Domestic equity benchmarks ended near the day's high on Thursday. FMCG and metal shares advanced while banks and financial shares corrected. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 222.13 points or 0.43% to 51,531.52. The Nifty 50 index gained 66.80 points or 0.44% to 15,173.30. Both the indices attained record closing levels.
Reliance Industries (up 4.07%), Bajaj Finance (up 1.60%) and Bharti Airtel (up 1.41%) were the major market movers.
The broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.45% and the BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.06%.
Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1682 shares rose and 1314 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 10,73,58,295 with 23,54,837 deaths. India reported 1,42,562 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 1,55,360 deaths while 1,05,73,372 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Economy:
Credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings said that India's budget, presented by the government on 1 February 2021, points to a loosening of fiscal policy to support the country's ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic and will consequently lead to a rise in public debt.
"The debt/GDP trajectory is core to our sovereign rating assessment, meaning higher deficits and a slower consolidation path will make India's medium-term growth outlook take on a more critical role in our analysis," Fitch Ratings said.
"We now expect public debt/GDP to rise above 90% of GDP over the next five years, based on the revised budget targets and with our other previous rating assumptions remaining unchanged. However, recent reforms and policy measures, including those announced in the budget, could also influence our growth expectations and, thus, our debt trajectory forecasts," it added.
Meanwhile, for the third and fourth quarters, SBI Research on Wednesday revised its contraction forecast for the current fiscal year to 7%. The agency had earlier forecast a 7.4% contraction in 2020-21 GDP numbers.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 5.964% as compared with 6.010% at close in the previous trading session.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 72.87, compared with its close of 72.84 during the previous trading session.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2021 settlement fell 38 cents at $61.09 a barrel. The contract rose 38 cents, or 0.62% to settle at $61.47 a barrel in the previous trading session.
Foreign Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Thursday. Markets in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan were closed for holidays.
In US, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged lower on Wednesday as big tech stocks slid amid an ongoing rotation of portfolio holdings that gave a boost to energy shares and kept the overall market near record highs. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both opened at record highs but soon drifted lower, while the Dow set a new peak during the session.
House Democrats unveiled the details of a relief proposal that included $1,400 direct checks with faster phase-outs than previous bills. President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met with CEOs of JPMorgan, Walmart and Gap Tuesday to discuss additional economic relief.
In economic developments, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that policy will need to stay "patiently accommodative." The Fed chair said the U.S. is "a long way" from where it needs to be in terms of employment despite the economy having reclaimed more than 12 million jobs since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Buzzing Indian Segment:
The Nifty FMCG index rose 0.81% to 34,463.75, amid value buying. The index had declined by 1.32% in the past three sessions.
P & G Hygiene (up 4.39%), Dabur India (up 2.14%), Tata Consumer (up 1.62%), Nestle India (up 1.31%), Britannia Industries (up 1.27%), Colgate-Palmolive India (up 1.26%), Hindustan Unilever (up 1.19%), Godrej Consumer (up 1.15%) and Marico (up 1.12%) advanced.
ITC fell 0.53% to Rs 226.45 ahead of its Q3 earnings today.
Earnings Impact:
Coal India fell 0.94% after the PSU miner posted a 21.4% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 3084.1 crore on 2.1% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 23,686.03 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.
While the company's coal production (raw coal) jumped 6.29% to 156.78 million tonnes (MT), Offtake (raw coal) rose 8.6% to 153.85 MT in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The company sold 154.19 MT of coal worth Rs 21,708.27 crore in Q3 December 2020. The average realization stood at Rs 1407.86 per tonne.
Happiest Minds Technologies jumped 4.38% after the company's consolidated net profit rose 23.7% to Rs 42.15 crore on 5.47% increase in revenue to Rs 192.84 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q2 September 2020. The company's consolidated net profit has grown by 97% and revenue has risen by 12.4% in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The IT company revenue in dollars grew by 6% quarter on quarter to $26.2 million in Q3 FY21 over Q2 FY21.
Titan Company fell 2.50%. The company posted a 10.85% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 419 crore on 17.64% rise in total income to Rs 7,324 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.
The Tata Group enterprise reported a onetime exceptional loss of Rs 137 crore on account of scaling down of its subsidiary Favre Leuba AG (FLAG). Consequently, the company has performed an impairment testing of its investment in FLAG and has made a provision of Rs 137 crore towards impairment in the quarter and disclosed under exceptional items.
