Closing Bell:

The indices today closed on a red note. The boarder NSE Nifty index closed at 12,223.80, dropping 58.40 or 0.48 per cent. Apart from IT and Pharma all the other sectoral indices closed in a negative zone. The top gainers were Sun Pharma and HCL Tech. The losers were Zee entertainment (tanked 5 per cent) and Asian Paints. About 884 shares advanced, 914 declined and 351 unchanged.

The 30-pack BSE Sensex closed at 41,464.61, dropping 162.03 points or 0.39 per cent. The top gainers were TCS and Sun Pharma, while the losers were Asian Paints and Axis Bank. About 1249 shares advanced, 1278 declined and 187 remained unchanged.

BoB raises ₹920 cr by issuing Basel III compliant bonds

State-owned Bank of Baroda on Friday said it has raised ₹920 crore by issuing Basel III-compliant bonds on private placement basis.

The issue which opened on Thursday and closed the same day, saw a total of 11 allottees through private placement of bonds, the bank said in a BSE filing.

A total of 9,200 bonds, aggregating to ₹920 crore, were issued. - PTI

SBI to sell up to 50 lakh equity shares

State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday said it intends to divest up to 1.0101 per cent (50 lakh equity shares) of its equity shareholding in National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSEIL) through a competitive bidding process.

In its invitation for submission of bids for Partial disinvestment of its stake in NSEIL, India's largest bank said bids should be submitted by the bidders for a minimum lot of 10 lakh shares. Potential bidders have to submit their duly executed bid by 5 pm on January 15.

Nifty falls below 12,200

The broader NSE Nifty indice has reached its day low. It now at 12,195.45, falling 86.75  points or 0.71 per cent. Here are the top gainers and losers :

Insecticides India gets nod for ₹40 cr unit in Gujarat

Agrochemical maker Insecticides India Ltd (IIL) has received an environment clearance for setting up a pesticide manufacturing unit in Bharuch, Gujarat that will entail an investment of ₹40 crore, according to an official document.

The union environment ministry has given the go-ahead to IIL’s proposed project after taking into account the recommendations of a green panel.

The clearance, however, has been given with some conditions, the document added.

Indices extend losses

Since the beginning of today's session, the indices have been constantly falling. Both the benchmark index have now extended their loss to the afternoon session as well.

The Boarder NSE  Nifty index reached 12,209.95, dropping about 72.25 points or 0.59 per cent. Apart from IT and Pharma all the other sectoral indices have been portraying a downward trend. The stock s that gained today in this pack were Sun Pharma, GAIL, and TCS. About 837 shares advanced, 903 declined and 407 remained unchanged.

The 30-pack BSE Sensex showed volatile trend today. In the afternoon session, it dropped about 232.57 points or 0.56 per cent, thus standing at 41,394.07. The gainers of this pack were Sun Pharma, HCL Tech and TCS. The losers were Asian Paints, Titan and State Bank of India.

TVS launches NTORQ 125 Race Edition in Sri Lanka

TVS Motor Company on Friday said it has launched NTORQ 125 Race Edition in Sri Lanka with an eye on cashing in on the turnaround seen in the scooter market in the country.

The Race Edition of the scooter comes with signature LED daytime running lights and LED headlamp besides hazard lamp.

The shares of TVS motor on NSE are trading at Rs.450.85.

Two-wheeler sales continue to skid in December

The two-wheeler industry continued to see a decline in sales during December, similar to the trend witnessed by the car companies, as many were working on upgrading their products to comply with BS-VI norms.

The country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer Hero MotoCorp reported a six per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in domestic sales to 4,12,009 units in December against 4,36,591 units in the corresponding month the previous year.

The company said it was rapidly migrating to the BS-VI regime and has already launched two motorcycles – Splendor iSmart BS-VI and HF Deluxe BS-VI. Similarly, Bajaj Auto reported a 21 per cent YoY decline in sales at 1,24,125 units against 1,57,252 units in December 2018.

