Sensex, Nifty close at new record highs; pharma top drag; IT, realty top gainers

Rupee surges 19 paise to close at 74.25 (provisional) against US dollar

Adani Ports says it can easily acquire ‘strategic’ target Concor

Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. expects to easily raise funds, without weakening its financial health, to acquire state-owned logistics firm Container Corp. of India Ltd, or Concor, in which the government is looking to divest its shareholding. “Concor is a very strategic acquisition,” Chief executive Karan Adani said in a 3 August call with analysts, which was confirmed by an Adani spokesman on Thursday. By raising funds “without stretching the balance sheet, we should easily be able to do that acquisition,” he said.

Gold holds biggest gain in three months as taper concerns ease

Gold held its biggest gain in three months, after moderating U.S. inflation eased concerns of earlier-than-expected stimulus tapering by the Federal Reserve. U.S. consumer prices climbed at a slower pace last month than in June, data showed on Wednesday. That triggered a move higher for bullion as worries about the Fed’s urgency to tighten monetary policy softened, though prices are still lower this week after a flash crash on Monday.

Deutsche Telekom confirms active talks on sale of Dutch unit

Deutsche Telekom is in active talks on the sale of its Dutch unit, CEO Tim Hoettges said on Thursday, confirming a report that a sale of the business is under discussion. “We are in the middle of a transaction in Holland – a very intensive bidding process,” Hoettges told reporters on a call while declining to comment further. Bloomberg, citing sources, reported this week that India’s Reliance Industries was weighing a bid for T-Mobile Netherlands while Deutsche Telekom was seeking a sale price of about 5 billion euros ($5.9 billion). (Reuters)

Market closing

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Power Finance Corporation gains

Power Finance Corporation’s stock was trading at ₹129.50 each, up 0.54% at 3:21 pm. The company reported June-quarter consolidated net profit of ₹34.80 billion compared to ₹26.83 billion a year ago. The company reported Q1 consolidated interest income of ₹186.9 billion compared to ₹168.56 billion a year ago.

RITES June quarter net profit grows 20% to ₹78 crore

State-owned RITES Ltd on Thursday posted about 20% rise in its consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at ₹77.86 crore during the quarter ended 30 June, helped by reduced expenditure. During the April-June period of 2020-21 fiscal, the company had clocked ₹64.99-crore PAT, it said in a regulatory filing. Its total income in the said quarter reduced to ₹377.26 crore, from ₹379.04 crore in the year-ago quarter. The company’s total expenditure was at ₹271.66 crore, lower compared to ₹289.78 crore in the corresponding quarter of preceding financial year.

India cannot become next factory of world by copying China: Kant

India cannot become the next factory of the world by copying China, Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant said on Thursday, and stressed that the country needs to get into sunrise areas of growth if it wants to be a global leader. Addressing a virtual event organised by industry body CII, Kant said India’s private sector has to set ambitious targets for itself and focus on green hydrogen, high-end batteries, advanced solar panels to become competitive. (PTI)

Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla’s tenure extended by 1 year

BPCL trades lower

BPCL’s stock was trading at ₹445.05 each, down 1.08% at 2:45 pm. The company reported Q1 ebitda of ₹32.5 billion compared to ₹39.15 billion a year ago. Q1 revenues stood at ₹ 896.87 billion compared to ₹ 988 billion in the previous quarter.

RBL Bank trades lower

RBL Bank’s stock was trading at ₹175.75 each, down 1.01% at 2:35 pm. The lender on Wednesday announced that it has been empanelled by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as an ‘Agency Bank’ to conduct banking business for the central and state governments, the bank informed in a regulatory filing.

Tech sector must aim to have 500-600 cos with over ₹5,000 cr revenue in 5 years: MoS IT

The Indian IT industry should aim to have 500-600 companies with ₹5,000 crore or above revenue in 3-5 years, from the current tally of 25-30 such firms, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Thursday, exhorting the sector to leverage its proven attributes of trust and competitiveness to tap global opportunities in the post-COVID world.

Khaitan Chemicals gains

Khaitan Chemicals and Fertilizers’ stock was trading at ₹68.25 each, up 5.00% at 2:06 pm. The company reported June-quarter profit of ₹194.1 million compared to ₹69.8 million a year ago. June-quarter net sales stood at ₹1.42 billion compared to ₹1.29 billion a year ago.

