Stock Market Today: Nifty Extends Record Run On Weekly Expiry Day; Sensex Ends 200 Points Up

-The local currency closed flat against the US dollar at 83.55. 

Source: Cogencis

Benchmark equity indices extended their rally for third consecutive session to close at their highest levels as macro data uplifted the sentiment. The markets rose tracking various data points including one-year low domestic inflation in May, April IIP at 5% as well as softer-than-expected US inflation.

Both the indices recorded their highest close as well. The Nifty closed at 23398.90, up 0.33% or 75.95 points and Sensex closed at 76810.90, up 0.27% or 204.33 points.

Intraday, the Nifty recorded a new high of 23,481.05 points and Sensex also hit its record high of 23,481.05.

Rajesh Palviya, SVP - Technical and Derivatives Research at Axis Securities said that he expects short covering to set in once the Nifty crosses 23,500, and it will take the Nifty to 23,700.

"For Bank Nifty, the major support zone is placed at 50,000 mark," said Palviya. "It may remain in consolidation until it takes out that level."

Shares of Larsen & Toubro Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., and Titan Co. Ltd. contributed the most to the gains.

While those of ICICI Bank Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., and ITC Ltd. capped the upside.

Seven sectoral indices on the NSE ended higher with Nifty Realty rising the most.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap settled 0.79% and 0.89% higher, respectively.

On BSE, 15 sectors advanced, and five declined out of 20. The S&P BSE Realty rose the most among sectors, and the S&P BSE Utilities fell the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,353 stocks rose, 1,536 stocks fall, and 95 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

Rajib Kumar Mishra ceases to be Chairman after SEBI announced restrictions due to lax corporate governance

Source: Exchange filing

• Indian ship recycling industry to see 15% revenue growth in FY25

• Growth on rising number of ageing vessels, competition

• Increased availability to bring company input costs down

• Higher capacity utilization to improve profitability by 75bps

• Higher cash generation, lack of capex, to keep credit profiles stable

• Expect Indian ship recyclers to see 20-23% volume growth

• Key competitors: Bangladesh, Pakistan face severe foreign currency crisis

Shriram Finance Ltd. rose as much as 4.31% to Rs 2,677.70 apiece, the highest level since its listing on Dec 11, 1996. It was trading 4.11% higher at Rs 2,672.30 apiece, as of 2:59 p.m. This compares to a 0.33% advance in the NSE Nifty 50 Index.

The market cap of the stock rose Rs 4,122.16 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore as of 3:02 p.m.

It has risen 85.29% in 12 months, and 30.15% on year to date basis. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 1.3 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 65.33.

Out of 38 analysts tracking the company, 36 maintain a 'buy' rating, one recommends a 'hold,' and one suggests 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an upside of 9.1%.

Board approves raising up to Rs 225 crore via QIP

Source: Exchange Filing

Indian benchmark indices pared gains through midday on Thursday after hitting a fresh record high as shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd., NTPC Ltd., and Power Grid Corp. of India dragged.

As of 12:22 p.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was 72.30 points, or 0.31%, higher at 23,395.25 after hitting a record high of 23,481.05. While the S&P BSE Sensex gained 254.51 points, or 0.33%, to trade at 76,861.08 after hitting an all-time high of 77,145.56.

After hitting an all-time high, there is some profit-taking. That indicates markets are cautious at higher levels, said Nilesh Jain, head vice president, technical and derivatives research, Centrum Broking Ltd. The reason is that there's no participation from the NSE Nifty Bank. Markets need strong participation from NSE Nifty Bank for these moves to be sustainable, he said.

Still, the structure continued to remain on the positive side, looking at the volatility index, where a sharp sell-off was seen in seven consecutive sessions, he noted. Centrum Broking expects the NSE Nifty 50 to inch towards the 23,500 mark at the spot level. Any dip can be taken as a buying opportunity, and one can keep a stop loss below 23,000. From the expiry point of view, the range for the NSE Nifty 50 could be 223,350–23,450 Jain told NDTV Profit in an interview.

On the domestic front, India's CPI inflation fell to 4.75% on year in May, the lowest level in a year, compared to 4.83% in the preceding month, which boosted investors' sentiment.

The risk sentiment improved after US inflation came softer than expected and the Federal Reserve held its benchmark federal funds target range at 5.24–5.50%, which also supported the markets' record rally.

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., HDFC Life Insurance Co., Infosys Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. were positively contributing to gains in the Nifty.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd., NTPC Ltd., Power Grid Corp. of India, Coal India Ltd., and Tata Steel Ltd. were weighing on the index.

Of the 12 sectors on NSE, six sectors advanced, two remained flat, and four declined. The NSE Nifty Media was the worst performing sector, and the NSE Nifty Realty rose the most.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap was trading 0.65% and 0.59% higher, respectively.

