Closing Bell: Nifty ends below 18,000, Sensex down 317 pts; realty, metal, IT, banks worst hit

Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice-President - Technical Research, Kotak Securities

Markets witnessed turbulence on the back of weak global cues as investors booked profit in banking, IT and telecom stocks. Rising inflation, US bond yields, and dollar index are once again creating a lot of uncertainty amongst the investors.

For the bulls, 17,900-17,800 or 20-day SMA would act as a key support zone while 50-day SMA or 18,100 and 18,200 could be the immediate hurdle.

On the flip side, the selling pressure could accelerate if the index slips below 17,800 and in case of further correction, it could slip to 17,700-17,650.

Kunal Shah, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

The Bank Nifty index on the daily chart witnessed a breakdown with a rise in volumes. The index remains in a sell mode as long as it sustains below the level of 41500.

The index immediate support stands at 41000 and if it fails to sustain it on a closing basis will accelerate the downside move towards 40,000 levels.

Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities

Indian rupee marked the fourth weekly decline in a row following hawkish comments from Federal Reserve members that supported the dollar bulls. However, the rupee relatively better performed among the Asian currencies amid the central bank’s intervention. The local unit manages to float above 83 for the time being on the back of the bargain buying of domestic equities by foreign institutions.

Though the rupee manages to stay above 83, it might be difficult to hold it for long amid broad-based strength in the greenback.

Technically, spot USDINR has resistance at 83.10 and support at 82.30.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Lack of major triggers in the domestic market is attracting global cues to dictate the market trend. The US market is facing an unfavourable combination of higher-than-expected inflation and a stronger job market.

The PPI (Producer Price Index) in the US came in at 6.0%, in contrast to the expectation of 5.4%. This suggests that interest rates have not yet peaked and will remain elevated for a long period.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

The Nifty has fallen to the upper band of the falling channel on the daily chart. The trend for the near term is likely to remain sideways to positive as long as it remains above the falling channel.

A recovery towards the higher level will likely happen if the bulls manage to hold the Nifty above 17,880. On the higher end, however, 18,150 is likely to act as resistance.

Rupee Close:

Indian rupee ended 12 paise lower at 82.83 per dollar against previous close of 82.71.

Market Close:

Benchmark indices broke three-day winning streak and ended lower with Nifty below 18,000.

At Close, the Sensex was down 316.94 points or 0.52% at 61,002.57, and the Nifty was down 91.60 points or 0.51% at 17,944.20. About 1468 shares have advanced, 1893 shares declined, and 136 shares are unchanged.

Adani Enterprises, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, SBI Life Insurance and HDFC Lifewere among the major lowers on the Nifty, while gainers included L&T, UltraTech Cement, BPCL, Asian Paintsand Coal India.

Except capital goods, all other sectoral indices ended in the red.

The BSE midcap index fell 0.7 percent and smallcap index down 0.20 percent.

Morgan Stanley View on Nestle India

Brokerage house kept an underweight rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 15,315 per share.

The Q4 results of the company were below expectations on the top line, but they were ahead on margin.

The firm remained underweight on the stock due to margin pressure, likely mix deterioration, and relative valuation.

Credit Suisse View on Dr Reddy’s Laboratories

Underperform rating, target at Rs 4,100 per share
Indivior expects launch of Suboxone by Apotex in Q1FY24
Suboxone still constitutes about 7% of company’s base EBITDA
Entry of Apotex can potentially impact 2/5th of its EBITDA from Suboxone
EBITDA from Suboxone can decline by 40%, or 3% of consolidated EBITDA

Dr Reddy's Laboratories was quoting at Rs 4,509.55, down Rs 8.80, or 0.19 percent on the BSE.

Buzzing:

Schaeffler India has recorded a 21.2% year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 231 crore for quarter ended December 2022 as revenue for the quarter increased by 17.8% YoY to Rs 1,795 crore.

On the operating front, EBITDA grew by 20.2% YoY to Rs 345.22 crore with margin expansion of 38 bps for Q4CY22.

For the year 2022, profit surged 40% to Rs 879.2 crore and revenue increased 23.5% to Rs 6,867.4 crore compared to previous year. Its board recommended dividend of Rs 24 per share for the year.

