Closing Bell: Nifty closes around 18,241, Sensex zooms 556 points; Bajaj Finance, HDFC top gainers

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities

Nifty rose for the 7th out of the past 8 sessions to close at more than four month highs on May 04. At close, Nifty was up 0.92% or 165.9 points at 18255.8. Broad market indices rose a little less than the Nifty even as the advance decline ratio remained high at 2.25:1.

Asian stock markets were mostly higher Thursday after the US Fed raised its benchmark lending rate again to cool inflation and said it wasn't sure what may come next. European stocks dropped at open as investors studied a series of earnings for clues on the state of the economy and prepared for a rates decision from the European Central Bank later Thursday, following the US Fed’s latest quarter-point hike.

Nifty build on its previous gains well on May 04. It is now headed for 18319-18432 band on the upside while 18148 could provide support on the downside for the near term.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities

The US Federal Reserve softening its stance over future rate hike prospects cheered investors' mood which triggered a fresh bout of buying in banking stocks. With India's growth indicators showing good signs of revival and crude oil prices staying lower, investors are betting big on local equities even as haze over global economic growth persists. Technically, the Nifty cleared the 18150 resistance mark and post breakout it intensified the positive momentum. The index has also formed a long bullish candle which supports further uptrend from the current levels. As long as the index is trading above 18150, the uptrend wave is likely to continue up to 18350-18400.

Deven Mehata, Equity Research Analyst, Choice Broking

Indices in India traded higher throughout the day, closing near the day's high above 18200 points. The general outlook is positive, and the market will continue to purchase on dips until the important support level of 17950 on the downside is not breached. The levels of support moved from 17450 to 17820 and are now at 17950. Overall, the Bank Nifty outperforms the markets, remaining above 43500 and closing at 43700, with HDFCBANK and HDFC closing at new highs.

The market has traded positive with the Sensex gaining 0.91 percent and closed at 61749.25 and Nifty was positive by 0.92 percent intraday and closed at 18255.80 levels whereas Bank Nifty was up by 0.86 percent and settled at 43685.45.

All the sectors closed in green with Nifty PSU BANK, Nifty METAL and Nifty FIN SERVICES were the top gaining sectors with 1.23%, 1.22% and 1.55% respectively. In Nifty stocks, ADANI ENTERPRISE, BAJAJ FINANCE and SBI LIFE INSURANCE were the top gainers while UPL, INDUSIND BANK and NESTLE were the prime laggards.

INDIA VIX was down by 0.93 percent intraday and settled at 11.73.

Volume profile indicates Index has a strong support around 17950-18050 zone. Coming to the OI Data, on the call side, the highest OI observed at 18400 followed by 18500 strike prices while on the put side, the highest OI is at 18200 strike price. On the other hand, Bank nifty has support at 43100-43300 while resistance is placed at the all-time high levels of 44150-44300 range.

Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking

Markets edged higher on the weekly expiry day and gained nearly a percent. After the flat start, the Nifty index gradually inched higher and settled closer to the day’s high at 18,255.80 levels. Meanwhile, a mixed trend was witnessed on the sectoral front wherein financials and metal posted decent gains while realty and FMCG traded subdued. The broader indices traded in tandem with the benchmark and gained half a percent each.

The surge in the index shows more leg to the prevailing up move before it settles for some consolidation. Apart from consistent buying in banking and financial majors, the rotational participation from other sectors is fueling the recovery now. We thus recommend aligning positions according to the trend, with a focus on stock selection.

Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd

Indian equity markets snubbed US market weakness and resumed their strong bullish momentum. The fall in crude oil prices, US bond yields, and the dollar index were positive triggers for emerging markets like India. Continuous buying by FIIs for the last few days has fueled the strength in the headline indices, while the broader market is showing great strength. Technically, Nifty has taken out the key supply zone of 18181–18233, which has opened the door for Nifty highs; however, 18632-18696 will be the intermediate supply zone. On the downside, 18000 has become a longer-term base. Banknifty has also taken out the key resistance level of 43500, and it is likely to head toward its all-time high of 44151. On the downside, the 43200–43000 area will act as a demand zone.

