Market LIVE: Sensex, Nifty turn positive; metal, FMCG stocks gain – Mint

Godrej Properties posts Rs192 crore loss in Q4

Godrej Properties Ltd posted net loss of ₹192 crore for the quarter-ended March compared to net profit of Rs102 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income for the fourth quarter fell 60% to ₹508 crore from ₹1,261 crore.

Kotak Mahindra Bank reports Q4 consolidated net profit at ₹2,589 crore, up 35.9% YoY

Sensex erases losses, turns positive

E-way bills suggest GST receipts could fall off peak in May

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) receipts of the central and state governments which touched a record high ₹1.41 trillion in April, could come off its peak in May, indicate data on the number of electronic goods movement permits generated during April.

Taxes for April sales are paid in May. Data showed that e-way bills generated for movement of goods within and across states in April has dropped 31% to 4.89 crore from the 7.1 crore bills reported in March. Movement restrictions are in place in several parts of the country as the authorities sought to break the chain of coronavirus infections.

Manufacturing PMI steady in April, but is this the calm before the storm?

India is now the global hotspot of covid infections. So, the modest improvement in the country’s manufacturing business activity hardly brings any cheer.

IHS Markit data showed purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for April rose marginally to 55.5 from seven-month low of 55.4 in March. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a print below this threshold points to contraction.

For the ninth month in a row, the headline manufacturing PMI has managed to stay in the expansion zone. But economists caution that this momentum could fast fade considering the way infections are rising in the country.

“Note that the surveys are conducted in the middle two weeks of the month. The April reading will therefore not have captured the very latest jump in infections – India became the first country in the world to report more than 400,000 cases in a single day on Saturday – and the further ramping up of containment measures,” said economists at Capital Economics Ltd.

It should be noted that three states which are key manufacturing hubs – Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu, have extended restrictions until the middle of May. Given the shortage of oxygen supply, the government has redirected supplies away from some factories to hospitals. Simply put, tighter restrictions and voluntary social distancing, would impact income and consequently demand.

RIL, HDFC Bank top drags on Sensex

Cadila Health update

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Plea in Delhi HC seeks Remdesivir sale in domestic market: PTI

The Delhi High Court Monday asked the Centre and various pharma majors to respond to a PIL seeking that all drug firms making Remdesivir, used in COVID-19 treatment, be allowed to sell it in the domestic market.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh issued notice to the Health Ministry, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, Director General of Foreign Trade and various pharma companies, like Cipla, Zydus and Cadila, seeking their stand on the plea which claims only a handful of such firms are allowed to sell the medicine in the domestic market.

Top losers on BSE at this hour

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Oil extends losses on India covid surge

Brent crude fell 31 cents, or 0.5%, to $66.45 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 19 cents, or 0.3%, at $63.39.

Top gainers on BSE at this hour

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IDBI Bank reports Q4 profit of Rs512 crore vs ₹135.4 crore a year

Net interest income rose 37.5% year-on-year to Rs3,240.1 crore.

Oil price check

Oil prices fell on Monday as a catastrophic second wave of a coronavirus epidemic in India cut short a recovery in oil demand there, offsetting optimism about a strong rebound in consumption in developed countries and China in the second half of the year.

Brent crude futures for July fell 48 cents, or 0.7%, to $66.28 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate for June was at $63.11 a barrel, down 47 cents, or 0.7%.

Yes Bank is building its deposits, but loans are a different matter

One year since its precipitous fall to the bottom, Yes Bank has managed to build back its depositors’ trust. But there is a long wait before the lender regains a large part of its lost health, and the pandemic won’t make this easy.

Yes Bank reported a 54% year-on-year growth in its deposits for the March quarter. Of course, a large part of this growth is because of a low base. Recall that the lender has been losing deposits hand over fist which along with a depleted capital led to its collapse in early 2020. That said, the erosion has been stemmed now with depositors willing to put their savings into the bank.

In FY21, the bank’s retail deposits grew 33%, and corporate deposits grew 60%. Low cost current and savings account deposits remain a sour spot, with these being just a quarter of the total deposit base.

Taiwan bars arrivals from India amid coronavirus crisis: Reuters

Marico jumps on strong March quarter performance

The FMCG major reported a net profit of Rs227 crore for the fiscal fourth quarter, up 14.1% from Rs199 crore a year ago.

Revenue from operations during January-March quarter rose 34.5% on year to ₹2,012 crore. Revenue growth was backed by a robust 25% volume growth in the domestic business and a 23% constant currency growth of 23% in international business.

