Closing bell: Equity indices moved in a narrow range on Friday, as investors looked for further stimulus to revive the economy, while the finance minister assuring of a pick up in growth cheered fast-moving consumer goods sector stocks.

The broader NSE index ended down 0.51 per cent at 11,512.40, while the benchmark BSE index closed marginally lower at 38,822.57.

India's economic growth, which fell to a six-year low, would pick up in the October-March period as consumer demand is expected to improve, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday.

The Finance Minister's comments lifted shares of FMCG companies staring at job losses due to a demand crunch, especially in rural India.

All the sectoral indices ended the day in the red. The NSE's FMCG sub-index marginally down 0.01 per cent. Procter & Gamble, was up 5.92 per cent.

Among the main losers, Lakshmi Vilas Bank's shares fell nearly 5 per cent after economic offences wing filed a case of fraud against the bank's directors on Thursday.

Nifty sectoral indices at close

USFDA alert on ranitidine: No major impact on exports yet, says Pharmexcil

As the ring of suspicion on quality concerns over heartburn drug ranitidine continue to linger and more companies recall the blockbuster drug, both drugmakers and millions of consumers are keeping their fingers crossed. On September 13, the USFDA had issued an alert that indicated traces of N-nitrosodimethylamine had been found in the popular drug. Read more here

Rupee reverses early losses as crude oil drops over 1 per cent

The rupee recovered from early lows to trade higher against the US currency in afternoon session following more than 1 per cent drop in crude oil prices in global markets.

The domestic currency was trading up by 10 paise at 70.78 at 1.25 pm against the dollar which otherwise was ruling high in overseas markets.

The rupee opened lower and fell further to 70.93 as the US currency rose to multi-weeks high against the major currencies like euro.

The rupee moved in a range of 70.76 to 70.93 in day trade. It had closed at 70.88 to the US dollar on Thursday.

Weakening crude oil prices following a quick recovery in Saudi Arabia’s production, which was hit by attacks at its refineries two weeks ago, helped the rupee stem losses.

Nifty Call: Go short with stop-loss at 11,635

The Sensex and the Nifty began the day in negative territory taking cues from the weak global markets. After an initial rally, both the indices slipped into red and continue to hover in the negative territory. The Nikkei 225 has slipped 0.7 per cent to 21,878 and Hang Seng is marginally down by 0.2 per cent to 25,984 in today's session.

The market breadth of the Nifty is biased towards declines. The Volatility index- India VIX is down by 0.2 per cent to 16.3 levels. Both the Nifty mid and small-cap indices have slumped 0.5 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively. Selling pressure is seen in the Nifty metal, auto and realty sectoral indices. While the Nifty FMGC, Financial service and IT sectoral indices are slightly hovering in the positive territory.

Vishwaraj Sugar plans ₹60-crore public float

Vishwaraj Sugar Industries will tap the equity market through an IPO to raise ₹60 crore through offer-for-sale and fresh equity issuance.

The issue, which will be open for subscription between next Monday and Friday, has a price band of ₹55-60 a share and the minimum quantity for subscription is 240 equity shares. The equity shares will be listed on the BSE and the NSE.  Read more here

Fairfax Financial Holdings sells nearly 5% stake in ICICI Lombard

FAL Corporations, which is a subsidiary of Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings has sold nearly half its stake in private sector insurer ICICI Lombard General Insurance.

According to data with BSE, FAL sold 2.26 crore shares at a price of Rs.1,129.68 apiece on Thursday through a block deal.

PNB Board approves capital raising of upto Rs 3,000 crore via Tier-I bonds

Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) Board has given its nod for capital raising of upto Rs 3,000 crore.

The fund raising will happen in the form of Additional Tier-I Basel-III compliant perpetual bonds amounting up to Rs 3,000 crore in or more tranches, PNB said in a late evening filing with stock exchanges. Read more here

Rana Kapoor, promoter group holdings in Yes Bank falls by over 4.5% in a week

Amidst reports that  Yes Bank  co-promoter and  co-founder Rana Kapoor is in talks to sell his stake in the private sector lender, his promoter group companies – Morgan Credits Private Ltd and Yes Capital have sold off a large part of their holding in the bank.

On Thursday, Yes Capital (India) Private Ltd sold 1.8 per cent stake in the bank. As on June 30, 2019, Yes Capital held 3.26 per cent stake in the lender. Similarly, Morgan Credits Pvt Ltd has sold 2.75 per cent stake in the lender. As on Juen30, it had held 3.03 per cent stake in Yes Bank. Read more here

Rollover numbers hint Nifty50 may struggle to cross 12,000

The rollover of open interests on Nifty50 indicates that the index may struggle to breach 12,000.

