Closing bell: Indian equities recovered from the early loses to close in green after the reports of government likely to put on hold a plan to raise the minimum public shareholding norm in listed companies to 35 per cent from 25 per cent.

During the day, indices plunged more than 1% dragged by auto and metal counters, after broader Asia took a beating following U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose further tariffs on Chinese imports from next month.

At close, the 30-share BSE index closed higher by 99.90 points or 0.27 per cent at  37,118.22 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended up 17.35 points or 0.16 per cent at 10,997.35.

The Sensex hit an intraday high of  37,375.16 and a low of 36,607.41. Similarly, the Nifty touched an intraday high of 11,080.15 and a low of 10,848.95. The market breadth was negative as 961 shares declined, against advance of 796 shares, while 336 shares were unchanged.

Among BSE sectoral indices, auto index gained the most by 1.13 per cent, followed by IT 0.59 per cent and FMCG 0.02 per cent.

Govt likely to put on hold 35% minimum shareholding norm for listed entities

The government is likely to put on hold a plan to raise the minimum public shareholding in listed companies to 35% from 25%, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

The government is also looking for ways to ease concerns of foreign portfolio investors that have pulled out of Indian equity markets after a budget announcement of higher taxes for individuals and trusts earning more than ₹2 crore a year, the source said.

Sectoral indices at 3 pm

Inox Leisure Q1 profit down 27%

Multiplex chain operator Inox Leisure Friday reported a decline of 26.98 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 27.01 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2019. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 36.99 crore in the year-ago period, Inox Leisure said in a BSE filing.

Total income grew 18.75 per cent to Rs 496.13 crore in the quarter under review as against Rs 417.76 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. Total expenses during the quarter were at Rs 454.59 crore as against Rs 361.07 crore a year earlier.

InterGlobe Aviation annual general meeting on Aug 27

InterGlobe Aviation, parent of the country’s largest airline IndiGo, will hold its annual general meeting on August 27, according to a regulatory filing.

The annual shareholders’ meet also comes at a time when IndiGo promoters -- Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia -- are locked in a bitter battle over alleged corporate governance lapses.

“The 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the members of the company is scheduled to be held at 10.00 am on August 27, 2019,” the company said in a filing to the stock exchanges on Friday.

HDFC Q1 net profit rises 46% to ₹3,203 cr

The country’s largest mortgage lender  HDFC Ltd  on Friday reported a 46 per cent rise in standalone net profit to ₹3,203.10 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.

The company had posted a net profit of ₹2,190 crore during the corresponding April-June period of 2018-19.

Total income (Standalone) increased to ₹12,996.11 crore in the first quarter, as against ₹9,951.98 crore in the same period of the preceding fiscal, HDFC Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

Titan gets interim relief against sale of counterfeit watches on Snapdeal

Titan Company Ltd has filed a civil suit before the Delhi High Court against Snapdeal for not taking down various listings of counterfeit Fastrack/Titan branded watches, despite being notified of the same by the company.

It has also filed a case against certain sellers who were selling counterfeit Fastrack watches on Snapdeal.

State Bank of India posts ₹2,312 cr profit in Q1

State Bank of India  (SBI) on Friday reported a profit for the first-quarter, compared with a loss a year earlier, as India's largest lender by assets earned more interest income, while provisions for bad loans dropped.

Net profit stood at ₹2,312 crore ($332.14 million), for the three months ended June 30, compared with a loss of ₹4,876 crore reported last year due to lower trading income and treasury losses, the bank said.

Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans, a measure of asset quality, stood at 7.53% by June-end, flat over the previous quarter and lower than 10.69% in the same period last year.

Interest earned rose 6.5% to 626.38 billion rupees, while provisions for bad loans dived 10.7% in the quarter.

Indiabulls Housing to buy back bonds worth up to USD 50 mn

Indiabulls Housing Finance said on Friday it will buy back bonds worth up to USD 50 million, which is a part of its USD 1.5 billion bond programme.

“The company will be doing a buyback of up to USD 50 million of the USD 350 million 6.375 per cent notes issued by the company,” it said in a regulatory filing.

