As per provisional closing, the barometer S&P BSE Sensex gained 199.32 points or 0.63% at 31,642.70. The Nifty 50 index gained 51.55 points or 0.56% at 9,250.60.
The Nifty opened above 9,300, tracking positive leads from other Asian markets. The index pared gains in mid-morning session amid profit selling. It hovered in a range for most part of the session before selling pressure built up in afternoon. Heavy profit selling in the final hour of trade dragged the Nifty below 9300 mark.
The broader market witnessed a lacklustre trading session as the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.05% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.49%.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1031 shares rose and 1289 shares fell. A total of 190 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 22 stocks advanced while 28 stocks declined.
COVID-19 Update:
Total Covid-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 37,53,219 so far with 2,63,843 deaths. India reported 35,902 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,783 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India
Stocks in Spotlight:
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) jumped 3.77% after the company said private equity firm Vista Equity Partners will invest Rs 11,367 crore in Jio Platforms for a 2.32% stake. This investment values Jio Platforms at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore, RIL said in a statement on Friday. This is Jio Platforms' third deal after Facebook and Silver Lake's share acquisition plans over the last two weeks. Vista's investment will translate into a 2.32% equity stake in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis, making Vista the largest investor in Jio Platforms behind RIL and Facebook. Jio Platforms has now raised Rs 60,596.37 crore from leading technology investors in less than three weeks.
FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) jumped 4.81% to Rs 2088.35. A foreign brokerage maintained an 'outperform' rating on the stock with a target of Rs 2,400 per share. It added that GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)'s 5.7% stake sale removes the key overhang.
Global healthcare major GSK on Thursday (7 May) sold its 5.7% stake in HUL for nearly Rs 25,500 crore. The deal was done at an average price of Rs 1,905 per share. GSK, which was holding nearly 13.4 crore HUL shares through its subsidiaries GlaxoSmithKline Pte and Horlicks, sold the stake via multiple block deals on the NSE. On Thursday, HUL shares fell 0.86% to Rs 1,992.50.
Among the buyers, Paris-based financial services company SociGale S.A picked up 1.29 crore shares for an average price of Rs 1,902 per share on NSE. The names of other buyers in the block deal were not disclosed.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories gained 3.93% after the company said its manufacturing plant at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from US drug regulator. The site was issued warning letter in November 2015 after the inspection in 2014, and was under Official Action Indicated classification till now. With this, all facilities under warning letter are now determined as VAI, the company said.
Cadila Healthcare said it received final approval from US drug regulator for Deferasirox tablets for oral suspension. Deferasirox binds to iron and removes it from the bloodstream. It is used to treat iron overload caused by blood transfusions in adults and children who are at least 2 years old. Shares of Cadila Healthcare were down 0.17% at Rs 321.15.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Pharma index gained 2.19% to 9,348.30, reversing the losses incurred in the previous session. The index fell 0.86% to end at 9,148.10 on Thursday.
Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries (up 3.41%), Lupin (up 2.63%), Divi's Laboratories (up 2.04%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.79%) and Cipla (up 0.33%) were top gainers in pharmaceutical space.
Biocon gained 2.6% after it received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for the pre-approval and GMP inspection of its small molecules API manufacturing facility at Biocon Park SEZ, Bommansandra, Bengaluru.
Q4 Results:
Shree Cement (up 1.91%) and Swaraj Engines (down 1.92%) will announce their quarterly results today.
Earnings Impact:
Adani Gas rose 3.55% to Rs 107.85 after the company's standalone net profit surged 61% to Rs 122 crore despite a 1% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 490 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019.
Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care fell 1.5% after net profit rose 1.1% to Rs 91.10 crore on 6.2% decline in net sales to Rs 656.05 crore in Q3 March 2020 over Q3 March 2019. The company was forecasting high single digit sales growth for the quarter before the lockdown. But following the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, the business operations were severely disrupted across the country. The other income surged 72.24% to Rs 14.52 crore in Q3 March 2020 over Q3 March 2019. Total expenses declined 4.1% to Rs 545.70 crore during the period under review. Profit before tax stood at Rs 124.87 crore in Q3 March 2020, down by 10.2% from Rs 138.98 crore in Q3 March 2019. Total tax expenses fell 30.9% to Rs 33.77 crore in Q3 March 2020 from Rs 48.87 crore in Q3 March 2019.
RBL Bank slumped 7.6%. The bank's net profit declined 53.7% to Rs 114.36 crore on a 20.7% rise in total income to Rs 2708.77 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Net Interest Income (NII) grew 38% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1,021 crore during Q4 March 2020 from Rs 739 crore in Q4 March 2019. Net interest margin (NIM) grew to 4.93% in Q4 March 2020 from 4.23% reported in Q4 March 2019.
The bank's gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 2136.52 crore as on 31 March 2020 as against Rs 2010.48 crore as on 31 December 2019 and Rs 754.62 crore as on 31 March 2019. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 3.62% as on 31 March 2020 as against 3.33% as on 31 December 2019 and 1.38% as on 31 March 2019. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 2.05% as on 31 March 2020 as against 2.07% as on 31 December 2019 and 0.69% as on 31 March 2019. The bank's provisions and contingencies soared 207% to Rs 614.08 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. The bank in notes to accounts said that it has created a provision of Rs 107.95 crore in addition to the RBI prescribed norm on the back of SARS-CoV-2 virus. RBL Bank's provisioning coverage ratio stood at 64.04% as on 31 March 2020 as against 58.07% reported on 1 Dec 2019.
SKF India surged 5.19%. The company's board recommended a special dividend of Rs 130 per share at the meeting held on 7 May 2020. At current price, the stock offers a dividend yield of over 8% on special dividend of Rs 130 per share. SKF India's net profit fell 8.3% to Rs 75.34 crore on a 18.5% decline in net sales to Rs 610.21 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Other income of the company surged 59.3% to Rs 46.44 crore in Q4 FY20 from Rs 29.16 crore in Q4 FY19. It includes profit of Rs 34.9 crore earned from the sale of land for a consideration of Rs 35.46 crore.
Cyient was locked in a lower circuit of 10% after consolidated net profit slumped 58.26% to Rs 45.20 crore on a 2.92% decline in net sales to Rs 1,073.60 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q3 December 2019.
Global Markets:
European markets were trading higher as plans to reopen economies boosted investor sentiment. Asian markets closed with decent gains tracking overnight gains in US stocks. The Reserve Bank of Australia on Friday released its statement on monetary policy, where it highlighted that global GDP is expected to fall sharply in the first half of 2020.
In US, stock benchmarks closed in positive territory Thursday, finishing off their best levels, with a rally in shares of energy and financials powering the day's moves. A rally in the technology-related Nasdaq helped to drive the index retrace its coronavirus-induced selloff of the past two months.
Data on Thursday showed an unexpected surge in export activity in the world's second-largest economy in April, growing 3.5% from the previous year. That marked its first positive read since December just as the novel strain of coronavirus was identified in Wuhan, China. That said, imports were soft, falling 14.2% from the year-ago period.
Weekly jobless claims report showed that 3.2 million jobs were lost in April, bringing the total seeking jobless benefits in the U.S. over the past six weeks to 33 million, or approximately one out of every five eligible workers.
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