Closing bell: Equity indices ended higher on Thursday, in line with gains in Asian markets, as investors cheered US President Donald Trump hinting at a possible China-US trade deal.

The broader NSE index ended up 1.22 per cent at 11,573.30, while the benchmark BSE index closed higher 1.03 per cent to 38,989.74.

Trump said on Wednesday a deal to end a nearly 15-month trade war with China “could happen sooner” than people think, which would remove a considerable shadow over the global economic outlook.

Metal stocks led gains on the NSE index, with the sector's subindex rising 4.32 per cent. Vedanta leads the increase by closing 6.88 per cent higher.

Favourable oil prices also moved oil companies. Hindustan Petroleum rose 6.17 per cent, while ONGC ended up 3.88 per cent.

Among losers, Yes Bank shares shed 4.66 per cent and while that of Indiabulls Housing dropped 3.35 per cent.

NSE sectoral indices @ 3 pm

ICRA revises outlook on construction equipment sector to negative on slowing economic growth

Ratings agency ICRA on Thursday revised the outlook on construction equipment (CE) sector to ‘negative’, citing sharp drop in unit sales amidst slowing economic growth.

ICRA said it has revised the outlook on the sector following a sharp correction in unit sales amidst slowing economic growth and infrastructure investments, both by public and private sector, and tight liquidity environment

NCLAT allows Dutch court administrator to be part of Jet Airways' CoC

National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has allowed the Dutch court administrator to be a part of the Jet Airways' Committee of Creditor (CoC) meetings. NCLAT also finalized the cross-border insolvency protocol for the airline.

Jet Airways was declared bankrupt in a Netherlands court after two European creditors filed a a complaint against the airline.  Read more here

It’s discount time for auto and electronic companies

Slowdown blues aren’t dissuading auto and electronics companies from offering discounts and benefits this festive season.

Passenger car and two-wheeler makers are rolling out discounts and offers to revive customer demand, even as the automobile industry continues to grapple with one of the worst slowdowns ever. Phone makers and electronic companies are also following suit. Read more here

Airtel versus Reliance Jio. Who is right on IUC debate?

Airtel and Reliance Jio have started a fresh debate over the issue of bringing interconnect usage charges to zero. While Airtel wants the charges to be increased from 6 paise a minute to 14 paise, Reliance Jio wants it to be brought down to zero by January 2020.  BusinessLine  has put together the differences between the two sides on key questions related to IUC. Read the full insight here

HDFC Bank emerges as India’s most valuable brand

Largest private sector lender HDFC Bank has emerged as the most valued Indian brand at USD 22.70 billion.

The list of top ten brands, prepared by the world’s largest media buyer WPP, includes companies from banking, financial services and insurance, telecom and auto segments. A brand’s overall fortunes had a direct bearing on the brand valuations, as seen in the telecom space, where Airtel’s value fell by 10 per cent to USD 10 billion, while Reliance Jio’s value went up by 34 per cent to USD 5.47 billion. Read more here

Hinduja Global Solutions bags contract to support UK’s Disclosure and Barring Service

Zydus receives final approval from the USFDA for Clobetasol Propionate Lotion

Nifty call: Tread with caution as contract trades in a broad range

The Nifty 50 index bounced back sharply after a weak session yesterday. The index is trading up by 0.5 per cent today even though the Asian indices are providing mixed cues. Nikkei and Hang Seng are trading with a gain of 0.2 per cent each, but DJ Shanghai is down by 0.8 per cent. Like Nifty, the Sensex too has gained by 0.4 per cent in today’s session. Read the technical call here

Patel Engineering rights issue on Thursday

The ₹206.95-crore rights issue of Patel Engineering opens on Thursday and will close on October 10. The company plans to issue up to 22.99 crore shares for cash at a price of ₹9 a share to eligible shareholders in the ratio of seven equity shares for every five fully paid-up equity shares held by them on the record date (September 18, 2019).

The company has fixed the issue price at ₹9/share. Investors will closely monitor the response from the shareholders to the issue.

South Asia Climate Forum sees a normal North-East monsoon this year

The 15th session of the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF-15) that met in Thiruvananthapuram from  September 23 to 25, has extended a normal outlook for North-East monsoon for India this year.

Above normal rainfall is likely during the October to November season for most parts of Sri Lanka, Maldives and the eastern parts of Myanmar. Read more on the weather forecast here

Axis Bank QIP over-subscribed, raises Rs 12,500 crore

Private sector lender,  Axis Bank , on Thursday said its qualified institutional placement was over-subscribed, with the aggregate final transaction size being Rs 12,500 crore.

“We understand that the transaction is the largest ever QIP by a private sector issuer in India. Despite a challenging macro-economic and market environment, the placement received a strong reception from the global and domestic investor community,” it said in a statement. Read more here

Rupee rises to 70.90 against USD in early trade

The rupee appreciated by 14 paise to 70.90 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, as indications of a earlier than expected US-China trade deal strengthened investor sentiments.

