Live: Sensex, Nifty Off Day’s High; Nifty Bank At Day’s Low
Buzzing Stock: Dr Lal Pathlabs
- Top gainer on the Nifty Midcap index
- Trades at an all-time high
- Gains as much as 7.7% to Rs 1,920
- Biggest single-day gain since May 2018
- Snapped a five-day winning streak on Friday
- Has gained in six out of the last seven trading sessions
- Up 20% in the last seven trading sessions
- Today's volumes are five times higher than its 30-day average
- Has gained more than 85% from its 52-week low of Rs 1,035 on July 16, 2019
- 11 out of the 19 analysts tracking the stock have a buy recommendation; 6 sell calls
- The stock trades 16.8% above its 12-month consensus price target of Rs 1,569.75, implying a negative return potential
Stock Reaction: HDFC Bank
India's largest private lender has conducted a probe into allegations of improper lending practices and conflict of interests in its vehicle-financing operation, Bloomberg News reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The lender decided against proceeding with an earlier proposal to extend the employment of Ashok Khanna, associated with the bank for 18 years, after the investigation was complete.
The vehicle financing unit, headed by Khanna had outstanding loans of more than $16 billion as of March 31.
Khanna was due to retire in 2017 but kept getting extensions due to the importance of the unit he headed, which accounts for more than 10% of the total loan book.
Shares fell as much as 2% to Rs 1,083 and are the top laggards on the Nifty 50 index.
Markets At Noon
- Benchmark indices off the day's high
- Nifty up 0.55% at 10,827
- Sensex up 0.53% at 36,790
- Nifty Bank down 1% at 22,168
- Nifty Midcap and Smallcap index give up gains; trade little changed
- India Volatility Index up 1.5% to 25.32
- Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Realty are the other sectoral laggards; down over 1.5% each
- Nifty I.T. remains the top sectoral gainer; up 1.7%
- Nifty FMCG and Nifty Metal gain 1% each
- Tech Mahindra remains the top Nifty gainer; up 3.8%
- HDFC Bank is the top Nifty laggard; down 1.6%
- 799 stocks on the NSE trade with gains while 971 decline
Earnings Reaction: SAIL
The company reported a 12.5% decline in its revenue for the quarter ended March. Net profit rose 4.8 times due to inventory gain of Rs 4,120.9 crore.
It also had an exceptional loss of Rs 771.8 crore in the current quarter due to write-down of inventory.
Revenue from most of SAIL's major plants including Bhilai and Durgapur declined on a year-on-year basis.
Brokerage firm Morgan Stanley has maintained its underweight rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 27. It has cited high leverage as one of the major concerns with regards to the company.
Shares fell as much as 1.6% to Rs 36.3, post the announcement.
F&O Snapshot: Active Options Contracts
- Nifty July futures add 4.5% and 5.25 lakh shares in Open Interest.
- Nifty Bank July futures add 22.3% and 3.61 lakh shares in Open Interest.
Nifty: July 16 Expiry
- 10,900 Call: Premium up 19.7% to Rs 61.1. The contract has added 2.1 lakh shares in Open Interest.
- 11,000 Call: Premium up 17.4% to Rs 31. The contract has added 4.7 lakh shares in Open Interest.
- 10,800 Put: Premium down 37.7% to Rs 77.65. The contract has added 14.7 lakh shares in Open Interest.
Nifty Bank: July 16 Expiry
- 22,000 Put: Premium up 6.6% to Rs 239. The contract has added 3 lakh shares in Open Interest.
- 23,000 Call: Premium down 33.2% to Rs 127.95. The contract has added 4.85 lakh shares in Open Interest.
- 22,500 Put: Premium up 12.1% to Rs 486.4. The contract has added 1.8 lakh shares in Open Interest.