India’s wholesale inflation rose to 1.32% in September, a seven-month high. In the month of August the inflation rate was at 0.16%.Share Market News Today | Sensex, Nifty, Share Prices LIVE: Sensex and Nifty opened flat on Thursday morning but minutes later slipped into the red. S&P BSE Sensex was over 150 points down after the initial minutes of trade. Nifty 50 was below the 11,950 mark. Infosys shares surged close to 4% on opening but soon slipped but remained in the green. Tata Steel and ONGC were the other top gainers. ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, TCS, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top drags. Midcap and Small cap indices were up with gains, outperforming the benchmarks.
India’s wholesale inflation rose to 1.32% in September, a seven-month high. In the month of August the inflation rate was at 0.16%. Prices of food items rose at a rate of 6.92% in September. “The build up in wholesale price inflation can be ascribed to considerable high inflation in food articles led by vegetables (due to crop damages and high transportation cost) and minerals within the primary articles,” said Care Ratings in a report. In the coming months, wholesale prices are likely to witness an uptick in the improving pricing power of the manufacturers as lockdown restrictions get eased.
Highlights
S&P BSE Sensex opened flat on Thursday and was moving between gains and losses. Nifty 50 was still shy of 12,000 mark. Infosys was up 4% while Inox shares surged 6% on opening.
Sensex gained to move past the 41,000 mark and Nifty moved past the 12,000 mark in the pre-opening session on Thursday.
After showing a consolidation type of movement in the last couple of sessions, Nifty witnessed sharp intraday weakness and also an excellent upside recovery on Wednesday and finally closed the day higher by 36 points. We observed a formation of small positive candle with long lower shadow, which indicates a sharp intraday upside bounce, after a steep decline during the early trade on Wednesday. This market could be a cheering factor for bulls to make a comeback, after a short pause in the market. But, the overall market breadth continued with weak trend and broad market indices like mid and small cap segments have failed to show any reasonable upmove.
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Benchmark indices gained during the pre-open session on Thursday, looking to beat the weak global cues. S&P BSE Sensex was up over 300 points while Nifty 50 was above the 12,000 mark.
Infosys: Infosys posted better-than-expected earnings in the second quarter. Net profits were up 14.4 per cent sequentially at Rs 4,845 crore while operating income rose 16.1 per cent to Rs 6,228 crore.Titan Company: Big bull of market Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala sold 50,000 shares of Titan Company in the quarter ending September 30, according to a latest BSE filing.
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Indian markets could open flat despite largely negative Asian markets today and negative US markets on Wednesday. U.S. stock benchmarks extended their losing streak to a second day in a row Wednesday, as Congress and the White House wrangled over further pandemic aid and big banks kicked off third-quarter corporate earnings season with a cautious tone. Investors seemed glum over dimming stimulus hopes after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that it was unlikely a stimulus bill would pass before the election.
~ HDFC Securities
On the options front (October 15, 2020 expiry), Nifty put option strikes added writing positions as the index trended higher.
Nifty PCR stood at 1.42x vs 1.4x
FII’s index future long/short ratio stood at 1.9x vs 2.7x
FIIs were net buyers in the cash market segment to the tune of Rs 822 crore
~IIFL Securities
Tata Group is in talks to tie up with Indian online groceries unicorn Big Basket, as the conglomerate attempts to catch up with rivals, including Amazon and Mukesh Ambani’s rapidly expanding retail empire, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Tata and Big Basket would make a decision on the deal by the end of October, FT reported, citing a person close to discussions. The newspaper wrote that another person with knowledge of the potential deal described it as a “strategic” relationship, with the conglomerate potentially acquiring a 20% stake and two board seats.
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Following a rally of up to 7.4 per cent in 10 days, BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 look set to carry this momentum for the 11th trading session on Thursday. In the previous session, headline indices recouped all the intraday losses and ended nearly half a per cent higher, maintaining the pre-covid-19 levels.
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India’s share markets are now outperforming emerging markets, led by strong policy traction, corporate resilience and an attractive starting point of valuations, said global investment bank Morgan Stanley in a recent report. S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 have so far jumped over 37% each since April, which is when Morgan Stanley said the outperformance over EMs began. However, the report’s authors Ridham Desai and Sheela Rathi argued that for this outperformance to be sustained, India needs to continue to deliver policy that lifts India’s potential growth in the eyes of market participants.
Here's how Morgan Stanley's portfolio is shaping up to benefit from these gains
India has yet again emerged as a preferred choice for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), with net inflows into equities touching $3.07 billion between March and so far in October. The inflows are in stark contrast to broad-based equity sell-off that other emerging markets (EMs) continue to witness.
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"We observe a formation of small positive candle with long lower shadow, which indicate a sharp intraday upside bounce, after a steep decline of early part of Wednesday. This market could be a cheering factor for bulls to make a comeback, after a short pause in the market. But, the overall market breadth continued with weak trend and broad market indices like mid and small cap segments have failed to show any reasonable upmove," said Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
"Infosys reported numbers which were ahead of street estimates. Company reported a 6.12% qoq growth in revenues to USD 3,312mn driven by digital which grew by 12.9% qoq. In rupee terms revenue grew by 3.8% qoq to ₹ 24,570 crore while gross profits grew by 10.5% qoq to ₹8,799 crore. Gross margins expanded by 217bps qoq to 35.8% despite rupee appreciation due to higher off-shoring and better utilization. Continued tight cost control in the form of reduced SG&A expenses led to a 268bps qoq expansion in operating margins to 25.35% while operating profits grew by 16.1% qoq to ₹6,228 crore. Net profit for the quarter grew by 14.5% qoq to ₹4,845 crore," said Jyoti Roy- DVP- Equity Strategist, Angel Broking.
Stocks of PVR and Inox will be in focus from today as cinema halls will now be allowed to operate under a set of SOPs that the government has issued. This will be for the first time since March that cinema halls are being allowed to operate.
India’s wholesale prices rose at a seven-month high rate of 1.32 per cent in the month of September, after rising 0.16 per cent in the previous month. It was the second straight increase in wholesale prices, and the strongest pace since February, as the economy gradually recovers from the pandemic shock. While vegetable prices surged 36.5 per cent, the prices of potato rose by 107.6 per cent in the month. Among the major groups, the prices of food items rose at the fastest rate of 6.92 per cent in the month, according to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
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