The buyback is part of the company’s USD 1.5 billion secured euro medium-term note programme, it said. The buyback will be done upon receipt of necessary regulatory approval, it added.

Mindtree appoints Debashis Chatterjee as new MD, CEO

IT services firm Mindtree Ltd on Friday announced the appointment of former Cognizant executive Debashis Chatterjee as its new chief executive officer and managing director (MD and CEO). The company also appointed Larsen & Toubro’s (L&T) Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director S N Subrahmanyan as its non-Executive Vice-Chairman.

“Mindtree, a L&T Group Company announced the appointment of Debashis Chatterjee as the CEO & MD of Mindtree Ltd. He has been inducted into Board of Mindtree Ltd with a mandate to lead the company into its next phase of growth,” Mindtree said in a statement.

Private sector is facing challenging times, says L&T Chairman

AM Naik, Chairman of Larsen & Toubro, said that the private sector is undergoing challenging times and “accelerated spending is not likely to happen for eighteen months”.

Addressing shareholders at the AGM, he said, “It is going to take a year or a year-and-a-half before accelerated spending for development comes.” Read more here

Zydus completes phase III trials of Diabetes drug

Zydus Cadila on Friday said it has completed phase III clinical trial of Saroglitazar Mg, used for treating type 2 Diabetes, in India.

“The trial was a multi-centric, randomised, double blind study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of 2mg and 4mg of Saroglitazar compared to Pioglitazone 45mg in patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

“The phase 3 trial enrolled 1,140 subjects and studied the patients over a period of 56 weeks,” Zydus Cadila said in a statement.

Shares of Raymond falls after Q1 loss

The shares of Raymond fell on Friday as much as 4.9 percent to ₹607.1, the lowest since October 23, 2018.

Indian branded fabric and fashion retailer posted net loss of ₹14.85 crore ($2.14 million). The total expenses jumped 16 percent while raw materials cost had risen 11 percent.

Around 1 million shares changed hands, versus the 30-day average of 546,446 million shares. Up to the last close, the Raymond is down 25 percent this year, while peer KPR Mill, which posted a 13.5 percent rise in Q1 profit on July 29, fell 1 percent.

KRBL rises after strong growth in Q1 profit

The shares of KRBL on Friday were up as much as 8.5 percent to ₹247.65.

The basmati rice processor posted 35.4 percent jump in June-quarter profit to ₹136 crore ($19.63 million) against ₹100 crore. Its revenue jumped 64 percent to ₹1,218 crore. The stock's PE is at 10.68, well below sector average of 67.85.

The shares are down 19 percent this year, as of last close.

Bharti Airtel rises despite Q1 loss

The shares of telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Friday were up as much as 4.6 percent to ₹338.9, their biggest daily percentage gain since May 24.

The company had posted the June-quarter net loss of ₹2,866 crore ($413.80 million), while the revenue were up 4.7 percent to ₹20,738 crore.

The mobile revenues grew 2 percent quarter-on-quarter led by 3 percent jump in ARPU after 10 quarters of decline, aided by exit of low ARPU subscribers. Around 10 million shares changed hands, vs 30-day average of 5.7 million shares.

The rivals Reliance Jio Infocomm posted 45.6 percent jump in quarterly profit and Vodafone Idea posted quarterly loss in the same period.

Markets update: Equity benchmark Sensex on Friday fell over 300 points in line with global market sell-offs as investors panicked after the US decision to impose fresh tariffs on Chinese goods.

The trade war tensions between the US and China along with unabated foreign fund outflows weighed heavily on the market sentiments, traders said.

At 10.27 am, the 30-share index was trading 347.24 points, or 0.94 per cent, lower at 36,671.08. Similarly, the 50-share Nifty slipped 117.40 points, or 1.07 per cent to 10,862.60.

Rupee slips 26 paise in early trade

The rupee on Friday declined by 26 paise to 69.32 against the US currency in early trade, due to strong dollar demand from banks and importers amid unabated foreign fund outflows.

Forex traders said market sentiment took a hit after the US announced additional 10 per cent tariff on USD 300 billion in Chinese goods.

Federal Mogul issue: Tenneco under SEBI lens

SEBI is probing if Tenneco, the US-based auto parts major, violated takeover code regulations in the acquisition of Federal Mogul Goetze India (FMGI), sources in the know told  BusinessLine .