John Cockerill India gets contract worth Rs 50 crore from Jindal Steel Odisha

Jindal Steel Odisha Limited entrusted John Cockerill India Limited, with the supply of 2 Nos. Acid Regeneration Plants to be installed at the client's Angul, Odisha Works.

The total value of contract of CGL-2 exceeds Rs 50 crore.

BSE Bank index

Satin Creditcare Network to raise Rs 99 crore

Satin Creditcare Network has received board approval for issuance of Rs 99 crore non-convertible debentures with face value of Rs 1 lakh each, on private placement basis.

Anuj Choudhary - Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas

Indian Rupee depreciated by 0.17% on risk-off sentiments in global markets and a strong US Dollar. Dollar strengthened as robust economic data from US raised expectations that US Federal Reserve may hold interest rates higher for longer to tame inflation.

Soft weekly unemployment claims and surge in US PPI on Thursday led to surge in the greenback while disappointing Philly Fed Manufacturing Index and housing starts capped sharp gains.

We expect rupee to trade with a negative bias on strong dollar and weak domestic markets. However, weak crude oil prices and fresh FII inflows may prevent sharp fall in Rupee. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 82.40 to Rs 83.30.

Market at 3 PM

Benchmark indices were trading weak in the final hour of the session with Nifty around 17900.

The Sensex was down 382.92 points or 0.62% at 60936.59, and the Nifty was down 108.30 points or 0.60% at 17927.50. About 1283 shares have advanced, 1913 shares declined, and 130 shares are unchanged.

UltraTech Cement commissions brownfield cement, greenfield grinding capacities

UltraTech Cement announced commissioning of 1.30 mtpa brownfield cement capacity at Hirmi in Chhattisgarh, and 2.80 mtpa greenfield grinding capacity at Cuttack in Odisha. This is a part of the on-going capacity expansion. With this, company's total cement manufacturing capacity in India now stands at 126.95 mtpa.

On NSE

MC A10 - sentimeter of Adani Group stocks - slipped about 3 percent as bears mounted pressure on Adani Enterprises, Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission

L&T tops buying list in Nifty50, trades beyond consolidation range

Larsen & Toubro turned out to be the biggest gainer in the Nifty50 on February 17, despite the broader markets reeling under selling pressure. The benchmark Nifty50 itself fell more than 100 points intraday.

The stock has broken the consolidation range we have been seeing since the start of the current month, with a long bullish candlestick formation. In fact it was trading within the range of Budget day (Rs 2,080-2,216), but within that range, there was a higher-high-higher-low formation.

European Markets Updates

Bharat Electronics signs MoU with Globals ITES for cyberwarfare and cyber defence systems

Market at 2 PM

Benchmark indices extended the losses and trading near the day's low.

The Sensex was down 439.97 points or 0.72% at 60879.54, and the Nifty was down 128.60 points or 0.71% at 17907.20. About 1244 shares have advanced, 1905 shares declined, and 136 shares are unchanged.

PTC Industries arm gets order from Safran Aircraft Engines

Aerolloy Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of PTC Industries has received an order from Safran Aircraft Engines, for development and supply of Titanium cast components for Aircraft Engines.

PTC Industries was quoting at Rs 2,600, up Rs 24.55, or 0.95 percent on the BSE.

On BSE

Macquarie View On Ipca Laboratories:

-Underperform rating, target at Rs 810 per share
-Q3 EBITDA & profit missed estimate by 28% & 44% respectively on in-line revenue
-Q4FY23 EBITDA margin to remain softer than Q3
-FY24 EBITDA margin guided at 21%
-Lower FY23 EPS estimates by 25% & FY24/25 estimates by 9%/7% respectively

Hero MotoCorp trade ex-dividend:

Hero MotoCorp is trading ex-dividend on February 17. The firm has announced an interim dividend of Rs 65 per share for the financial year 2022-23.

Nifty Bank index shed 1 percent dragged by Bank of Baroda, IndusInd Bank, Bandhan Bank

Goldman Sachs View on Nestle India

Research firm Goldman Sachs has given a neutral rating to Nestle stock with a target price of Rs 19,900 per share.

According to the firm, the Q4CY22 results were in line with street expectations with volume growth sharply moderated due to large price hikes taken in low unit packs.