READ MORE ABOUT THE SALES SLOWDOWN HERE

MSE strikes the ‘gong’ in new avatar

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to have changed often,” goes the old saying that holds true for the Madras Stock Exchange (MSE) — India’s fourth oldest bourse, and South India’s first.

A shift from the earlier outcry system to online trading, thanks to the advent of technology, and the consequent emergence of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as a primary stock market platform sounded the death knell for regional stock exchanges, and MSE was no exception.

Many regional exchanges realised the obsolescence of their existing business models and embraced broking and depository businesses to stay relevant. In 2001, MSE followed suit, launching a subsidiary, MSE Financial Services Ltd (MSEFSL). READ MORE ABOUT THIS HERE

Company announcement:

InterGlobe Aviation Limited in a NSE filing announced that it is going to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on January 29, 2020 to consider Amendments to the Articles of Association.

The meet is called by the RG Group comprising of Mr. Rakesh Gangwal, Mrs. Shobha Gangwal and The Chinkerpoo Family Trust (Trustee: Ms. Shobha Gangwal and J.P. Morgan Trust Company of Delaware).

Coal India’s allocation to power sector under e-auction drops 23% in April-November 2019

State-owned Coal India (CIL) allocated 16.95 million tonnes (MT) of the dry fuel under special forward e-auction to the power sector in the April-November period of this fiscal, down 22.6 per cent over the year-ago period.

Coal India (CIL) had allocated 21.91 million tonnes (MT) of coal in the April-November period of 2018-19, according to the latest monthly summary by the coal ministry for the Cabinet.

However, the coal allocation by the PSU under the scheme increased to 4.05 MT in November, 2019, over 1.53 MT in November 2018, it said. READ MORE HERE

The shares of Coal India are trading at Rs.210.35 a peice.

Ratan Tata moves Supreme Court

Ratan N Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, has moved the Supreme Court in his personal capacity seeking to set aside National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) order that found him guilty of prejudicial and oppressive acts.

The appellate tribunal in its judgment “holds the appellant (Ratan Tata) guilty of having taken oppressive and prejudicial steps against the interest of the shareholders of Tata Sons”, Tata said in his petition before the apex court.

Brokers urge SEBI to review new margin rules for equity segment

A large number of retail clients and brokers are yet to gear up for SEBI’s new margin norms that came into effect from January 1, with regard to the cash segment. A representation made by brokers to SEBI has highlighted several practical problems in immediately adjusting to SEBI’s circular.

According to a recent circular, even selling of shares would require clients to deposit prior margin with the broker, which was not the case so far. The regulator changed a 14-year-old practice of buying and selling of shares for a large number of retail players in India’s market. The circular was issued by SEBI on November 20, 2019.

Brokers are calling up their clients and asking them to shift their demat accounts to the brokerage or be ready to deposit initial margin money to avail any kind of buying or selling limit. If a client has a demat and trading account with the same broker, margin for selling of the shares may not be required.

Data from depositories NSDL and CDSL show there are nearly four crore demat accounts. A large number of these investors kept their demat and trading accounts with separate entities for safety purpose. Read more about it here

NIFTY CALL: Nifty 50 January Futures (12,250)

The Indian benchmarks are witnessing selling pressure in today’s session. The Nifty spot and the Sensex spot index are down by 0.5 per cent each. Noticeably, the January futures contract of the Nifty 50 index has lost 0.8 per cent so far in today session.

The advance-decline of the Nifty index indicate a clear bear trend as the ratio stands at 11-39. There is a spike in volatility as India VIX, the volatility index, has shot up by 8 per cent to 12.40 levels. Most of the sectoral indices are trading lower, hinting a broad based selling. FOR MORE ON THE TECHNICALS CLICK HERE

The January futures contract of the Nifty index opened lower at 12,294 versus yesterday’s close of 12,339 and has been on a decline since the session open. The contract is struggling to move past the resistance at 12,350 levels, from where the contract has fallen for third time within a month. Hence, only a close above that level in the daily chart can take the contract higher. Since the contract is trading with a negative bias today, traders can initiate fresh short position on intraday rallies with stop loss at 12,310.

