Closing bell:

As the markets reached the closing time, the indices moved in a rapid manner.

The broader benchmark NSE Nifty 50 jumped 100.45 points reaching 12,282.95, almost near to touching record high. All the sectoral indices were in green led by Metal, Bank, PSU bank and realty.  The top gainers of Nifty 50 were Tata motors with 5.10 per cent change. Followed by Ultratech Cement, Tata Steek and JSW steel. The losers were Eicher Motors with 2.31 per cent change. Next in line wre Bajaj Auto and BPCL.

In 30-pack BSE Sensex, the index closed at 41,629.77, a 323.75 points surge. The top gainers in this pack were UltraTech cement with 4.27 per cent change. Followed by Tata steel and Indusind. In the red zone were Bajaj Auto, TCS, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

HDFC, subsidiary get approvals for acquiring majority stake in Apollo Munich

HDFC Ltd on Thursday said the company and its subsidiary HDFC ERGO have got approvals for acquiring a majority shareholding in Apollo Munich Health Insurance Co Ltd.

According to the acquisition deal, HDFC will acquire majority stake in Apollo Munich from the Apollo Hospitals Group for Rs 1,347 crore and will merge the company with its arm HDFC ERGO.

HDFC will acquire 50.8 per cent from the Apollo Hospitals group for Rs 1,336 crore and will buy out the 0.4 per cent stake being held by the employees for Rs 10.84 crore.

Besides, the German insurer Munich Health will pay Rs 294 crore to Apollo Hospitals Enterprise and Apollo Energy for terminating their joint venture. READ MORE ABOUT THE DEAL

Stock of HDFC traded at Rs 2,449.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), up 0.65 per cent from the previous close.

Commercial papers worth over ₹1.1 lakh cr get listed on BSE since Nov

As many as 52 issuers have listed commercial papers worth over ₹1.1 lakh crore on the BSE since November 2019.

The exchange enabled the listing of commercial papers (CPs) and announced framework for them in November 2019.

“Till date, 52 issuers have done 288 issuances of commercial papers and have successfully listed CPs of ₹1,11,080 crore on BSE. The weighted average yield of these issuances is 6.11 per cent with an average tenor of 137 days,” the bourse said in a statement.

Besides, the BSE said nine firms have made applications with the exchange to list their CPs for a total issue size of ₹5,950 crore. The effective date for listing of their CPs with the bourse is January 2.

The firms are Kotak Securities Ltd, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Birla Group Holdings Pvt Ltd, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Prime Ltd, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Investments Ltd and Sharekhan BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd. - PTI

Indices at day's high

BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty have reached their day's high. The benchmark Sensex is at 41,616.61, gaining 310.59 points or 0.75 per cent.

Here are the 30-pack stocks of Sensex trading at:

Meanwhile, the boarder Nifty touched 12,280.30, gaining 97.80  points or 0.80 per cent.

Edelweiss Mutual Fund lists Bharat Bond ETF on NSE, BSE

Edelweiss Asset Management has listed the first ever Corporate Bond Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), the BHARAT Bond ETF, on the National Stock Exchange and BSE.

The product listing on a transparent platform is expected to attract interest from a new set of investors in the market.

Going forward, the AMC plans re-issuance of ETFs with three-year and 10-year target maturities, and issuance of products with other tenors.

The listing of Bharat Bond ETFs may also encourage the private sector to tap the bond ETF route to raise capital through target maturity bond ETFs.

NFO issue oversubscribed 1.8 times

The initial NFO issue size of Rs 7,000 crore was oversubscribed by nearly 1.8 times. The three-year category received applications for Rs 6,982 crore and the 10-year category received ₹5,413 crore. The entrire subscription in both categories will be retained to accommodate the overwhelming demand.

