Closing Bell: Nifty at 21,783, Sensex up 167 pts; SBI, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank top gainers

Gold in MCX remained relatively flat, closing at 62,420 INR, a marginal decline of just 23 INR. This stability came amidst Comex gold trading in a narrow range around $2031. Throughout the week, both MCX and Comex gold witnessed range-bound sessions, fluctuating between 62,200 and 62,700 INR in MCX and $2015 to $2040 in Comex.

The prospect of near-term rate cuts appeared to diminish from the Federal Reserve's agenda, contributing to the subdued market sentiment. However, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East provided support for gold prices, particularly at lower levels. The persistent geopolitical uncertainties globally underscored gold's role as a safe-haven asset, mitigating downward pressures on its prices.

Nifty started flat and remained sideways during the trading session. It found support at the 20DMA for the second day in a row. The trend could weaken if it decisively drops below 21,690. A decisive fall below 21690 may trigger a correction towards 21,500. On the contrary, if it moves above 21,800, we might observe a recovery in the near term.

The rupee traded slightly weaker by 0.06rs at 83.03, fluctuating within a range of 82.94-83.05. Weakness was observed on any upward movement in the rupee, influenced by the dollar's strength, which is trading above 104$. The broad range for the rupee continues to be between 82.70-83.25.

Indian market struggled for direction on Friday despite US market inching to a record high overnight. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 50 points at 71,377 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty index was down 40 points at 21,678. Bharti Airtel fell about 2 % after the Union Cabinet approved the telecom spectrum auction. Paytm slumped 6 % after Paytm Payments Bank's independent director, Manju Agarwal, resigned from the board with immediate effect. At the same time, Grasim and RVNL edged down slightly after posting mixed Q3 results. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices also declined in line with the benchmarks, down up to 0.2 %. Nifty Metal and Oil & Gas indices were the leading losers, down over 1 %. The morning session observed wild swings in the Nifty 50 index, with price action hovering in the range of 21780 to 21630 levels. Mid-to-end session witnessed recovery in trend as the momentum succeeded to hit a new intraday high, making attempts to cross 21800 level. Derivatives data revealed the highest concentration in 22000 strike prices, with 21900 CE and 21600 PE experiencing resilient volatility. The index has managed to hold ground on closing basis over the support of 20-simple (daily) moving average (DMA) placed at 21698, implying a positive sentiment.

After displaying volatility in intra-day trades, markets managed to end in positive territory after 2-session losses on the back of renewed optimism in banking stocks. However, selling in IT, telecom, metals and oil & gas stocks limited the market upside. There is lack of conviction due to pessimism over delay in rate cuts by the US Fed as the persisting global tensions and its likely impact on the inflation going ahead is holding back central banks from initiating rate cuts.

After a volatile session, the market ended on a positive note, aided by a rebound in banking stocks after yesterday’s sell-off. Mid- and small-cap indices bled the most as the sentiment on the broader indices remains vigilant due to their rich valuation. Caution prevails in the market ahead of the release of US, UK, and Indian inflation data next week, while the US 10 yr yield is inching higher.

The Bank Nifty bulls exhibited strength as they successfully defended the crucial support level of 45000, establishing it as a critical support zone. The index is currently in a "buy on dip" mode, and as long as the mentioned support holds on a closing basis, the bullish sentiment remains intact. Looking ahead, the immediate resistance on the upside is situated at 46000, and a decisive break above this level is anticipated to trigger further short-covering moves in the market.

--Net Profit up 9.6% at Rs45.7 cr vs Rs41.7 cr (YoY)

--Revenue up 18.1% at Rs160.8 cr vs Rs136.1 cr (YoY)

--EBITDA up 10.5% at Rs60.9 cr vs Rs55.1 cr (YoY)

--Margin at 37.9% vs 40.5% (YoY)

--Net Profit down 56.1% at Rs116.8 cr vs Rs266.1 cr (YoY)

--Revenue down 34% at Rs564.3 cr vs Rs855.4 cr (YoY)

--EBITDA down 63.8% at Rs121.3 cr vs Rs335.5 cr (YoY)

--Margin at 21.5% vs 39.2% (YoY)

Net profit up 33.6% at Rs 62.9 crore versus Rs 47.1 crore and revenue up 8.1% at Rs 704.4 crore versus Rs 651.6 crore, YoY.

-Expect pause to be extended for now
-Continue to expect 100 bps of cumulative rate cuts starting from August 2024
-One-year ahead inflation projection suggests real policy rate is around 1.8 percent
-Monetary policy pivot will follow the liquidity pivot

Sensex Today | Market at 3 PM

The Sensex was up 204.46 points or 0.29 percent at 71,632.89, and the Nifty was up 68.50 points or 0.32 percent at 21,786.50. About 988 shares advanced, 2232 shares declined, and 66 shares unchanged.