Strategy: Sell on intraday rallies with stop loss at 12,310

Supports: 12,230 and 12,200

Resistances : 12,300 and 12,350

Just In:

Dr.Reddy's Laboratories gets shareholders nod for proposed amalgamation between Dr.Reddy' S Holdings Ltd and Co- Reuters

The shares of Dr Reddy's on BSE were at Rs.2886.75 a scrip, a jump of 22.65 points or 0.79 per cent.

Info Edge (India) is set to sell total state in Applect Learning Systems for Rs.500 million. The company had entered an agreement for disinvestment of total shareholding. - Reuters

The shares of Info Edge were trading at Rs.2,564.30 a scrip on NSE.

Shriram Transport to continue to tap overseas markets for funding: S&P

Shriram Transport Finance’s upsizing of multi-currency global medium-term notes programme will further diversify its funding profile, S&P Global Ratings said.

Shriram Transport Finance Co (STFC) has upsized the programme to $3 billion from $2 billion, the rating agency said in a statement.

It believes that STFC will continue to tap international bond markets. Read more about it here

The shares of the company were trading at Rs.1,157.20.

Sensex, Nifty around day's low

Sensex and Nifty have been highly volatile since the opening session. The two ended at high notes in their previous close, but this morning they started off with negative marks.

Currently, smaller pack BSE Sensex is at 41,431.50. It has dropped 195.14 points or 0.47 per cent. Sun Pharma in this pack was the top player, gaining 2.65 per cent change. Others in the green list of the pack were HCL Tech, TCS and Tech Mahindra. In the negative zone were Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. Except Sensex healthcare, Information Technology, TECK, and Oil and Gas, all the other sectoral indices were in the negative zone. About 1124 advanced, 1048 declined, and 166 remained unchanged.

The broader NSE benchmark Nifty was trading at 12,225.60, dropping 56.60 or 0.46 per cent. The top gainer in this pack was also Sun Pharma with 2.67 per cent change. Followed by GAIL, HCL Tech and TCS. The losers were Zee entertainment enterprise with 4.35 per cent change. Others were Eicher Motors, Asian Paints and HDFC Bank. Apart from IT and Pharma all the other sectoral indices are in red. There is around 890 advances, 818 declines and 436 unchanged.

With rising demand, steel prices shoot up

Steel companies have increased steel price by ₹1,500-1,750 a tonne in January with strong demand from across sectors and a firm global demand. This is the highest price hike this fiscal.

Hot-rolled steel prices have been marked up by ₹1,500 a tonne in January to ₹37,500, though it is languishing below the ₹40,000 mark for last eight months.

Last November, steel manufacturers hiked prices for the first time this fiscal by ₹500-750 a tonne in November and followed this with another rise of ₹750-1,000 last month.

Steel prices had been falling consistently since April and touched a low of ₹32,500 a tonne in September from the peak of ₹45,000 a tonne late last year.

Globally, steel prices have gone up by $90-100 and is expected to have an effect on Indian steel prices. So far, steel companies in India have hiked prices by ₹5,000 a tonne despite lingering economic uncertainties.

Tata-Mistry case: NCLAT reserves order on Registrar of Companies plea

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday reserved its order on the plea filed by the Registrar of Companies (RoC) seeking modifications in the judgement in which Cyrus Mistry was reinstated as the executive chairman of Tata Sons.

A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya indicated that its order is likely to come on Monday next week.

During the proceedings, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs said that it was discharging its duty and has not committed any illegality in conversion of Tata Sons from public company to a private company. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

RBI plans third OMO on January 6

Continuing its ‘Operation Twist’ into the new calendar year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Thursday, said it will conduct a special open market operation (OMO), entailing simultaneous purchase and sale of Government of India dated Securities (G-Secs), on January 6.