The Bharat Bond NFO saw 55,000 investors participating in it, on the back of strong support from digital partners. It will invest only in AAA rated public sector bonds. The ETF with a three-year maturity will follow the Nifty Bharat Bond Index – April 2023, and that with a 10-year maturity will follow the Nifty Bharat Bond Index – April 2030.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS HERE

BoB, JM Financial Home Loans in co-lending tie-up

Bank of Baroda, India’s second largest public sector bank, has entered into a strategic co-lending agreement with JM Financial Group’s housing finance arm JM Financial Home Loans Ltd (JMFHL) to provide retail loans to home buyers.

The shares of Bank of Baroda are trading on NSE at Rs.103.80 a scrip, with a jump of 1.90 points or per cent.  

EESL eyes 1,500 charging stations, IPO next fiscal: MD Saurabh Kumar

Energy Efficiency Services Limited is aiming to install 1,500 public charging stations in financial year 2020-21.

 This joint venture of public sector undertakings under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power is also mulling an initial public offering by the coming financial year, EESL Managing Director, Saurabh Kumar told  BusinessLine . To read the excerpts from the interview click here.

BSE Gainers and Losers:

Source: BSE

Source: BSE

Shriram Transport Fin to raise up to ₹1,000 cr via bonds

Shriram Transport Finance on Thursday said it is looking to raise up to ₹1,000 crore through bonds.

The base size of the issue is ₹200 crore with an option to retain oversubscription aggregating up to ₹1,000 crore, the company said in a release.

This is the second tranche of bonds to be issued by the non-banking finance company.

“The funds raised will be used for onward lending, financing and for repayment/ prepayment of interest and principal of existing borrowings of the company and for general corporate purposes,” the release said. Read more about it here

Nifty50 Gainers and Losers:

The NSE NiftY 50 has been trading at 12,261.10 with a jump of 78.60 points or 0.65 per cent. The top gainers in the 50-pack gauge were UltraTech Cement Ltd, Tata Motors, and Yes Bank. The losers were Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto and BPCL.

Technical Analysis | Gujarat Gas: Buy

Representational image.

Investors with a short-term perspective can buy the stock of Gujarat Gas at current levels.

On Tuesday, the stock gained 3.6 per cent accompanied by above average volume breaking above a key resistance at ₹232. The stock appears to have resumed its medium as well as the short-term uptrends.

Since it took support at ₹116 in late February 2019, the stock has been in a long-term uptrend, forming higher peaks and troughs. Following a recent sideways corrective movement, the stock took support at ₹220 and continued to trend upwards. Read more about this here

With the bullish momentum in place, the stock has the potential to trend upwards and reach the price targets of ₹247 and ₹252 in the coming trading sessions. Traders with a short-term perspective can buy the stock with a stop-loss at ₹232 levels.

Trading Call: VA Tech Wabag (₹194): Buy

The stock has gained 7.5 per cent accompanied by above average volumes on Thursday, moving above a key resistance level of ₹190.

For the past two months, the stock has been on a sideways consolidation phase in the band between ₹160 and ₹190. Key support in the ₹160-165 zone has cushioned the stock well. The on-going rally over the past few days is witnessing buying interest and the stock appears to have surpassed the upper boundary.

There has been an increase in daily volumes over the past three trading sessions. A strong rally above the immediate resistance level of ₹200 can take the stock higher to ₹210 and then to ₹215 in the coming weeks. Traders with a short-term view can buy the stock with a stop-loss at ₹183.

Nifty Call: Buy with stop-loss at 12,275 levels

Nifty 50 January Futures (12,324)

The Nifty and the Sensex started the session with a gap-up opening, following positive trends in other Asian markets. The Hang Seng index has gained 1.1 per cent to 28,501 and CSI 300 index has advanced 1.4 per cent to 4,153 levels in today's session. Both the Nifty and the Sensex have maintained the positive momentum and continued to trend upwards, gaining 0.6 per cent each. The market breadth of the Nifty is biased towards advances. The India VIX has slipped 0.8 per cent to 11.49 levels. The Nifty mid and small-cap indices are witnessing buying interest and have advanced 0.9 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively. FOR MORE ON THE NIFTY TECHNICAL CLICK HERE

Strategy: Buy in dips with a fixed stop-loss at 12,275 levels

Supports: 12,375 and 12,250

Resistances: 12,325 and 12,350

Coal India’s 2019 shipments drop for first time in six years

Coal India Ltd posted the first decline in annual shipments in at least six years as demand from power producers weakened and its production was hit by heavy rains earlier in 2019.

