Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Close At Over Two-Week Low As HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank Drag

Overseas investors stayed sellers on Monday for the second consecutive day.

Foreign portfolio investors sold stocks worth Rs 3,268 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange. The sell off comes at a time when the benchmark indices fell due to uncertainty over the Middle East and caution over quarterly earnings.

Domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the fifth day and mopped up equities worth Rs 4,762.93 crore, the NSE data showed.

Foreign institutions have been net buyers of Rs 16,301 crore worth of Indian equities so far in 2024, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd., updated till the previous trading day.

The local currency weakened by 3 paise to close at 83.45 against the U.S. Dollar.

It closed at 83.42 a dollar on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

Benchmark equity indices fell in the second session today and marked their lowest close since the start of this month amid uncertainty over middle-east tensions and quarterly earnings.

The Nifty closed at 22,277.85, down 241.55 points or 1.07% and the Sensex closed at 73,399.78, lower by 845.12 points or 1.14%.

"Short-term sentiment appears bearish, although a significant decline isn't anticipated at present," said Rupak De, senior technical analyst, LKP Securities. "Instead, the index is likely to fluctuate between 22200 and 22400. Sellers are expected to persist as long as the index remains below the 22400 mark."

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Infosys Ltd., and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd dragged the Nifty.

Meanwhile, those of Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Maruti Suzuki Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., and Nestle India Ltd. cushioned the fall.

All NSE sectors ended lower except Nifty Oil & Gas.

Broader markets were trading lower on BSE. The S&P BSE Midcap index settled 1.50% lower, and the S&P BSE Smallcap ended 1.54% down.

On BSE, 18 sectors declined and two advanced out of 20. The S&P BSE Services declined the most, and the S&P BSE Oil and Gas emerged as the top performer.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. Around 2,984 stocks declined, 917 stocks rose, and 148 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

In absolute terms, the trade gap widened to $15.6 billion in March compared to $18.7 billion in February, according to a press briefing by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

• Exports fell 0.7% annually to $41.7 billion.

• Imports fell 6% annually to $57.3 billion.

• Exports rose 0.7% month-on-month from February.

• Imports fell 4.7% month-on-month from February.

  Read here.

India is likely to witness 'above normal' South-Western monsoon in 2024, according to Indian Meteorological Department. South West monsoons is forecasted at 106% of the long period average. Most conditions are favourable for monsoons, IMD said in a press release on Monday.

Read more here

Opens manufacturing factory for water and wastewater solutions in Pune

Source: Exchange Filing

The stock had hit its lifetime high earlier in the day.

Transaction banking unit in pact with National Bank of Kuwait for digital solutions

Source: Exchange filing

• Export-import volume at 9.3 lakh TEU, up 9.7% YoY

• Domestic volume at 3.1 lakh TEU, up 16.1% YoY

Source: Exchange Filing

To invest Rs 400 crore for developing office space in Chennai

Source: Exchange Filing

• Approves acquisition of 26% stake in Mahindra Susten subsidiary Gelos Solren for Rs 40.1 crore

• Mahindra Susten to invest Rs 1,200 crore to set up 150 MW hybrid capacity

Source: Exchange filing

• Section 7 petitions of SBI & IDBI Bank against Mumbai Metro One disposed-off by NCLT, Mumbai

• Mumbai Metro One Pvt is a 74-26 JV of the company with MMRDA

Source: Exchange filing

Indian benchmark stock indices fell through midday on Monday as investors shunned riskier assets due to the Israel-Iran conflict.

As of 12:09 p.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 132.45 points, or 0.59%, lower at 22,386.95, and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 461.84 points, or 0.62%, to trade at 73,783.06.

The NSE Nifty 50 declined 1.14% to touch an intraday low of 22,263.55, and the S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.25% to hit the day's low of 73,315.16.

"Our view is that the weak sentiment will likely continue as long as the indices (Nifty and Sensex) are trading below 22,500 and 74,000," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities.

