Barometers come off day's high; pharma stocks in red

Key equity indices pared early gains and traded almost flat in morning trade. Pharma stocks witnessed profit selling. At 10:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 64.84 points or 0.2% at 31,807.92. The Nifty 50 index was up 14.55 points or 0.16% at 9,296.85.

The broader market was almost flat. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.07% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.32%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 899 shares rose and 806 shares fell. A total of 127 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, the breadth was positive with 28 stocks advancing while 22 stocks declining.

 

Relaxation by SEBI:

The market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday reduced broker turnover fee by 50% of the existing structure from June 2020 till March 2021. Sebi also reduced filing fees on offer documents for IPOs, rights offers and buy-backs by 50% of the existing rates for June to December 2020. Meanwhile, the new margin framework for derivatives segment, that were announced in February and were scheduled to be introduced from 1 May, have been postponed until 1 June.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Pharma index declined 1.6% to 9,448.15, snapping its three-day winning streak. The index gained 2.4% in the past three trading sessions.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 3.48%), Lupin (down 3.17%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 2.29%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 2.26%), Piramal Enterprises (down 2%), Divi's Laboratories (down 1.59%), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.89%), Cipla (down 0.69%), Cadila Healthcare (down 0.67%) and Biocon (down 0.36%) were top losers in pharmaceutical space.

Q4 Results Today:

Axis Bank (up 3.43%) and Atul (up 1.99%) will announce their quarterly result today, 28 April 2020.

Earnings Impact:

HDFC Life Insurance declined 1.9%. The company's consolidated net profit dropped 14.54% to Rs 311.65 crore in Q4 March 2020 as compared to Rs 364.68 crore in Q4 March 2019. Consolidated net premium income rose 2.19% to Rs 10,475.95 crore in Q4 March 2020 from Rs 10,251.26 crore in Q4 March 2019.

Ambuja Cements jumped 3.08% after consolidated net profit rose 11.9% to Rs 554.25 crore on 8.5% decline in net sales to Rs 6,249.66 crore in Q1 March 2020 over Q1 March 2019. The cement manufacturer's consolidated EBITDA for Q1 March 2020 stood at Rs 1,191 crore, rising 19.5% from Rs 997 crore posted in Q1 March 2019. EBITDA margin improved to 19.4% in Q1 March 2020, gaining by 454 basis points.

IndusInd Bank jumped 8.1%. The bank's net profit fell 16.17% to Rs 301.84 crore on 21.29% rise in total income to Rs 9158.57 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. The bank's provisions and contingencies jumped 56.36% to Rs 2440.32 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 5146.74 crore as on 31 March 2020 as against Rs 4578.43 crore as on 31 December 2019 and Rs 3947.41 crore as on 31 March 2019. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 2.45% as on 31 March 2020 as against 2.18% as on 31 December 2019 and 2.10% as on 31 March 2019. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 0.91% as on 31 March 2020 as against 1.05% as on 31 December 2019 and 1.21% as on 31 March 2019.

The private lender's net profit rose 33.83% to Rs 4417.91 crore on 28.04% rise in total income to Rs 35734.14 crore in the year ended March 2020 (FY20) over the year ended March 2019 (FY19).

Stocks in Spotlight:

UPL rose 4.29% after it confirmed the completion of acquisition of Yoloo (Laoting) Bio-technology Co., that was announced on 14 November 2019, post all customary and regulatory approvals and the transaction is closed.

Just Dial jumped 7.67% after the company said its board will consider share buyback on 30 April 2020.

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