Forex traders said investor confidence improved after US President Donald Trump said that trade deal with China could happen sooner than expected. Read more

Can OTT platforms displace cable TV and DTH?

Penetration of the television market in India is at 64 per cent and is intensely competitive. Television networks such as Zee, Sun and Star continue to increase their programming hours, offer new content and TV shows in many genres.

However, with cheaper internet and less expensive mobile data plans, more people are taking to watching video content online through mobile phones and tablets rather than on television. Read the insight here

Broker's call: Bata India (Buy)

Bata India reported a very good set of 1QFY20 numbers on all counts on both quarterly as well as on a yearly basis. The top line of the company grew by 30 per cent q-o-q and 11 per cent y-o-y to ₹883 crore in 1QFY20 as against ₹798 crore in 1QFY19. EBITDA for the quarter grew by 154 per cent q-o-q and 84 per cent y-o-y to ₹243 crore in 1QFY20 as against ₹132 crore in 1QFY19. Read more here.

Tata Steel eyes new businesses to tackle future challenges

From setting up scrapyards to steel recycling plants to developing new materials like graphene, Tata Steel is looking to seed new businesses in a bid to limit the impact of uncertain steel pricing on its revenues.

T V Narendran, Managing Director, Tata Steel, told BusinessLine that 30 per cent of the company’s revenues would come from non-core businesses in five years. Currently, it gets about 10 per cent revenues from these initiatives.

“We are planting seeds for the future. One seed is the service and solution, the other is our new materials business where we are working with graphene,” said Narendran.

Markets update: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex rallied over 400 points in early session on Thursday, led by gains in banking stocks, tracking positive cues from global markets.

After hitting a high of 39,008.83, the 30-share index was trading 384.54 points, or 1 per cent, higher at 38,978.06 at 0945 hours, while the broader Nifty rose 120.75 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 11,560.95.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE barometer ended 503.62 points, or 1.29 per cent, lower at 38,593.52. The broader NSE Nifty plunged 148 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 11,440.20.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack in early trade included ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, L&T, M&M, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Tata Steel, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra and Asian Paints, surging up to 3 per cent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank, HCL Tech, SBI, Infosys, HDFC, PowerGrid, ITC, Sun Pharma and TCS fell up to 3 per cent.

Aarti Industries shares to turn ex-bonus

Shares of Aarti Industries will turn ex-bonus on Friday. The specialty chemicals company is rewarding its shareholders with one bonus share for every share held. Shareholders and investors wishing to receive the bonus shares need to buy the company’s shares by Thursday.

Currently, the promoters hold 48.97 per cent stake in the company. Among the public, MFs hold 14.88 per cent, foreign portfolio investors 7.75 per cent and small retail investors 11.55 per cent.

Opening bell: It is a positive start for the equity indices on the back of firm global cues.

The Sensex is up 245.64 points at 38,839.16, while Nifty up 65.30 points at 11,505. In the BSE, about 734 shares have advanced, 304 shares declined, and  shares are unchanged.

Wall Street rises: U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors looked past Democrats' attempt to impeach President Donald Trump, while Nike shares jumped on upbeat quarterly results.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 170.69 points, or 0.64%, to 26,978.46, the S&P 500 gained 18.76 points, or 0.63%, to 2,985.36 and the Nasdaq Composite added 86.81 points, or 1.09%, to 8,080.44.

Today's Pick - Century Plyboards India (₹154.9): Buy

The stock of Century Plyboards India gained 3.4 per cent breaking above a key immediate resistance at ₹150. This rally has strengthened the short-term uptrend. Investors with a short-term perspective can buy the stock at current levels.

After a medium-term downtrend, the stock found support at ₹112 in early August this year. Thereafter, it changed direction triggered by positive divergence in the daily relative strength index and price rate of change indicators. Since then, the stock has been in a short-term uptrend. While trending up the stock had decisively breached its 21- and 50-DMAs and hovers well above them. Read more on the technicals here

Day Trading Guide for September 26, 2019

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

₹1239 • HDFC Bank

₹792 • Infosys

₹248 • ITC

₹131 • ONGC

₹1279 • Reliance Ind.

₹280 • SBI

₹2087 • TCS

11469 • Nifty 50 Futures

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

Asian stocks gain on hopes of an end to US-China trade friction

Asian stocks rose on Thursday as hopes the United States and China may soon end their year-long trade war boosted demand for riskier assets while worries about a U.S. presidential impeachment bid ebbed.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.13%. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.40%. Chinese blue-chip shares advanced 0.20%.

The optimism over trade pushed market concerns about U.S. political risks into the background, a day after Democrat lawmakers said they will open an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump's dealings with his Ukraine counterpart.

Lifting investor mood, Trump said a deal to end a nearly 15-month trade war with China “could happen sooner” that people think, which would remove a huge shadow over the global economic outlook.

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