PremiumShare Market LIVE Updates: Indian stock market is trading in the red as most sectoral indices are trading lower. Sensex is down 250 pts and Nifty 100 pts. Kotak Bank, Apollo Hospitals, Infosys jump; Adani Ent, Hindalco, and Bajaj twins drag. PSU Bank, Metal, Realty, and Media shed the most; IT index remains in green.
Interest rate hikes by central banks around the world have stressed the banking sector. However, comments from central banks around the globe helped fuel hopes of light at the end of the central bank tightening tunnel. Investor sentiments were also boosted after Yellen reiterated on Thursday that she was prepared to take further action to ensure that Americans' bank deposits stay safe amid the turmoil.
Roopali Prabhu – Chief Investment Officer & Executive Director, Private Wealth Group, JM Financial on Finance Minister on taking away a key tax benefit for debt MF investors: "The change in debt taxation would meaningfully impact allocation decision. For the same expected return, investors will have to take higher risk going forward. Assuming an investors target return was post tax 7% pa over 3 years, that is currently achievable by investing 100% in a Target maturity fund that invested in AAA papers. Going forward, assuming yields don’t change, the investor will have to invest over 25% in equities (assuming 13% equity return), to achieve the same target return! The change is risk is high"
Credit card payments for foreign travel will be brought under the purview of the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the Reserve Bank, to ensure that such expenses do not escape TCS (Tax Collection at Source).
While moving the Finance Bill 2023 for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha on Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Reserve Bank has been asked to look into ways to bring credit card payments on foreign tours under the LRS.
"It has been represented that payments for foreign tours through a credit card are not being captured under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and such payments escape tax collection at source (TCS)," she said.
The RBI is being requested to look into this with a view to bring credit card payments for foreign tours within the ambit of LRS and tax collection at source thereon, she added. (PTI)
The Indian stock market may outperform its Asian and emerging market peers in the long term as lofty valuations ease and investors look to bet on the economy's growth prospects, brokerage group Jefferies said in a note.
The benchmark Nifty 50 Index's price-to-earnings premium to China's Hang Seng Index declined to 115% from 208% in end October, and is in line with the 10-year average of 118%, Chris Wood, global head of equity strategy, Jefferies, wrote in his "Greed & Fear" report.
India's long-term prospects have led the global brokerage to invest 39% of its Asia ex-Japan long-only portfolio in the south Asian country compared with 25% in China.
While foreign investors have sold $2.8 billion on a net basis in Indian markets so far this year, domestic equity mutual fund inflows have remained positive, Wood said. (Reuters)
India reported 1,249 new covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours with daily positivity rate at 1.19%, the union health ministry said on Friday.The country has recorded more than 44.8 million covid cases and 530,818 deaths so far.
Covid cases have been increasing across the country with Karnataka reporting 613 active cases while Kerala has 2,090 active cases. Maharashtra has 1617 active cases, Gujarat with 1179 cases, Delhi has recorded 346 cases, Tamil Nadu has 517 active cases; Telangana with 146 cases so far. (Read More)
Sandeep Bagla, CEO Trust Mutual Funds regarding the amendments that have been proposed in the finance bill: Last 1-2 years, MF have seen outflows from debt schemes, in spite of the tax benefit. The only segment that saw inflows was the spate of target maturity funds which were passively holding Gsecs, mimicking FDs but with tax benefits. Investors may be reluctant to redeem even after completion of 3 years now as incremental income from these investments may remain tax efficient. Few investors may remain invested wanting to defer tax as tax is payable only at redemption. Incremental inflows will come into funds who are able to manage their portfolios actively and generate inflation-beating returns for investors. There is likely to be no impact in the short term but could impact the ability of mutual funds to attract debt flows in the long term
Zydus Lifesciences Ltd on Friday said it has received final approval from the US health regulator for its generic doxepin hydrochloride capsules used in the treatment of depression and anxiety.
The approval granted by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) is for doxepin hydrochloride capsules of strength 150 mg, the company said in a regulatory filing.
The drug will be manufactured at the group's formulation manufacturing facility in Moraiya, Ahmedabad, it added.
Doxepin hydrochloride capsule is indicated to treat mental/mood problems such as depression and anxiety. It helps improve moods and feelings of well-being, relieves anxiety and tension, helps sleep better and increases the energy level, it added. (PTI)
UK retail sales climbed more sharply than expected last month, returning to their pre-pandemic levels as discounting enticed consumers back into the shops.