SWAMIH fund to invest ₹100 cr to complete Imperia Group housing project in Gurugram

Government-backed stress fund SWAMIH will invest around ₹100 crore to complete a residential project in Gurugram being developed by Imperia Group. Real estate consultant JLL India facilitated the deal, which will benefit 450 stuck homebuyers. Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) Investment Fund I has committed to invest in completing phase II of Imperia Group’s residential project ‘The Esfera’ in Gurgaon, JLL said in a statement. (PTI)

Bharat Forge Q1 commentary: Amarjeet Maurya – AVP – Mid Caps, Angel Broking Ltd

“During the Q1FY22, Bharat Forge Ltd (BFL) reported consolidated revenue of ₹2,108 crore (up 83% year-on-year) mainly due to healthy recovery in sales. On the consolidated ebitda front, the company has reported profit of ₹450 crore against loss of ₹14 crore in Q1FY21 due to better operating leverage. On the bottom-line front, the company has reported profit of ₹153 crore against loss of ₹127 crore due to higher sales and better operating performance. Going forward, we expect BFL to report strong top-line and bottom-line growth on the back of demand outlook visibility and expect margin expansion on the back of higher growth in the defence sector and sustained recovery in the auto space. We are positive on the stock with a ‘Buy’ rating.”

Sundram Fasteners surges

Sundram Fasteners’ stock surged 4.58% to ₹772.85 each. The company reported Q1 consolidated net profit of ₹1.19 billion compared to a loss of ₹267 million a year ago. The company’s Q1 ebitda stood at ₹2 billion compared to ₹141 million a year ago.

India gets below-average monsoon rains for second straight week

Monsoon rains in India in the week through Wednesday were below average for the second straight week, the weather office said, raising concerns over production of summer-sown crops such as cotton, soybean, corn and rice.

India is the world’s biggest exporter of rice and top importer of edible oils. A drop in production could not only limit rice and cotton exports, but also boost imports of edible oils such as palm oil, sunflower oil and soyoil. India received 35% less rain than the 50-year average in the week to Aug. 11, with the shortfall as high as 98% in cotton and soybean growing regions in central and western India, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed on Thursday. (Reuters)

Sensex heatmap

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Power Grid Corporation gains

Power Grid Corporation of India’s stock was trading at ₹184.25 each, up 4.63% at 1:13 m. The company’s board has decided to infuse fresh equity up to ₹425 crore in Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a joint venture of Power Grid, NTPC, PFC and REC.

Cipla gets USFDA nod for generic product

Drug firm Cipla on Thursday said it has received approval from the US health regulator to market Difluprednate Ophthalmic Emulsion, used in the treatment of inflammation and pain associated with ocular surgery, in the American market. The company has received final approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market its product which is a generic version of Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation’s Durezol, Cipla said in a statement.

The product is also used for the treatment of endogenous anterior uveitis.

Passenger vehicle wholesales in India rise 45 pc in October: SIAM

Passenger vehicle wholesales in India increased by 45 per cent to 2,64,442 units in July against 1,82,779 units in the same month last year, auto industry body SIAM said on Thursday. According to the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), two-wheeler dispatches from the OEMs to dealerships declined by 2 per cent to 12,53,937 units in July, compared to 12,81,354 units in the year-ago period. (PTI)

Bharti backed OneWeb secures $300 mn from South Korea’s Hanwha

OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company backed by Bharti group has secured a $300 million equity investment by Hanwha Systems, a the South Korean technology and manufacturing company. This investment brings OneWeb’s total equity investment since November 2020 to $2.7 bn with no debt issuance. The investment is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals.

UK economy rebounds in second quarter as lockdown eases

Britain’s economy rebounded 4.8 percent in the second quarter as the government began relaxing lockdown restrictions, official data showed Thursday. Gross domestic product had fallen 1.6 percent in the first three months of the year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) added in a statement. “Today’s figures show that our economy is on the mend showing strong signs of recovery,” finance minister Rishi Sunak said in a separate statement. Total UK output however remains 4.4 percent lower compared with before the coronavirus pandemic, or final quarter of 2019.

Bajaj Auto gains

Bajaj Auto’s stock was trading at ₹3,756.40, up 0.77% at 12:23 pm. Managing director Rajiv Bajaj said the company is working to electrify current product portfolio. The company will launch all new pulsar platform in November this fiscal year.

L&T tgains

Larsen & Toubro’s stock was trading at ₹1,610.40 each, up 1.57% at 12:15 pm. The company announced the divestment of 100% stake in the 3 x 33 MW (99 MW) run of the river hydroelectric power plant owned by its subsidiary L&T Uttaranchal Hydropower Ltd (LTUHPL) to Renew Power Services Private Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renew Power Private Ltd.

