Closing bell: The equity indices on Wednesday jumped over one per cent due to reports of the decline in the number of new coronavirus cases in China and mounting expectations for more policy stimulus boosted global stock markets. Earlier, on Wednesday the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government would announce measures to tackle the financial fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

The broader NSE Nifty50 index ended up 1.15 per cent at 12,130.30, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 1.05 per cent to 41,323. Both the indexes declined nearly one per cent in the last two sessions due to the rising financial impact of the epidemic.

The Sensex hit an intraday high of 41,357.16 and a low of 41,048.93. Similarly, the Nifty touched an intraday high of 12,134.70, and a low of 12,042.10. The market breadth was positive as 1,525 shares advanced, against a decline of 1,002 shares, while 180 shares were unchanged.

Among NSE sectoral indices, pharma index gained the most by 2.32 per cent, followed by Media 1.94 per cent, FMCG 1.64 per cent, Financial Services 1.47 per cent, and Metals 1.34 per cent.

Sectoral indices at 3.15 pm

Kotak Mahindra Bank gets RBI nod for trimming promoters’ stake

Private sector Kotak Mahindra Bank on Wednesday said the Reserve Bank has granted its final approval for reducing promoters’ stake in the bank to 26 per cent.

On January 30, the bank had informed about RBI’s in-principle acceptance for reducing promoters’ shareholding to 26 per cent of the paid-up voting equity share capital (PUVESC) of the bank within six months from the date of final approval of the regulator.

India to switch to world’s cleanest petrol, diesel from April 1

India will switch to the world’s cleanest petrol and diesel from April 1 as it leapfrogs straight to Euro-VI emission compliant fuels from Euro-IV grades now - a feat achieved in just three years and not seen in any of the large economies around the globe.

India will join the select league of nations using petrol and diesel containing just 10 parts per million of sulphur as it looks to cut vehicular emissions that are said to be one of the reasons for the choking pollution in major cities.

Gold futures gain Rs 85 to Rs 41,505 per 10 gm

Gold prices on Wednesday gained Rs 85 to Rs 41,505 per 10 gram in futures trade as speculators increased their bets tracking positive trend overseas.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold contracts for April traded higher by Rs 85, or 0.21 per cent, to Rs 41,505 per 10 gram in a business turnover of 3,191 lots.

The yellow metal for June delivery edged up by Rs 98, or 0.24 per cent, to Rs 41,685 per 10 gram in a business turnover of 49 lots.

Top ten gainers at NSE

Most Active Securities at NSE

50 stocks hit 52-week highs on NSE

In NSE's Wednesday trading session, 50 stocks climbed to touch their 52-week highs. Among the stocks that touched their 52-week highs were

Abbott India, Aegis Logistics, Affle (India), AGC Networks, Alkem Laboratories, Alok Industries, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Rajdarshan Industries, AU Small Finance Bank, Bajaj Finance, Banswara Syntex, Career Point, CREDITACCESS GRAMEEN LIMITED, Deepak Nitrite, Escorts, Fairchem Speciality, Ganesha Ecosphere, GMM Pfaudler, Granules India, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, HDFC Mutual Fund-HDFC Gold Exchange Traded Fund, Hindustan Unilever Limited, India Glycols, InfoBeans Technologies, INOX Leisure, IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Ircon International Limited, Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation Limited, ICICI Securities, Johnson Controls - Hitachi Air Conditioning India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, La Opala RG, Linde India,  United Spirits, MindTree, Nippon Life India Asset Management, Navin Fluorine International, Neogen Chemicals, Nestle India, Huhtamaki PPL, R Systems International, Ruchi Soya Industries, Shriram Transport Finance Company, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Unitech, Universus Photo Imagings, Vaibhav Global, Visesh Infotecnics and Wanbury Limited.