Unlike the earlier two special OMOs (both conducted in December 2019) when it purchased only one Gsec (which matures in 2029 and carries 6.45 per cent coupon rate), in the forthcoming special OMO, the central bank will purchase three GSecs maturing in 2024 (coupon rate: 7.32 per cent), 2026 (7.27 per cent) and 2029 (6.45 per cent) for an aggregate amount of ₹10,000 crore.

Simultaneously, the RBI will sell four GSecs, all maturing in 2020, but carrying different coupon rates (6.65 per cent, 7.80 per cent, 8.27 per cent and 8.12 per cent) for an aggregate amount of ₹10,000 crore. The central bank had sold these GSecs in the earlier OMOs, too. Read more here

Rupee tanks 24 paise to 71.62 against USD in early trade

The rupee depreciated by 24 paise to 71.62 in early trade on Friday weighed by the spike in crude oil prices, after US President Donald Trump ordered deadly strike on Iranian commander.

Forex traders said crude oil prices surged after US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani.

The US had called the strikes in response to a rocket attack days earlier that had killed an American contractor working in Iraq.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 71.56 then fell further to 71.62 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 24 paise over its previous closing.

SEBI confirms ban order on BMA Wealth

SEBI on Thursday issued an order confirming its ban against stock broker BMA Wealth for alleged misappropriation of client securities worth ₹93 crore. The preliminary facts show that around ₹93.31 crore worth of client securities were misappropriated by BMA, SEBI said.

NSE has found that BMA has failed to report the complete list of DP accounts operated by it to the stock exchanges. The ban has also been imposed against other entities linked to BMA including Shiv Kumar Damani, Anubhav Bhattar, Murgesh Devashrayi, BHR Commodities and three others.

SEBI observed that client securities lying with a stock broker are not permitted to be pledged/ transferred for raising funds by the stock broker. The regulator said that BMA did not comply with SEBI circulars and said that complaints had shown that clients had not authorised BMA to pledge client securities and refused to accept BMA’s arguments that it had deemed consent of its client to pledge their shares.

MCX-Zinc is range-bound; stay on the sidelines

The spot price of Zinc on the MCX seem to be consolidating between ₹182 and ₹185.15, following a downtrend that began in November. Similarly, the January future contract of Zinc Mini on the MCX moves in a sideways trend, even after breaking below an important support at ₹179.25.

Notably, the futures contract continue to trade below the 21-DMA, retaining the short-term bearish trend. For the contract to reverse the trend, it should close above the resistance at ₹182.85 on a daily basis. The RSI and the MACD on the daily chart does not seem to hint a definite direction. READ MORE ABOUT THE MCX-Zinc here

Oil prices jump $1 after US air strike kills Iran, Iraq military personnel

Oil prices jumped more than $1 on Friday after a US air strike killed key Iranian and Iraqi military personnel, raising concerns that escalating Middle East tensions may disrupt oil supplies.

Brent crude futures were at $67.48 a barrel, up $1.23, or 1.86 per cent, by 0202 GMT, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1.03, or 1.68 per cent, to $62.21 a barrel. “The supply side risks remain elevated in West Asia and we could see tensions continue to elevate between the US and Iran-backed militia in Iraq,” Edward Moya, analyst at brokerage OANDA, spoke to Reuters via email.

An air strike at the Baghdad International Airport early on Friday killed Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an Iraqi militia spokesman told Reuters .

Daily Rupee call: Go short at 71.45 with stop loss at 71.3

File photo

The rupee (INR) ended the day lower on Thursday at 71.37 versus its previous close of 71.22 against the dollar (USD). However, the forward spread of USDINR remains at previous day’s level i.e. 304 points. Thus, the exchange rate yesterday closed within the range between 71.2 and 71.4.