SEBI has received complaints about Tenneco’s violation of Regulation 22 of Takeover Code 2011, which has stringent norms intended to protect the payouts to minority shareholders before the actual change in direct or indirect control of the target company.  BusinessLine has seen the complaint letters. Read the full story here

JK Tyre hits near 5-year low after Q1 profit skids

The shares of JK Tyre and Industries on Friday fell as much as 14.4 percent to ₹60.95, lowest since September 2014.

The tyre manufacturer's March-quarter consolidated profit plunged 74 percent, hurt by a 10 percent jump in its expenses. “Profitability during the quarter has been impacted due to overall slow-down in automotive sector”, said Raghupati Singhania, chairman and managing director.

In comparison, rival Apollo Tyres reported 44 percent fall in June-quarter profit.

The stock posted its biggest daily percentage loss since November 2016. Up to the last close, shares were down 31.3 percent this year.

Oil prices steady after Trump trade tariffs spark plunge

Oil prices rose more than 2% on Friday, rebounding from their biggest falls in years after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed more tariffs on Chinese imports, intensifying the trade war between the world's two biggest economies and crude consumers.

Brent crude futures slumped more than 7% on Thursday, their steepest drop in more than three years. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell nearly 8%, posting its worst day in more than four years.  Read the full story here

What to Watch: ITC, SBI, Hudco, Equitas, BEML results eyed

Over 60 companies will declare their June quarter results on Friday. Among them are AB Capital, Andhra Bank, Bata India, BEML, Birla Corp, BSE, Camlin Fine Sciences, Capri Global, D-Link, Deepak Nitrite, Dhampur Sugar, eClerx, Elgi Equipments, Exide Ind, Equitas Holdings, Firstsource, Gati, Godrej Agrovet, GSPL, Hudco, IRB Infra, ITC, Inox Leisures, Insecticides, Kaya, Laurus Labs, Lumax Ind, Parag Milk, PowerGrid, Rico Auto, SBI, Ujjivan, Union Bank and Tata Communications.

What to Watch: Action-packed week for Jaypee group

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal set aside an NCLT order that directed Jaiprakash Associates to return 758 acres of land that was pledged with several banks, to debt-laden Jaypee Infratech.

The Allahabad bench of the NCLT had asked JAL to return the land to Jaypee Infratech, terming the transfer of land as fraudulent and undervalued. The Supreme Court will, on Friday, hear the group’s plea against the NCLAT order, which allowed fresh bidding for Jaypee Infratech.

Markets opening : Benchmark indices are trading lower in the opening session on Friday with Nifty trading around 10,900 level.

At 09:17 am, the Sensex is down 185.94 points or 0.50% at 36,832.38, and the Nifty down 61.35 points or 0.56% at 10,918.65.

Wall Street dragged down by Trump trade tweet

Wall Street fell again on Thursday, abruptly reversing early gains after U.S. President Donald Trump put concerns about the U.S.-China trade war back in the spotlight, tweeting that he would impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion in Chinese imports.

Having spent most of the session on track for their best day since June, all three major U.S. stock indices took sudden U-turns as investors quickly turned into sellers after the tweet.

Today's Pick - Ajanta Pharma (₹957.3): Buy

The stock of Ajanta Pharma was on highlight on Thursday and gained 8.6 per cent accompanied by extraordinary volume. This rally gives investors with a short-term perspective an opportunity to buy the stock at current levels. Read more on the technicals here

Day Trading Guide for August 2, 2019

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

₹2217 • HDFC Bank

₹769 • Infosys

₹267 • ITC

₹136 • ONGC

₹1180 • Reliance Ind.

₹317 • SBI

₹2179 • TCS

11015 • Nifty 50 Futures

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

Trump's tariffs jolt global stocks, trigger rush to safety

Global stocks took another beating on Friday while investors piled on to safe-haven assets after United State (US) President Donald Trump said he would slap a 10 per cent tariff on the remaining $300 billion of Chinese imports from next month.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.51 per cent to its lowest level since mid-June while Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.91 per cent. Read more here

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