MARKET WRAP: Sensex surges 718 pts, reclaims 34,000-mark; PSU banks rally

Nifty PSU Bank index post sharpest single-day gain in past one year, surging 8 per cent led by Oriental Bank of Commerce and Canara Bank.

11:30 AM

HSBC beats estimates, Q3 net rises 28% to $5.9 bn on Asia biz, lower costs

 

HSBC Holdings Plc reported on Monday a better-than-expected 28 per cent rise in quarterly profit before tax, bolstered mainly by the lender's Asia business and better control over costs. The bank's reported pretax profit was $5.9 billion in the September quarter, up from $4.6 billion in the same period a year earlier, HSBC said. Read more

11:15 AM

Outlook for Bharti Airtel remains challenging as ARPU continues to decline

 

After a lacklustre September quarter, which saw a further decline in average revenue per user or ARPU of telecom operators, the outlook for Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and Vodafone Idea remains challenging and the worries could aggravate in the near term. Though both Reliance Jio (Jio) and Bharti Airtel saw their ARPU fall 2-4 per cent in the September quarter, concerns are only mounting for the latter. Read more

 

11:00 AM

BS Special Investors can either get overwhelmed and panic or hunt for opportunities

 

Stock markets are great levellers. This is best understood with the situation we are in currently. We had a heady rally, barring a few sharp corrections over 50 months, starting with the change of pre-election sentiment in 2014. It was touted to be a mother of all bull runs as India stepped into a decade of wealth creation led by a strong leader who had the vision to transform the country after decimating the opposition. Any voices of caution were muffled as it seemed “it was different this time”. Read more

10:55 AM

Axis Bank surges over 6% on plans to sell NSDL shares, block deal

10:53 AM

ICICI Securities on DB Corp

We fail to understand the print players’ strategy of circulation expansion in a period of newsprint price inflation and also their inability or unwillingness to pass on the costs as higher cover price. We revise our PAT estimates downward by 11.5% and 9.5% for FY19 and FY20 to factor-in the impact of high newsprint prices. Our revised target price for the stock stands at Rs211 based on 11x FY20 earnings. Upgrade to BUY post the recent sharp correction.

10:52 AM

ICICI Securities on Wipro

Better pricing and balance sheet discipline should eventually also help both margins and cash conversion. With client specific issues behind, we see potential for growth to inch closer to peer averages in FY20 though growth should remain somewhat lower given an expectation of only gradual improvement in the communications, healthcare and manufacturing verticals. We also see scope for margin defensibility around the 17-18% levels given headroom on both productivity and subsidiary cost rationalisation. Maintain ADD with a target price of Rs340.

10:51 AM

PHARMA STOCKS SURGE

COMPANY	LATEST()	CHG()	CHG(%)	VOLUME
GRANULES INDIA	97.80	5.75	6.25	328732
CADILA HEALTH.	343.65	6.20	1.84	197065
DIVI'S LAB.	1423.75	169.85	13.55	130735
SUN PHARMA.INDS.	572.25	18.60	3.36	116588
WOCKHARDT	466.60	20.50	4.60	80112

10:50 AM

TOP GAINERS TODAY

COMPANY	PRICE()	CHG()	CHG(%)	VOLUME
DIVI'S LAB.	1412.00	158.10	12.61	109465
RAYMOND	756.00	66.40	9.63	110384
ICICI BANK	340.80	25.75	8.17	2040236
INTELLECT DESIGN	245.40	17.40	7.63	70616
VINATI ORGANICS	1398.00	84.20	6.41	4887

10:47 AM

Prabhudas Lilladher on ITC

We expect FMCG business led by processed foods to show steady increase in profitability given that some of the businesses like Biscuits and Atta have achieved economies of scale and personal care is stabilizing, however Lifestyle retailing would remain a drag. Paperboard margins are expected to improve given benign input costs and revamp of the 1.5 lakh TPA value added paperboard machine.

We expect higher ARR, occupancy rates and growth in F&B sales to improve profitability in Hotels. However, Agri business led by leaf tobacco would take time to recover, despite some relief from INR depreciation. ITC trades at 22.5xSept EPS, 35-40% discount to our coverage universe, which limits downside in the stock. Retain “Buy” with SOTP based target price of Rs364 (Rs364 earlier). Steep increase in cigarette taxes are a key risk to our call.

10:46 AM

Prabhudas Lilladher on ICICI Bank

We believe, recoveries/upgrades to slowly improve asset quality with quality coverage ratio, while should face limited risk on large slippage. Other metrics like CASA mix, fee growth and controlled opex remain positive but quality of loan book on granularity is yet to take place. Bank trades at 1.4- 1.5x core book which is discount to large peer and is undemanding as management overhang is out, hence we upgrade to BUY (from Accumulate) with revised target price of Rs365 (Rs328) based on Sep-20 ABV & SOTP.

10:46 AM

Union Bank of India trading over 5% higher ahead of Q2 earnings

10:42 AM

Corporate earnings: Why FY19 may be 11th straight year of missed estimates

 

In yet another disappointment for investors, the current fiscal year may end up with lower than estimated earnings for the Indian corporate sector. According to the data, 2018-19 (FY19) is likely to be the 11th consecutive year of the S&P BSE Sensex earnings falling short of the consensus estimates. The last time the actual Sensex earnings came ahead of estimates was in 2007-08. Read More

10:30 AM

Dr Reddy's gains 6% post September quarter results

 

Shares of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories have gained 6.5% to Rs 2,559 on the BSE in intra-day trade so far after the company reported a good operational performance in September quarter (Q2FY19), on account of lower R&D, higher other income, financial income, and lower tax. Read more

10:17 AM

ICICI Bank surges 8% on better-than-expected Q2 results

Shares of ICICI Bank climbed 8 per cent to Rs 341apiece on BSE in the morning deals on Monday after the lender reported a better-than-expected results for the September quarter of FY19. READ MORE

9:59 AM

Market check

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	33,511.63	+162.32	+0.49
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	10,552.40	+59.24	+0.56
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	29,968.70	+222.98	+0.75
S&P BSE 100	10,326.86	+60.74	+0.59
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,286.91	+22.43	+0.69