Closing bell: The market was range-bound throughout Thursday and finally settled in red marginally in a listless trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended lower 38.44 points, or 0.10 per cent, to close at 39,020.39. The broader NSE Nifty settled 21.70 points, or 0.19 per cent, lower at 11,582.40.

Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Eicher Motors, HCL Technologies and Titan rose up to 3.23 per cent.

On the other hand, Bharti Infratel, Grasim, Yes Bank, SBI and GAIL fell up to 7.98 per cent.

Sectorally, except for Nifty realty, all the indices dropped up to 3.45 per cent lead by Nifty PSU Bank index.

NSE sectoral indices at 3.15 pm

Opening up of auto fuel retail biz will succeed only with stable price regime

A rather radical decision was taken by Narendra Modi-led government to open up India’s auto fuel retail business for non-oil companies as well. While it will mean more players in the market, but it may not necessarily mean lower prices at petrol pumps until a stable price regime is assured. It will also prove detrimental for public sector oil marketing companies -- who own almost 90 per cent of the market share. Read the full analysis here

Here’s how SC ruling on Adjusted Gross Revenue will impact Airtel, Vodafone Idea

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Centre's decision on the definition of adjusted gross revenue. This will have major ramifications for incumbent operators Airtel and Vodafone Idea. 

What is AGR?

Telecom operators are required to pay licence fee and spectrum charges in the form of revenue share to the Government. The revenue amount used to calculate the revenue share is knows as AGR. While the Department of Telecom wants income earned by the operators from things such as bank deposits included as AGR, operators believe that the income earned from telecom services should be counted. For full read click here

Infosys: Go short only below Rs 600

The Infosys stock faced a shocker this week and crashed by 16 per cent on Tuesday morning. The reason was a letter from a whistleblower group that accused the CEO of unethical practices.

But after registering a low of ₹615.1 on Wednesday, which is a 10-month low, the stock is trying to stabilise. Read more on the technicals here

JSW Steel Q2: Subdued volumes and weak realisations dampen profitability

Given the subdued economic activity, the earnings of  JSW Steel  for the quarter ended September 2019 was expected to be weak. Revenue for the company fell by about 18 per cent to ₹17,572 crore, while net profit fell 73 per cent to about ₹560 crore (even after adjusting the tax reversal made on account of recent corporate tax rate cut) when compared to the same period a year ago. Read more on the analysis here

Maruti Q2 net profit drops 39% to Rs 1,391 cr

The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Thursday reported 38.99 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,391.1 crore in the second quarter ended September 30. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,280.2 crore in the same period a year ago.

How have large-cap funds fared on rolling return basis?

Recently, there has been a lot of concern over the underperformance of the actively managed large-cap funds as a category against their benchmarks on a trailing return (point-to-point) basis.

However, trailing returns alone are not sufficient to gauge the performance. Rolling return, which is arrived at by multiple point-to-point returns across different time periods, gives a more comprehensive picture and is a better metric to assess the performance of funds over the long run. Read more here

Why Asian Paints continues to draw investor interest

The stock of Asian Paints, one of the largest paint-makers in the country, has rallied over 55 per cent in the last one year in an otherwise volatile market. This is thanks to softening crude prices and strong sales in the economy products category in the last one year. Read more on the analysis here

Cadila Healthcare gets USFDA nod for Haloperidol Decanoate injection

Drug firm Cadila Healthcare on Thursday said it has received approval from the USFDA for Haloperidol Decanoate injection used in treatment of schizophrenia.

The product will be manufactured at Liva Pharma’s manufacturing facility at Vadodara, Cadila Healthcare said in a BSE filing.

Rupee outlook: Rupee continues to display strength

The rupee on Wednesday opened marginally weaker, but it gained during the course of the day, closing above the resistance of 71 against the dollar for second successive trading session. This is a positive indication and the domestic currency can be expected to further appreciate from current level.

The level of 71 will now turn in to a support. If the rupee continues appreciating, next targets are 70.75 and then 70.35. If rupee begins slipping, support beyond 71 is at 71.2. Read more on the technicals here

L&T reports stellar Q2 numbers thanks to diversified business

The slowdown in economic activity impacted the performance of most companies in the infrastructure and construction space. L&T also saw a 33 per cent YoY drop in its order inflows during the quarter, in its infrastructure segment. This can predominantly be attributed to the company’s heavy dependence on public sector orders (for this segment) and the huge delays in order awarding by the Centre and several state governments.

However, thanks to the large value order wins in hydrocarbon, buildings & factories and power businesses, the overall order inflows were up by 22 per cent YoY. Read the full insight here

Dr Reddy's confirms Ranitidine recall in US market; shares drop 1.77%

Hyderabad-based pharma multi-national company Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd confirmed in wee hours of Thursday that it had decided to take off shelves the controversial anti-acidity drug Ranitidine in US markets. The voluntary nationwide recall of all products of Ranitidine expiring between September 2019 to June 2021, was initiated on October 1, at the retail level for over-the-counter products and at the consumer level for prescription products of all of its ranitidine medications sold in the US due to confirmed contamination with N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) above standards established by the FDA, an alert issued by the US-FDA stated.

Shares of Dr Reddy's fell by 1.77 per cent to trade at ₹2,776.70 on the National Stock Exchange, as compared to previous day's closing.

Auditing regulator, NFRA to look into alleged irregularities at Infosys

The government has asked the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) to look into alleged accounting irregularities at Infosys in the wake of whistleblower complaints, a senior official said on Thursday.

NFRA is an independent regulator for the auditing profession which comes under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

The senior government official told PTI that NFRA had been asked to look into alleged accounting irregularities and related unethical practices.