While the rollover at 73 per cent is slightly lower when compared with a three month average of 74 per cent, it is somewhat higher than the last month. Many shorts got squeezed in the previous month stellar rally, and a fresh bout of long positions was added primarily during the last few days of expiry. The premium of Nifty50 futures over the spot has also widened, presenting a positive bias. Read the full technicals here

Rupee slips against dollar

The rupee slipped to 70.93 against the US currency in opening trade on Friday amid a stronger dollar in overseas markets.

The domestic currency was trading lower by 5 paise at 70.93 at 0925 hrs against the US currency. The rupee moved in a range of 70.93 to 70.89 at the interbank foreign exchange market in opening trade.

It had closed at 70.88 on Thursday on foreign fund inflows.

The US dollar rose to multi-weeks high against major global currencies as the impeachment probe into US President Donald Trump weighed on investor sentiment.

Markets update: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty started on a volatile note on Friday, tracking weak cues from global markets as concerns over US political uncertainty kept investors on edge.

At 10.45 am, the 30-share index is trading 105.72 points lower at 38,884.02 points, while the broader Nifty down 37.95 points, to 11,533.25.

In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE barometer ended 396.22 points, or 1.03 per cent, higher at 38,989.74. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty soared 131 points, or 1.15 per cent, to end at 11,571.20.

Top losers in the Sensex pack in early trade included Yes Bank, Tata Motors, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, ONGC, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank and Hero MotoCorp, shedding up to 3 per cent.

On the other hand, ITC, NTPC, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, SBI, HCL Tech, HDFC and Maruti rose up to 2 per cent.

According to traders, market volatility has heightened as concerns over US President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry has made investors nervous around the globe.

Adani Enterprises' airport foray in focus

Adani Enterprises has incorporated Adani Ahmedabad International Airport and Adani Jaipur International Airport on Thursday with an authorised share capital of ₹1 lakh each.

The new companies will carry out operations and maintenance related activities of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and Jaipur International Airport, respectively.

Adani Enterprises had received a letter of award from the Airports Authority of India in July for Ahmedabad airport.

Muthoot Finance: NCD issue opens today

Shares of Muthoot Finance will remain in focus, as its ₹100 crore secured redeemable non-convertible debentures will open for subscription on Friday. The issue has an option to retain oversubscription up to ₹900 crore, which is within the shelf limit of ₹4,000 crore.

The coupon rate ranges from 9.25 per cent to 10 per cent under various tenor. The NCDs were rated ICRA AA (Stable) and Crisil AA/Stable. Investors would monitor the response to the issue.

Tribunal gives tax relief for trusts investing in pass-through certificates

In a significant relief for trusts, the Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has upheld that tax liability of revenue generated via investment in pass-through certificates (PTCs) should fall upon investors and not the trust.

A large number of Mutual Funds (MFs) were investors in PTCs issued by Trusts. Read the full story here

Opening bell: The stock market opened on a negative note on Friday tracking weak global cues as US stocks slipped on Thursday as the release of a whistleblower complaint against President Donald Trump kept uncertainties high.

The Sensex is down 134.59 points at 38,855.15 while Nifty is down 48.05 points at 11,523.15. About 433 shares have advanced, 385 shares declined, and 33 shares are unchanged.

Today's Pick - Vedanta (₹166.1): Buy

The stock of Vedanta jumped 6.5 per cent accompanied by above average volume on Thursday breaking above a key resistance at ₹160 as well as a flag pattern. This pattern is a continuation pattern which implies preceding trend will continue. In this case, the previous trend is up and the stock will extend the uptrend. Read more on the technical call

Given below are supports and resistances for Nifty 50 futures and seven key stocks that can help in your intra-day trading:

₹1242 • HDFC Bank

₹782 • Infosys

₹250 • ITC

₹136 • ONGC

₹1296 • Reliance Ind.

₹281 • SBI

₹2087 • TCS

11569 • Nifty 50 Futures

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

Asian markets drop to 3-week low, U.S. politics adds to gloom

Asian shares slipped to three-week lows on Friday as the release of a whistleblower complaint against U.S. President Donald Trump added to uncertainties about the global economy, already reeling from the China-U.S. trade war.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.42%, having fallen 1.72% so far this week, while Japan's Nikkei slid 1.27%.

U.S. S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% in Asian trading after the index dropped 0.24% on Thursday.

A whistleblower report released on Thursday said President Donald Trump not only abused his office in attempting to solicit Ukraine's interference in the 2020 U.S. election for his political benefit, but that the White House tried to “lock down” evidence about that conduct.

The report came after the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi launched an impeachment inquiry into him this week.

“The start of the impeachment inquiry adds a new element of uncertainties to markets, in addition to ongoing concerns about the U.S.-China trade war and the risk of a U.S. recession,” said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

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