Sensex, Nifty closes nearly 1% higher

India's benchmark Sensex gained 0.91 percent or 555.95 points to close at 61749.25 points while Nifty rose 0.92 percent or 165.95 points to 18255.80 points.

Among sectoral indices all sectors ended higher except Nifty FMCG which fell 0.13 percent . Nifty Financial Services was the top gainer that rose 1.55 percent followed by Nifty Metal and PSU Bank which gained 1.3 percent each.

Rupee closes marginally higher against US dollar

The Indian rupee erased most of its gains and closed marginally higher against the US dollar. The currency closed at 81.80, up 0.04 percent from its previous close of 81.83 a dollar. The home currency opened at 81.68 and touched a high of 81.66 a dollar.

The 10 year bond yield was trading at 7.028%, up 2 basis points from its previous close of 7.007%.

Prabhudas Lilladher First Cut - Dabur India 4Q23

Dabur continues to navigate a difficult inflationary environment while also growing market share in key categories. Gross margins remain under pressure with a decline of 271bps YoY/474bps QoQ to 45.8%. We expect inflationary pressure to remain in the near term which will lead to delay in margin recovery. We have an Accumulate rating on the stock with a TP of Rs589.The stock trades at 38.4x FY25 EPS.

Transformers & Rectifiers (India) reports Q4 earnings 

Net profit at Rs 9 cr vs Rs 1 cr (YoY)

Revenue up 27.3% at Rs 433.7 cr vs Rs 340.6 cr (YoY)

EBITDA at Rs 32.9 cr vs Rs 16.2 cr (YoY)

Margin at 7.6% vs 4.8% (YoY)

Centrum maintains Reduce rating on Havells India; revises target price Rs 1130 a share

Centrum has mained its Reduce rating on Havells India and revised target price of Rs 1130 due to stretched valuations, and the expected losses in Lloyd that will likely limit earnings. To gauge the situation accurately, it's crucial to keep an eye on the recovery of electrical margins and consumer demand. The brokerage expects Havells India to post 14% revenue CAGR over FY23-25E while earnings CAGR will be 25% on a suppressed base (FY22-FY25E will be 12% CAGR).

Nuvoco Vistas Corp rose 1.6 percent after huge block deal

Nuvoco Vistas Corp gained 1.6 percent to Rs 333.75 after a huge block deal. Around 1.27 million shares of the company changed hands in a bunch of trades, according to Bloomberg. However, details of the buyers and sellers were not known.

Devyani International rises 0.5 percent after huge block deal

Devyani International gained 0.5 percent to Rs 175.50 after a huge block deal. Around 1.01 million shares of the company changed hands in a bunch of trades, according to Bloomberg. However, details of the buyers and sellers were not known.

Kalyan Jewellers gains 1 percent after huge block deal

Kalyan Jewellers gained 1 percent after a huge block deal. Around 1.02 million shares of the company changed hands in a bunch trade, according to Bloomberg. However, details of the buyers and sellers were not known.

MMTC surges 8% on completing VRS plan for staff

MMTC gained over 8%, its biggest gains since April 26, after the company said it has completed a voluntary retirement offering to employees. The company said about 85 staff opted for the offer leading to payment of about Rs 38 crore.

Dabur India reports Q4 earnings

Net profit Rs 300 crore vs Bloomberg estimates of Rs 373 crore

Net sales Rs 2680 crore vs Bloomberg estimates of Rs 2692 crore

Other income Rs 121 crore, up 22% YoY

Dividend Rs 2.7 a share

HDFC reports Q4 earnings

Total income up 35.6% at Rs16,679 cr vs Rs12,300 cr (YoY)
Net profit at Rs4,425.5 cr vs CNBC-TV18 poll of Rs3,826.2 cr
Provision at Rs438 cr vs Rs370 cr (QoQ)vs Rs401 cr (YoY)

Hero MotoCorp gains 0.5 percent ahead of its earnings

Hero MotoCorp gained 0.5 percent ahead of its March quarter earnings. According to a pollof 10 analysts,net profit expected at Rs 733.80 crore while a poll from 20 analysts expected net revenue at Rs 8233.80 crore, Bloomberg reported.