"Markets will also take cues from the IMD Southwest monsoon forecast and WPI data likely to be released later today," said Avdhut Bagkar, a technical and derivatives analyst at StoxBox.

ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Infosys Ltd., and ITC Ltd. weighed on the benchmark Nifty 50.

Reliance Industries Ltd., Oil and Natural Gas Corp of India Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Nestle India Ltd., and Bajaj Auto Ltd. limited losses to the index.

On NSE, nine out of 12 sectors declined, and three advanced. The NSE Nifty Media declined the most, while NSE Nifty Oil and Gas emerged as the best among the sectors.

Broader markets were also trading lower, with the S&P BSE Midcap trading 0.97% lower and the S&P BSE Smallcap falling 1.08% through midday trade on Monday.

On BSE, 17 out of 20 sectors were trading in negative territory, and three were positive. The S&P BSE Services sector was the worst performer, while the S&P BSE Oil and Gas sector was the best performing sector.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. Around 2,956 stocks fell, 800 stocks advanced, and 150 stocks remained unchanged on the BSE.

Hindalco Industries contributed the most to the gains tracking the rise in aluminum prices following LME's ban on deliveries of Russian supplies produced after midnight on Friday.

Company signs definitive agreement to acquire a 1.5 MTPA Grinding Unit at Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu at a value of Rs. 413.75 Crores.

Source: Exchange Filing

Shares of Aster DM Healthcare Ltd. jumped to hit its lifetime high today after the company's board approved a dividend of Rs 118 per share.

An exchange filing by the company said that the dividend is on account of the receipt of proceeds from the sale of the GCC business and redemption of redeemable preference shares issued to the company by Affinity Holdings Pvt Ltd , a wholly owned material subsidiary of the Company.

The special dividend will be paid within 30 (thirty) days from the date of the declaration, the filing said.

The scrip rose as much as 14.3% to Rs 558 apiece, the highest level. It pared gains to trade 6.79% higher at Rs 521.35 apiece as of 11:37 a.m. This compares to a 0.62% decline in the NSE Nifty 50. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 8.38 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 72.97, indicating that the stock may be overbought.

Six analysts tracking the company have a 'buy' rating, according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies a downside of 6.3%.

Shares of Vedanta Ltd. rose as much as 1.23% to Rs 377.55 apiece, the highest level since May 5, 2022. It was trading 0.66% higher at Rs 375.40 apiece, as of 10:14 a.m. This compares to a 0.73% decline in the NSE Nifty 50 Index.

It has risen 35.66% in 12 months. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 3.9 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 83.40, which implied the stock is overbought.

Jefferies India Pvt. has initiated coverage on Oil and Natural Gas Corp. with a 'buy' rating, driven by favourable crude and gas reforms as well as improved profitability. The brokerage has set a target price of Rs 390 apiece, implying a potential upside of 47% from the previous close.

Secures Rs 270 crore order for Vande Bharat Train set

Source: Exchange Filing

• Q4 revenue growth at 39% YoY

• FY24 gold volume growth at 13% YoY

• Diamond volume growth at 19% YoY

Senco Gold Ltd. rose as much as 13.03% to Rs 905.95 apiece, the highest level since its listing on Jul 14, 2023. It was trading 12.91% higher at Rs 905.00 apiece, as of 10:00 a.m. This compares to a 0.93% decline in the NSE Nifty 50 Index.

It has risen 123.29% nine months. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 32 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 70.81.

Two analysts tracking the company maintained a 'Buy' rating on the company, according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an upside of 8.9%.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. rose to near one-month high on Monday after it recorded a sequential rise in its profit during the quarter ended March 2024 on the back of revenue rise on record deal wins.

The scrip rose as much as 1.57% to Rs 4,064.24 apiece, the highest level since March 18. It was trading 0.49% higher at Rs 4,021 apiece, as of 09:34 a.m. This compares to a 1.01% decline in the NSE Nifty 50 Index.

It has risen 28.05% in 12 months. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 0.39 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 53.14.

Out of 45 analysts tracking the company, 26 maintain a 'buy' rating, nine recommend a 'hold,' and ten suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an upside of 3.3%.