The volume of goods sold in stores and online rose by 1.2% from January, the most since October, the Office for National Statistics said, exceeding the 0.2% uptick expected by economists in a Bloomberg survey.
It was the second consecutive month in which sales beat forecasts, following an upwardly revised 0.9% rise in January.
The data add to the impression that UK consumers are weathering the cost-of-living crisis better than expected, and will help to bolster the Bank of England’s decision earlier this week to hike its base interest rate by another 25 basis points to 4.25%.
Stronger-than-expected consumer spending will also come as a relief to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has vowed to boost growth in the UK and is hoping to avoid the prolonged recession that many economists had predicted earlier this year. (Bloomberg)
Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd's (RVNL) board on Friday has announced the declaration of an interim dividend of ₹1.77 per share for the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). Shares of RVNL were trading more than a per cent higher at ₹65 apiece on the BSE in afternoon deals.
“..this is to inform that the Board of Directors of the Company in its meeting held today i.e. 24th March, 2023 have declared an Interim Dividend of ₹1.77/- per equity share of Rs. 10/- each (i.e. 17.7 %) for the financial year 2022-23," RVNL informed in an exchange filing. (Read More)
The board of directors of Emami Ltd has considered and approved a proposal for the buyback of shares. The multinational conglomerate headquartered in Kolkata informed Indian bourses about Emami's buyback plan and declared that Emami's buyback price at ₹450 per share. As Emami's share price today is around ₹360 apiece, the buyback of shares has been announced at a premium of around 25 per cent. This Emami buyback would be executed through open market route via stock exchange mechanism.
Informing Indian bourses about buyback of shares, Emami Ltd said, "The Board approved the proposal of Buyback of fully paid-up equity shares having a face value of Re. 1/- (Rupee One only) each of the Company at a price not exceeding ₹450/- (Rupees Four Hundred Fifty only) per equity share ('Maximum Buyback Price') and for an aggregate amount not exceeding ₹18,600 Lakhs (Rupees Eighteen Thousand Six Hundred Lakhs only) ('Maximum Buyback Size')."
Here we list out 5 important details that Emami shareholders should know before tendering shares: (Read More)
The Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) is planning to impose caps on its debt and equity exposure to companies, two sources said, in a bid to lower the concentration of risk following criticism of its investment in Adani group companies.
After the Adani group lost over $100 billion in valuation post scathing allegations by U.S.-based Hindenburg Research, state-run LIC was criticized for having over $4 billion exposure to companies from the group.
LIC, the country's largest domestic institutional investor with assets under management of about $539 billion, is planning to cap its debt and equity exposure in individual firms, group companies and companies that are backed by same promoters, one of the sources, with knowledge of the matter, told Reuters.
Defence training solutions firm Zen Technologies on Friday said it has bagged ₹127 crore order from armed forces.
After setbacks faced in 2012 due to cancellation of large tenders, Zen said in a regulatory filing that it had stopped participating in large tenders and has now made a complete turnaround over the last 10 years.
"The government of India has recently accelerated the induction of simulators into the armed forces, in line with the simulation framework issued in September 2021. This move not only saves a significant amount of money but also provides better training value and is the most environmentally sustainable way to train our forces for combat readiness," Zen Technologies Chairman and Managing Director Ashok Atluri said.
The company indigenously designs, develops and manufactures sensor and simulators technology-based defence training system to security forces.
It also provides drone and anti-drone solutions. (PTI)
Global index services provider MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International) may add two potential India stocks in its Standard Index, as part of its semi-annual review, which will be announced on 11 May 2023.
Both Ashok Leyland and Hindustan Aeronautics qualify on size and liquidity criteria till 23 March 2023, brokerage Emkay said in a note, adding it doesn't expect any exclusions at this point of time. (Read More)
UBS promised retention packages to wealth-management staff in Asia at Credit Suisse, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as the bank tries to stem a talent exodus after the takeover of its former Swiss rival.
In a town hall address in Hong Kong on Friday, Iqbal Khan, UBS's president for global wealth management, also focussed on stabilising the Credit Suisse Asia team and boosting confidence, one of the two sources said. (Read More)
Udayshivakumar Infra Ltd's initial public offering (IPO) was subscribed 5.15 times on the third day of subscription on Wednesday that opened on on Monday, March 20, 2023. The issue had a price band of ₹33 to ₹35 per share. The offer received bids for 10,29,54,972 shares against 2 crore shares on offer, as per the exchange data.
The quota for non-institutional investors was subscribed 8.47 times, while the category for Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) received 4.14 times subscription and Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) 1.21 times.
