Closing bell: Equity indices ended flat on Tuesday, swinging between gains and losses, as investors hoped for further stimulus from the government following a surprise corporate tax cut last week.

The broader NSE index was little changed to close at 11,588.20, while the benchmark BSE index rose 0.02 per cent at 39,097.14.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced a reduction in the effective corporate tax rate to around 25 per cent from 30 per cent and scrapped the minimum alternative tax for domestic companies, which led to a two-day rally in equity markets.

IT stocks led gains as the index gained 1.98 per cent. Tata Elxsi rose 4.98 per cent, while Infosys was up 3.88 per cent.

Reliance Industries, added 3.09 per cent after Morgan Stanley reported that the company's tax liability to fall by four percentage points.

Meanwhile, banks were the top drags for the day, as the Nifty banking index, which tracks both state-owned and private-sector lenders, falling about 1.25 per cent.

SBI dropped 4.19 per cent and was among the top blue-chip losers for the day.

Nifty sectoral indices at 3.05 pm

Will high auction prices of limestone affect margins of cement makers?

Limestone auctions by the Centre have witnessed winning bids as high as ₹735 a tonne, going by latest data available with the Ministry of Mines. In 2015, the Centre amended the mining laws, through the MMDR Amendment Act 2015, wherein it was stated that instead of renewing the mining concessions post expiry, they are to be granted only through competitive bidding by auction. The process of bidding was resorted to adding significant premiums to the State’s kitty- on the royalty currently earned - and to ensure minimum disruption in mineral availability.

The data on the Ministry of Mines website reveals that, of the 18 limestone mines auctioned so far, final prices offered ranged from 1.1 to 25 times of the reserve prices set. Read more on the analysis here

BlackRock trims Escorts stake; sells shares worth Rs 22.7 cr

BlackRock has trimmed its stake in engineering and farm equipment maker Escorts by selling 4.41 lakh shares worth around Rs 22.7 crore through a market transaction.

As per a regulatory filing, BlackRock Inc, which had 3.20 per cent stake earlier, brought down its shareholding in the company to 2.84 per cent by selling shares on September 19, 2019.

Based on the weighted average price of Escorts’ stock at Rs 514.50 apiece on September 19, 2019, the transaction is estimated at Rs 22.7 crore.

RIL’s earnings growth starting to de-risk; tax liability to fall by 4 percentage points: Morgan Stanley

Reliance Industries’ earnings growth is starting to be de-risked, amid improving earnings growth clarity, better refining margins, lower tax rate, and cheaper gas feedstock costs, global brokerage Morgan Stanley said noting that company’s tax liability will reduce by 4 percentage points following cut in the corporate tax rate.

The shares of Reliance Industries surged as much as five per cent after Morgan Stanley said lower taxes and cheaper gas feed costs should de-risk outlook and boost earnings.

“Rising clarity on 2020 growth; top pick in south Asia: RIL’s earnings growth is starting to be de-risked as headwinds of 1H19 turn and become key tailwinds in 2020,” it said.

SEBI bets big on technology; shortlists Infy, Wipro, others for data solution

Markets regulator SEBI has shortlisted as many as seven companies, including Infosys, Wipro and Accenture Solutions, for providing a data solution that can handle vast amount of data from multiple sources.

Over the past few years, the regulator has been betting big on technology to address and handle challenges arising out of technological advancements in the markets.

To provide ‘data lake’ solution, the markets regulator had issued a notice in May, inviting expression of interest (EoI) from the interested parties.

The selected company will be responsible for designing, implementing and supporting a big data solution with analytical capabilities.

The data lake will contain large amount of structured (order, trade data among others), unstructured (annual reports and SEBI orders) and semi-structured data (XML -- a markup language designed to store and transport data. It encodes documents in a manner that is both human and machine-readable) .

Sensex could rally above 43,000: BNP Paribas

Global banking major BNP Paribas told BusinessLine that the Sensex could rally above 43,000 in the next 12 months.

BNP had set a Sensex target of 40,500 for December 2019. But, according to Abhiram Eleswarapu, Head of India Equity Research/ Analyst at BNP Paribas, if one factors in the recent tax cuts and announcements by Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, there is potential of another 8 per cent upside to the set Sensex target of 40,500.

BNP said that the Sensex can rally by another 10 per cent from the current levels of 39,000 where it was hovering around on Tuesday. As per Eleswarapu, the enhanced target for Sensex was achievable on the condition that entire tax cuts go into the earnings of all the Sensex companies. Read the full story here

Nifty call: Sell on rallies with stop loss above 11,660

The Nifty 50 index seems to be sluggish in today’s session. Initially, it moved up marginally higher but there was no follow-through rally. The price is gradually declining, and it indicates that there might be some profit booking which may drag the index lower.

For the day, Nifty is down by 0.2 per cent, and so is the scenario with the Sensex which is trading lower by 0.15 per cent. However, Asian peers are positive today where Nikkei has gained 0.2 per cent and Hang Seng is trading higher by 0.75 per cent. Read the full technical call here

Will Noomis launch in Brazil boost Wipro?

Wipro, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, on Monday announced the successful launch of the first phase of noomis TM, the new online platform of Febraban, an industry association that represents the financial services sector in Brazil.

Febraban also organises CIAB, an information technology trade show for financial services in Latin America. Shareholders will closely monitor further developments on this front.

Broker's call: Greenlam Industries (Buy)

Greenlam Industries is a laminates manufacturing company. The company is engaged in the business of manufacturing laminates, decorative veneers and allied products through its factories at various locations and branches and dealers' network spread all over the country. Read more here

Broker's call: Atul (Buy)

Atul manufactures value added chemicals by blending basic chemicals and natural resources for diverse industries — agriculture, construction, textiles, pharmaceuticals and automobiles — from its plants in Valsad, Bharuch (Gujarat) and Thane (Maharashtra). Read more here

Zee's promoter liability down to ₹4,000 crore as MFs sell pledged shares

A seven-day panic with Zee Entertainment stock is coming as a respite for the promoters as mutual funds decision to sell pledged shares of Zee has helped cut down their debt by about ₹1,500 crore.