Apple supplier Foxconn’s Q2 profit beats estimates

Taiwan’s Foxconn reported a better-than expected quarterly profit on Thursday due to strong demand for technology products from clients, such as Apple Inc, as people continued to telecommute amid the covid-19 pandemic. The world’s largest contract electronics maker reported April-June net profit of T$29.779 billion ($1.07 billion), up 30% from a year earlier. That compared to a Refinitiv consensus estimate of T$25.98 billion drawn from 12 analysts. Foxconn said the stronger-than-expected figures were driven by its key consumer products, mainly smartphones, as more people work and study from home globally due to the pandemic.

Grasim Industries abused its dominant position: CCI

The Competition Commission of India has said Grasim Industries has abused its dominant position in the supply of a certain staple fibre by charging discriminatory prices to its customers, denying market access and imposing supplementary obligations on them. The commission directed the firm to cease and desist from indulging in such practices, which have been found to be in contravention of the provisions of the Competition Act, as per an order dated August 6.

Indiabulls Real Estate drives gains

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Tech Mahindra drives gains; IndusInd Bank top drag

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Dailyhunt, Josh parent raises $450 mn at almost $3 bn valuation

VerSe Innovation, the parent which operates local language news aggregators Dailyhunt and short-form video app, Josh has raised $450 million as a part of its new Series I funding round from marquee global investors including Siguler Guff, Baillie Gifford, affiliates of Carlyle Asia Partners Growth II and others.

Existing investors Sofina Group, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and BCap also participated as a part of this round.

Bata India’s Q1 disappoints, stock continues to roam below pre-covid highs

“Bata India Ltd’s shares touched a new 52-week high of ₹1,755 apiece on Thursday on the National Stock Exchange after its June quarter results (Q1FY22). But note that the stock is still trading lower than its pre-covid highs seen in early 2020. Q1FY22 results show the adverse impact of the second covid wave restrictions. Revenues have declined by 55% vis-à-vis the March quarter to ₹267 crore. “(This is) even as Bata didn’t really see a good recovery in Q4 (compared to other discretionary categories as well). Product mix would have continued to be unfavourable for the quarter given lower demand for formals (schools were largely closed and offices had strict operating restrictions),” said analysts from ICICI Securities Ltd in a report on 12 August.”

Gold commentary: Prathamesh Mallya, AVP- Research, Non-Agri Commodities and Currencies, Angel Broking

“On Wednesday, spot gold ended higher by 1.32% to close at $1,751 per ounce. The bullion metal scaled higher in yesterday’s session as weaker than expected inflation data reduced bets on early tapering of the expansionary policy by the US Central Bank. As per the labour department, US consumer prices rose by 0.5% in July after increasing by 0.9% June. Slower growth in CPI weighed on the dollar and the US treasury yield which underpinned gold prices. Also, widening impact of the new Delta covid-19 variant across borders continued to undermine market sentiments in turn boosting appeal for the safe haven, gold. Strong US economic data last week led to a revival in markets risk appetite in turn pushing spot gold prices below the $1,800 level. However, threats over further slowdown in the global economic recovery as many nations impose fresh curbs following the surge in infected cases helped gold put a pause to the recent fall in prices. Weaker than expected US inflation data eased worries over early tapering by the US Fed Reserve which might continue to support gold prices.”

HDFC Bank: Angel Broking maintains ‘buy’

“HDFC Bank is India’s largest private sector bank with an asset book of ₹11.3 lakh crore in FY21 and deposit base of ₹13.4 lakh crore. The bank has a very well spread out book with wholesale constituting 54% of the asset book while retail accounted for the remaining 46% of the loan book. Q1FY22 numbers were impacted due to the second Covid wave which has led to an increase in GNPA/ NNPA by 15/8bps quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to 1.5% and 0.5% of advances. Restructured advances at the end of the quarter stood at 0.8% of advances as compared to 0.6% in Q4FY21. The bank posted NII/PPOP/PAT growth of 8.6%/18.0%/16.1% for the quarter despite higher provisioning on the back of strong loan growth of 14.4% year-on-year (y-o-y). NIMs for the quarter declined by 10bps sequentially to 4.1% due to interest reversals and change in product mix. The management has indicated that 35-40 days of collections had been lost, but expects healthy recoveries from slippages in Q2FY22 which should lead to lower credit costs going forward. Given best in class asset quality and expected rebound in growth from Q2FY22 we are positive on the bank given reasonable valuations at 3.0xFY23 adjusted book which is at a discount to historical averages. We value the stock at3.7xFY23 adjusted book and arrive at a target price of ₹1,859.”