CNG retro-fitment industry stares at uncertain future in BS-VI era

Even as the deadline for the new BS-VI emission norms looms closer, the future of the compressed natural gas (CNG) retro-fitment industry is shrouded in uncertainty as the rules for the industry under the stricter emission regime is still being processed by the government. Read more here

Nifty Call: Buy above 12,130 with stop-loss at 12,060

The Indian benchmark indices opened the session on a strong note. The Nifty spot and the Sensex spot indices have gained around 0.75 per cent each so far today. Among the major Asian indices, the Nikkei 225 has closed with a gain of nearly 0.9 per cent whereas the Hang Seng index has inched up by 0.3 per cent. Read more on the technicals here

Yes Bank shares falls 4%

The shares of Yes Bank opened weak on Wednesday at Rs 34, then lost ground and touched an intra-day low of Rs 33.60, down 4.13 per cent over its previous close.

Shares of Yes Bank were later trading at Rs 34.50, down 1.57 per cent over its last close at noon trade.

Shree Cement shares surge nearly 6% on inclusion in Nifty50 index

Shares of Shree Cement Ltd jumped as much as 6 per cent in morning trade on Wednesday as the stock is set to enter the Nifty 50 index from next month.

NSE Indices, a subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), on Tuesday said that Shree Cement will replace private lender Yes Bank in the benchmark index Nifty 50 from March 27.

The stock opened on a bullish note on Wednesday at Rs 25,000, then gained further ground and touched a high of Rs 25,222.90, registering a rise of 5.98 per cent over its previous close.

Change in quality standards brighten prospects of sugar exports to Indonesia

Indian sugar millers, saddled with record stockpiles, are eager to cash in on the prospect of resuming exports to Indonesia after being absent from the world’s top import market for years. Read more here

Eight companies to turn ex-dividend

Shares of eight companies will turn ex-dividend (for interim dividend) on Thursday (February 20). These companies are CARE Ratings (₹6 per share share), Cosmo Films (₹15), LT Foods (₹0.50), Hinduja Global Solutions (₹15), IRCON International (₹13.45), Mazda (₹7.50), Oil India Ltd (₹9) and Selan Exploration (₹5).

The shares of these companies will remain on investors’ radars, as investors wishing to receive payouts from these companies need to own them by Wednesday.

MCX-Natural Gas may chart upwards in the short-term

The spot price of Natural Gas on the MCX has been trading flat over the past one week. On the other hand, the March futures contract of Natural Gas on the MCX has been rising in the past few trading sessions and as a result, the premium at which the futures contract has been trading has gone up. This can be a bullish indication. Read more on the technicals here

Ind-Ra downgrade may up textile stocks woes

Rating agency Ind-Ra has revised the outlook on India’s textile sector to negative from stable for 2020-21 as weak domestic demand growth, threat of cheap imports and dwindling incentives and exports are likely to keep volumes muted.

Ind-Ra expects withdrawal of incentives under the merchandise exports from India scheme (MEIS) to affect export of home textiles and garments. However, it expects key raw material prices to remain low in 2020-21, after a correction in 2019-20.

Infosys, GE Appliances tie-up to enable digital and workplace transformation

Infosys, a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, announced a long-term strategic partnership with GE Appliance, a Haier company, to effectively streamline IT operations. As an IT services partner, Infosys will help GE Appliances modernize its IT infrastructure and run IT in managed services mode as part of the overall innovation and optimization agenda.

As a part of this alliance, Infosys will assist GE Appliances to accelerate their digital and workplace transformation through automation-driven managed IT services support across global command centres, service desks, end-user computing, IT infrastructure, and applications. Backed by robust ‘Transformation of service delivery’ and ‘Value to Price’ models, coupled with levers of innovation fund and year-on-year productivity, Infosys has developed a unified custom delivery model to accelerate GE Appliances’ digital transformation journey.

