Stock Market Live: Sensex trades higher, Nifty around 15,150 led by IT, pharma stocks

Man Infra wins Rs 380 cr arbitration award from Bombay HC over Hadapsar-Saswad highway project

Man Infraconstruction has won a Rs 380 crore arbitration award from the Bombay High Court over the four-laning project on the Hadapsar-Saswad highway. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Suketu Shah, Joint MD of the company, said, “With regard to this order by the honorable High Court, this is the final order in regard to the arbitration award which we received in December 2019. We expect the money to come in say within next 3-4 weeks’ time for sure.”

Shah said on a standalone basis, the company is debt free. “At a standalone basis, we are debt-free. What debt you see is only for our real estate project in Dahisar – so we have taken on our project itself. So, I don’t think it is required to repay that debt and use that money. It is our own project only and for which we have a strong financial closure,” he said. Watch here.

Don’t think urban customers are ‘constrained’; seeing pick-up in watches and eyewear: Titan

A Nielsen study on the consumer sector indicates that Indian urban consumers likely to control their spending despite vaccine deployment as they are less confident about income prospects in the first half of 2021. However, S Subramaniam, CFO of Titan said the he doesn’t think that urban customers are ‘constrained’.

“I don’t think we are getting that feeling at all. There can be concerns on employment but we are past that. Companies are starting to hire more people, so I don’t know where this fear is coming from,” he said. He further noted that correction in gold prices has helped pick up in demand, adding that the firm is seeing a pick-up in watches and eyewear segment as well. Read here.

Expect positive trend in Mumbai realty to continue, says Purvankara

Puravankara has re-entered the Mumbai market with its first ultra-luxury project in the city at an investment of Rs 450 crore. Abhishek Kapoor, COO-Residential of Puravankara shared his views.

“This is more like a home-coming for us. We are very familiar with the home ground that we are in and Chembur as a market per se has got a lack of high-quality branded developer, good product supply gap and we saw this as an opportunity. The Mumbai market has bounced back. We believe that the current trend is sustainable and will continue to proceed in the direction that it has taken,” he said. Read more here.

BPCL a buying opportunity, bullish on RIL, says Deven Choksey

Deven Choksey of KRChoksey believes Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) could be a buying opportunity. “The strategic sale is going to slightly result in better realisations for the investors of BPCL. From that perspective, it could mean an opportunity to buy,” he told CNBC-TV18.

He remains bullish on Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). “Reliance remains in a buy category for sure. I am remaining bullish on the company.” Read more.

Easy Trip Planners IPO subscribed 13 times so far

The initial public offering (IPO) of Easy Trip Planners has been subscribed more than 13 times so far on March 10, the last day of bidding. The issue has received bids for 19.58 crore equity shares against an offer size of 1.5 crore shares, as per the subscription data available on exchanges. The reserved portion for retail investors was subscribed 41 times, while the portion set aside for non-institutional investors was subscribed 6 times. Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) have put in 28 percent more bids than the reserved portion.

Amarjeet Maurya – AVP – Mid Caps, Angel Broking on Craftsman Automation IPO

Craftsman Automation Ltd (CAL)  is a diversified engineering company with vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities, engaged in 3 business segments, namely Automotive – Powertrain and Others, Automotive – Aluminium Products, and Industrial and Engineering. It is one of the leading players in the machining of cylinder blocks for the tractor segment.

In terms of valuations, the pre-issue P/E works out to 73x FY2020 earnings (at the upper end of the issue price band), which is high considering CAL’s historical two year CAGR top-line & bottom-line growth. Further, the company’s return ratios are also low compared to its other peers. Thus, we recommend a Neutral rating on the issue.

ABB Power Products& Systems India | The company has won orders worth Rs 160 crore from the Government of India’s electric locomotive manufacturer, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), and the Central Organization for Rail Electrification (CORE), to power electric freight locomotives for the Indian Railways.

Gold rate today: Yellow metal eases; likely to find support at Rs 44,400 per 10 grams

Gold prices in India traded lower on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) Wednesday after witnessing a sharp rally in the previous session. International spot prices also fell, while the silver price declined by nearly 1 percent. At 10:40 am, gold futures for April delivery fell 0.14 percent to Rs 44,794 per 10 grams as against the previous close of Rs 44,857 and opening price of Rs 44,730 on the MCX. Silver futures traded 0.68 percent lower at Rs 67,023 per kg. The prices opened at Rs 66,951 as compared to the previous close of Rs 67,480 per kg. On Tuesday, gold and silver prices rebounded sharply from 10 months low level as bond yields fell and the dollar index weakened. Short covering also lifted prices of precious metals prices. More here

Perspective on AMFI Data by Akhil Chaturvedi, Head of Sales & Distribution, Motilal Oswal AMC

“Trend is similar to January 2021, pure equity net negative by 10k cr led by profit booking or get re-allocation to alternate investment avenues like real estate / direct equity or IPO’s. It is good to see positive flows in the dynamic / BAF category, this is a good category in current times where the asset allocation model rebalance portfolios between equities an cash using valuation models. Some meaningful consolidation of markets could lead investors to come back and make fresh allocations at some stage, there is general worry on valuations and the current rally possibly unreal and therefore investors seem to be trying to time in some way. First few days march look slightly better with the redemption velocity coming down, but need to wait for how it plays through the month.”

Market Watch: Pritesh Mehta, Yes Securities

– Buy ICICI Bank with a stop loss of Rs 605 and a target of Rs 675.

– Buy HCL Technologies with a stop loss of Rs 950 and a target of Rs 1,050.

Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking

For the coming session, we will closely watch the levels of 15,150 – 15,200 and any sustained trade above it can trigger a fresh leg of upmove. However, a failure to do the same can drag the Nifty back to the lower range of 14,900 that has acted as a support for the last two days and should be taken as a sacrosanct point.