On BSE, 16 out of 20 sectors advanced, and four declined. The S&P BSE Realty rose the most, while S&P BSE Utilities was the worst performing sector so far in the day.

Market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers. Around 2,187 stocks rose, 1,522 stocks declined and 125 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

53rd GST Council to meet in New Delhi on June 22, 2024

Source: GST Council X platform

• Gets order in the range of Rs 2,500-5,000 crore from ONGC

• Order for construction of 4 wellhead platforms, and 140 km pipeline at ONGC's Tapti Daman block

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of Dixon Technologies, Titan Company and Voltas contributed the most to the gains.

The company received a work order worth Rs 939 crore from NLC India for setting up a 600 MW grid-connected solar power project including the operation and maintenance for three years.

Exide Industries has invested Rs 75 crore by subscribing to equity shares of Exide Energy Solutions Ltd. on right basis. The investment is to support the subsidiary to set up a greenfield project at Bengaluru for manufacturing and selling lithium-ion battery cells, modules, and pack businesses, an exchange filing said.

The stock has risen 26.78% year-to-date and 55.11% in the last 12 months.

The offer letter said that the board has approved issue of up to 1.21 crore partly paid-up equity shares with face value of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 1,651 per rights equity share.

The stock continued its gains for seventh session today. It has risen 34.34% in the last twelve months.

The shares of Gensol Engineering Ltd were locked in an upper circuit of 5% after bagging a contract worth Rs 1340 crore from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited for a 250 Megawatt/500 Megawatt-hours standalone Battery Energy Storage Systems project, according to an exchange filing.

The stock hit an over three-month high of Rs 1,068.05.

Gets tender for its antibiotic product, Ceftriaxone, from UNICEF

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of L&T Finance Ltd. jumped 5.02% to Rs 179.18, the highest level since Nov 8, 2017.

The scrip gained 60.46% in 12 months, and 6.9% on year to date basis. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 310 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 65.54.

Out of 20 analysts tracking the company, 17 maintain a 'buy' rating and three suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an upside 6.3%.

Benchmark equity indices opened at their record high levels as the country's retail inflation for May eased to a one-year low of 4.75%.

The indices also tracked their global cues which rose after US CPI for May came in softer than expected. However, US Federal Reserve projected only one rate cut of 25 bps against three rate cuts of 75 bps earlier.

At pre-open, the Nifty was at 23,480.95, up by 158.00 points or 0.68% and the Sensex was at 77,102.05, up by 495.48 points or 0.65%.

"On the higher side 23,600 will act as resistance while the broader markets would continue to outperform with sectors rotating one after the other," said Vikas Jain, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

"The bank nifty should remain within the range of 50500 and 49500 levels," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities. Today, the focus should be on IT companies to trade for.

Shares of HDFC Bank, Infosys, Reliance Industries, TCS, and Nestle India contributed the most to the gains.

While those of Hindustan Unilever, Britannia Industries, Coal India, and Tata Consumer Products Ltd capped the upside.

Except Nifty FMCG and Nifty Media, all sectoral indices rose. Nifty Media was the top gainer.

Broader markets also rose. S&P BSE Midcap was 0.48% higher and S&P BSE Smallcap rose 0.44%.

Only S&P BSE FMCG fell and 19 sectoral indices rose. S&P BSE Realty rose the most.

Market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers. Around 2,296 rose, 635 declined and 99 remained unchanged on the BSE.

At pre-open, the Nifty was at 23,480.95, up by 158.00 points or 0.68% and the Sensex was at 77,102.05, up by 495.48 points or 0.65%.

• The yield on the 10-year bond opened 3 basis points lower at 6.98%.

• It closed at 7.01% on Wednesday.

Source: Cogencis

• The local currency opened 2 paise higher at 83.52 against the US dollar.

• It closed at 83.54 on Wednesday.

Source: Bloomberg

• Partners with Samsung to make certain services available on Samsung Wallet

• Galaxy smartphone users to have access to Paytm services like ticket bookings via Samsung Wallet

Source: Exchange filing

• Welcome IRDAI's reforms mentioned in the master circular on life insurance products

• Expect gross impact of about 100 bps on new business margin due to higher surrender value on early exits

Source: Exchange filing

Selected as revenue management partner by car rental company Green Motion International

Source: Exchange filing

US FDA inspection at Indrad facility in Gujarat closes with 5 observations

Source: Exchange filing

Citi On Life Insurers

• SBI Life Insurance Target Rs 1,950/ share

• LIC Target Rs 1,255/share

• ICICI Prudential Target Rs 645/share

• HDFC Life Target Price: Rs 710/share

• Basis IRDAI notification, special surrender value likely to increase for non-linked products