Shipments fell 3.8 per cent in 2019 from a year ago to 580.8 million tons, according to  Bloomberg  calculations based on data from the state-run company dating back to 2013. The production slipped 2.2 per cent to 582.8 million tons, the data showed.

On a monthly basis, shipments rose 1.9 per cent in December from last year to 53.63 million tons, the Kolkata-based miner said on Wednesday. Output climbed 7.2 per cent to 58.02 million tons. Click here to know more

The shares of Coal India were trading at Rs.211.20  a piece, sees a 0.75 points or per cent drop.

GNFC gets DoT notice seeking service dues of about Rs 15,000 crore

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd (GNFC) has received a demand notice from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) seeking telecom service dues of about Rs 15,019.97 crore.

The amount, which is inclusive of interest, is in connection with the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT, which is a two-way satellite ground station) and Internet Service Provider (ISP) licences held by the company in the Gujarat circle, GNFC said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

This is for the financial years from 2005-06 to 2018-19, it said, adding the letter had directed the company to deposit the total outstanding amount before January 23, 2020.

The stock of GNFC are trading at 165.50  a scrip, with a jump of 3.40  points ot 2.10 per cent.

Cable TV operators’ shares fall after TRAI’s new tariff rules

Shares of broadcasting and cable TV operators fell up to 6 per cent on Thursday after TRAI made amendments to the new regulatory framework for cable and broadcasting services under which cable TV users will be able to access more channels at lower subscription price.

Sun TV Network dropped 6.37 per cent, Den Networks dipped 3.90 per cent, Zee Entertainment Enterprises fell 2.99 per cent and Dish TV India was down 0.85 per cent on the BSE.

However, later Dish TV recovered its early losses and was trading with marginal gains.

In a bid to protect consumer interests, TRAI on Wednesday made amendments to the new regulatory framework for cable and broadcasting services.

Significantly, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) capped the amount consumers will have to pay monthly for all free to air channels at ₹160.

The new rules are part of the changes the regulator has made to its 2017 tariff order for broadcasting and cable TV services. They will be effective from March 1. - PTI

Tata-Mistry case: NCLAT adjourns hearing on Mumbai RoC's amendment plea

The hearing of the Registrar of Companies’ plea, seeking modifications in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) judgement, in which Cyrus Mistry was reinstated as the executive chairman of Tata Sons, has been adjourned till Friday.

A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya asked the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to submit details of the definition of private and public companies under the rules of the Companies Act.

The bench has also asked for clarification on the paid-up capital requirement for the same. Read more about the hearing here

The NSE Nifty has reached its 12,200 mark high. It is now at 12,249.20, with 66.70 points 0.55 per cent jump.  The sectoral indices were trading in green, leading with Metal and PSU banks.

Here is how others were trading:

Jindal Steel & Power clocks highest-ever quarterly production in Q3

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd ( JSPL ) has recorded its highest-ever quarterly domestic production of crude steel and related products, with a 22 per cent year-on-year growth in the third quarter-ended December 2019.

This comes from a “strong and consistence performance” across all locations, especially in its Angul operations, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The total crude steel and related production stood at 1.61 million tonne, compared to 1.32 million tonne in the corresponding period last year.

During the third quarter, JSPL has recorded a growth of 30 per cent in sales at 1.66 million tonne, as against 1.27 million tonne in the same period last year. Export rose to more than 3 lakh MT, an increase of 213 per cent (Y-o-Y) in Q3.