Cummins India posts over 3-fold jump in June qtr profit at ₹66.76 cr

Engines and related parts maker Cummins India has reported more than three-fold increase in its standalone profit after tax (PAT) at ₹66.76 crore in three months to June, driven by higher domestic and exports sales. The Pune-based company had posted a standalone PAT of ₹17.89 crore in the June quarter of FY21, according to a regulatory filing. Revenue from operations spiked 41 per cent to ₹1,167.3 crore during the quarter under review as compared to ₹484.06 in Q1FY21. (PTI)

Mukand trades higher

Mukand Ltd’s stock was trading at ₹146.40 each, up 4.98% at 10:39 am. The company disposed off balance 21% stake in its join venture Mukand Sumi Special Steel Ltd to Jamnalal Sons Pvt. Ltd for ₹499.53 crore.

Krsnaa Diagnostics IPO: What GMP signaling about the public issue

After getting subscribed over 64 times of its initial offer, Krsnaa Diagnostics shares have been trading at a premium range of ₹300 to ₹350 in grey market for the last five days. According to market observers, Krsnaa Diagnostics IPO GMP during subscription was at ₹425 to ₹450 but once the bidding closed, it came down to around ₹300 to ₹350. However, market observers are of the opinion that grey market premium above ₹300 is a strong signal as the issue price of the Krsnaa Diagnostics IPO has been fixed at ₹933 to ₹954. They said that 30-35 per cent listing gain indicated by the grey market for last few days signals about moderate to reasonable listing of Krsnaa Diagnostics shares at Indian bourses. (Read here)

Rupee surges 17 paise to 74.27 against US dollar in early trade

Market commentary: Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

“The market is once again trading above the 16,300 level. If we can close above this, we should be headed to 16,600 as the next target level. Since the trend is positive, traders should focus on accumulating long positions on dips and/or intra day corrections.”

Cairn execs meet govt over retrospective tax refunds: report

Cairn Energy executives met government officials to discuss the modalities of the refund, the timeline for it, and the procedure to secure the same, according multiple news reports. The government is reportedly in talks with Vodafone Group Plc and Cairn Energy Plc to settle long-running tax disputes with them, a top government official told Bloomberg. It comes after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week tabled a bill in the Lok Sabha to nullify the tax claims raised based on retrospective use of an anti-evasion tax law amendment introduced in 2012.

Mumbai unlock effect: Restaurant stocks rise

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PNB Housing trades lower

PNB Housing Finance’s stock was trading 0.55% lower at ₹690.00 apiece. PNB Housing Finance is now looking to raise ₹35,000 crore debt, after facing legal hurdles in the Carlyle group deal, days after SAT gave a split verdict in the matter. The company will seek shareholders” nod in its annual general meeting (AGM) on September 3, 2021, PNB Housing Finance said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

India records over 40,000 Covid-19 cases, nearly 500 deaths in a day

India on Thursday saw a rise in daily Covid-19 cases, as well as, coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours span, as per the latest data by the union health ministry. According to the daily health bulletin, 41,195 covid-19 cases and 490 deaths were reported in a day. (Read here)

ITC, ICICI Bank top gainers

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Pharma drags

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Market opening

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Market pre-opening

At market pre-opening, the Sensex was at 54,641.22, up 115.29 points or 0.21%, while Nifty was at 16,303.65, up 21.40 points or 0.13%. “Nifty is expected to open positive , up by 50 points at 16330. Nifty has strong resistance at 16350 and strong support in 16150-16200 range. On closing above 16350 on Nifty with good volumes it can see 16450-16500 levels. The trend in Nifty remains bullish as long as it trades above 15900 level,” Gaurav Udani, founder and CEO, ThincRedBlu Securities, said.

Cryptocurrency prices today: Bitcoin above $46,000; ether, dogecoin also gain

Cryptocurrency prices today were trading higher with the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Bitcoin trading with mild gains of 0.5% to $46,062. Bitcoin prices have gained over 57% this year (year-to-date or YTD) amid volatility. Ether, the coin linked to ethereum blockchain, was up 2% to $3,228 whereas dogecoin surged over 9% to $0.28. Other digital coin like XRP, Litecoin, Stellar, Cardano also surged more than 10-19% the last 24 hours, as per CoinDesk. (Read here)

Market outlook

Markets are likely to see continuation of volatility while trends in SGX Nifty indicate a flat opening of Indian benchmark indices on Thursday. On Wednesday, the BSE Sensex closed at 54,525.93, down 28.73 points or 0.05% and the Nifty ended at 16,282.25, up 2.15 points or 0.01%. (Read here)

Reliance’s new energy push won’t dilute its sharp focus on oil and gas: S&P Global Platts commentary

“Reliance Industries has snapped up multiple partnerships in the clean energy space, such as solar and electric mobility, while pursuing its oil and petrochemical plans, an indication that India’s biggest private refiner will maintain its razor-sharp focus on its core business despite embracing energy transition goals.