However, in today’s session the rupee has opened much lower at 71.61, breaking below the range. This opens the door for further depreciation. Currently trading at 71.55, the immediate support is at 71.6, below which the support is at 71.88. But if it strengthens from current levels, it will face hindrance at 71.4. Resistance above that level is at 71.2.  FOR MORE ON THE RUPEE CALL CLICK HERE

Trade strategy:

As the Indian currency has broken below the range, it can be approached with a bearish bias. But from a trading perspective, the risk-reward ratio is not favourable for short positions at current levels. Thus, traders are recommended to initiate rupee shorts if it rallies to 71.45 and place stop loss at 71.3.

Supports: 71.6 and 71.88

Resistances: 71.4 and 71.2

NSE Gainers and Losers:

Nifty 50 has been trading at 12,252.90 thus moving away from day's low. The top gainers in this was ONGC with 2.41 per cent change. Followed by GAIL, and TCS.

The top losers in the list were Zee Entertainment Enterprises losing 4 per cent. BPCL, Eicher Motors followed the list.

SBI, Union Bank to sell NPAs of ₹2,836 crore this month

State Bank of India (SBI) and Union Bank of India are looking to sell their non-performing loans totalling ₹2,836 crore to banks, asset reconstruction companies and other financial institutions.

While SBI has put on sale ₹1,554.87 crore of three assets, state-run Union Bank of India has invited bids to sell 11 NPAs worth ₹1,280.87 crore, according to separate public notices by the two lenders.

The NPAs will be sold through e-auctions in January. In a notice issued on Thursday, SBI said it will sell two NPAs – Rohit Ferro Tech with an outstanding amount of ₹1,313.67 crore and Impex Ferro Tech with dues of ₹200.67 crore – on January 17. Read more about it here

SBI shares are trading at Rs.336.95 a scrip and Union Bank stocks are at Rs.55.20 a scrip.

Dharani Sugars and Chemicals defaults on ₹595-crore loan

Dharani Sugars and Chemicals, on Thursday, said it has defaulted on loans aggregating ₹595.32 crore to 12 lenders, including Indian Bank, State Bank of India, IREDA and Sugar Development Fund.

In a regulatory filing, the company said date of default was December 31, 2019. The default in principal and interest were ₹514.61 crore and ₹80.71 crore, respectively, it added.

The stocks of the company are trading at Rs.7.81, with a jump of 0.27 points or 3.58 per cent.

Broker's call: PTC India (BUY)

CAPITALVIA GLOBAL RESEARCH

PTC India (BUY)

CMP: ₹56.6

TGT: ₹65

PTC India is one of the leading providers of power trading solutions in India, which was established in 1999 as a public-private partnership initiated by Government of India. The primary focus of the organisation is to develop the country as a commercially vibrant power market.

Driven by the vision to create a vibrant power market the company has made forays into fuel intermediation, renewable sources as well as investment in energy assets. PTC India is authorised to trade electricity with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. A variety of items in energy trading market are attributed to the firm to satisfy the customer divergent needs.

The top line of company rose by 4.04 per cent to ₹4,786.18 crore, whereas the bottom line of the organisation grew by 40.97 per cent to ₹134.9 crore. Moreover, the trading activities undertaken by PTC includes long term trading of power generated from large power projects as well as short term trading arising as a result of imbalance between supply and demand.

Aligning the response of the firm to shape its dream and considering its financials, we recommend ‘buy’ on PTC with a target price of ₹65.

Asian stocks extend New Year cheer

Asian shares extended their New Year's rally on Friday after Wall Street struck another record high on fresh Chinese stimulus while oil spiked after US air strikes in Iraq heightened geopolitical tensions.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan touched its highest point since June 15, 2018 in early trade, but later pared gains. It was last up 0.31 per cent. The index had finished at its highest close in more than 18 months on Thursday, lifted by a New Year's Day announcement from China's central bank that it would cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, releasing release around 800 billion yuan ($114.87 billion).