• Difficult to decipher owing to opacity on disclosures and incremental strategies of lifers for absorbing immediate VNB pressure

• Regulator has increased the scope for product innovation

• Manufacturers allowed to offer differential guaranteed surrender value to customers

• VNB is likely to be under pressure during the transitionary phase:

(1) drag on margins or

(2) slower growth

Nuvama On Life Insurers

• Special surrender values set to increase

• IRDAI changed regulations to control mis-selling, protect policy holder interest

• Surrender value increase shall indirectly need insurance companies to rein in/defer commission payouts and/or work at lower margins

• Lower commission payouts/deferred commission payouts shall aid larger firms with superior distribution

• Impact on growth - difficult to assess as lower/deferred commission and higher surrender values may lower mis-selling and reduce growth

• Non-linked savings products most impacted

• Contribution of non-linked savings to HDFCLIFE/Max Life (52% each in FY24), and LIC (70% in FY24)

Emkay on Insurance Surrender Value Master Circular

Maintains Buy on:

• HDFC Life - Target Price Rs 725, Upside 27%

• ICICI Pru - Target Price Rs 700, Upside 21%

• SBI Life - Target Price Rs 1800, Upside 24%

Maintains Add on:

• LIC - Target Price Rs 1200, Upside 20%

• Max Life - Target Price Rs 1150, Upside 19%

• Multiple levers to offset impact of higher surrender value

• Regulations almost similar to what was reported in media earlier

• Changes include surrender value after payment of first annual premium

• Discount rate for discounting the paid-up value to calculate SSV upto 10-Year G-Sec yield +50 bps

• Versus the 10-Year G-Sec yield mentioned earlier

• Can continue to sell the existing products up to 30-Sep-2024

• Insurers can offset impact of higher payout by slightly reducing the guaranteed rate, Moving to trail based commission

• Life insurance stocks are already pricing in the negatives

• Maintains Buy with target Rs 920, upside 16%

• Venturing into retail/affluent focused wealth-tech, inorganically

• Definitive agreement to acquire ETMoney for Rs. 365 crore

• Cash consideration Rs. 86 crore, preferential allotment of 3.59 million shares at Rs 779.93, viz. ~1% dilution

• Will focus on leveraging its wide product suite and broking license

• Further amplify ET’s customer acquisition and distribution engine

• Consol revenue for ETMoney reported strong 111% CAGR over FY2022-24

• Currently not incorporating it into our estimates as we await management guidance

• ETMoney currently has 0.9 million transacting users, yield on advisory is 125-185 bps

• Platform witnesses gross monthly mutual fund sales of Rs. 1200 crore

• Revises average FY25 headline inflation forecast to 4.3% YoY from 4.5% earlier

• Retains view of rate cuts starting October given subdued inflation trends, uneven growth

• Headline inflation slowed in May-24, driven by subdued core CPI, stable food CPI

• Headline inflation fell 8bps to 4.75% YoY (vs. est. of 4.85%)

• Stable food ex-vegetable inflation (5.3% YoY) was the key element of surprise

• Core inflation fell to a new low of 3.1% YoY in May-24

• Core inflation could rise on post-election price surge (like in telecom, FMCG, etc.)

• Critical inputs for rate cut decision: reassessment of real neutral rate (June), budget (July)

NCLT approves merger of GMR Airports and GMR Infra Developers into GMR Airports Infrastructure

Source: Exchange filing

• US Dollar Index at 104.77

• US 10-year bond yield at 4.31%

• Brent crude down 0.39% at $82.28 per barrel

• Nymex crude down 0.34% at $78.16 per barrel 

• Bitcoin was up 0.17% at $67,966.31

• GIFT Nifty was flat at 23,452.50 as of 7:03 a.m.

• Nifty June futures up by 0.22% to 23,355.1 at a premium of 32.15 points.

• Nifty June futures open interest up by 0.78%.

• Nifty Bank June futures up by 0.22% to 49,914 at a premium of 19 points.

• Nifty Bank June futures open interest down by 5.32%.

• Nifty Options June 13 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 24,000 and maximum put open interest at 23,000.

• Bank Nifty Options June Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 50,000 and maximum put open interest at 49,800.

• Securities in ban period: Balrampurchini Mills, GMR Infra, Hindustan Copper, India Cements, SAIL.

• Price Band revised from 10% to 5%: Dredging Corp., Reliance Power.

• Price Band revised from 20% to 10%: Premier Explosives, OM Infra, Premier Explosives,

• Price Band revised from 20% to 5%: Sanofi India.

• Ex/record Dividend: ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, CIE Automotive India, Tata Technologies, Raymond, Shankara Building Products, KSB.

• Ex/record AGM: Shankara Building Products, Raymond, CIE Automotive India, KSB.

• Ex/record Demerger: Sanofi India.

