Key equity barometers reversed early gains and ended with small losses on Monday. The indices traded in a narrow range for most part of the session. Gains in metals and pharma offset losses in FMCG and auto stocks. Despite hitting an intraday high of 11,946.20, the Nifty 50 index closed below the 11,900 mark. Weakness in index pivotals Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and TCS weighed on bourses.
The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, fell 72.50 points or 0.18% to close at a 40,284.19. The Nifty 50 index fell 1.20 points or 0.01% to close at a 11,894.25.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.44% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.27%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1154 shares rose and 1404 shares fell. A total of 213 shares were unchanged.
Domestic Macro:
India's services exports rose 7.1% in September 2019. As per the data released by the Reserve Bank of India, India's services exports increased 7.1% to US$ 17.54 billion in September 2019 over September 2018. Meanwhile, India's services imports jumped 11.5% to US$ 11.10 billion in September 2019.
Crude & Currency:
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 71.8425, compared with its close of 71.7875 during the previous trading session.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for January 2020 settlement was rose 7 cents at $63.37 a barrel. The contract rose $1.05 or 1.68% to settle at $63.42 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Overseas:
Most European stocks were trading lower while most stocks in Asia ended higher Monday as investors look for further developments on US-China trade.
The US stock market finished session at fresh record highs on Friday on revived hopes for a US-China trade deal after White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow statement that the US and China were getting closer to reaching a resolution.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had a phone call Saturday morning with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer regarding a 'phase-one' trade deal, Chinese state media outlet Xinhua reported.
The two sides had "constructive discussions" about "each other's core concerns" and agreed to remain in close contact. The call came at the request of Mnuchin and Lighthizer, according to Xinhua.
Buzzing Sectors:
The Nifty Metal index rose 1.79% to 2,543.50, buoyed by the positive developments on the US-China trade front. The index tumbled 6.02% in five sessions to end at 2498.80 on Friday from a recent closing high of 2659.05 on 7 November 2019.
Hindalco Industries (up 2.98%), Steel Authority of India (up 2.61%), JSW Steel (up 2.04%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.22%), Hindustan Zinc (up 1.18%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.07%), Vedanta (up 0.91%), NMDC (up 0.7%) and Nalco (up 0.59%) advanced.
Tata Steel rose 4.01%. The steel maker's long-term rating has been reportedly affirmed by S&P at 'BB-'. The outlook has been revised to 'stable' from 'positive'.
The company, in an exchange filing post trading hours on Friday, informed about the completion of stake sale in NatSteel Vina Co (NSV). NatSteel Holdings (NSH), a step-down subsidiary of Tata Steel, signed an agreement with the Vietnam-based Thai Hung Trading joint stock company to divest its entire equity stake held in NSV (56.5%).
The S&P BSE Telecom index rose 3.42% at 997.61. Shares of telecom companies spurted after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured that the government does not want any telecom companies to shut down on account of Supreme Court's AGR verdict. FM also said that the government is looking for ways to support the debt laden telecom sector.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said, "I want no company to shut operations. I want all companies to flourish & serve their customers".
Vodafone Idea advanced 21.47% to Rs 4.47. Bharti Airtel rose 4.06% at Rs 409.15.
Bharti Infratel fell 0.44% at Rs 226.70. It hit an intraday high of Rs 233.60.
Reliance Communications (RCom) fell 3.39% to Rs 0.57, reversing from the day's high of Rs 0.61. RCom in a filing on Saturday said that Anil Ambani, Chhaya Virani, Ryna Karani, Manjari Kacker and Suresh Rangachar have tendered their resignation from the office of directors.
Further, Manikantan V also tendered his resignation as director and chief financial officer (CFO) of the company, which is pending for approval before the committee of creditors (COC).
The announcement came a day after RCom reported net loss of Rs 28,909.82 crore in Q2 September 2019, higher than net loss of Rs 285 crore in Q2 September 2018. Net sales tumbled 69.08% to Rs 302 crore in Q2 September 2019 over Q2 September 2018. The result was declared after market hours on Friday, 15 November 2019.
RCom set aside Rs 28,314 crore on account of provisioning after a recent Supreme Court verdict on calculation of annual adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of telecom companies.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Among index pivotals, HDFC Bank (down 1.28%), TCS (down 1.06%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.74%), declined.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals spurted 21.35% to Rs 365.50 after a foreign brokerage upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'sell'. The foreign brokerage house has also hiked price target to Rs 410 from Rs 350 backed by attractive valuation after Q2 2019 earnings and strong business in USA on QoQ basis.
Cadila Healthcare gained 3.09% to Rs 241.60. The company has received the tentative approval from the USFDA to market Apremilast Tablets (US RLD Otezla) 10 mg, 20 mg, and 30 mg. This medication is used to treat a certain type of arthritis (psoriatic arthritis) and a certain type of skin condition (moderate to severe plaque psoriasis). t is also used to treat mouth sores in people who have Behcet's disease, a type of inflammatory disorder and helps to reduce the pain and improve the healing of these mouth sores.
Unichem Laboratories advanced 4.30% to Rs 156.30. Unichem Laboratories announced that it has received ANDA approval for its Buspirone Hydrochloride Tablets USP, 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg, and 30 mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market a generic version of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), Buspar Tablets, 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg, and 30 mg.
Tata Motors rose 0.86% to Rs 170.05. The company said that the board approved committee has approved allotment of 5000 Rated, Listed, Unsecured, Redeemable, Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) E28-A Series of face value Rs 10 lakh each, at par, aggregating to Rs 500 crore in three tranches, on private placement basis.
HIL surged 6.62% to Rs 1256. HIL said the company has added additional capacities and commenced the production of its CpVC, UpVC and 'SWR (Soil, Waste & Rain) Pipes at its plant located at Thimmapur, Telangana.
Parag Milk Foods jumped 15.11% to Rs 145.90 after the promoter increased stake in the company. Parag Milk Foods in an exchange filing reported that Devendra Shah, promoter of the company has bought 2 lakh equity shares of the company on 15 November 2019. Following the acquisition, the promoter increased his stake in the company to 18.08% from 17.84%.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) advanced 3.09% to Rs 521.55 after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reportedly said that the government will conclude the sale of Air India and BPCL by March 2020.
Speaking to the media, the finance minister confirmed that the government is focused on divesting the two state-run companies by the end of the financial year. This will form a crucial chunk of the government's plan to raise Rs 1 lakh crore in the current fiscal as India continues to tackle a steep demand slowdown, the reports added.
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