Closing bell: Benchmark equity indices ended with a marginal loss on Monday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex on inched down 38.88 points, or 0.09 per cent, to close at 41,642.66. The broader NSE Nifty settled 5.65 points, or 0.05 per cent, lower at 12,266.15.

Yes Bank was the top loser in the Nifty pack, dropping 3.79 per cent. Nestle, RIL, SBI and Coal India too fell up to 2.41 per cent.

On the other hand, Zee, Vedanta, Maruti, Dr Reddy's and HDFC rose up to 3.61 per cent.

Sectorally, except for Nifty auto, media, IT and financial services, all other indices either ended in flat or marginally lower.

Vascon Engineers’ JV firm sells 8 acre land in Pune to Mapletree Investments for Rs 170 cr

Vascon Engineers on Monday said its joint venture firm has sold 8 acre land to Mapletreee Investments for Rs 170 crore.

“Ajanta Enterprises, 50 per cent joint venture of Vascon Engineers, has successfully concluded the sale of land parcel measuring approximately 8 acres for a total gross consideration of Rs 170 crore to a SPV (special purpose vehicle) of Mapletree Investments Pte Ltd (Mapletree) situated at Kharadi, Pune,” the company said in a statement.

Trends in Nifty sectoral indices

Profitability of domestic hospital sector to improve in FY20, FY21: Crisil

Profitability of domestic hospital sector would continue to improve in the current as well as next financial year driven by enhanced coverage under Ayushman Bharat as well as deeper expansion in smaller towns, says Crisil Ratings.

The improvement in demand will also be driven by alterations made to healthcare delivery models by hospital chains to align with regulatory changes as well as factors like increasing lifestyle diseases and medical tourism.

Can ‘Salman’ outperform ‘Hritik’ on the bourses?

Arvind Subramanian, the first Chief Economic Advisor to the Narendra Modi government, is also puzzled that the stock markets are buoyant while the economy is sinking.

The benchmark Sensex had gained a whopping 5,427 points so far this year to touch 41,682 from 36,255 logged on January 1 before making a 52-week high of 41,810 on Thursday. Click here to read more

Mankind Pharma inks licensing pact with Glenmark to co-market diabetes drug

Mankind Pharma on Monday said it has inked a licensing pact with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals to co-market diabetes drug Remogliflozin Etabonate in the country.

Under the sub-licensing agreement, Mankind will market the drug under its own trademark while Glenmark will manufacture and supply it to the drug firm.

Nifty Call: Sell on rallies with a stop-loss at 12,270

After a negative start, the Sensex and the Nifty recovered and began to move sideways but with a negative bias. The Asian markets are flat, Nikkei 225 is hovering at 23,821, and Hang Seng index is trading at 27,853 levels. Both the Sensex and the Nifty have slightly declined by 0.23 per cent and 0.18 per cent respectively. However, the market breadth of the Nifty is biased towards advances. Click here to read the technicals

Jharkhand poll result: JMM-Congress combine pass halfway mark, but BJP is the largest party

The BJP has polled the lion's share of the vote share, having 33 per cent of  total votes polled. Second placed JMM, with 25 seats, has 18 per cent vote share. Only 14 per cent of the total voters have chosen Congress, which comes in at third place.

M&M announces more leadership changes

Close on the heels of Mahindra & Mahindra ’s announcement last week about Anand Mahindra stepping down as the chairman of the company and other key changes; it announced further changes today in its group corporate office and within its auto and farm sectors, effective from April 1, 2020. Read more here

Airtel expands ‘Airtel Wi-Fi Calling’ footprint

Bharti Airtel has launched its Voice Over Wi-Fi service – ‘Airtel Wi-Fi Calling’ - in Mumbai, Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

‘Airtel Wi-Fi Calling’ will use WiFi networks to create a dedicated channel for voice calls and allow customers to make telco-grade calls. This dramatically improves customer experience, the company said in a statement.