Manish Hathiramani, Proprietary Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

We are close to the upper end of the Nifty range. It is imperative for the markets to cross the level of 15,300 as that would reinstate the continuation of the existing upward trend. Until then we will experience range-bound movements and choppy intraday sessions. Strong support for the Nifty lies at 14,800.

IndusInd Bank shares jump 3.5% after CLSA raises target price, indicates 30% upside

Shares of IndusInd Bank jumped 3.5 percent on Wednesday after global brokerage house CLSA raised the target price for the stock while maintaining a bullish stance. The brokerage maintained a buy call on the stock and raised the target to Rs 1,325 from Rs 1,100 per share earlier indicating a 30 percent upside. The stock rose as much as 3.5 percent to day’s high of Rs 1,060.45 per share on the BSE. Just in 2021, it has added over 16 percent. According to the brokerage, the lender has reported a transformative journey in the last two years and has debulked corporate books and increased granularity of liabilities. It also increased EPS estimates for the private bank by 3-6 percent.

RIL shares gain after JioBusiness launches enterprise grade fibre connectivity for MSMBs

The share price of Reliance Industries gained over 1 percent in early trade on Wednesday after the company’s subsidiary JioBusiness launched enterprise grade fibre connectivity and digital solutions for Micro, Small & Medium Businesses (MSMBs). JioBusiness’ plan for MSMBs is “founded on three key pillars” – enterprise grade fibre connectivity that offers voice and data services, digital solutions that help enterprises manage and grow their business, and devices that enable leading digital solutions for MSMBs, the company said in a release. Jio claims its voice and data services will be offered at one-tenth the existing price in the market, starting from Rs 901 onwards. The company will offer collaboration with partners to provide digital solution at no additional cost. More here

Magma Fincorp shares hit 5% upper circuit on shareholders’ nod for acquisition by Rising Sun Holdings

The shares of non-banking finance company Magma Fincorp Ltd (Magma) were locked in a 5 percent upper circuit after it received shareholders’ approval for the acquisition of a controlling stake by Rising Sun Holdings Pvt Ltd through preferential issue. The stock price jumped as much as 4.96 percent to hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 136.40 apiece on the BSE. In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, the company said that its shareholders approved the company’s plan to raise up to Rs 3,456 crore by issuing preference equity shares to Adar Poonawalla-controlled Rising Sun Holdings Ltd (RSHPL) and two members from the promoter group. More here

Opening Bell: Sensex opens 350 points higher, Nifty at 15,200; all sectors in the green

The Indian market opened higher on Wednesday, tracking gains in global markets, with all key sectors witnessing broad-based buying. The gains were led by IT, metal and banking sectors, while energy, auto and financials also supported the sentiment. At 9:18 am, the Sensex was trading 351 points higher at 51,376 while the Nifty rose 101 points to 15,200. Broader markets were also positive in early deals with the midcap and smallcap indices up around a percent each. On the Nifty50 index, IndusInd Bank, Wipro, M&M, Tata Motors and JSW Steel were the top gainers hwile ONGC, SBI Life, UPL, Hero Moto and Powergrid led the losses.

Dollar claws back some losses as U.S. yields stabilise

The U.S. dollar rose on Wednesday, clawing back some of the losses sustained overnight, as U.S. yields found a floor following their drop from one-year highs. Riskier currencies including the Australian and New Zealand dollars retreated following big gains on Tuesday. Bitcoin turned lower after earlier topping $55,000 for the first time since Feb. 22. The safe-haven dollar has closely tracked a surge in Treasury yields in recent weeks, both because higher yields increase the currency’s appeal and as the bond rout shook investor confidence, spurring demand for the safest assets. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield stabilised around 1.54% on Wednesday in Asia after a three-day drop from a one-year high of 1.6250%. The dollar index strengthened about 0.2% to 92.137 in Asia on Wednesday, after falling back sharply from a 3-1/2-month high of 92.506 overnight.

Aviation ministry tells NCLT that Jet Airways cannot claim historical rights to slots

The Civil Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation declined to provide any assurance over historical rights to Jet Airways on return of its old slots and bilateral rights, sources told CNBC-TV18. During a hearing at the Mumbai bench of National Company Law Tribunal, the aviation ministry and DGCA submitted an affidavit stating their position on the Jet Airways slots. As per the affidavit, sources said, the ministry highlighted that allocation of slots work on ‘use it or lose it’ policy. And as Jet Airways did not apply for slots for three consecutive seasons, it cannot provide historical rights on these slots and bilateral rights as these slots are not an airline’s assets. More here

Air India transaction advisor rejects 5 EoIs for lack of proper documentation

Air India transaction adviser has rejected 5 expressions of interest (EoIs) for lack of proper documentation, sources informed CNBC-TV18. There are sufficient EoIs for Air India stake sale and currently, due diligence process is underway, they added.

Oil slips below $68 as rally fizzles before US supply report

Oil fell to around USD 68 a barrel on Tuesday in a choppy session, pressured as concerns faded of a supply disruption in Saudi Arabia, which countered a pause in the dollar’s rally and prospects for tighter supply due to OPEC+ output curbs. On Monday, crude hit its highest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a day after Yemen’s Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at Saudi oil sites. Saudi Arabia said it thwarted the strike, however, and prices slipped as supply fears eased. Brent crude settled down 72 cents, or 1.06 percent, at USD 67.52 a barrel. The contract pulled back after trading as high as USD 69.33. It reached USD 71.38 on Monday, the highest since Jan. 8, 2020. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell USD 1.04, or 1.6 percent to settle at USD 64.01 a barrel. The contract hit its highest on Monday since October 2018. More Here