Sensex up over 150 pts, Nifty above 16,500; metals gain

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Govt may raise fertiliser subsidy, prices: report

-The Centre may hike subsidy for fertilisers

-The Centre may also hike fertiliser prices

-The move is in line with international rise in fertiliser rates

CNBCTV18 reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Govt eyes United India Assurance privatisation: report 

The proposal will require a cabinet nod for privatisation of the state-owned insurer, CNBCTV18 reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Fortis Healthcare gains

Fortis Healthcare’s  sock was tradign at ₹245.15 each, up 3.40% at 1:07 pm.  The company on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of ₹430.61 crore for the first quarter ended 30 June 2021, aided by an exceptional gain from the remeasurement of stake held in SRL-DDRC joint venture. The company had posted a consolidated net loss of ₹187.88 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, Fortis Healthcare said in a regulatory filing. Consolidated revenue from operations stood at ₹1,410.31 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal as against ₹605.95 crore in the year-ago period.

WPI inflation eases in July, but remains in double digits

India’s wholesale price inflation eased in July but remained in double digits for the fourth consecutive month, as fuel and food inflation moderated even as inflation of manufactured items picked up. Data released by the industry department showed wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation fell to 11.16% in July from 12.07% a month ago as food inflation got eliminated (0%) and fuel inflation eased to 26%. However, inflation for manufactured items rose to 11.2% in July from 10.88% a month ago, signaling manufacturers regaining pricing power as the economic recovery gathers momentum.

Sebi asks depositories to use blockchain tech for monitoring securities

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked depositories to create, host, and maintain a system using the distributed ledger technology (DLT), or blockchain technology, to record and monitor the creation of securities as well as to monitor the covenants of non-convertible securities. (Read more)

Price hikes lift Tata Steel but Europe needs a fix

Tata Steel Ltd’s June-quarter performance showed the salutary effects of firm steel prices, with the highlight being the record per-tonne profitability. Steel prices have been on an upswing globally and Indian steelmakers have been able to reap the benefits despite the pandemic threatening operations. For the June quarter, average India rebar and hot-rolled prices were up by around 3% and 18%, respectively, on a sequential basis. (Read here)

Tata Motors partners with Bank of Maha for passenger vehicle retail financing scheme

Homegrown auto major Tata Motors on Monday said it has partnered with Bank of Maharashtra to offer retail financing scheme for its passenger vehicles. Under the partnership, Bank of Maharashtra will provide loans to Tata Motors’ customers at an interest rate starting from as low as 7.15% linked with Repo Linked Lending Rate (RLLR), subject to certain conditions, the company said in a statement. Besides, the scheme will offer a maximum of 90% financing on the total cost of the vehicle (on-road pricing) for various individuals like salaried employees, self-employed people, professionals, businessmen, and agriculturist, it added.

Ashok Leyland sees weak Q1 but CV recovery in H2 FY22 may aid earnings

Ashok Leyland Ltd saw lockdowns, in the wake of the second wave of the pandemic, impact its earnings recovery during the June ended quarter (Q1 FY22). Sales of commercial vehicles which had been picking up till Q4, hit a speed bump as coronavirus virus infections surged during March-April 2021. While total sales at 17,987 grew over 4 times year-on-year (YoY), given the low base, they were almost 60% lower sequentially. Domestic light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales nearly halved to 8,690 in Q1 FY22 from 17,042 in the previous quarter, even as they jumped 224% on year. Exports of MHCVs and LCVs also fell to 1,437 units from 3,164 during January-March. MHCV stands for medium and heavy commercial vehicles. (Read more)

Pegasus row: Govt to constitute panel to dispel ‘wrong’ narrative

V-Mart Retail’s investors ignore near-term pain, muted Q1 results

V-Mart Retail Ltd’s shares are as much as 47% above their pre-covid highs seen in February 2020. This is despite the fact that the value fashion retailer posted a net loss for the financial year 2021 as the adverse impact of the covid-19 pandemic’s disruptions weighed on demand. Clearly, investors seem to be looking beyond the near-term pain and betting on future recovery once normalisation commences.