Standalone net profit down 37% at Rs 22.5 crore versus Rs 35.8 crore and revenue down 11% at Rs 357 crore versus Rs 404 crore, YoY.

-Policy statement & stance remain hawkish
-Statement cites possible generalisation of supply shocks to headline inflation
-Continue to expect rate cuts from June 2024, with some risk of a delay

The dollar headed for a fourth weekly gain on Friday, pushing the yen to a 10-month low, as traders dialled back bets on how quickly the Bank of Japan might raise interest rates and how soon the Federal Reserve will cut them.

BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Friday there was a high chance for easy monetary conditions to persist even after the central bank ends negative interest rate policy, which the market expects to happen as early as next month.

The yen was little changed at 149.42 per dollar after trading at 149.575 earlier, its weakest since Nov. 27. It is heading for a 0.68% slide this week, having fallen in value in five out of the last six weeks.

The dollar index ticked up slightly to 104.19, having gained 0.1% on Thursday after data pointed to the resilience of the U.S. labour market, further crushing expectations for an early rate cut from the Fed.

For the week, the dollar index has climbed 0.2%, getting off to a strong start after blowout monthly payrolls data last Friday and a hawkish tilt from Fed Chair Jerome Powell in a "60 Minutes" interview aired Sunday.

The Board of Directors of DB Realty at its meeting held on 09.02.2024 has considered and in-principally approved the proposal to demerge its hospitality business consisting of hotel business and assets including Goan Hotels & Realty Private Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company), BD and P Hotels (India) Private Limited (a subsidiary of the Company) and Bamboo Hotel And Global Centre (Delhi) Private Limited (an associate of the Company).

-Overweight call, target Rs 2,430 per share
-Standalone EBITDA below estimate led by chemicals business & higher losses at new business and partially offset by viscose business
-Paints business launch on track & B2B e-commerce business is further expanding

Net profit down 13.7% at Rs 130 crore versus Rs 150.7 crore and revenue down 13.2% at Rs 540 crore versus Rs 622 crore, YoY.

-Downgrade to hold, target cut to Rs 430 per share from Rs 520 per share
-Over the last 3 years, company returned >3x from bottom to peak
-Returns led by strong cigarette volume growth, scale-up in FMCG business
-Returns led by improved capital allocation, & increase in FII holding
-These factors have largely played out, & cig volume growth is moderating.
-Two budgets in next 12 months also create uncertainty on taxation
-BAT's plans to offload 4 percent further complicates the matter as FII holding is at >3-year high

Gold prices were flat on Friday, with China markets closed for the Lunar New Year break, while a firmer U.S. dollar countered safe-haven demand fuelled by Middle East tensions.

Spot gold held its ground at $2,032.70 per ounce, as of 0755 GMT. Bullion has declined 0.3% so far in the week.

U.S. gold futures were flat at $2,048.40 per ounce.

-Overweight call, target Rs 42,962 per share
-Q3 missed estimate on topline & margin
-Overall demand was weak, but trends improved sequentially
-Management believes demand weakness is a temporary blip
-Management expects company to be 1st to recover when demand conditions improve

Net profit at Rs 95.7 crore versus loss of Rs 12 crore and revenue up 41% at Rs 777 crore versus Rs 550.9 crore, YoY.

Net profit down 32% at Rs 66.6 crore versus Rs 97.6 crore and revenue up 5% at Rs 642 crore versus Rs 609 crore, YoY.

Net profit down 4.2% at Rs 151 crore versus Rs 157.6 crore and revenue up 6.2% at Rs 1,221.7 crore versus Rs 1,150 crore, YoY.

-As expected, RBI kept the repo rate & stance unchanged
-Believe RBI is in not in a hurry to ease
-Expect limited rate cuts of 50 bp from Mid-2024, taking repo rate to 6 percent
-RBI will wait cues from the fed before deciding its next step
-Expect a light easing cycle of two 25 bps repo rate cuts June onward

-Expect pause to be extended for now
-Continue to expect 100 bps of cumulative rate cuts starting from August 2024
-One-year ahead inflation projection suggests real policy rate is around 1.8 percent
-Monetary policy pivot will follow the liquidity pivot

Net profit up 10.3% at Rs 13.9 crore versus Rs 12.6 crore and revenue rose 8.6% at Rs 299.7 crore versus Rs 276 crore, YoY.

Ramco Cements has reported a 38.6% on-year growth in standalone net profit at Rs 93.4 crore for quarter ended December FY24, backed by healthy operating numbers. Revenue from operations grew by 5% YoY to Rs 2,106.1 crore for the quarter. During Q3FY24, the sale volume was 4 million tonnes, compared to 3.64 million tonnes in the Q3FY23 with a growth of 10%. Blended EBIDTA per ton for the Q3FY24 was Rs 1,007 as against Rs 808 during Q3FY23.