• Moved into short-term Framework: Aditya Birla Money, Dhanuka Agritech, GTL Infrastructure, H.G. Infra Engineering, Jain Irrigation Systems, Likhitha Infrastructure, Pennar Industries, and Vishnu Chemicals.

Media Matrix Worldwide: BK Drolia HUF bought 65 lakh shares (0.57%) at Rs 17.55 apiece, and Nextwave Communications Pvt. sold 65 lakh shares (0.57%) at Rs 17.55 apiece.

• Jaiprakash Associates: Cinco Stock Vision LLP bought 140 lakh shares (0.57%) at Rs 10.32 apiece.

• Krsnaa Diagnostics: Kitara PIIN 1104 sold 3.72 lakh shares (1.18%) at Rs 600.69 apiece.

• TCNS Clothing Co.: Rajasthan Global Securities Pvt. bought 6 lakh shares (0.94%) at Rs 550 apiece, while TA FDI Investors sold 6.6 lakh shares (1.04%) at Rs 550.08 apiece.

• Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services: Ventureast Proactive Fund LLC sold 22.27 lakh shares at Rs 280 apiece, while ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought 6.5 lakh shares at Rs 280 apiece.

• Le Travenues Technology: The public issue was subscribed to 9.33 times on day 3. The bids were led by institutional investors (0.79 times), non-institutional investors (20.14 times), and retail investors (18.73 times).

• Tata Power: The company strengthens its nationwide e-bus charging network with high-capacity, fast-charging points.

• Firstsource Solutions: Prasant Nadella has resigned as the president and chief operating officer of the company.

• L&T Finance: Shareholders of the company are to offer 8.82 crore shares at Rs 169.7 apiece, as per Bloomberg data.

• Nestle India: The board approved the continuation of royalty payments at the current rate of 4.5% to the parent company.

• Amber Enterprises: The company acquired an additional 4.6% stake in IL JIN Electronics for Rs 33 crore.

• Dr. Reddy's Laboratories: The company’s step-down subsidiary, Dr. Reddy's USA, and Ingenus Pharmaceuticals have entered into a licence agreement, under which Dr. Reddy's USA has licenced from Ingenus the exclusive rights to commercialise cyclophosphamide injection RTD in the United States.

• Arvind: The strike at Santej Plant is called off by workers. The potential revenue loss due to the strike is Rs 180 to Rs 200 crore.

• Gensol Engineering: The company received a Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. 250 MW battery energy storage project worth Rs 1,340 crore to supply electricity on an "on-demand" basis to Gujarat State's Discoms during peak and off-peak hours.

• Whirlpool of India: The company signed a three-year joint marketing pact with HUL for product marketing and advertorials.

• Exide Industries: The company invested Rs 75 crore by subscribing to the right issue of subsidiary Exide Energy Solutions. The total investment stands at Rs 2,452.2 crore.

• Sobha: The company approved the rights issue to open on June 28 and close on July 4 at a price of Rs 1,651 per share.

• Bondada Engineering: The company received a work order worth Rs 939 crore from NLC India for setting up a 600 MW grid-connected solar power project, including the operation and maintenance for three years.

The GIFT Nifty was flat at 23,452.50 as of 7:03 a.m.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific rose on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve kept its benchmark federal fund rate unchanged for the seventh time, and as inflation data came softer than anticipated.

The Nikkei 225 was 47.60 points or 0.12% higher at 38,924.31, and the S&P ASX 200 was 37.70 points or 0.49% higher at 7,753.20 as of 06:42 a.m.

The US Consumer Price Index fell to 3.3% on year in May, against 3.4% analysts projected in a Bloomberg survey. Core CPI, which keeps aside volatile food and energy prices, eased to 3.4% compared to 3.5% analysts forecasted.

The US stocks reached new all-time peaks as a widespread easing of inflation led to a sharp drop in bond yields, prompting traders to wager that the Federal Reserve may cut rates for two times despite dot plots indicating one.

The current federal fund rate range stands at 5.25-5.50%.

The S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq 100 rose 0.85% and 1.53%, respectively, as of Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.09%.

Brent crude was trading 0.19% lower at $82.44 a barrel. Gold declined 0.39% to $2,315.80 an ounce.

Indian benchmark equity indices came out of their two-day decline and closed higher on Wednesday, led by shares of heavyweights. Nifty closed at its highest-ever level. The NSE Nifty 50 closed 58.10 points up, or 0.25%, at 23,322.95, while the S&P BSE Sensex ended 149.98 points, or 0.2%, higher at 76,606.57.

Overseas investors in Indian equities turned net buyers after a day. Foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth Rs 427 crore, while domestic institutional investors stayed net buyers for the third day and mopped up equities worth Rs 234 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

The Indian currency closed 2 paise higher against the U.S. dollar at 83.55.