• Revenue up 1.1% at Rs 61,237 crore (estimate: Rs 61,451.3 crore).

• Net profit rose 12.7% Rs 12,502 crore (estimate: Rs 12,034 crore).

• Ebit increased 5% to Rs 15,918 crore (estimate: Rs 15,548 crore).

• Margin expanded 97 basis points to 25.99% (estimate: 25.3%).

• Board approved final dividend of Rs 28 for FY24.

Morgan Stanley has raised the target price of Exide Industries Ltd. as it expects the company to emerge as the top player in the battery cell business on the back of supporting environment.

The brokerage reiterated an 'overweight' rating on Exide and revised the target price to Rs 485 apiece from Rs 373, implying a potential upside of 22% from the previous close.

The stock opened with a sharp spike on Monday rallying over 5%. In the past month, the share price has shot up 36% while over a six-month period it has rallied over 57%.

The scrip rose as much as 5.44% to Rs 419.80 apiece, the highest level since its listing on Jul 2, 1997. It was trading 4.99% higher at Rs 418.00 apiece, as of 09:51 a.m. This compares to a 1.00% decline in the NSE Nifty 50 Index.

It has risen 120.41% in 12 months. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 27 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 85.97, which implied the stock is overbought.

Out of 24 analysts tracking the company, 15 maintain a 'buy' rating, four recommend a 'hold,' and five suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies a downside of 13.8%.

Benchmark equity indices tracked global markets and opened lower today amid rising geopolitical tensions with most stocks falling and banks dragging the most.

At pre-open, the S&P BSE Sensex Index was down 929.74 points or 1.25% points, at 73,315.16 while the NSE Nifty 50 was down 180.35 points or 0.80% at 22,339.05.

"We expect some pullback from the lower range of 22,300 levels and expect some volatility to increase with respect to sharp surge in VIX index," said Vikas Jain, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

"Market trend would be determined by geopolitical factors, macroeconomic data, quarterly earnings and institutional activities in a holiday-shortened week ahead," said Jain.

"Iran's reprisal attacks on Israel are unlikely to have a significant impact in the domestic equity market unless Israel responds, in which case crude oil prices could spike on supply disruptions," he said.

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., State Bank Of India, Tata Motors Ltd., and ITC Ltd. dragged the most.

Meanwhile, those of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd., and Nestle Ltd. minimised the losses.

All sectoral indices on the NSE fell with Nifty Realty falling over 2% followed by Nifty Media, which fell nearly 2%.

Broader markets underperformed. The S&P BSE Midcap fell 2.27%, and the S&P BSE Smallcap index fell over 3%.

All 20 sectoral indices on the BSE fell with S&P BSE Utilities losing the most by over 3%.

Market breadth was skewed in the favour of sellers. Around 2,725 stocks declined, 379 stocks advanced, and 114 remained unchanged on BSE.

At pre-open, the S&P BSE Sensex Index was down 929.74 points or 1.25% points, at 73,315.16 while the NSE Nifty 50 was down 180.35 points or 0.80% at 22,339.05.

The yield on the 10-year bond opened flat at 7.18%.

• The local currency weakened by 2 paise to 83.44 against the U.S. Dollar.

• It closed at 83.42 a dollar on Friday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Reiterates 'Overweight' with TP Rs 485, 22% Upside

• Share price could rise significantly over the next 10 years

• Could become leading player in battery cell tech

• Early mover advantage could in its favour

• Addressable TAM to increase to $13 billion for battery segment

• Hyundai partnership likely a multi year contract

• Current TP at 1.4x P/B vs 3 times for global peers

• During scale up phase stocks trade in 4-6x P/B

• Implies that Exide could double from here

• Bull case sees 88% upside, at 6 times P/B

• FY24 operational capacity at 10,934 MW, up 35% YoY

• Sale of Energy increases to 21,806 million units in FY24, up 47% YoY

• Consistent high Solar portfolio CUF at 24.5% backed by 99.7% plant availability in FY24