Adani Unit is said to plan upto $100 million of bond buyback

Adani Transmission plans to buy back upto $100 million of bonds, Bloomberg reported. Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd, a wholly owned arm of Adani Transmission will announce the bond buyback shortly, the report added.

India, Russia suspend negotiations to settle trade in rupee

India and Russia have suspended efforts to settle bilateral trade in rupees, after months of negotiations failed to convince Moscow to keep rupees in its coffers, Reuters reported.

This would be a major setback for Indian importers of cheap oil and coal from Russia who were awaiting a permanent rupee payment mechanism to help lower currency conversion costs, Reuters report added

Surya Roshni hits new high on Q4 boost, has surged over 70% this year

Suraj Q4 (YoY)

-Net profit at Rs 12.7 crore vs Rs 1 crore
-Revenue down 29 percentat Rs 84.2 crore vs Rs 118.6 crore
-EBITDA at Rs 21.4 crore vs Rs 4.7 crore
-Margin at 25.4 percent vs 4 percent

Markets At 1 PM

The Sensex is up 259.91 points or 0.42 percent at 61,453.21. Nifty is up 77.90 points or 0.43 percentat 18,167.70. About 2103 shares advanced, 1090 shares declined, and 104 shares unchanged.

Firstsource Q4 (QoQ)

-Net profit down 10.5% at Rs 141.3 crore vs Rs 158 crore
-Revenue up 3.4% at Rs 1,556.8 crore vs Rs 1,504.9 crore
-Ebitda up 17.0% at Rs 244 crore vs Rs 208.6 crore
-Margin at 15.7% vs 13.9%
-$ revenue at $190 million, up 0.8% YoY & down 2.8% YoY in constant currency terms

F&O Manual | On the rise, Nifty bring cheers to bulls; fin services shine

Adani Ports to sell coastal international terminals in Myanmar to Solar Energy for $30 mn

Commenting on this, Karan Adani, CEO and Whole-time Director, APSEZsaid, “This exit is in line with the guidance provided by the APSEZ Board based on the recommendations made by the Risk Committee in October 2021.”

At 12:29 pm, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone was quoting at Rs 676.10, up Rs 6.25, or 0.93 percent.The share touched its 52-week high Rs 987.90 and 52-week low Rs 394.95 on 20 September, 2022 and 03 February, 2023, respectively. Currently, it is trading 31.56 percent below its 52-week high and 71.19 percent above its 52-week low.

Markets At 12 PM

Sensex is up 254.20 points at 61,447.50. Nifty up 74.40 points at 18,164.20. About 2133 shares have advanced, 1014 shares declined, and 111 shares unchanged.

Central Bank of India's outstanding exposure to GO First Airlines Rs 1,305 crore as of March 2023

In a clarification note, the public sector lender said its outstanding exposure to GO First Airlines as on March 31, 2023 is Rs 1,305 crore and additional amount of Rs 682 crore sanctioned under emergency line of credit guaranteed by Government of India. Its exposure to the company is only 0.91% of total advances as of March 2023 and interest charged upto April 30, 2023 is serviced by the company. In FY23 earnings, thebankhas made contingency provisions of more than Rs 1,500 crore in the books to strengthen the Balance Sheet.

F

As the nervousness over US Fed decision has waned, 18,100 has seen heavy put writing on the expiry day and thus emerged as the key support level for the index. Maximum call writing was seen at 18,200, which may be the upper bound of the trading range today

Go First Insolvency: Airline seeks interim moratorium, says big scope of being revived

Go First says
-We have wherewithal to pay for fuel, salaries, airport costs etc as a going concern
-We are hopeful of enforcing the arbitration award from Singapore
-Have not defaulted till April 30

More concerned about a spike in oil than 5% Fed rate: Ritesh Jain

FADA April Data | Total vehicle retail sales fall 4 percent YoY, 2-wheeler sales down 7.3 percent YoY

For the first month of FY 2023-24, while auto wholesales were in the green, retail sales slowed down as prospective buyers pre-poned purchases to March to avert price hikes on vehicles on account of stricter emission norms which came into force in from April 1. As per the data released by Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA), Passenger vehicle retail sales in India declined by 1 percent to 2,82,674 units in April as compared to 2,86,539 units in the same month last year.