Net profit down 10% at Rs 41.3 crore versus Rs 45.9 crore and revenue down 1% at Rs 369.3 crore versus Rs 372.6 crore, YoY.

-Upgrade to hold
-Q3 strong beat on both revenue and profitability
-Q3 strong beat as resilient domestic business more than offset exports weakness
-Growth outlook across end markets in domestic market is looking Solid
-Exports are bottoming out
-Commentary on domestic growth outlook was upbeat
-Company aiming to grow its revenue at 2x GDP growth
-Company seeing strong growth opportunities for its distribution business
-Company is looking to introduce new products and services
-Management highlighted that part of the weakness in exports market was due to inventory destocking
-Management also said the new year has started slowly
-Company also thinks the exports business has now bottomed out
-Company continues to target 100 bps margin improvement every year
-Company flagged the benefits from lower commodity costs in recent quarters reversing a little

Net profit down 72.7% at Rs 9 crore versus Rs 33 crore and revenue up 11.6% at Rs 665.5 crore versus Rs 596.1 crore, YoY.

Oil prices were little changed on Friday, staying on track for weekly gains, with tensions persisting in the Middle East after Israel rejected a ceasefire offer from Hamas.

Brent crude futures slipped 6 cents, or 0.1%, to $81.57 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 2 cents to $76.24 a barrel.

Sensex Today | Nifty Pharma index up 0.4 percent supported by Sun Pharma, Lupin, Cipla

Net profit up 30.9% at Rs 595 crore versus Rs 454.7 crore and revenue up 9.3% at Rs 3,324 crore against Rs 3,041 crore, YoY.

-Overweight call, target Rs 150 per share
-Q3 Beat on operating profits & good cash generation
-Consolidated adjusted revenues & adjusted EBITDA were above estimate

Net profit at Rs 20.3 crore versus loss of Rs 58.4 crore and revenue up 21.7% at Rs 1,740 crore versus Rs 1,430 crore, YoY.

Sensex Today | Market at 1 PM

The Sensex was up 81.78 points or 0.11 percent at 71,510.21, and the Nifty was up 33.30 points or 0.15 percent at 21,751.30. About 850 shares advanced, 2351 shares declined, and 67 shares unchanged.

Net profit up 26.8% at Rs 790 crore versus Rs 623 crore and revenue up 6% at Rs 4,505 crore versus Rs 4,257 crore, YoY.

Goldman Sachs Funds - Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio, Nomura Funds Ireland Plc Nomura Funds Ireland India Equity Fund, The Master Trust Bank of Japan Limited AC Nomura India Investment Fund Mother Fund, and Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund A/C Motilal Oswal Midcap 30 Fund bought 3,68,43,078 equity shares (3.6% stake) worth Rs 1,430 crore in Kalyan Jewellers.

However, foreign investor Highdell Investment offloaded 6,87,29,971 equity shares or 6.67% stake worth Rs 2,317.01 crore Kalyan Jewellers. Highdell had held 17.59% stake in the company as of December 2023.

Ace investor Ashish Rameshchandra Kacholia has bought 3,16,800 equity shares in Megatherm Induction via open market transaction at an average price of Rs 224.96 per share, valuing at Rs 7.13 crore.

Net profit down 12.2% at Rs 31.1 crore versus Rs 35.4 crore and revenue up 41% at Rs 704.8 crore versus Rs 500 crore, YoY.

Sensex Today | BSE Information Technology Index down 3i Infotech, Vakrangee, 63 Moons Technologies

Paradeep Phosphates: Goldman Sachs Funds - Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio sold 74,74,568 equity shares, equivalent to 0.91% of paid up equity, in the company, at an average price of Rs 76.05 per share.

HDFC Mutual Fund has bought 14,31,000 equity shares, which is equivalent to 2.18% of paid up equity, in Avalon Technologies via open market transactions at an average price of Rs 474 per share. HDFC Mutual Fund held more than 2.5% stake in the company as of December 2023.

However, Goldman Sachs Funds - Goldman Sachs India Equity Portfolio sold 14,93,822 (2.27% stake) equity shares in the company at an average price of Rs 474.01 per share.

Net profit at Rs 508 crore against Rs 169 crore and revenue up 9.3% at Rs 6,048 crore versus Rs 5,535 crore, YoY.