• FY24 wind portfolio CUF at 29.4% with 420 bps improvement YoY backed by 95.5% plant availability

• AGEL becomes India’s first company to surpass 10,000 MW renewable energy capacity in FY24

Q4 BUSINESS UPDATE - ADANI GREEN

• Q4 solar sale of energy up 7% YoY

• Q4 sale of wind energy up 43% YoY

• Q4 hybrid sale of energy up 32% YoY

Source: Exchange Filing

• Target implies 47% upside

• To benefit from tight oil crude market

• Non application of SAED on KG basin to help crude upside

• Gas price reforms are earnings accretive

• KG field production to drive 3%/6% crude/ gas production CAGR over FY24-26

• Build 1% production growth for OVL over Fy24-26

• Expect net cash position to rise, consolidated net debt to fall to 0.16x over FY23-26

• UBS Maintains Buy on Indian Hotels; Price target revised to Rs 715 vs Rs 500, upside 17.8%

• Believes market still underappreciating company's operating leverage

• Expect EBITDA accelerating faster than revenue at 24% CAGR from FY24-26E

• Earnings forecast raised by 8%/9% for FY25/26E on better avg room rates

• Sees current re-rating as sustainable with earnings upgrades

• Retains Buy, unchanged Target price of Rs1,790; upside potential 16.2%

• US FDA issued OAI status for Dadra plant; adds on regulatory overhang

• Expect its US generic sales (excl. gRevlimid) to remain range-bound on FDA issues

• Specialty sales remain key for earnings growth, offsetting challenges in US generics

• Dadra unit contributes less than 2% of Sun’s consolidated revenue

• Expects limited earnings impact due to Dadra OAI

• Planned Rs 45,000 crore fund raise to help ramp up network capex and narrow gap with peers on 4G coverage & 5G rollouts

• Potential tariff hikes, AGR relief to boost cash flow position

• Expects cash shortfall from H2FY26

• Uncertainties on future repayments as well as equity dilution

• Believe fund raise to drive further upside for Indus Towers as well

• Expects 330 bps YoY improvement in Adjusted EBITDA margins to 3.6%

• Expects 11% YoY, -0.5% QoQ in volumes; PTL volumes to be strong (+10% QoQ/+22% YoY)

• Expects e-commerce/PTL yields to be decent albeit e-commerce yields to be seasonally lower

• Expects mid-mile tonnage carried on Delhivery’s network to be flattish QoQ

• Beyond Q4, expects Delhivery to report stronger margin trajectory

• Believes Delhivery to be well positioned to benefit from any uptick in industry e-commerce volumes in H2CY24

• U.S. Dollar Index at 105.98

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 4.53%

• Brent crude down 0.31% at $90.17 per barrel

• Nymex crude down 0.43% at $85.29 per barrel 

• Bitcoin up 2.63% at $65,543.25.

• GIFT Nifty was up 20.5 points or 0.09% at 22,470.

• Nifty April futures down 0.92% to 22,601.45 at a premium of 82.05 points.

• Nifty April futures open interest down 4.8%.

• Nifty Bank April futures down 0.64% to 48,714.10 at a premium of 149.55 points.

• Nifty Bank April futures open interest down 8.8%.

• Nifty Options April 18 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 22,700 and maximum put open interest at 22,200.

• Bank Nifty Options April 16 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 49,000 and maximum pPut open interest at 48,000.

• Securities in ban period: Balrampur Chini Mills, GNFC, Hindustan Copper, Vodafone Idea, the India Cements, Metropolis, National Aluminium, Piramal Enterprises, Zee Entertainment Enterprises.

• Price Band changes from 5% to 20%: Adani Power.

• Price Band changes from 20% to 10%: Reliance Infrastructure.

• Moved out short-term ASM framework: Technocraft Industries (India), Best Agrolife.

• Apollo Micro Systems: Promoter Karunakar Reddy Baddam revoked a pledged 1.1 crore shares on April 11.

