Mumbai: BSE Sensex rose on Monday led by a rally in Ambuja Cements and ACC Ltd after the companies said they were exploring a merger, while lenders extended gains after the government further empowered the central bank to tackle bad debts in the sector. Sentiment was also boosted by a rise in Asian stocks on investor relief after centrist Emmanuel Macron comfortably won the French presidential election. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.3%, snapping a three-day losing streak. Broader gains were capped as investors awaited corporate results in the days ahead, including from Bharti Airtel Ltd on Tuesday and Hero MotoCorp Ltd on on Wednesday.
“While the French elections is also lifting market sentiment, Indian banks continue to show positive trend. Generally, markets will now react to the last bit of corporate results that are expected,” said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities. Ambuja Cements rose as much as 9.9% after the company said on Friday it was considering the merits of a merger with its subsidiary ACC Ltd. ACC was up 5.8%. “The merger makes sense because it will create a much larger entity that could take over UltraTech Cement in terms of market share. Some positive synergies such as lower costs are also expected from the combination,” Dewan added.
Banks continued to gain as India tweaked its laws last week to help tackle a record $150 billion in bad loans. The government authorized the Reserve Bank of India to direct banks to initiate an insolvency resolution process in the case of a default under provisions of the bankruptcy code. The Nifty PSU Bank index climbed more than 1.5%. State Bank of India gained as much as 1.6% while Bank of India and Bank of Baroda rose more than 2% each.
1.00pm: BSE Sensex trades higher by 93 points, or 0.31%, to 29,952, while the Nifty 50 rises 33 points, or 0.35%, to 9,318.
12.25pm: BSE Sensex trades higher by 89 points, or 0.30%, to 29,947, while the Nifty 50 rises 29 points, or 0.31%, to 9,314.
11.25am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 128 points, or 0.43%, to 29,987, while the Nifty 50 rises 45 points, or 0.48%, to 9,330.
11.00am: ICICI Bank shares rose 3.2% to Rs308. The bank announced in a notice to BSE that it will consider fund raising on 10 May. The bank said offshore fund raising in single/multiple tranches in any currency through public/private placement by way of issuances of debt instruments. The stock gained for the third consecutive session and rose 13% in this period. So far this year, it gained 21%.
10.30am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 92 points, or 0.31%, to 29,951, while the Nifty 50 rises 32 points, or 0.35%, to 9,318.
10.10am: Caplin Point Laboratories Ltd rose 2.5% to Rs 396.75 after the company said in a notice to BSE that it got establishment inspection report from US food and drug regulator for its sterile injectable site.
10.00am: BSE Ltd up 1.2% to Rs 1007 after the company reported three-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 72.66 crore for the March quarter. Total income of the exchange rose to 231.13 crore during the fourth quarter of from Rs190.31 crore in the year-ago period.
9.55am: Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd fell 4% to Rs 411.30 after the company reported a net loss of Rs 34.16 crore in March quarter against Rs 24.15 crore a year ago.
9.50am: Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Ltd rose 5.2% to Rs 7754.45 after the company reported 31.9% increase in its net profit in March quarter to Rs 61.75 crore against Rs 46.82 crore a year ago.
9.45am: Banking stocks trade higher. Syndicate Bank rose 3.8%, Central Bank of India 3%, Indian Bank 2.3%, Corporation Bank 2.2%, DCB Bank 2.2%, Andhra Bank 2.1%, Federal Bank 2%, Allahabad Bank 2%, ICICI Bank 2%, Bank of Baroda 1.9%, Union Bank of India 1.8%, Indian Overseas Bank 1.8%, South Indian Bank 1.8%.
9.40am: Cyient Ltd shares rise 5.8% to Rs 542.75. The company has registered revenue of Rs 941 crore in the March quarter, as against Rs 917 crore in the previous quarter, showing a growth of 2.6%. The net profit declined by 16.7% in the quarter at Rs 78.4 crore as against Rs 94.2 crore in the third quarter.
9.32am: BSE Sensex trades higher by 55 points, or 0.18%, to 29,914, while the Nifty 50 rises 21 points, or 0.22%, to 9,306.
9.30am: Ambuja Cements and ACC, the Indian units of the world’s biggest cement maker LafargeHolcim, are exploring a possible merger to combine the strengths of both the businesses. Ambuja cements Ltd shares rise 7%, ACC shares rise 5%.
9.25am: Eicher Motors Ltd shares rise 2.1% to Rs 26,386.05 after the company reported 34% increase in its net profit in March quarter to Rs459 crore while revenue rose 23.2% to Rs1,888 crore.
9.20am: Apollo Tyres Ltd shares fall 2% to Rs241.75 after the company reported 16% decline in its net profit in March quarter to Rs228.23 crore against Rs272.06 crore a year ago.
9.18am: Equitas Holdings Ltd shares fall 4% to Rs153.60 after the bank reported 85% decline in its net profit to Rs6.9 crore in March quarter against Rs46.80 crore a year ago.
9.15am: The rupee opened at 64.26 a dollar. At 9.15am, the rupee was trading at 64.25 a dollar, up 0.19% from its Friday’s close of 64.38.
9.10am: The 10-year bond yield was trading at 6.948% compared to its previous close of 6.943%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
9.00am: Asian currencies were trading higher. South Korean won was up 0.85%, Philippines peso 0.2%, Thai Baht 0.14%, Taiwan dollar 0.14%, Malaysian ringgit 0.13%, Singapore dollar 0.13%, Indonesian rupiah 0.08%. However, China Offshore was down 0.06%, Japanese yen 0.06%.
8.55am: Asian shares trade higher in early Monday trade following the landslide victory of Emmanuel Macron in the French polls on Sunday, with the Nikkei share average hitting its highest level since December 2015.
With inputs from Reuters