The stock of Jindal Steel and Power on BSE was at Rs.172.55 a scrip, with a jump of 6.25 points or 3.76 per cent.

Rise in factory orders boosts manufacturing PMI in December

Signalling an uptick in manufacturing performance, the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for December came in at 52.7, rising from 51.2 in November 2019, a private survey showed.

This marked pace of the Indian manufacturing output in December was the joint fastest in ten months, IHS Markit said.

However, owing to a weak performance in October and November, the average quarterly reading for Q3 in 2019-20 was the lowest since the three months to September 2017.

Four of the five sub-components of the PMI increased in December, while Suppliers' delivery times was unchanged from the preceding survey period.

New work increased solidly, with the pace of expansion picking up to the fastest pace since July. The uptick in total sales was supported by higher demand from overseas. New export orders expanded for the twenty sixth month in a row, albeit modestly. Read more about the PMI in December here

Indices move upwards

The benchmark indices are on the green roll. The broader 50-shares NSE Nifty 50 indice was at 12,237.95, gaining 55.45 or 0.46 per cent.NIFTY Auto, Metal and PSU banks were on the rise. Around 1176 advanced, 501 declined and 464 remain unchanged.

The 30-pack BSE Sensex was at 41,492.10, showing a jump of 186.08 points or 0.45 per cent. The top stocks in the pack were Ultratech Cement with 3.80 per cent jump, followed by Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance. In the red were Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Auto and Sun Pharma. Around 1394 advanced. 636 declined and 119 remain unchanged.

SAIL reports 47% growth in December sales

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL ) has reported December sales at 1.68 million tonnes. A company statement said that this was the highest ever sales by the company in a month.

“The company has achieved the highest ever sales in a month during December 2019. With sales of 1.68 million tonnes in December 2019, the company clocked a growth of 47 per cent over the corresponding period last year,” SAIL Chairman, Anil Kumar Chaudhary said.

“During the nine months of financial year 2019-2020 (April 2019 to December 2019), SAIL has already supplied 9.25 lakh tonnes of rails to the Indian Railways where the entire supply of rails was 9.85 lakh tonnes during the previous financial year 2018-2019,” Chaudhary added

The shares of SAIL on BSE are trading at Rs.46.65, with a jump of 3.75 points or 8.74 per cent.

Infra push: Analysts remain cautiously optimistic

Analysts are cautiously optimistic on the Centre’s big bang infrastructure push to achieve its $5-trillion economy target.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday released a report on the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) that provides year-wise commissioning of infrastructure projects worth ₹1.02-lakh crore over the next five years. Projects are spread across power, renewables, roads, railways, and urban development including metros, education, irrigation, health, water, mobility and digital development.

The Centre’s move implies continued focus on infrastructure spending over the next five years with increasing budgetary support as a percentage of GDP every year till FY2025. “While the plan talks about funding requirements, its success depends on the availability of funds, which may turn out to be the key limiting factor of such an ambitious plan,” said Motilal Oswal Securities in a report. Read more about what analysts think about the recent Infra push herer

Bajaj Auto records Total Sales Of 336,055 Units for December 2019

Bajaj Auto said it recorded a total sales of 336,055 units in December (down 3 per cent) where as the total domestic sales was 153,163 units, down 15 per cent. The total exports reported were 182,892 units. This was down 15 per cent.  - Reuters

The shares of Bajaj Auto shares were at Rs.3,130.70 a piece , a drop of 19.40 points on NSE.

Air India, BPCL, Concor divestments unlikely this fiscal

Strategic divestments in Air India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Container Corporation of India (Concor) are unlikely this fiscal, a senior government official said on Thursday.

The Finance Ministry’s Department of Investments and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) official said that the process throws surprises, causing delays.

It can be noted that the government has set ambitious targets from the disinvestments in FY20 at Rs.1.05 lakh crore.

