Barometers off day's high; cement stocks in demand

Barometers came off the day's high as profit booking emerged at higher level. The Nifty slipped below 9900. The undertone of the market was still buoyant following the government's decision to start a phased reopening of the economy. Strong global cues and better than expected GDP numbers also supported buying.

At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex soared 974.87 points or 3.01% at 33,398.66. The Nifty 50 index rallied 272.05 points or 2.84% at 9,852.35.

The broader market soared. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 2.17% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 2.94%.

Buyers outpaced the sellers. On the BSE, shares 1,806 rose and 565 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 42 stocks advanced while 8 stocks declined.

 

Buzzing Segment:

Cement stocks were in demand in anticipation of pickup in construction activity across the country. Infrastructure activities were suspended for two months amid COVID-19 outbreak.

Sagar Cement (up 5.74%), Prism Johnson (up 4.95%), Andhra Cement (up 4.79%), Dalmia Bharat (up 2.09%), JK Lakshmi Cement (up 1.97%), The Ramco Cements (up 1.92%), ACC (up 1.42%), India Cements (up 1.35%), Shree Cement (up 1.11%) and Deccan Cements (up 0.99%) were top gainers in cement segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) surged 7.03% to Rs 467.10 after the company's Farm Equipment Sector (FES) reported over five times rise in May tractor sales, as it sold 24,341 units during the month as compared to 4,772 units sold in April. While FES' domestic sales rose 2% to 24,017 units, exports contracted by 72% to 324 units in May 2020 over the corresponding period last year.

Escorts' Agri Machinery Segment (EAM) sold a total of 6,594 tractors in May 2020, a decline of 3.4% as against 6,827 tractors sold in May 2019. The company's domestic tractor sales in May 2020 stood at 6,454 tractors, registering a minor decline of 0.5% as against 6,488 units in May 2019. Exports in May 2020 stood at 140 tractors as against 339 tractors sold in May 2019, down 58.7% YoY. Shares of Escorts were up 6.76% at Rs 967.65 on BSE, rising for fourth consecutive trading session

Biocon soared 5% after the company's partner Mylan received favourable ruling from the United States Patent and Trademark Appeal Board (US PTAB) on Sanofi's four device patents for Lantus SoloSTAR. The PTAB found three claims of the 9,604,008 patent unpatentable, and two claims to be patentable. However, Mylan and Biocon have previously obtained a covenant not to sue from Sanofi on the '008 patent and therefore this ruling does not impact Biocon and Mylan's ability to commercialize Semglee (Insulin Glargine) upon final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Adani Power surged 7.69% after the company said its board will meet on 3 June 2020 to consider a proposal to delist equity shares from the domestic stock exchanges. On 29 May 2020, the company received a proposal from Adani Properties (APPL), a member of the promoter and promoter group of the company, for voluntary delisting the equity shares of the company from BSE and NSE. The promoter group collectively held 74.97% stake while the public shareholders held 25.03% stake in the company as on 29 May 2020.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.042% compared with previous closing of 6.013% in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee edged higher to 75.54 compared with its previous closing of 75.62.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for August 2020 settlement was down 28 cents to $37.56 a barrel. The contract surged 5.02% to settle at $37.84 a barrel in the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 June 2020 settlement rose 0.43% to Rs 46,855.

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