While the company's jewellery business grew by 16% (excluding gold bullion sales) over the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the watches and wearables and eyewear divisions also did well with the recovery rate for the quarter being 88% and 93% respectively.
The recovery in the other segments of the company comprising Indian dress wear and accessories was still slow. CaratLane continues to do very well in both the online and offline channels and ended the quarter with a growth of 34% and a positive EBIT of Rs 21 crore. The Aerospace and Defence business of Titan Engineering and Automation (TEAL) was impacted severely due to the pandemic even though the Automation Solutions business performed well.
Bata India slipped 2.42% after the footwear maker posted a 77.7% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 26.42 crore on 25.9% drop in net sales to Rs 615.63 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Sales through digitally enabled platforms now make up 15% of the total sales, growing by 3 times in the last one year. In terms of portfolio-mix, the formals (incl. school business) & fashion categories continued to be subdued as expected due to prevailing market conditions, the casual, fitness & essentials categories bounced back leading to company's overall volume reaching 88% of pre-COVID levels.
Bata said it also continued to strengthen its brick and mortar presence in tier 3 & 4 cities by opening new franchise stores across the country, with 221 Franchise stores at the end Dec 2020.
Indraprastha Gas rose 2.22%. On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit jumped 28.4% to Rs 381.83 crore on 13.1% fall in net sales at Rs 1446.16 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. The city gas distributor's total volumes declined by 26% YoY to 1329 million scm in Q3 FY21, with CNG volumes of 918 million scm (down 31% YoY) and PNG volumes of 411 million scm (down 11% YoY). EBIDTA margin was at 29% as on 31 December 2020 as against 23% as on 31 December 2019.
NLC India fell 8.48% after the company's consolidated net profit fell 54.2% to Rs 183.10 crore on 19.2% decline in net sales at Rs 2,214.86 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) tumbled 60.5% to Rs 288.11 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 729.06 crore in Q3 December 2019.
The company said power generation during the quarter was 4,252.82 MUs as against 5,469.47 MUs in the corresponding period of the previous year. The reduction in power generation was mainly due to fire incidents in TPS-II and retirement of all units of TPS-I as on 30 September 2020, which was partly offset by operation of Unit-I of NNTPP unit (500 MW) and full period operation of solar 709 MW. Unit-2 of NNTPP (500 MW) started commercial operation from 10 February 2021.
J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals soared 10.86% after the company's consolidated net profit zoomed 132.2% to Rs 154.28 crore on a 27.9% rise in net sales to Rs 548.22 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) surged 136% to Rs 208.46 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. J.B Chemicals said PBT for Q3 FY21 includes non-recurring income of Rs 34 crore related to sale of product registration, marketing authorization along with trademark. Current tax expense was sharply higher at Rs 49.68 crore in Q3 FY21 as compared to Rs 20.11 crore in Q3 FY20.
Procter & Gamble Health advanced 1.20% after the company reported a 77.6% jump in net profit to Rs 67.88 crore on 1.5% rise in net sales to Rs 240.22 crore in Q2 December 2020 over Q2 December 2019. The FMCG company said its profitability was primarily driven by lower travel and selling expenses due to COVID-19 pandemic. Profit before tax jumped 70.1% to Rs 86.43 crore in Q2 December 2020 over Q2 December 2019. Current tax expense spiked 37% to Rs 19.03 crore in Q2 December 2020 over Q2 December 2019.
MRF dropped 7.14%. On a consolidated basis, the tyre maker's net profit zoomed 115.7% to Rs 520.54 crore on 13.8% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 4,641.60 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Profit before tax surged 86.4% to Rs 690.31 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Current tax expense jumped 62.48% to Rs 166.53 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The company declared a second interim dividend of Rs 3 per share. The record date is fixed on 19 February 2021.
Suprajit Engineering jumped 5.56% to Rs 257.35 after the company said its approved buyback of 15 lakh shares for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 48 crore. The company will buyback shares at price of Rs 320 each, which is at a 31% premium to Wednesday's closing price of Rs 243.80 per share. The record date for the buyback is set at 22 February 2021.
The company also announced its third quarter earnings after market hours yesterday. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 65.5% to Rs 51.63 crore on a 23% rise in net sales to Rs 507.27 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Operating EBITDA improved by 72.4% to Rs 86.36 crore in the December quarter from Rs 50.09 crore in the corresponding period last year.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