As lenders including Kotak Mutual Fund and SBI Mutual Fund sold their pledged shares in Zee Entertainment, promoter debt owned to group of lenders has automatically gone down by about ₹1,500 crore with remaining debt standing at ₹4,000 crore.

Other than the two lenders, remaining four lenders have agreed to grant an extension to Essel promoters until March 2020, giving the group an opportunity to look for a strategic investor.

Biocon subsidiary acquires research facility from Pfizer Healthcare

Biotechnology major Biocon on Tuesday said its subsidiary has acquired a Chennai-based biological research facility from Pfizer Healthcare for an undisclosed amount.

Biocon Biologics has acquired research and development (R&D) capital assets of a 60,000-square feet research facility at Ticel Bio Park in Chennai, Biocon said in a statement.

Zee Entertainment stocks decline as lenders sell pledged shares

Zee Entertainment stock continues to decline for the seventh consecutive day as lenders start selling pledged shares.

On Monday, when BSE hit its highest 2-day gain, Zee Entertainment stock plunged nearly 10 per cent. In early Tuesday trades, Zee was again down two percent even as the BSE gained 150 points.

Zee Entertainment had entered a standstill agreement with its lenders to extend repayment deadline to September 30. Zee has already returned about half of the ₹11,000 crore owed to lenders but is expected to miss the new repayment deadline. Mutual funds therefore have already started selling some of the pledged shares of Zee Entertainment.

DHFL stocks up 5% on draft resolution plan talk

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd's stock rose about 5 per cent in Tuesday's trading on BSE on news that the company will be holding meetings with its lenders on September 25 and September 27 to discuss the draft resolution plan to alleviate the financial stress that it is currently facing.

At 1039 hours DHFL stock was trading at 43.85 apiece, up 4.65 per cent. In the last one year, the housing finance company's stock moved from a 52-week high of ₹438.75 to a low of ₹37.10 apiece. The company started liquidity issues from September 2018 after debt defaults by IL&FS and its arms.

Gensol Engineering’s Rs 17 crore IPO to hit the market on September 30

Gensol Engineering’s initial public offer (IPO) will hit the market on September 30 and close on October 4.

The company offers design engineering, operations & maintenance and consultancy for wind and solar companies. Read more here

Markets update: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 200 points in early session on Tuesday, driven by gains in index heavyweights RIL, Infosys, TCS and Maruti, amid positive domestic and global cues.

Strong foreign fund inflow too buoyed market mood here, traders said.

After hitting a high of 39,306.37 points, the 30-share index pared some gains to trade 15.38 points, or -0.04 per cent, lower at 39,074.65 at 10.15 am, while the broader Nifty advanced 25.60 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 11,626.70.

In the previous session on Monday, the BSE barometer soared 1,075.41 points or 2.8 per cent to 39,090.03, while Nifty zoomed 326 points or 2.89 per cent to end at a two-month high of 11,600.20.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack in early trade included RIL, Infosys, Sun Pharma, TCS, Tata Motors, tech Mahindra, Maruti, Vedanta, ONGC, HCL Tech and M&M, rising up to 3 per cent.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Yes Bank, Asian Paints, Hero MotoCorp, L&T, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank and Bajaj Auto fell up to 2 per cent.

DHFL to meet lenders on September 25 to discuss resolution plan

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) on Tuesday said it would be holding meetings with its lenders on September 25 and September 27 to discuss the draft resolution plan to alleviate the financial stress that it is currently facing.

The housing finance company, in a stock exchange notice, said the resolution plan had been formulated as per the Reserve Bank of India's June 7, 2019, circular on the prudential framework for resolution of stressed assets. DHFL added that said it has been undertaking extensive discussions with its lenders.

"According to these discussions, the Company will be holding a meeting on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 with its bank lenders to discuss the draft resolution plan. A further meeting will also be held on Friday, September 27, 2019 by the company with all its institutional creditors in connection with the draft Resolution Plan," according to the notice.

Today's Pick: NOCIL (₹113.7): Buy

Investors with a short-term perspective can buy the stock of NOCIL at current levels. The stock jumped 8.6 per cent in line with the benchmark indices rally on Monday. It has emphatically breached the key immediate resistance at ₹107 on Monday. Read the technical call here

Day Trading Guide for September 24, 2019

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

₹1258 • HDFC Bank

₹765 • Infosys

₹254 • ITC

₹136 • ONGC

₹1238 • Reliance Ind.

₹313 • SBI

₹2014 • TCS

11607 • Nifty 50 Futures

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

Market opens: It's a muted started on Tuesday for the equity benchmarks, with the Nifty is trading above 10,580 level.

The Sensex is up 164.20 points at 39,254.23, while Nifty is up 40.50 points at 11,640.70.  All other sectoral indices are trading in the green, except media and metal.

Asian stocks trade steady, but growth fears temper gains

Global shares ticked up on Tuesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said U.S.-China trade talks will resume next month, but lingering concerns about slowing global growth tempered the overall appetite for riskier assets.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan moved up 0.06%, supported by 0.4% gains in mainland Chinese shares, while Japan's Nikkei edged up 0.20% after a market holiday on Monday.

U.S. stock futures gained 0.39%, helped by comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that U.S.-China trade talks will resume next week. He later clarified that the negotiations will take place in two weeks.

“The comments gave a little bit of boost to sentiment, but markets are still not that optimistic either,” said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.

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