Pidilite Industries increases focus on sales and distribution

Pidilite Industries Ltd has increased its focus on sales, distribution and innovation owing to a slowdown in the FMCG sector, a top official said.

The Fevicol maker has also been focusing more on brand building, and investing more behind its brands, Bharat Puri, Managing Director, Pidilite Industries, told  BusinessLine  on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s National FMCG Summit 2019 last week. Read more here

NCLAT relied heavily on press release: Tata Group lawyers

A release issued by Tata Sons on November 10, 2016 would have been its own undoing, as Tata Group’s lawyers believe that the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal “relied heavily” on it while pronouncing the judgement in favour of Cyrus Mistry.

The release was issued in response to Mistry’s email after his ouster on October 24, 2016, lawyers representing Tata camp told BusinessLine . The lawyers, who are readying to appeal against the order before the Supreme Court, were of opinion that the appellate tribunal considered the press release as evidence of ‘sudden and hasty removal of Cyrus Mistry’.

Market update: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex turned volatile on Monday, dropping over 150 points in the opening session amid stock-specific action after a rejig of its constituents.

At 12.20 pm, the 30-share BSE index was trading 21.94 points or 0.05 per cent lower at 41,659.60. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty 0.85 points higher or 0.01 per cent to 12,272.65.

Among the sectoral indices, except for Nifty auto, metal and media stocks all others were trading in the red.

Tata Power to own licence for distribution, retail supply of electricity in five circles in Odisha

Tata Power on Monday said it has emerged as the successful bidder to own the licence for distribution and retail supply of electricity in Odisha’s five circles together constituting Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha (CESU).

In a regulatory filing the company said the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has awarded the Letter of Intent (LOI) to Tata Power Company Ltd for the acquisition of CESU Power Distribution in Odisha.

Reliance Infra wins Rs 1,250 cr arbitration award against DVC

Reliance Infrastructure on Monday said it has won an arbitration award of Rs 1,250 crore against Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC).

The proceeds will be used to pay lenders and reduce the debt of the company, the infrastructure firm said in a filing to BSE.

Buy Godawari Power & Ispat

Investors with a medium-term perspective can buy the stock of Godawari Power & Ispat at the current levels. The stock has been in a bullish momentum over the past one week, after decisively breaking a key resistance at ₹170 last Monday.

Which stocks to pick in 2020

The decline in stock prices over the past two years has created some lucrative opportunities. From buying large-cap cyclicals to bottom-fishing, here is how you can go about your equity investment in the New Year. Click here to read the Big Story

Three grounded B737 freighter planes back in operation: SpiceJet

No-frills carrier SpiceJet on Monday said it has re-started operations of three Boeing 737 freighter aircraft that were grounded earlier this month. The three planes were grounded due to a “potential defect” after an advice from Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) that had converted these aircraft into freighters.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, the airline said the three grounded B737 freighter aircraft shall return to operations effective December 23, 2019 basis the resolution provided by IAI.

L&T Technology Services bags multi-million-dollar project in Europe

L&T Technology Services on Monday said it has bagged a multi-million-dollar engineering, procurement and construction management project in Europe.

“L&T Technology Services Ltd (LTTS)...won a multi-million dollar project from one of the world’s top plastics, chemicals and refining manufacturers, to deliver the entire spectrum of engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the expansion of an existing site in Europe,” the company said in a filing to BSE.

Why did Tata Steel’s stock rally?

