Rising economic tide doesn't lift all boats, Indian market veteran cautions Sustained 7 per cent-plus economic growth may sound like a great recipe for stock-market returns, but investors looking at a country like India still need to do their homework. A quick look at the automobile industry shows why. While India’s vehicle production has climbed about 25-fold over the past quarter century, the two major players in the market as of the mid-1990s -- Hindustan Motors Ltd. and Premier Ltd. -- barely register today. It’s a cautionary tale that a rising economic tide doesn’t necessarily lift all boats, highlighted by local-market veteran Prateek Agrawal. READ MORE Biocon dips 4% on seven USFDA observations for Bengaluru drug facility Shares of Biocon have dipped 4% to Rs 634 per share on the BSE in early morning trade on Thursday after the biotechnology major on Wednesday said that US health regulator has made seven observations after inspection of its sterile drug product manufacturing facility in Bengaluru this week. READ MORE Market Check S&P BSE Sensex 35,134.59 -0.12% Nifty 50 10,694.45 -0.22% S&P BSE 200 4,685.02 -0.30% Nifty 500 9,409.40 -0.37% S&P BSE Mid-Cap 16,725.14 -0.53% S&P BSE Small-Cap 18,077.15 -0.62% Multi-year high margins lend comfort to Dabur; demand and sales to rise The Dabur stock recorded a 52-week high at Rs 382.3 in Wednesday's trade, after the company posted its highest operating profit margin of 23.9 per cent, up 206 basis points (bps) year-on-year (y-o-y), in the March quarter. This was led by cost management and an improved product mix. Operating expenses (excluding finance costs and depreciation) as a proportion of sales fell to 76 per cent, among its lowest; it was 78 per cent in the year-ago quarter. A fall in cost of raw material consumption propelled the gross margin, which expanded by 167 bps to 50.7 per cent. The management foresees a stable gross margin in 2018-19. It believes price hikes, if required, will help neutralise any inflationary pressure. READ MORE IndiGo Q4 profit plunges 73% on higher expenses at Rs 1.18 billion; stock down 10% Sectoral Trend
The indices were trading flat on Thursday amid weakness in the global markets. That apart, stock-specific action is likely to continue, as March 2018 quarter (Q4FY18) earnings take centre-stage.
Among sectoral indices, the Nifty IT index was nearly 1% down led by fall in the shares of HCL Technologies and Wipro.
Investors will also be mindful of the upcoming state elections in Karnataka on May 12 that are being seen as a semi-final to the general elections scheduled in 2019.
In results today, Adani Ports, Castrol India, Cera, Edelweiss Financial Services and Emami are among a few companies that are likely to announce their Q4FY18 earnings later in the day.
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and expressed confidence that the recent rise in inflation at a level near the US central bank's target would be sustained, keeping it on track to raise borrowing costs in June. It was widely expected that the US central bank would keep rates unchanged in May 2018, but might raise them again in June 2018.
Asian shares were subdued on Thursday ahead of anxiously-awaited Sino-US trade talks, while the US dollar consolidated recent bumper gains after the Federal Reserve reaffirmed the outlook for more rate hikes this year.
On Wall Street, US stocks fell on Wednesday as potential US restrictions on Chinese telecom companies reinforced investor concerns about worsening trade relations between the United States and China.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 174.07 points (0.72 per cent) to 23,924.98, the S&P 500 lost 19.13 points (0.72 per cent) to 2,635.67 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 29.81 points (0.42 per cent) to 7,100.90.
(with Reuters inputs)