Arvind Fashions gets board nod for ₹300-cr rights issue

The board of directors of denim maker, Arvind Fashions , on Wednesday approved raising ₹300 crore through a rights issue.

This is to pare some debt of the company and meet the general corporate purposes including capital expenditure and working capital requirements of the company.

The company also announced its financial results for the second quarter of the current fiscal with standalone net loss of ₹1.31 crore on total income of ₹281.21 crore.

Broker's call: Axis Bank (Buy)

CMP: ₹714.8

Target: ₹800

Axis Bank ’s Q2-FY20 operating metrics were largely in line with our estimates, with NII and PPoP growth of 16 per cent and 45 per cent respectively. The miss in PAT estimates was mainly driven by higher provisions and the one-off impact of DTA markdown of ₹2,140 crore during the quarter, excluding which PAT grew by 157 per cent y-o-y to ₹20.2bn (low base). Read more here

Government accords 'Maharatna' status to PowerGrid Corporation

The government on Wednesday accorded 'Maharatna' status to Power Grid Corporation of India Limited .

A statement from PGCIL said that RK Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, New & Renewable Energy had announced this at its 30th Raising Day Celebrations of the company held on October 23.

The Maharatna status provides enhanced powers to the Board of PowerGrid to facilitate the expansion of operations, both in domestic as well as global markets, the statement added.

Larsen & Toubro shares rise over 2% post Q2 results

Larsen & Toubro shares on Thursday gained over 2 per cent after the company posted over 13 per cent rise in its consolidated profit after tax for the quarter ended September.

Shares of the company gained 2.44 per cent to Rs 1,466 on the BSE. On the NSE, the scrip rose 2.45 per cent to Rs 1,467.

The company on Wednesday posted over 13 per cent rise in its consolidated profit after tax at Rs 2,527.26 crore for the quarter ended September 30.

It had posted a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 2,230.49 crore in the year-ago period, Larsen & Toubro said in a filing to the BSE.

“The overall PAT at Rs 2,527 crore, including the PAT from discontinued operations for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, grew by 13.3 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous (financial year),” the company said in a statement.

US SEC investigates Infosys on whistleblower complaints

Infosys Ltd said on Thursday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had launched an investigation into whistleblower claims that the Indian software services firm used 'unethical practices' to boost revenue and profit.

The company said, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, had also requested additional information from the company concerning the complaints.

A securities class action lawsuit has also been filed against the company in a U.S. federal court based on the complaints, the company said, adding that it intends to defend itself “vigorously”.

Markets update: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex ticked up nealy nearly half a percent in early trade on Thursday tracking gains in index heavyweights HDFC twins and L&T amid mixed global cues.

After hitting a high of 39,327.15, the 30-share index was trading 54.46 points, or 0.14 per cent, higher at 39,113.29 in morning trade, and the broader NSE Nifty advanced 13.65 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 11,617.75.

HCL Tech was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, after the IT major on Wednesday posted a 6.9 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2,711 crore for the September 2019 quarter, and raised its revenue growth forecast to 15-17 per cent for 2019-20 on the back of strong deal pipeline.

TechM, Tata Motors, L&T, Vedanta, Yes Bank, ITC, Bajaj Auto, HDFC twins and Kotak Bank rose too up to 2 per cent.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, ONGC, PowerGrid, Bajaj Finance and Hero MotoCorp fell up to 2 per cent.

Shriram Transport Finance: Results, fund-raise eyed

The Board of Shriram Transport Finance Company will meet on Thursday to consider unaudited financial results (standalone and consolidated) of the company for the second quarter and half year ended September 30, 2019, declaration of interim dividend, and periodical resource mobilisation plan involving issue of debt securities in the ordinary course of business and raising funds by way of external commercial borrowings. Investors will focus on results and fund-raising plans.

IMPAL shares to turn ex-bonus on Friday

Shares of India Motor Parts & Accessories will turn ex-bonus on Friday. The company is rewarding its shareholders with one bonus share for every two shares held (1:2). Investors wishing to receive the bonus shares from IMPAL need to buy the company’s shares by Thursday.

Currently, promoters hold 30.71 per cent stake in the Chennai-based company; among the public, FPIs hold 9.06 per cent stake and about 7,000 small shareholders own 30.92 per cent stake, NSE data reveal.

Opening bell : It is positive start for the benchmark indices on Thursday with Nifty opened around 11,650 level.

At 09:15 hours, the Sensex is up 262.35 points at 39,321.18, while Nifty rises 57.55 points at 11,661.65.

HCL Technologies, L&T, Yes Bank, Vedanta and Titan are trading higher, while on the other hand Yes Bank, Maruti, Grasim, Dr Reddy's and Tata Motors are trending lower.

Among sectors, except metal all other sectors are trading lower.

Day Trading Guide for October 24, 2019

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

₹1241 • HDFC Bank

₹650 • Infosys

₹251 • ITC

₹141 • ONGC

₹1392 • Reliance Ind.

₹275 • SBI

₹2075 • TCS

11624 • Nifty 50 Futures

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

Today's Pick - India Cements (₹82.4): Buy

Investors with a short-term horizon and contrarian view can buy the stock of India Cements at current levels. The stock’s medium-term downtrend got arrested in late August this year at a 52-week low of ₹67.9. Subsequently, the stock took support from around ₹70 and reversed direction.  Click here to read the technicals

Asian shares edge up; investors anxious over earnings, Brexit

Asian shares pulled ahead on Thursday with corporate earnings buffeting trading as investors remained anxious about the business impact of the Sino-U.S. trade war while Brexit uncertainties kept overall sentiment in check.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2% with Japan's Nikkei up 0.5% at a one-year high. Australian shares climbed 0.5% while South Korea's KOSPI inched 0.4% higher. Read the full report here

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