PODCAST | Last hour buying pushes Sensex higher by over 100 points; Nifty above 10200

The S&P BSE Sensex bounced back in last one hour of trade on Tuesday as bulls pushed the index higher by over 100 points on Tuesday, helped by gains in ICICI Bank (largely short coverings), followed by RIL, and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M).

The Nifty50 index which is trading above its short-term moving average reclaimed 10,250 levels in trade today. Bulls managed to defend 10200 level on a closing basis as bears managed to push the index below 10200 to hit its intraday low of 10171.05.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed 115 points higher or 0.35 percent at 33,370.63. The Nifty50 rallied 33 points higher or 0.33 percent at 10,245.

The S&P BSE Smallcap index ended 1.3 percent higher while the S&P BSE Midcap index ended 0.92 percent up.

Sectorally, the S&P BSE Power, banks, PSU rose over 1 percent while the consumer durable and auto stocks saw some bit of profit booking.

Almost 28 stocks on the NSE hit a fresh 52-week high while over 70 stocks on the BSE rose to fresh 52-week highs which include names like LG Balkrishnan, Bajaj Electricals, MRF, Nestle India, Britannia, Chola Finance, IndusInd Bank, Indigo, Apollo Tyres etc. among others.

Stocks in news:

PSU bank stocks gain after banks were allowed to spread out provisioning to cover losses on their government bond portfolio across four quarters, in a relief for lenders who would have otherwise faced an immediate hit to their bond portfolio due to rising

yields.

Bank of India (up 2.9%), Syndicate Bank (up 2.5%), Bank of Baroda (up 2.4%), Union Bank of India (up 2 %), SBI (up 1.7%), and Indian Bank (up 1.7%).

Axis Bank Ltd: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) late on Monday dropped Axis Bank from a list of banks it has cleared to import gold and silver in the current financial year that began April 1. The stock closed 1.02% higher at Rs503.30.

Motherson Sumi Ltd: Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd shares jumped by about 6% in trade after it has agreed to acquire Reydel Automotive Group for $201 million. France-based Reydel, a privately held company controlled by buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, manufactures interior parts of vehicles for customers. The stock closed 2.7% higher at 332.35.

JMC Projects Ltd: JMC Projects (India) Ltd shares surged 5.06% to Rs600.50 after the company announced that it has secured new orders worth Rs942 crore from the National Highways Authority of India.

Auto ancillary sector gets strong buying:

Indian tyre stocks gain on falling rubber prices. Shares of Apollo Tyres Ltd rose over 2% while TVS Srichakra Ltd ended 1% higher. MRF Ltd rose as much 3.3% to an all-time high of Rs75,764. Ceat Ltd jumped as much as 3.7%.

Govind Rubber rallied 12% while Goodyear surged 6.3% and Balkrishna Industries closed with gains of about 6.8%.

HDFC Standard Life Insurance market cap crosses Rs1 trillion mark: HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd, India’s most profitable life insurer joined the elite club of companies that have seen their market capitalization soar past Rs1 trillion on the exchanges.

Galaxy Surfactants Ltd: Shares of Galaxy Surfactants touched a 52-week low of Rs 1,430 as the company received Form 483 for two of its facilities. The stock closed 2.3% lower at Rs1462.

Tata Chemicals gained 3.6 percent as investors bet on Motilal Oswal’s views on the stock. Motilal Oswal believes that the company will use cash cows to invest in growth businesses and will focus on consumer and speciality products. It expects the existing salt distribution network to boost consumer business.

VST Tillers Ltd: Shares of VST Tillers Tractors added 3.4 percent on the back of strong growth in March sales number. The company sold total 7399 units in March 2018 to 6023 units in March 2017, a growth of 23 percent.

In Other News:

Lackluster demand drags March factory growth to 5-month low

India's manufacturing sector activity fell to a five-month low in March, as new business orders rose at a slower pace, and firms showed little appetite for recruitment, says a monthly survey.

The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), fell from 52.1 in February to a five-month low of 51.0 in March, indicating the slowest improvement in operating conditions recorded by the survey since last October.

10-year bond yield drops 8 bps after RBI allows banks to spread debt losses

India’s 10-year bond yield declined by nearly 8 basis points (bps) to hit an over two-month low after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed banks to spread its bond trading losses.

Global Update:

Asian shares closed lower in the midst of a fall in IT stocks as well as tensions around trade wars. Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.45 percent, or 96.29 points, to close at 21,292.29, but was off its session lows. The broader Topix slipped 0.29 percent, with oil and gas the worst-performing sector index.

Meanwhile, European equities were trading lower following the sharp sell-off on Wall Street. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was about 1 percent lower with almost every sector moving onto the negative ground.