Cognizant says revenue will decline in 2023, to lay off 3500 employees

KEC International trades lower as Q4 net profit falls 36%

-Revenue up 29 percent YoY at Rs 5530 crore
-Net profit down 35.5 percent YoY at Rs 72.17 crore
-Interest expenses high, up 69.4 percentYoY at Rs 160 crore
-Order book stands at Rs 30,553crore, up ~29 percent YoY

Adani Ports records highest-ever monthly cargo volume in April

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone handled 32.3 MMT of total cargo in April 2023, up 12.8 percent year-on-year. This growth in cargo volumes is supported by dry cargo volumes increase of 9 percentand container volume increase of 13.6 percent.

“Growth in cargo volumes across most of our ports reflects that our strategy of improving operational efficiency is delivering results and this will continue to boost the ROCE of port assets” said Karan Adani, CEO and Whole Time Director, APSEZ.

Angel One April Biz Update

Client base up 46.6 percent YoY and Up 2.6 percent MoM

Gross client acquisition down 13.5 percent YoY and down 14 percent MoM

At 10:30 am, Angel One stock was quoting at Rs 1,221.80, down Rs 7.60, or 0.62 percent.

Cholamandalam Investment surges 9% after March quarter earnings beat projections

IEX April Update

-Overall volumes at 7,928 million units, up 6 percent YoY, down 16.2 percent MoM

-Real-time electricity market volume at 2,152 million units, up 26 percent YoY

-Day-ahead market volume at 4,332 million units, up 8.5 percent YoY

At 10:22 am, Indian Energy Exchange was quoting at Rs 154.80, down Rs 0.60, or 0.39 percent.

Patel Engineering bags orders, stock jumps 6%

Patel Engineering has announced that the company along with the JV Partners have received Letter of Acceptance for Tumkur Branch Canal (Package III) Micro Irrigation Project from Visvesvaraya Jala Nigama Limited (VJNL) and Sher Micro Irrigation Project from Water Resources Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh. These projects were declared as L1 earlier.

The company being 51 percent partner in the Joint Venture for Tumkur Branch Canal (Package-III) project, its share in the project is Rs 158.68 crore. And the Company being 35 percent share in the Joint Venture for Sher Micro Irrigation Project, its share in the project is Rs 349.56 crore.

GR Infraprojects emerges lowest bidder for Rs 737.2 crore-order

The company has been emerged as L-1 bidder for a construction project of 4-lane highway with paved shoulders on Hybrid Annuity Mode in Uttar Pradesh.

The project cost is Rs 737.2 crore, the company said in an exchange filing.

Market at 10AM

At 10:07 am, Sensex was up 109.62 points or 0.18 percent at 61,302.92, while Nifty50 was up 36.00 points or 0.20 percent at 18,125.80.

About 2,023 shares advanced, 867 shares declined, and 96 shares were unchanged.

Bajaj Consumer Care jumps 9% post decent Q4 numbers

-Consolidated revenue up 14.29 percent YoY at Rs 249.42 crore

-Consolidated net profit up 12.95 percent YoY at Rs 40.46 crore

-EBITDA up 20.11 percent YoY at Rs 41.69 crore

-EBITDA margin expanded to 16.72 percent in the quarter under review from 15.91 percent a year ago

-The company announced a final dividend of Rs 5 per share for the financial year 2022-23

ABB India stock surges 4% post March quarter numbers

-Consolidated revenue up 22.5 percent YoY at Rs 2,411 crore

-Consolidated net profit down 34 percent YoY to Rs 244.89 crore

-EBITDA up 52 percent YoY at Rs 285.31 crore

-Operating margin expanded to 11.8 percent in March quarter from 9.5 percent a year ago

Reliance Industries | Shareholders, Secured & Unsecured Creditors approve demerger of financial services biz