
SHEELA FOAM	1420.00	-58.45	-3.95	185
JET AIRWAYS	253.60	-10.15	-3.85	583008
UCO BANK	21.35	-0.75	-3.39	66188

11:20 AM

Jet Airways skids 11% in two days after ICRA downgrades airline's rating

Shares of Jet Airways (India) slipped 5% to Rs 251 on Thursday, falling 11% in the past two trading days on BSE, after the rating agency ICRA on Wednesday downgraded the airline’s Rs 10,963 crore loan and debenture ratings.

“ICRA has revised the long-term rating (assigned to long-term loans and non-convertible debentures) to D from C. The short- term rating has been revised to D from A4,” Jet Airways said in a statement. Read more

11:03 AM

Top gainers and losers on S&P BSE Sensex

10:48 AM

SMS Lifesciences hits record high; stock zooms 39% in two days

Shares of SMS Lifesciences India hit a new high of Rs 683 per share, gaining 16% on the BSE on Thursday in an otherwise range-bound market. The stock has surged 39% in past two trading days. The trading volumes on the counter have more than doubled with a combined 268,024 equity shares changed hands on the BSE and NSE till 10:08 am. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up marginally by 0.17% at 35,952 points. Read more

 

10:38 AM

Edelweiss on Metals and Mining

 

CY18 has been eventful for the sector with macroeconomic concerns– trade wars, China slowdown and strengthening dollar index – bringing the six-quarter momentum to a grinding halt. It is a story of contrasting halves with prices and spreads soaring in H1 and nosediving in H2. As a result, all stocks – barring a few such as JSW Steel and BHP – yielded negative returns. Furthermore, over the last 12 months, valuations have eroded. Going ahead, we see CY19 fraught with uncertainties due to continuing trade brawls, China’s domestic policies and slowing global growth. We maintain preference for Tata Steel (BUY/SO) due to its impending restructuring and (increasingly) domestically focused operating model, and Hindalco (BUY/SO) due to its earnings being relatively immune to LME prices.

10:32 AM

Nirmal Bang on IT sector

 

Nifty IT index underperformed Nifty by a massive 820bps in the December 2018 quarter after five successive quarters of outperformance (see Exhibit 10). The underperformance, in our view, was driven by: 

(1) Concerns over revenue growth because of macro-related negative news flow from the US, Europe and China. 

(2) The realisation that industry has not met consensus’ modestly elevated growth expectations in FY19, despite having the best demand environment since 2008-09. 

(3) Indian rupee or INR appreciation from around Rs74/$ level towards the latter part of the quarter driven by a massive decline in the price of crude oil. 

(4) What seemed like subdued commentary from both Accenture and Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) on their growth outlook. 

(5) Concerns over demand from global BFSI sector because of a flattening yield curve. 

(6) Potential softening of demand from manufacturing sector (second-largest sector to which Indian IT companies are exposed) because of tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese goods. 

(7) Technically, possible rotation of money towards the Indian financial stocks as the ILFS-related scare receded and 10-year Indian G-sec yield plummeted. We had turned cautious again on the sector on 27 December 2018 after having been ‘tactically positive’ since March 2018

 

10:26 AM

Vodafone Idea is trading over 2% lower as TRAI's subscriber data showed loss of 73.6 lakh users in October

10:15 AM

Top gainers on BSE500

COMPANY	PRICE()	CHG()	CHG(%)	VOLUME
KNR CONSTRUCT.	227.75	14.50	6.80	25162
PRISM JOHNSON	91.35	3.30	3.75	14773
UJJIVAN FIN.SER.	284.10	9.50	3.46	127688
HATSUN AGROPROD.	647.00	20.40	3.26	340
INFO EDG.(INDIA)	1478.15	43.15	3.01	1610