As per market observers, UdayShivakumar Infra shares are commanding a premium (GMP) of ₹14 in the grey market today, higher from ₹10 in the previous sessions. (Read More)
Gold rate today witnessed profit booking in early morning session as US dollar appreciated against the Indian National Rupee (INR) and the Dollar Index sustained above the psychological 102 levels. Gold future contract for April 2023 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) opened with a downside gap at ₹59,490 per 10 gm and went on to hit intraday high of ₹59,546 per 10 gm within few minutes of commodity market's opening bell. However, due to rise in US dollar rates, gold price lost its shine and went on to hit intraday low of ₹59,405 levels in early morning deals.
According to bullion market experts, gold price today is under profit-booking pressure as the US dollar has witnessed relief rally after hitting 7-week low on Thursday. They said that gold rate today is sustaining above $1,990 per ounce levels in early morning session and is now in $1,980 to 42,010 per ounce range. They advised traders to buy gold at around ₹59,300 levels for the intraday target of ₹59,900 per 10 gm on MCX. (Read More)
Oil edged lower, paring a weekly advance, as concerns over the banking industry simmered and the US signaled that refilling the nation’s strategic crude inventories would take longer than previously expected.
West Texas Intermediate declined below $70 a barrel after a choppy session on Thursday that ended with a drop. Still, the US benchmark has risen by more than 4% this week. Malaise continues to hang over the US banking sector, despite an assurance of more support from the authorities if warranted.
US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Thursday that it will be “difficult" to refill government oil reserves this year. The crucial stockpile has been drawn down to the lowest level since the 1980s after the Biden administration ordered a release in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. (Bloomberg)
Ravindra V. Rao, CMT, EPAT, VP-Head Commodity Research, Kotak Securities Ltd
Gold: “COMEX Gold prices rose more than 2% on Thursday, holding near the highest since the Russia Ukraine war, amid weakness in the greenback and treasury yields after a slightly dovish FOMC coupled with safe haven bids stemming from financial market uncertainties. Prices were also supported by Janet Yellen’s comments, after she told Senate that regulators aren’t looking to provide “blanket" deposit insurance to stabilize the US banking system, putting the focus back on the weak regional banks. Despite Powell reiterating for holding rates throughout the year, markets are expecting a cut of more than 75 bps in 2023, taking into account the lags of monetary policy and the fact that Fed will have no choice but to cut rates, in the event of a hard landing. Gold prices might continue to trade with an upside bias, amid the ongoing banking sector uncertainty and rising odds of similar events in futures."
Crude: “WTI Crude oil futures fell more than 1%, to below $70 per bbl on Thursday, as concerns over the banking sector persist and the US signaled that refilling its strategic crude inventories would take longer than previously expected. The stockpile has been drawn down to the lowest level since the 1980s after the Biden administration ordered a release in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, US crude oil inventories rose by 1.11 million barrels in the week ended 17th March according to the latest EIA report. WTI Crude is poised to end the week with more than 3% gains, after plunging to a seventeen-month low, earlier in the week. We might continue to see weakness in oil prices amid steady Russian flows, prospects of a looming slowdown and US holding off SPR refill."
Ajanta Pharma stock is in focus today as the pharma company has fixed a record date for the buyback of shares on 24th March 2023. Ajanta Pharma has already declared the buyback of shares at ₹1,425 per share. Ajanta Pharma share price today is around ₹1,170 apiece, which means Ajanta Pharma's buyback is taking at a premium of ₹255 per share or 21.80 per cent.
Informing Indian bourses about buyback of shares, Ajanta Pharma Ltd said, "This is in furtherance to our intimation dated March 10, 2023 informing the stock exchanges, that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved the proposal of Buy-back of 22,10,500 (Twenty Two Lakhs Ten Thousand Five Hundred) fully paid-up equity shares of the Company of face value of ₹2 each at a price of ₹1,425/- (Indian Rupees One Thousand Four Hundred And Twenty Five only) per equity share, on a proportionate basis, through the tender offer process (“Buyback"), in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013, and rules made thereunder, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Buy-Back of Securities) Regulations, 2018 (the “SEBI Buyback Regulations") as amended from time to time and other applicable laws." (Read More)
India may propose that investments in debt mutual funds be taxed as short-term capital gains, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, a move that could strip investors of the long-term tax benefits that made such investments popular.
The change could benefit bank deposits, which have been growing more slowly than credit demand over the past 12 months leading to higher funding costs for lenders.
The proposed changes are likely to be part of the finance bill amendments that could be tabled in the parliament on Friday.