When asked about what happens to the target if the process in three of the most big-ticket companies gets delayed, the official declined to comment. - PTI

Broker's call: Mangalam Cement (Buy)

Reliance Securities

Mangalam Cement (Buy)

CMP: ₹285.3

Target: ₹400

Mangalam Cement is a cement manufacturing company. The company is engaged in producing cement in 43 grades, 53 grades and Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) using the dry process. PPC is special blended cement that has hydraulic binding properties. PPC is produced by inter-grinding higher strength cement clinker with processed fly ash. 43 Grade Cement is an ordinary portland cement, which is used in all constructions, including plain and reinforced cement concrete, brick and stone masonry, floors and plastering.

Mangalam Cement is likely to witness healthy traction ahead mainly on account of steady realisation in Northern region and cost synergies. Click here for more

Daily Rupee Call

The rupee (INR), after opening lower at 71.44 on Wednesday versus its previous close of 71.38, gained through the day and ended the session at 71.22 against the dollar (USD). Thus, the exchange rate of USDINR remains with the range between 71.2 and 71.4. There was not much change in the one-year forward spread of USDINR as it was 304.8 points against previous day’s 304.3 points.

If rupee currency retains yesterday’s bullish bias and breaches the resistance at 71.2, it will face a hindrance at the important level of 71 and at 70.75 above it. But if the local currency weakens and breaks below the critical support at 71.4, it will find support at 71.6.

Trade strategy:

Since 71.4 is a strong support, rupee has a good chance to appreciate. But it is capped by the resistance at 71.2. Hence, from trading perspective, one can buy rupee if it breaks out of the resistance at 71.2 and place stop loss at 71.4.

Supports : 71.4 and 71.6

Resistances : 71.2 and 71

For more on the rupee techinicals click here

Bharat Bond listing today

The units of Bharat Bond ETF issued by Edelweiss Asset Management will be listed for trading on the exchanges on Thursday. Edelweiss AMC had raised ₹12,395 crore through the first-ever corporate bond ETF.

The initial NFO issue size of ₹7,000 crore was subscribed 1.8 times. While the three-year Bond had received applications for ₹6,982 crore, the 10-year got ₹5,413 crore. The NFO had witnessed wide retail participation with strong support from digital channels. Read more here

RouteMobile gets nod for ₹600-cr IPO

Omni channel cloud communications service provider, RouteMobile, has received SEBI’s nod to raise an estimated ₹600 crore through the initial public offering.

The IPO consists of a fresh issue of shares worth ₹240 crore and an offer-for-sale of up to ₹360 crore by the promoters, Y Sandipkumar Gupta and Rajdipkumar Gupta. Additionally, a pre-IPO placement of up to 30 lakh equity shares for cash aggregating up to ₹125 crore may be considered in consultation with the BRLMs which will reduce the size of the offer, retrospectively. the company said in a release. For more click here.

Broker's call: AU Small Finance Bank

ICICI Securities

AU Small Finance Bank (Hold)

CMP: ₹798.2

Target: ₹800

We visited AU Small Finance Bank’s branch, new car dealer and regional office in Pune (Maharashtra) to get an insight on latest business trends. Key takeaways are:

a) Branch banking progression is well on track: Higher interest rates, ease of doing transactions and customised marketing campaign according to target market, customer profile, age group, upcoming festival, etc, helping AU to create its “brand awareness” in Maharashtra; b) in Wheels, clearly new vehicle sale is sluggish while its strategy to focus on used vehicle is helping it maintain overall book growth; and c) in SBL, due its focus on small-ticket self-employed segment and deep distribution network, disbursement growth is still strong.

Most of used vehicle finance branch manager and credit officer are with AU Small Finance Bank for more than five to six years and fully understand the company’s culture. They don’t hire fresher’s and all new joiner’s are allowed to underwrite after 6 months, till the time they are accompany by senior people.