Novartis launches Biome India, its first Asian digital innovation hub, in Hyderabad

Global Pharma major Novartis has announced the launch of Biome India, a digital innovation hub, in Hyderabad. This is the company’s first such centre in Asia and the fourth globally. The others are in San Francisco, Paris and London. Read more here

CNG makers, retrofitters stare at uncertain future in BS-6 era

With less than two months for the new BS-6 emission norms to be enforced, Amarjeet Singh, who has been involved in the business of manufacturing and retrofitting CNG kits in vehicles since 1999, is staring at an uncertain future as the rules for CNG retrofitment under the new and stricter emission regime is still being processed by the government. Read more here

Markets update: BSE benchmark Sensex surged over 408 points in early trade in line with Asian peers as global investors weigh China’s measures to prop up the coronavirus-hit economy. The NSE gauge Nifty too climbed over 123 points to trade above the psychological 12,000 level.

Starting off on a higher note, the BSE barometer further gained strength as the trade progressed and quoted at 41,302.80, a rise of 408.42 points or 1 per cent. Likewise, the Nifty was trading at 12,116.30, gaining 123.80 points or 1.03 per cent.

Forex market closed

The forex market closed on Wednesday on account of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti.

Broker's call: Godrej Properties (Sell)

Godrej Properties is a real estate company. The company is engaged in construction and real estate development. The company focusses on developing residential, commercial and township projects spread across approximately 11.89 million square meters in over 10 cities. Read more here

Rights issue of Brooks Labs opens today

The rights issue of Brooks Laboratories opens for subscription on Wednesday. It plans to issue up to 76.66 lakh equity shares of face value ₹10 each for cash at a price of ₹20 a share for an amount aggregating up to ₹15.33 crore on rights basis.

The rights entitlement ratio has been fixed at nine rights equity shares for every 20 fully paid-up equity shares held by the equity shareholders on the record date, i.e. February 12. Shareholders and investors would watch the response to the rights issue.

Broker's call: Shree Cement (Sell)

Shree Cement’s (SRCM) 3QFY20 performance was driven by realisation gains as volume growth stayed muted that helped revenue growth of about 2 per cent y-o-y. Despite capacity addition the volume grew by 5.3 per cent y-o-y.

Focus on remunerative northern region and higher premium product sales helped realisation benefits. Costs/tonner was well controlled with ~9 per cent y-o-y decline driven by logistic and energy cost savings. Effectively SRCM’s EBITDA grew ~23 per cent to ₹849 crore driven by cement segment. Read more here

Coronavirus impact: Bajaj Electricals looking at ways to trim dependence on China

Bajaj Electricals, which is into consumer durables, lighting and engineering projects, is looking at ways to reduce its dependence on Chinese imports. This comes amid twin threats — supply disruptions in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in China, and a hike in customs duty proposed in the Budget. Click here to read the full story

Opening bell: The benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, opened on Wednesday in the green. The Sensex was quoted at 41,233.90, up 339.52 points or 0.83 per cent. The Nifty was up 110 points or 0.92 per cent at 12.102.50.

Borosil Glass Works (₹211.4): Buy

Investors with a short-term perspective can buy the stock of Borosil Glass Works at current levels.

The stock has been in an intermediate-term uptrend since recording a 52-week low at ₹112.5 in late August 2019. Significant support at around ₹155 cushioned the stock in early January this year and it resumed the uptrend. Since then, the stock has been in a short-term uptrend. Read more here

Day Trading Guide for February 19, 2020

₹1213 • HDFC Bank

₹797 • Infosys

₹203 • ITC

₹99 • ONGC

₹1466 • Reliance Ind.

₹317 • SBI

₹2215 • TCS

12006 • Nifty 50 Futures

S1, S2 : Support 1 & 2; R1, R2: Resistance 1 & 2.

Asian shares nudge up as virus spread slows, euro fragile

Asian shares and U.S. stock futures edged cautiously higher on Wednesday, as investors tried to shake off worries about the coronavirus epidemic after a slight decline in the number of new cases.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eked out a minor 0.03% gain but spent much of the morning session bouncing between gains and losses.

Chinese shares erased early declines to trade 0.15% higher. Australian shares were up 0.02%, while Japan's Nikkei stock index rose 0.5%.

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