Mutual funds with less than 35% invested in equities are proposed to be treated as short-term and the indexation benefits that help significantly reduce tax liability available to such funds may be removed prospectively, the source said.
As such, the tax rate applicable would be based on the income tax slab in which the investor falls. (Reuters)
While there is a growing concern that telecom tariff hikes may only take place after general elections in May 2024, global brokerage Jefferies noted that this could lead to accelerated market share shifts and in theory an effective duopoly which could add ₹93 per share upside potential.
“While we cut Reliance Jio's estimates by 1-6% to factor tariff hike delays, we reiterate BUY rating as Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) offers 36% upside to our revised target price of ₹3,060 and 28% upside even if tariff hikes don't materialize till March 2025," the note stated. (Read More)
The board of directors of Emami Ltd is going to consider and approve the buyback of shares today. The company informed Indian bourses in its exchange communication that the company board is going to consider the proposal for the buyback of shares in its meeting scheduled on 24th March 2023. The company board is expected to announce the buyback price and the record date for the buyback in its scheduled meeting today.
Informing Indian bourses about the buyback of shares, Emami Ltd said, "The meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled on 24/03/2023 ,inter alia, to consider and approve Pursuant to aforesaid regulation, we wish to inform you that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Friday, 24th March 2023 inter-alia, to consider a proposal for buyback of fully paid-up equity shares of the Company including matters related/incidental thereto in accordance with the provisions of Section 68, 69, and 70 of the Companies Act, 2013, read with rules made thereto and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Buy-Back of Securities) Regulations, 2018, as amended." (Read More)
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, will move the Finance Bill 2023, to give effect to the financial proposals of the central government.
This comes a day after the demand for grants was passed in Parliament.
The Finance Bill 2023, gives effect to the financial proposals of the central government for the financial year 2023-24 to be taken into consideration.
Earlier on Thursday, the Lok Sabha on passed demands for grants authorising expenditure of about ₹45 lakh crore for 2023-24. The proposal was passed by voice vote amid protests by opposition members over their demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla applied for the Guillotine when the House met at 6 pm following two adjournments earlier. (ANI)
State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Thursday informed that its board of directors will meet next week on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 to consider the proposal of fund raising of capital for FY 2023-24 through the issuance of Basel-Ill compliant Additional Tier-1 (AT1) Bonds and Tier-II Bonds, in one or more tranches.
“..the Exchange is hereby informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Bank is scheduled on Wednesday, 29 March, 2023 for inter alia considering the proposal for raising of capital for FY 2023-24 through issuance of Basel-Ill compliant Additional Tier-1 Bonds and Tier-II Bonds, in one or more tranches," PNB said in an exchange filing. AT1 bonds are a type of unsecured, perpetual bonds that banks issue to improve their core capital base. (Read More)
Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services: The steady decline in bond yields, across tenors, in the US reflect the market perception that interest rates are near peaks. The Fed is likely to pause, after perhaps one more 25 bp rate hike, and if the disinflation trend continues on expected lines, the FOMC may cut rates by end 2023 or early 2024. A lot will depend on the extent of slowdown in the US economy. If a hard landing of the US economy is avoided, equity markets will bounce back. The ongoing stress in the US banking system is a short-term challenge, but a long-term opportunity for equity investors. Market corrections triggered by negative news from the US can be used by long-term investors to buy high-quality stocks, which will bounce back once interest rates start trending down.
STOCK IN FOCUS
BEML (CMP 1,248)
We expect its EBITDA margin at 6-7% over FY22-FY25E. Considering strong opportunities across segments, healthy earnings growth and margin expansion, we have our BUY rating on the stock with a Target Price of Rs2,100.
Intraday Picks
INDIACEM (PREVIOUS CLOSE: RS180) BUY
For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs176-178 for the target of Rs185 with a strict stop loss of Rs174.
APOLLOTYRE (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 310) SELL For today’s trade, short position can be initiated in the range of Rs313- 316 for the target of Rs303 with a strict stop loss of Rs319.
TATACHEM (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 968) BUY For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs960- 965 for the target of Rs985 with a strict stop loss of Rs953.
After Hindenburg's latest report on Jack Dorsey's Block Inc, net worth of the co-founder was hammered. The report alleged that the payments company ignored widespread fraud. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dorsey’s fortune plunged by $526 million on Thursday, his worst single-day decline since May. He’s now worth $4.4 billion after the 11 percent drop.
Hindenburg's report claimed that Block has allowed fraudulent accounts to proliferate on cash applications, generating illegitimate revenue and exaggerating user metrics.
