Share Market Live: Sensex, Nifty Pare Gains As Reliance Drags; SBI Up 2.7%

Shares of the Mukesh Ambani flagship dropped as much as 1.5%, making it the third session of losses.

India’s rising wave of new coronavirus cases and stricter curbs on people and business operations pose a challenge for Reliance Industries Ltd.’s sprawling businesses. India’s largest company by market value reported lower-than-forecast earnings for the March quarter after the market closed on Friday.

In March, according to Morgan Stanley, domestic institutional ownership in the company led by Asia’s richest person Mukesh Ambani was at a decade low, while there was a “creep up” in foreign institutional holding.

• Sees company as at the start of new upcycle as global fuel demand rises, supply growth slows in refining/petrochemicals, new telecom subscriber addition accelerate, retail sales bounce back
• A faster ramp-up of gas production, high energy business margins to cushion retail/telecom challenges
• Investor positioning in March shows domestic institutional ownership at a decade low

Magma Fincorp, an Indian financier for vehicles and homes, jumped by its daily limit after about 23.4 million shares changed hands in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

• Among most traded Indian stocks by volume, value
• Trading volume >12x 3-month full-day average
• Shares surged as much as 5%, most intraday since April 30
• Buyers, sellers not immediately known

Tata Steel BSL Ltd. rose 19%. Trading volume was six times the average for this time of day.

• The stock was the best performer among its peers.
• Trading volume was 21.1 million shares, six times the 20-day average of 3.6 million shares for this time of day.
• The relative strength index on the stock was above 70, indicating it may be overbought.
• Stock advanced 515% in the past 52 weeks, compared with a 357% increase for the company's Bloomberg peers.

Indian stocks opened higher as investors saw no major surprises in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s failure to win key states. The defeats were seen as having little impact on the grip of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led party over politics while the focus shifts to the government’s efforts to control the pandemic.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose as much as 0.6% to 48,996.53, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index gained a similar magnitude. ICICI Bank Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.5%. Hindalco Industries Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 3.2%.

Seventeen out of the 19 sector sub-indices compiled by BSE Ltd. rose, led by a gauge of metal stocks. The S&P BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods was the worst-performing, down 0.2%.

There is limited significance from these results for the next national elections, which aren’t due until 2024, analysts at Jefferies India Pvt. Ltd. wrote in a note. The next important election will be Uttar Pradesh, among the most politically important states in the country, which will vote in May next year, they added.