Against the backdrop of a thaw in trade relations between the United States and China, global markets have seen renewed appetite for risk assets. FOR MORE ON THIS CLICK HERE

Markets up

South Korean factory activity also improved in December, returning to growth after seven straight months of contraction. “The South Korea data, a bellwether for global trade and technology, shines a massive ray optimism confirming that the rebound in the world economy is taking place, which is being viewed in an extremely positive light by global investors,” Stephen Innes, strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note.

South Korean shares added 0.28 per cent on Friday. China's CSI300 index, one of the world's best-performing indexes last year, was 0.15 per cent higher. Australian shares added 0.97 per cent. Markets in Japan remain closed for a national holiday.

Overnight, Wall Street's major indexes notched record highs in their first session of the decade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.16 per cent to 28,868.8. The S&P 500 gained 0.84 per cent to 3,257.85 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.33 per cent to 9,092.19.

The more optimistic outlook for trade and expectations that US out performance will gradually wane continued to depress the US dollar, which fell 0.42 per cent against the yen to 108.11.

The dollar also fell against the euro, which added 0.03 per cent to $1.1174. The dollar index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of six major rivals, was down 0.11 per cent at 96.735. A weak dollar continued to burnish the value of gold, driving the precious metal 0.5 per cent higher on the spot market to $1,536.54 per ounce.

Stocks in Focus

Vipul Organics has received the ‘consent to operate’ order from the Maharashtra Pollution Board for its new factory at Tarapur, Palghar. The approval to manufacture synthetic organic dyestuffs, pigment powder and pigment dispersions and intermediates, is valid for five years. While Vipul Organics is commencing the production of pigment dispersion immediately, production of other products such as dyestuffs and pigments would start from January 16, it said in a notice.

HDFC and its subsidiary HDFC Ergo have received all necessary approvals to acquire majority stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance Co. After acquiring majority stake in Apollo Munich from the Apollo Hospitals group, it will merge the company with its arm HDFC Ergo. HDFC will acquire 50.8 per cent from the Apollo Hospitals group for ₹1,336 crore and 0.4 per cent from the employees for ₹10.84 crore. The acquisition by HDFC is expected to be completed by January 9, it had then said.

Sterlite Technologies has bagged a ₹1,800-crore project from Telangana Fiber Grid Corporation (T-Fiber) to create a high speed rural broadband network. Telangana has initiated T-Fiber to provide broadband connectivity up to the household level across the State by rolling out optical fiber and network infrastructure. Sterlite Technologies was awarded a work order for about ₹1,100 crore for Phase 1 of the project. Shareholders will closely monitor the execution.

Opening Bell:

After a almost record high closing last session, the Sensex and Nifty today opened with a drop.

The benchmark broader NSE Nifty indice opened at 12,246.25, showing a drop of 35.95 points or 0.29 per cent.

The 30-pack BSE Sensex opened with a 119 points drop at 41,507.64. Asian Paints and Axis Bank are under pressure today.

Today's Stock Pick: Jindal Steel & Power (₹173.4): Buy

Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL)

 

Investors with a short-term perspective can buy the stock of Jindal Steel & Power at current levels. The stock has been in a short-term uptrend since taking support at ₹132 in mid-December 2019. While trending up, the stock had decisively breached its 200-DMA and trades well above 50- and 200-DMAs.

The medium-term trend is also up for the stock since it took base at ₹91 in early October 2019. FOR MORE ON THIS TECHNICALS CLICK HERE

The daily and the weekly price rate of change indicators hover in the positive territory indicating buying interest.

Overall, the short-term outlook is bullish for the stock. It can continue to trend upwards and reach the price targets of ₹181 and ₹184 in the short-term. Traders can buy the stock at current levels with a stop-loss at ₹169.

Day Trading Guide

₹1286 • HDFC Bank

₹734 • Infosys

₹239 • ITC

₹128 • ONGC

₹1535 • Reliance Ind.

₹339 • SBI

₹2157 • TCS

12339 • Nifty 50 Futures

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

COMMENT NOW