Block offers payment and mobile banking services for merchants and consumers. (Read More)
The Indian rupee was likely to open little changed against the greenback on Friday as the dollar index recovered some ground to weigh on Asian currencies.
The non-deliverable forwards indicate that the rupee will open at around 82.25-82.30 to the U.S. dollar, compared with 82.2625 in the previous session.
The rupee notched its best trading session in three weeks on Thursday as Asian currencies broadly rose on hopes that the Federal Reserve was nearing the end of its rate hiking cycle.
Some of those moves seemed to be reversing on Friday, as the Chinese yuan dipped to 6.84 per dollar while the South Korean won fell 0.3% as the dollar index eked out marginal gains after declining for six straight sessions.
Central banks in Switzerland, Norway and Britain all raised interest rates overnight, while more U.S. data indicated the labour market remained tight, showing no impact yet of the failure of two regional banks that had roiled financial markets. (Reuters)
As a series of U.S. lenders were besieged by customers yanking out their money this month, banking behemoths JPMorgan Chase & Co, Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp., warned employees: Do not make it worse.
JPMorgan, the nation's largest bank, told all employees they "should never give the appearance of exploiting a situation of stress or uncertainty," in a March 13 memo, extracts of which were seen by Reuters. "We do not make disparaging comments regarding competitors."
On the same day, the leaders of its consumer and business banking unit told branch employees: "We should refrain from soliciting client business from an institution in stress," according to extracts seen by Reuters. Citigroup has also given similar guidance to its business heads, a source familiar with the matter said. The guidance includes not speculating about other banks or market rumors. (Read More)
Biocon, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, and Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd are the stocks that will be part of the F&O ban list for Friday trading. (Read More)
Oil prices fell on Friday, extending the previous day's losses, on worries about potential oversupply after U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said refilling the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) may take several years.
Brent crude futures slid 48 cents, or 0.6%, to $75.43 a barrel by 0039 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 52 cents, or 0.7%, to $69.44 a barrel.
Both benchmarks were still on track for a weekly gain of about 3%-4%, recovering from their biggest weekly declines in months last week due to the banking sector crisis and worries about a possible recession.
"There is a sell-off from the view that the United States will not refill oil reserve even if the WTI prices are at $67-$72 a barrel," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities. (Reuters)
Patel Engineering Ltd has emerged as the successful bidder for Dibang Multipurpose Project worth ₹3,637.12 crore in Arunachal Pradesh, which will be undertaken in a joint venture.
The company's share in this order is ₹1,818.56 crore, according to a regulatory filing.
"Patel Engineering Ltd (PEL) has emerged as L1 bidder in financial bid opening through an e-reverse auction for the tender invited by NHPC Ltd, for the construction of civil works for LOT-4: comprising head race tunnels ...for Dibang Multipurpose Project 2880 MW (12 X 240 MW), located in Arunachal Pradesh, India," the company said in a statement.
The project is to be executed in 86 months. It will be undertaken in a joint venture, of which PEL's share is 50 per cent. (PTI)
India's current account deficit is likely to have improved in the final quarter of 2022 from a nine-year high in July-September as the goods trade gap moderated and net services exports rose, a Reuters poll found.
The median forecast of 22 economists polled March 16-23 showed a current account deficit of $23.0 billion in October-December 2022, or 2.7% of gross domestic product (GDP). Forecasts ranged from $15.0-$28.0 billion, or 2.0%-3.2% of GDP.
In July-September, the gap was $36.4 billion. As a percentage of GDP, at 4.4% it was the highest since mid-2013. (Read More)
Vaishali Parekh has recommended three day trading stocks for today, here we list out full details in regard to those intraday stocks:
1] Mahindra CIE Automotive: Buy at ₹361, target ₹379, stop loss ₹345;
2] Maruti Suzuki India Ltd or MSIL: Buy at ₹8353, target ₹8600, stop loss ₹8240; and
3] Balrampur Chini: Buy at ₹374, target ₹390, stop loss ₹368. (Read More)
Low-fare airline SpiceJet is open to selling more shares to reduce its liabilities, chairman and managing director Ajay Singh said.
“We are flexible. We will talk to our partners and see what it is they prefer to do. But, irrespective, we need to deleverage our balance sheet to have the space to grow, and that’s what we are trying to do," Singh said in response to a query at the CAPA India Aviation Summit.
At the end of the December quarter, when it posted a four-fold jump in net profit to ₹106.8 crore thanks to robust demand and higher fares, the Gurugram-based airline had liabilities of around ₹14,000 crore. (Read More)