Saudi Aramco is said to be in advanced talks for up to $25 bn RIL deal

Pharma, media stocks drag

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CMS Info Systems files DRHP with Sebi to garner ₹2,000-cr via IPO

Cash management company CMS Info Systems has filed preliminary papers with markets regulator Sebi to mop up ₹2,000 crore through its initial share sale offering. The company’s initial public offer (IPO) is a pure offer for sale by promoter Sion Investment Holdings Pte Limited, an affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia, as per the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). Sion Investment, which acquired CMS in 2015, holds 100 per cent stake in the company at present. CMS provides cash management services, which include ATM services, and cash delivery and pick-up.

Forex, money markets closed on account of Parsi New Year

HDFC Bank plans to raise funds via AT-1 bonds from overseas market

HDFC Bank on Monday said the bank plans to raise capital by additional tier- I (AT1) bonds in the overseas market to fund its business growth. The bank is expected to raise up to USD 1 billion from these dollar denominated bonds. “We hereby inform you that the bank had approved the issuing of debt instruments in the form of the notes, subject to market conditions,” HDFC Bank said in a regulatory filing.

All commercial flights are suspended at Kabul: report 

All commercial flights are suspended at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, TOLONews reported citing a statement. It calls on the people to avoid crowds at the airport, according to the report.

Devyani International shares: Should you buy, sell or hold?

Devyani International shares made strong debut at the Indian bourses after listing at around 56 per cent premium. Stock market experts are of the opinion that the stock of largest franchisee of Pizza Hut, KFC, and Costa Coffee in India still looks positive and one can hold the counter for next 6-8 months as the stock may hit ₹200 levels in this period. They said that good parentage, growth story and unlock theme would further fuel Devyani International share price in long term. (Read here)

State Bank of India announces offers on retail loans, deposits

State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday announced an array of retail offers, including processing fee waivers on loans as well as a limited period deposit rate hike. Customers can further enjoy the facility of up to 90% on-road financing for their car loans, the bank said. It is offering a special interest concession of 25 basis points (bps) for customers applying for a car loan through the Yono app. The users of Yono planning to bring home a new car can avail of the loan at an interest rate of 7.5% per annum, it said.

Exxaro Tiles lists at 5% premium

Exxaro Tiles Ltd’s stock was at a premium 5% on market debut on Monday after its initial public offering subscribed over 23 times last week. The stock opened at ₹126 and touched a high and a low of ₹132.20 and ₹126, respectively. At 10.10 am, the scrip was trading at ₹132 on BSE up 10% from its issue price of ₹120.

Nifty commentary: Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

“The Nifty has opened flat and is perhaps taking a bit of a breather after a stellar run last week. The support for the week has been upgraded to 16,400 and hence any dip or intraday correction can be bought into for a target of 16,600.”

Voda Idea trades lower

Vodafone Idea’s stock was trading at ₹6.02 apiece, down 4.75% at 10:22 am. Debt-ridden private telecom company Vodafone Idea on Saturday posted consolidated loss of ₹7,319 crore for the first quarter ended on 30 June 2021, against June25,460 crore loss in the same quarter a year ago. The consolidated revenue from operations of Vodafone Idea (VIL) declined by about 14% to ₹9,152.3 crore during the reported quarter from ₹10,659.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2020-21.

Alert: US troops fire shots in air at Kabul airport as crowd mobs tarmac: witness

US troops fired shots into the air at Kabul airport on Monday as thousands of Afghans crowded onto the tarmac in the hope of catching a flight out of the country after the Taliban takeover of the country. “I feel very scared here. They are firing lots of shots into the air,” a witness told AFP.

Krsnaa Diagnostics shares make a tepid listing

Krsnaa Diagnostics shares made their stock market debut on Monday by listing at ₹1,005.5 per share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), over 5% premium from its issue price of ₹954 apiece. The initial public offer (IPO) of Krsnaa Diagnostics, that closed on August 6, was subscribed 64.40 times on the final day of subscription.  (Read more)

Spicejet trades lower

SpiceJet Ltd’s stock was down 3.96% to ₹69.05 apiece. On Friday, the company reported its sixth consecutive quarterly loss at ₹731.12 crore during the three month period that ended on 30 June. This is primarily because of the impact of second wave of covid-19 during the quarter, which led to a massive decline in passenger traffic. The Gurugram-based carrier said its operations were significantly hit by the continued impact of covid-19, which affected travel demand during the June quarter. (Read more)

