Closing Bell: Market reverses 4 days of gains to end lower, Nifty below 12,800; financials slip

Indian indices ended over 1 percent lower on Thursday after 4 sessions of gains, following losses in global peers, as widening COVID-19 restrictions weighed on market sentiment. The domestic indices were mainly dragged by financials but IT and metal sectors also contributed to the fall.

The Sensex ended 580 points lower at 43,600 while the Nifty fell 166 points to settle at 12,772. Broader markets were also lower with the Nifty Midcap down 0.7 percent while the Nifty Smallcap index fell 0.23 percent.

Among sectors, Nifty Bank declined 3 percent while Nifty Fin Services shed 2.4 percent. IT, Metal and Pharma indices also ended in the red for the day, down 0.5-1 percent. However, Nifty FMCG rose 0.4 percent.

On the Nifty50 index, Powergrid, ITC, NTPC, Coal India and Tata Steel were the top gainers while SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and JSW Steel led the losses.

Nov 19, 2020 3:41 PM

India’s GDP growth will return to pre-COVID levels by Q1FY22, says Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley’s Chetan Ahya expects India’s Gross domestic product (GDP) growth to return to pre-COVID levels by Q1of FY22.

“That’s the time when the central bank should begin to think about taking back some of the extraordinary support that they are providing to the economy,” he said.

According to him, India’s GDP may contract by 5.7 percent in 2020 and rebound to 9.8 percent in 2021.

On global inflation, he said, “We are highlighting that there will be an inflation upside in developed markets, especially in the US, but in 2021 it will still be moderate inflationary pressures, not aggressive enough that the policymakers begin to tighten aggressively and slow down the growth.”

According to Ahya, RBI may look to unwind some monetary stimulus.

“There is no need for additional accommodation in monetary policy. The pullback should be done by RBI now,” he added.

Ahya expects emerging markets to see a good run for the next two years.

Nov 19, 2020 3:32 PM

Yash Gupta Equity Research Associate, Angel Broking: Dr. Reddy's stock opened negative on news of detailed investigation in Ukraine and other countries but then recovers. Company has informed that it has commenced a detailed investigation into an anonymous complaint. The complaint alleges that healthcare professionals in Ukraine and potentially in other countries were provided with improper benefits in violation of US laws.

The investigation is being carried out by a reputed independent US law firm. Stock is not reacting to the investigation but if any negative development from this investigation may hurt the stock in the short term.

Nov 19, 2020 3:20 PM

Amazon acting like East India Company argues Harish Salve for Future Group

Kishore Biyani-led Future Group has filed a suit before the Delhi High Court and has argued that Amazon is absent from the shareholder's agreement and has no control over Future Retail Ltd (FRL).…

Nov 19, 2020 3:07 PM

Buzzing | Vodafone Idea stock price jumps 4% after reports of funding offer

The stock price of Vodafone Idea shot up by more than 4 percent after media reports stated that the company is in talks with several groups for fundraising. According to a Bloomberg report, Oaktree Capital and Varde Partners are said to have offered Vodafone Idea at least $2 billion in funding.

Vodafone Idea’s net debt stands at Rs 1,14510 crore. The Board of Directors of the debt-laden telecom operator, at its meeting held on September 04, 2020, had approved the fund-raising plan of up to $ 2 billion or approximately Rs 25,000 crore. Read more here.

Nov 19, 2020 2:51 PM

Nov 19, 2020 2:43 PM

Pritesh Mehta of Yes Securities suggests buying two stocks

According to Pritesh Mehta, Adani Ports look good. "For a mild stop headwind facing resistance supply around Rs 361-370 zone and it eventually broke out at the start of its peak. Thereafter it has been sustaining. We can see a bullish broadening pattern playing out, therefore, one can buy Adani Ports for a target of Rs 430," said Mehta.

He further advised to buy Coforge. Mehta said, "This was one of the big movers in last 6 months from the IT space. Thereafter it went through a bit of a correction but the stock is a first one from the entire space to create a base and is now moving higher. I am expecting a move towards Rs 2,570 from hereon.”

Nov 19, 2020 2:14 PM

HDFC Securities upgrades earnings estimates for 65% stocks in its coverage

September has been a strong quarter, beating expectations across most sectors, led by margin surprises and in-line revenue performance. The net profit of Nifty50 companies increased by double digits compared to muted expectations and revenues rebounded at a faster pace than costs after the lockdown, resulting in robust earnings.

In a recent report, HDFC Securities noted that 65 percent of stocks in its coverage of a total of 150 stocks saw earnings upgrades for FY21 and FY22 after their Q2 results. Also, 70 percent of those 150 companies beat expectations in the quarter.

"Given Q2 trends and management commentaries for our coverage universe, we have seen aggregate PAT change by ̃4.1 percent and over 2.4 percent for FY21 and FY22, respectively. We are now building in over 3.3 percent and 37.1 percent YoY growth for aggregate PAT for FY21 and FY22, respectively. Nifty consensus EPS for FY22 has also increased by ̃2-3 percent post Q2," the brokerage stated. Here's more on this

Nov 19, 2020 2:02 PM

Auto sector PLI

Nov 19, 2020 1:32 PM

Kingfisher Plc expands partnership with TCS: Tata Consultancy Services has expanded its partnership with Kingfisher plc, a leading home improvement company in the UK and Europe, to provide consolidated application management and infrastructure support services, to accelerate the retailer’s transformation to be a digital first organization.

Nov 19, 2020 1:17 PM

TCS shareholders approve up to Rs 16,000-crore buyback plan

India's largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Wednesday said its shareholders have approved its up to Rs 16,000 crore share buyback plan.

Last month, TCS' board of directors had approved a proposal to buy back up to 5,33,33,333 equity shares of the company for an aggregate amount of up to Rs 16,000 crore.

"….the members of the company have duly passed the special resolution approving the Buyback," TCS said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

The voting, which started on October 20 and ended on November 18, saw 99.57 percent of the votes being cast in favour of the buyback offer. There was 100 percent voting in favour of the proposal by the promoters, 98.11 percent by public institutional shareholders and 98.43 per cent by other shareholders. Click here to read more

Nov 19, 2020 1:05 PM

Vodafone Idea

Nov 19, 2020 12:46 PM

Analysis: Airlines scramble to prepare for ultra-cold COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Airlines are scrambling to prepare ultra-cold shipping and storage facilities to transport COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, whose doses, which require deep freezing, are likely to be among the first to be distributed. A recent survey by an air cargo association and a drug shippers’ group found only 15 percent of industry participants felt ready to transport goods near the minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94°F) required by the Pfizer Inc vaccine, while around 60% could meet Moderna Inc’s less stringent -20°C requirement.

Typically, airlines use containers with cooling materials such as dry ice to transport pharmaceutical products, but some don’t have temperature controls, making products susceptible to unforeseen events such as flight delays. Read more here

Nov 19, 2020 12:33 PM

From a failed union with Indiabulls Housing Finance, here's a timeline of how LVB got itself in the midst of a storm

Private lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) has been in the public eye for all the wrong reasons since last year. The private lender had last year merged with Indiabulls Housing Finance (IBHF), which was later halted by RBI after it put LVB in the PCA (Prompt Corrective Action). Now, the apex bank has proposed DBS Bank India to merge with the lender while it's under moratorium.

The stock fell 20 percent today to Rs 12.45 per share on the NSE. Last year, it plunged 71 percent in 6 months after RBI stopped the merger with IBHF.

The bank has faced some serious flak in terms of earnings, credit rating downgrade, and allegations.