Although the pledge by Reliance to invest $10 billion in the next three years in clean energy will serve as a wakeup call for other oil companies, analysts said the partnership with Saudi Aramco and the announcement to pursue petrochemicals expansion and investments is a sign of how Reliance is striking a balance between new energy and core businesses.

Chris Midgley, global head of analytics at S&P Global Platts, said the world would continue to need fossil fuels well beyond 2050 despite an accelerated growth in renewables.

“If we can take away one thing from the current market it is that we cannot rely on renewables on their own displacing fossil fuels. Reliance are rightly focusing on bringing their energy and supply chain expertise to deliver value across the energy mix,” Midgley said.

In the gas segment, Reliance and BP announced in April the start of production from the Satellite Cluster gas field in block KG-D6 off the east coast of India. The two companies have been developing three deepwater gas projects in block KG-D6 — R Cluster, Satellite Cluster and MJ — which together are expected to produce around 1 Bcf/d of natural gas by 2023.

Reliance earlier in August rolled out plans to double its PET recycling capacity to five billion post-consumer bottles, and said it would establish a recycled polyester staple fiber manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh for the same, according to a company release.

It also has planned to invest $2 billion in the UAE’s TA’ZIZ chemical joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and sovereign wealth fund ADQ. Reliance and TA’ZIZ will build plants with a capacity to produce 940,000 mt/year of chlor-alkali, 1.1 million mt/year of ethylene dichloride and 360,000 mt/year of polyvinyl chloride at the TA’ZIZ Industrial Chemicals Zone.”

Apple, Google app store dominance targeted in senate proposal

U.S. lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation that would impose new rules on how Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google run their app stores following complaints from software developers that the companies are abusing their dominance over the digital marketplaces. The bill proposed Wednesday in the Senate takes aim at the tight grip Apple and Google have over the distribution of apps on mobile devices. The two have an effective duopoly in the mobile app market outside China and have come under increasing antitrust scrutiny by lawmakers and competition authorities around the world.

India’s scandal-weary fund managers outperform foreign rivals

India’s years of corporate scandals have honed the stock-picking skills of the nation’s fund managers to a point where they can now consistently beat the choices of foreign peers and retail investors. An equal-weighted basket of Indian stocks with high domestic mutual-fund ownership and low foreign ownership has been outperforming a basket with the reverse profile over the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Local fund managers have become more adept at using knowledge of the companies, the government and economic climate to avoiding pitfalls. (Bloomberg)

Asian stocks witness positive start

Asian stocks rose early Thursday after U.S. shares climbed on signs of moderating inflation that reduced concerns about an imminent paring back of Federal Reserve stimulus. The dollar held a drop.

Equities edged up in Japan and Australia and were steady in South Korea. U.S. contracts were little changed after the S&P 500 hit a record and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell amid a rotation to cyclical shares. Ten-year Treasuries pared gains spurred by a strong auction and a U.S. inflation report lending support to the view that price pressures are transitory. China’s crackdown on private enterprise is again in focus, with a watchdog stepping up scrutiny of insurance technology platforms. The nation’s central bank is also facing mounting calls to cut interest rates as fresh coronavirus outbreaks threaten to hamper the economic recovery. Credit in China expanded last month at the slowest pace since February 2020.

S&P 500 futures were steady as of 9:22 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%

Nasdaq 100 contracts shed 0.1%. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2%

Japan’s Topix index rose 0.7%

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3%

South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.1%

Hang Seng Index futures were little changed

US indices close at record highs

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed at record levels on Wednesday, as data indicated U.S. inflation growth may have peaked, while sectors tied to economic growth advanced on the heels of the passage of a large infrastructure bill. The Labor Department said the consumer price index increased 0.5% last month after climbing 0.9% in June, the largest drop in month-to-month inflation in 15 months, easing concerns about the potential for runaway inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 220.3 points, or 0.62%, to 35,484.97, the S&P 500 gained 10.95 points, or 0.25%, to 4,447.7 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 22.95 points, or 0.16%, to 14,765.14.