Gold prices today struggle after sharp jump, silver rates drop

Gold prices struggled for direction today after a sharp gain in the previous session. On MCX, gold was flat at ₹46961 per 10 gram while silver dipped to ₹63,160 per kg. In the previous session, gold had risen about ₹600 per 10 gram while silver had jumped ₹1,350 per kg. Gold has been on a upward trend after hitting a four-month low of ₹45,800 last week after better-than-expected US data led to a selloff on bets the Federal Reserve may start paring back massive monetary stimulus soon. (Read here)

RIL, ICICI Bank top drags 

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Banks, financials drag

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Market opening

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Ahead of listing, Devyani International extends partnership with Costa Coffee

Devyani International Limited (DIL), the largest franchisee of Yum Brands in India and among the largest operators of chain quick service restaurants, today announced the extension of partnership with Costa Coffee. DIL has entered into a revised development agreement for its existing Costa business on August 14, 2021, pursuant to which DIL has been granted development rights for PAN India in a phased manner. ‘’This agreement has initially granted development rights for a period of 5 years and extendable from time to time subject to meeting of development and contractual obligations,” the company said in a statement.

Stocks to Watch 

Glenmark Pharma, infra stocks, Voda Idea, ONGC among other scrips may be in the news today. (Read here) 

Market outlook

Markets are likely to be volatile on Monday while trends in SGX Nifty suggest a soft opening of Indian benchmark indices. On Friday, the BSE Sensex hit 55,000 for first time ending at 55,437.29, up 593.31 points or 1.08%. The Nifty was at 16,529.10, up 164.70 points or 1.01%. (Read more)

Mcap of 8 of top-10 valued firms zooms over ₹1.6 lakh cr; TCS biggest gainer

Eight of the 10 most valued companies added a total ₹1,60,408.24 crore to their market valuation last week, with heavyweights Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries contributing the most amid a bullish trend in equities. During the last week, the 30-share BSE benchmark jumped 1,159.57 points or 2.13 per cent. On Friday, the benchmark reached its lifetime high of 55,487.79, crossing the 55,000-mark for the first time. From the top-10 list, State Bank of India and Bajaj Finance were the only laggards. (Read more)

FPIs invest ₹2,085 cr in Indian equities in first half of August

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought Indian equities worth ₹2,085 crore in the first half of August owing to improvement in economic activity. As per depositories data, overseas investors pumped in a net ₹2,085 crore between 2-13 August. (Read more)

India aims to spend $1.4 tn building infrastructure

India aims to invest ₹100 trillion ($1.35 trillion) in infrastructure to boost economic growth and create jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday, laying out national priorities on the country’s 75th Independence Day. The investments will be made in India’s logistics sector to help integrate the country’s varied modes of transport, Modi said in a national address from the historic Red Fort in capital New Delhi. “This will cut travel time and increase industry productivity. It will help make Indian industry globally competitive and develop future economic zones.” Modi didn’t give details. Last year also Modi had flagged his government’s focus on infrastructure worth 110 trillion rupees, while in 2019 the government had a goal of building 100 trillion rupees of public work projects. Asia’s third-largest economy needs to build roads and ports as it competes for investments looking to move out of China. (Bloomberg)

Global trends to dictate equity markets in holiday-shortened week, say analysts

With corporate earnings season largely over, equity investors would focus on global trends for further direction in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Equity markets would remain closed on Thursday for Muharram. “The majority of India Inc’s first-quarter earnings were stronger-than-expected and in the absence of a major event, global cues are expected to guide the market direction,” said Nirali Shah, Head of Equity Research, Samco Securities. Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd said that on the domestic front, WPI numbers will be released on Monday. (PTI)

Asian markets witness cautious start 

Asian share markets made a cautious start to the week on Monday ahead of a raft of Chinese data that could confirm a slowdown in the giant economy, as much of the world races to stem the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 with vaccinations. Figures on retail sales, industrial production and urban investment are forecast to show a modest pullback in activity in China in July, a trend likely to be worsened by the recent tightening in coronavirus restrictions. There was some uncertainty about the possible geopolitical implications of the sudden collapse of the Afghan government and what it mean for political stability in the region. “Asia’s low vaccination rates and low tolerance for community spread suggest it is the region most at risk economically from the Delta variant,” said JPMorgan economist Bruce Kasman. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat in early trade, having hit its lows for the year last month. 

Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.2%, though economic growth pipped forecasts for the June quarter. 

Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures were both down 0.1% in early Asian action.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index shed 0.3%

Hang Seng Index futures rose 0.1% earlier

The Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.04%

The Kospi was down 1.16%