The gross margin pressure eased due to large price hikes & lower mix of low-unit price packs (LUPs).

Goldman Sachs has marginally lowered its CY23/24 earnings per share (EPS) estimates by 0.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Market at 1 PM

Benchmark indices were trading near the day's low with Nifty around 17900.

The Sensex was down 375.08 points or 0.61% at 60944.43, and the Nifty was down 110.10 points or 0.61% at 17925.70. About 1329 shares have advanced, 1789 shares declined, and 138 shares are unchanged.

Bharat Forge collaborates with HAL, Saarloha for aerospace grade steel alloys production

Bharat Forge, Hindustan Aeronautics' foundry & forge division, and Saarloha Advanced Materials have signed MOU for collaboration in development and production of aerospace grade steel alloys. They also accentuate development, certification & prove out and application of new material for use in production of aircrafts, engines, and accessories.

On NSE

Zee Learn falls as CEO Ritesh Handa resigns

Ritesh Handa has resigned from the statutory position of Whole-Time Director and Chief Executive Officer of Zee Learn with immediate effect (February 16). Handa resigned due to personal reason.

30 DMA

Dilip Buildcon arm executes concession agreement with NHAI

Dilip Buildcon's wholly owned subsidiary Maradgi S Andola -Baswantpur Highways Limited has executed the concession agreement with the National Highways Authority of India (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) on February 16, 2023, for development of 6 lane Access Controlled Greenfield Highway from km. 97.000 to km 162.500 Maradgi S Andola to Baswantpur section of NH-150C (Package-Ill of Akkalkot-KNT/TS Border) on Hybrid Annuity Mode under Bharatmala Pariyojna.

The project is worth of Rs 1589 crore.

Dilip Buildcon was quoting at Rs 208.40, up Rs 0.60, or 0.29 percent on the BSE.

PVR opens 8-screen multiplex at Phoenix Citadel Mall in Indore

PVR informed about the opening of 8 screen multiplex at Phoenix Citadel Mall in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.

With this launch, PVR now operates the largest multiplex network with 1642 screens at 354 properties in 113 cities (India and Sri Lanka).

PVR was quoting at Rs 1,686.05, down Rs 23.70, or 1.39 percent on the BSE.

Minda Corp acquires 15.7% stake in Pricol at Rs 400 crore

Minda Corporation on February 17, 2023, has acquired 1,91,40,342 equity shares of Pricol representing 15.7% of the Pricol’s total issued and paid-up equity share capital.

The cost of acquisition is at an average price of Rs 208.9820 per share aggregating to Rs 400 crore.

"This is an open-market transaction and no prior approvals have been obtained.The promoter/ promoter group/ group companies are not interested in the transaction," the company said in an exchange filing.

Markets at 12 PM

Sensex was down 163.04 points or 0.27% at 61156.47, and the Nifty was down 47.60 points or 0.26% at 17988.20. About 1464 shares have advanced, 1598 shares declined, and 150 shares are unchanged.

Vedanta in focus

The company has been declared as preferred bidder for nickel, chromium and associated platinum group elements block in Chhattisgarh. The preferred bidder is based on highest final price offer of 4.15% submitted by the company.

Vedanta was quoting at Rs 316.10, up Rs 1.20, or 0.38 percent on the BSE.

JPMorgan View on Nestle India

Brokerage firm has kept Overweight rating for Nestle India and set a target of Rs 21,200 per share. The report suggests that the company's Q4 results were mixed, with LUPs weighing on volume growth. However, the margin beat was a positive surprise.

Furthermore, the report highlights a quarter-on-quarter expansion in gross margin with significant cost focus. The short-term volume pressure is transient and that the company is well-placed to deliver consistent double-digit revenue growth and margin recovery.

Alkem Laboratories trades ex-dividend

Alkem Laboratories share price trading ex-dividend on February 17.

The company announced an interim dividend of Rs 15 per share and a special dividend of Rs 25 per share for FY23.

Nifty Pharma index falls 0.6 percent dragged by Ipca Laboratories, JFL Life Sciences, Lasa Supergenerics

BSE Realty index sheds 1 percent dragged by Indiabulls Real Estate, Macrotech Developers, Oberoi Realty