Last week, the share price of Tata Steel went up by about 8 per cent on news reports stating that the company may announce the restructuring of its domestic business to unlock value. Read the reality check here

Godrej Consumer Products: A good long-term bet

The stock of Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) has lost about 20 per cent in the last year due to the general consumption slowdown in the domestic economy as well as muted performance in some segments such as household insecticides. Headwinds in some of its overseas businesses, too, took a toll on the stock. Click here to read more

Why Dr Reddy's is set for a rebound

After putting up a subdued performance in recent years, many Indian pharma companies have reported an improved set of numbers in recent quarters, thanks to subsiding price pressure in the US business, and better traction in domestic as well as emerging markets. The prospects for revenue growth seem particularly healthy for a few pharma companies which have diversified exposure across geographies and are growing their presence in niche speciality and limited-competition drugs. Read more on the stock fundamentals here

Lone Star Funds to acquire BASF’s construction chemicals business for EUR 3.17 bn

Chemicals giant BASF has entered into a pact with an affiliate of Lone Star, a global private equity player, to sell its construction chemicals business for EUR 3.17 billion (around Rs 25,003 crore), according to a regulatory filing.

Daily Rupee call: Sell on intraday rallies with stop loss at 70.9

The rupee (INR) weakened against the dollar (USD) on Friday closing at 71.12 versus its previous close of 71.04. Thus, it has closed below the critical level of 71 for the second consecutive day as the dollar rallied. This means that the local currency might depreciate further from current levels.  Read more on the technicals here

Rupee opening: The Indian rupee opened on a flat note and fell 5 paise to 71.17 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday tracking muted opening in domestic equities.

FII activities: On a net basis, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 338.86 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 285.41 crore on Friday, data available with stock exchange showed.

Tata Steel registers new peaks

Extending the bull run, the stock of Tata Steel surged last week. It breached a crucial resistance at ₹434. Thus, it has formed a new peak in the daily chart, denoting a good upward momentum. Read more here

Uptrend regains traction in RIL

The stock of Reliance Industries (RIL), which has been in an uptrend since August, has been consolidating within a range for the past month. But recently, it bounced from the 21-day moving average and registered a fresh lifetime high of ₹1,617.55. Read more here

Infosys breaks out of the range

After consolidating since the beginning of November, the stock of Infosys moved out of the range between ₹690 and ₹725. It rallied past the upper boundary of the range at ₹725 and closed the week at 731.5, confirming the breakout. Read more here

Outlook is positive for SBI

The resumption of the bull trend looks evident as SBI closed the week above the resistance band between ₹332 and ₹335. The stock began the week on the back foot, slipping to the support level of ₹325. This support also coincides with the 23.6 per cent Fibonacci retracement level of the previous bull trend. The stock took support at this level and began to rally.  Read the technicals here

Consider a bull calendar spread on ITC

The outlook for  ITC  (₹241) remains negative. The stock finds crucial support at ₹336 and the major one at ₹192. ITC finds immediate resistance at ₹256 and the major one at ₹305.  Read more here

Outlook is positive for SBI

The resumption of the bull trend looks evident as SBI closed the week above the resistance band between ₹332 and ₹335. The stock began the week on the back foot, slipping to the support level of ₹325.  Read more here

Opening bell: It is weak start for the benchmark indices on Monday with Nifty opened around 11,200 level.

At 09:17 am, the Sensex is down 49.47 points at 41,632.07, while Nifty down 4.65 points at 12,267.14.80.

Yes Bank, RIL, Bharti Infratel, Coal India and GAIL are trading ower up to 2.33 per cent, while on the other hand Vedanta, Hindalco, Titan, BPCL and UPL are trading in green gaining up to 1.63 per cent.

Asian markets mixed as dealers step back ahead of festive break

Asian markets idled near 18-month highs on Monday as volumes weakened ahead of the Christmas holiday break and investors squared off their positions, taking home hefty gains made earlier this month. Read more here

Index outlook: Sensex and Nifty at all-time highs

Tracking global markets, the Sensex and the Nifty continued to trend upwards, surpassing their key resistance levels in the past week.

The encouraging US economic data and optimism over international trade deals boosted the US market indices, recording highs last Friday. But a marginal depreciation in rupee and December derivatives expiry can keep the benchmark indices choppy in the truncated week. Investors should tread with caution in the coming week. Read more on the technicals here