• Subex: Ashapura Commodities sold 36.81 lakh shares (0.65%) at Rs 30.64 apiece.

• Power Grid Corp.: The company will consider raising up to Rs 12,000 crore via NCDs on a private placement basis in a board meeting on April 17.

• Patanjali Foods: The company said segmental volume in Q4 experienced mid-single-digit growth and revenue from the edible oil segment showed modest single-digit growth compared to the previous quarter.

• Reliance Power: The company has transferred its 45 MW wind power project located in Maharashtra to JSW Renewable Energy for a consideration of Rs 132.4 crore.

• Ami Organics: The company approved the raising of funds up to Rs 500 crore through a QIP.

• Engineers India: The company signed an MoU with Detect Technologies for AI-based monitoring of construction sites.

• ISMT: The company received two orders worth Rs 343.7 crore from ONDC for the supply of casing pipes.

• Zuari Industries: The NCLT gave the nod to merge Zuari Sugar and Power with the company.

• Bharti Hexacom: Sanjeev Kumar and Surajit Mandol resigned from the board, effective Monday.

• Granules: The US FDA inspected at Andhra Pradesh facility from April 8-12 and ended with zero observations.

• Rail Vikas Nigam: The company received a letter of acceptance for works in connection with the new line project of Araria-Galgalia of the Northeast Frontier Railway. The project cost is Rs 95 crore.

• Zaggle Prepaid: The company signed an agreement with Eversub India to provide Zaggle Save, the employee expense and benefits management platform.

TCS Consolidated (QoQ)

• Revenue up 1.1% at Rs 61,237 crore vs Rs 60,583 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 61,451.3 crore).

• EBIT up 5.03% at Rs 15,918 crore vs Rs 15,155 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 15,548.3 crore).

• Margin up 97 bps at 25.99% vs 25.01% (Bloomberg estimate 25.3%).

• Net profit up 12.66% at Rs 12,502 crore vs Rs 11,097 crore. (Bloomberg estimate Rs 12,034.2 crore).

• Declared dividend of Rs 28 per share.

Anand Rathi Wealth

• Revenue up 28.91% at Rs 184.28 crore vs Rs 142.95 crore.

• AUM up 52% at Rs 59,351 crore vs 38,993 crores.

• Ebitda up 20.27%at Rs 73.14 crore vs Rs 60.81 crore.

• Margin down 284 bps at 39.68% vs 42.53%

• Net profit up 33.16% at Rs 56.86 crore vs Rs 42.7 crore.

• Declared dividend of Rs 9 per share.

• Proposed the buyback of shares at Rs 4,450 for a total consideration not exceeding 164.65 crore.

The April futures contract of the GIFT Nifty traded at 22,470, up 20.5 points or 0.09%.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region fell sharply in early trade Monday on risk-off sentiment as geopolitical tension heightened after Iran's attack on Israel over the weekend. Amid geopolitical conflicts, investors pull out their money from risk assets, and shift it to safe haven assets like dollar, US Treasuries and gold.

Indices in the US also ended lower Friday as investors shifted to the safest corners of the market from bonds to gold and the dollar amid geopolitical tensions.

The S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.46% and 1.62%, respectively, as on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 1.24%.

Brent crude was down 0.31% at $90.17 per barrel and gold gained 0.42% to trade at $2,354.33 an ounce.

India's benchmark stock indices erased earlier losses to close little changed on Friday, led by gains in rate-sensitive realty and banking stocks after the Reserve Bank of India kept the rate unchanged at policy. This helped the indices clock their third weekly gain.

The NSE Nifty 50 settled 10.85 points, or 0.048%, higher at 22,525.50, and the S&P BSE Sensex gained 20.59 points, or 0.028%, to end at 74,248.22.

Overseas investors turned net sellers of Indian equities on Friday. Foreign portfolio investors offloaded stocks worth Rs 8,027 crore and domestic institutional investors remained net buyers and mopped up equities worth Rs 6,341.5 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

The Indian currency weakened by 23 paise to close at Rs 83.42 against the US dollar.