Sensex Today | Nifty Bank index up 1 percent supported by ICICI Bank, SBI, Bank of Baroda:

Dixon Technologies' wholly owned subsidiary- Dixon Electro Manufacturing Private Limited has commenced its commercial production for manufacturing of Refrigerators from its energy efficient state of art manufacturing facility equipped with latest technology, admeasuring 82,290 Sqm, situated at Plot No. 14, Ecotech-VIII, Greater Noida-201310, Uttar Pradesh, having capacity of 1.2 million units p.a.

Net profit down 1.2% at Rs 52.2 crore versus Rs 53.2 crore and revenue up 12.3% at Rs 204.3 crore versus Rs 181.9 crore, YoY.

The Capital Small Finance Bank's initial public offering was subscribed 1.53 times on February 9, the final day of bidding as investors picked up 1.24 crore equity shares against an offer size of 81.47 lakh.

Non-institutional investors were at the forefront, picking up 1.73 times the portion set aside for them, followed by retail investors who bought 1.72 times their allotted quota, and qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), who booked 1.06 times their portion.

Capital Small Finance Bank is aiming to raise Rs 523.07 crore from the public issue, offering 1.1 crore equity shares in the price range of Rs 445-468. An amount of Rs 157 crore was secured from anchor investors on February 6, a day before the IPO opened.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has signed a MoU with Government of Uttarakhand through Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) for taking dedicated Bharat Gaurav Tourist Trains through IRCTC and operating the trains originating from different cities/stations of the country to Uttarakhand. The MoU has been signed initially for a period of two years, which would be further extended for additional years.

Grasim Industries has reported standalone profit at Rs 236.31 crore for third quarter of FY24, falling 8.2% compared to year-ago period as tax cost at Rs 2.8 crore in Q3FY24 against tax write-back of Rs 42.36 crore in Q3FY23. Revenue from operations grew by 3.3% to Rs 6,400.25 crore compared to year-ago period.

Sensex Today | BSE Bank index up 1 percent led by SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank

Aster DM Healthcare has reported consolidated profit at Rs 179.2 crore for third quarter of FY24, growing 28.6% over a year-ago period, backed by topline and EBITDA performance. Revenue from operations grew by 16.2% YoY to Rs 3,710.6 crore for the quarter, while operating EBITDA increased by 28% to Rs 583 crore.

Global Health clocked a 53.4% on-year growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 123.6 crore for quarter ended December FY24, backed by strong operating margin and healthy topline growth. Revenue from operations grew by 20% YoY to Rs 832.6 crore for the quarter, with matured and developing units delivering robust revenue growth of 17% and 33% YoY respectively. This growth was primarily driven by increased in-patient volume and improved realisation.

Hold call, target raised to Rs 1,465 per share
Q3 beat was led by better sales mix & thus better gross margins
Q3 beat was led by operating leverage benefits
Execution key to reach goal of EBITDA margin of 22.5-23 percent in medium-term
EBITDA goal amid macro uncertainty and spend for growth
Key catalyst could be consistency in margins expansion

Rail Vikas Nigam has recorded consolidated profit at Rs 358.6 crore for October-December period of FY24, falling 6.2% compared to year-ago period, impacted by topline and operating numbers. Revenue from operations increased by 6.4% YoY to Rs 4,689.3 crore for the quarter.

Indian kirana store owners are swiftly turning to alternative payment apps for their business transactions after the Reserve Bank of India recently slapped restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank. According to a survey by Kirana Club, 69 percent of respondents relied on Paytm QR codes for daily transactions at their stores. However, within less than a week of the RBI's announcement, 42 percent of Indian kirana stores have moved to other payment apps, showing a rapid adoption of alternatives. READ MORE

Shares of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Industries traded mixed on February 9. The Union Cabinet has approved auctions in eight spectrum bands for mobile phone services at a base price of Rs 96,317.65 crore, information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur said on February 8. READ MORE

Jefferies has downgraded the ITC stock ended to "hold" from "buy" as the international brokerage expects the hotels-to-cigarettes player to remain range-bound. The international brokerage also slashed ITC target price to Rs 430 from Rs 520 a share. READ MORE

The stress on inflation in the RBI monetary policy statement and in the speech of Governor Shaktikanta Das have dashed hopes of a rate cut in the near future, prompting analysts to defer their expectations to the second half of 2024. The Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy Committee (RBI MPC) on February 8 kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent, in line with the market expectations. But Governor Das refrained from providing guidance on future rate cuts, disappointing the Street. The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 reacted, falling around 1 percent at close. READ MORE

Sensex Today | Market at 11 AM

The Sensex was down 48.73 points or 0.07 percent at 71,379.70, and the Nifty was down 40.30 points or 0.19 percent at 21,677.70. About 691 shares advanced, 2430 shares declined, and 83 shares unchanged.

Parliamentary panel proposes route-specific capping of airfares. Panel proposes setting up of a separate entity to control over air ticket prices: PTI