Our takeaways and observations mentioned in this report is limited to Maharashtra (ex-Mumbai) and Goa. We maintain HOLD with unchanged target price of ₹800.

Asian shares rise on China's policy easing, trade deal hopes

Asian shares kicked off the new decade higher on Thursday, after global stocks ended the previous one at record highs, and buoyed by Chinese markets after Beijing eased monetary policy to support slowing growth.

Investors also cheered news that the United States and China will sign a trade pact soon after a year of volatile negotiations between the world's two largest economies.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.35 per cent in morning trade after rising 5.6 per cent in December.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Phase-1 of trade deal with China would be signed on January 15 at the White House, though uncertainty surrounds details about the agreement.

Rising hopes for a resolution to the US-China trade war helped propel global equities to record highs late last year and depress the value of the US dollar.

MSCI's all-country world index of stock performance in 49 nations touched an all-time high of 567.80 on December 27. It was last quoted at 565.46, off 0.41 per cent from that peak.

READ MORE ABOUT IT HERE

Shares on focus:

Peninsula Land , a part of the Ashok Piramal Group , has defaulted on loan repayment to the State Bank of India. It was supposed to pay ₹2.35 crore (interest and principal) on November 30 on total principal amount of ₹177.72 crore (tenure: 143 months). The company said it has defaulted on loans, including revolving facilities such as cash credit, from banks and financial institutions. The total outstanding borrowings from banks/FIs (as on November 30, 2019) stood at ₹999.74 crore. 

Shares of VA Tech Wabag will remain in focus, as the company has signed a ₹1,187-crore agreement with the Government of Bihar to build sustainable wastewater infrastructure in Patna under the Namami Gange Programme. The VA Tech-arm, DK Sewage Project Pvt Ltd, an SPV of the company, will design, build and operate for a value of ₹940 crore and hybrid annuity worth around ₹247 crore. Shareholders will closely monitor execution of the project by the company.

Lemon Tree Hotels has signed a license agreement for a 40-room upcoming hotel at Rajpur Road, Dehradun, under the brand ‘Keys Prima’. The hotel is expected to be operational by August, the company said in a notice to the stock exchanges. This would be the third hotel of Lemon Tree and the first under the Keys brand in Dehradun. The hotel is owned by Hotel Aketa Private Limited. Shareholders of Lemon Tree will closely monitor further developments and its execution.

 Opening Bell:

Markets open on a positive note for the January 2. Nifty and Sensex started off in green.

The benchmark indice Nifty 50 stood at 12,205.90, jumping 23.40 points. Whereas, 30-pack sensex opened with 98.21 points jump at 41,404.23.

The top gainers in the Sensex in the opening session were Reliance Capital and Sail with 4.17 and 3.15 per cent jump. The top losers were GNFC and Zee Entertainment Enterprise.

Day Trading Guide for January 2, 2020

₹1279 • HDFC Bank

₹736 • Infosys

₹238 • ITC

₹127 • ONGC

₹1509 • Reliance Ind.

₹334 • SBI

₹2169 • TCS

12243 • Nifty 50 Futures

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

Today's Pick | Phillips Carbon Black (₹122.8): Buy

The stock of Phillips Carbon Black has been in highlight this week and has gained 8.4 per cent accompanied by good volume so far in this week. This rally provides short-term perspective investors an opportunity to buy the stock at current levels.

After an intermediate-term downtrend, the stock took support at around ₹110 in June 2019. Since then, the stock has been in a sideways consolidation phase between ₹110 and ₹135. The lower boundary at ₹110 acts as a significant long-term base for the stock.

The daily relative strength index has entered the bullish zone from the neutral region and the weekly RSI features in the neutral region.

The short-term outlook is bullish. The stock can continue to trend upwards in the ensuing trading sessions. Targets are ₹128 and ₹130.5. Traders can buy the stock with a stop-loss at ₹120. Read more about it here