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Ashok Leyland scales down production across plants as civid surge hits demand: BSE filing

“The demand outlook for all our products is expected to be affected temporarily. We have carefully studied the demand situation and efforts are being made to match the demand on the one hand, while being cognizant of the disruptions in the supply situation. At the same time, Ashok Leyland will continue to meet the requirement of defence vehicles and also ensure support of essential parts and aggregates for our fleet, enabling movement of essential goods and services including a 24 hour helpline to ensure high uptime of the vehicles already on road,” the company said in a filing to the exchanges.

Accordingly, the operations of our plants have been scaled down and are expected to work for 7 – 15 days in May. We will continue to respond to the Covid situation in the country as it unfolds, it added.

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IPL’s KKR-RCB match rescheduled after two players test covid positive: PTI

Gainers/losers on Nifty at this hour

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LNG cargoes diverted from India as coronavirus cases surge: Reuters

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes are being diverted away from ports in India as surging coronavirus cases there hamper domestic gas demand, trade and shipping sources said on Monday.

At least four LNG cargoes were diverted away from India last week to elsewhere in Asia instead, the sources said.

Gas demand has taken a hit from some sectors due to lockdowns imposed in several parts of the country, they added.

Nifty FMCG top gainer among sectoral indices

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Pfizer in talks with India over expedited approval for COVID-19 vaccine: Reuters

Pfizer is in discussions with the Indian government seeking an “expedited approval pathway” for its COVID-19 vaccine, its CEO Albert Bourla said on LinkedIn on Monday, announcing a donation of medicines worth more than $70 million.

“Unfortunately, our vaccine is not registered in India although our application was submitted months ago,” he said.

“We are currently discussing with the Indian government an expedited approval pathway to make our Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine available for use in the country.”

Marico stock at a new high, but Q4 margins are at multi-quarter low

Marico Ltd’s shares rose almost 10% on National Stock Exchange on Monday, touching a new 52-week high of Rs452.50 apiece. This is despite the fact that the March quarter consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) margins contracted by 300 basis points year-on-year to 15.9%. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. Ebitda margin is the lowest in 20+ quarters, point out analysts from Jefferies India Pvt. Ltd.

Note that savings in other expenses, which were lower as a percentage of revenues, did soften the blow at the Ebitda level. Gross profit margins have contracted as much as 520 basis points owing to higher price of copra and rice bran oil. (Read here)

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SC reserves order on Election Commission’s plea against Madras HC remarks: PTI

The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on the Election Commission’s plea against Madras HC remarks holding its officials responsible for the surge in COVID-19 cases and fastening them with murder charges.

A bench of justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said it did not want to “demoralise” the high courts as they are vital pillars of the democracy, and the various critical remarks, as alleged by the Election Commission, are often said in an open dialogue between the bar and the bench.

The apex court said it would pronounce its order “expeditiously” on the EC’s plea against critical remarks such as fastening murder charges against its officials.

Nifty sectoral indices at this hour

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Franklin Templeton unitholders to get ₹2,489 cr in next tranche: PTI

SBI Funds Management (SBI MF) will distribute the next tranche of ₹2,489 crore to unitholders of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund’s six shuttered schemes in this week from Monday. SBI MF has already distributed ₹12,084 crore to investors.

This included ₹2,962 crore distributed during the week of April 12. “We are pleased to now inform you that SBI Funds Management Pvt Ltd (SBI MF) would be distributing the next tranche of ₹2,488.75 crore to unitholders across all six schemes.

The payment to all investors whose accounts are KYC compliant with all details available will be made during the week of May 3, 2021,” a Franklin Templeton MF spokesperson said on Sunday.

Fitch downgrades Future Retail’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating to ‘RD’ from ‘C’

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Future Retail Limited’s (FRL) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘RD’, from ‘C’, following the company’s announcement that it has completed the restructuring of the bulk of its onshore debt, which Fitch views as a distressed debt exchange (DDE). At the same time, Fitch has affirmed the rating on FRL’s $500 million 5.6% senior secured notes, due 2025, at ‘C’, with a Recovery Rating of ‘RR5’.

“We believe the resurgence of the coronavirus in India and FRL’s poor access to credit will make it difficult for the company to meet the interest payments on debt that was not part of the restructuring, particularly the US-dollar notes. The company will also need to rely on alternative sources, such as new equity partners and disposals, to meet its large debt repayments after September 2021, as agreed in the restructuring plan,” the rating agency said.

We believe the risk of another, potentially deeper, debt restructuring will rise significantly if the proposed sale of FRL’s business to an indirect subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL; BBB-/Stable) is not completed.

HS Markit India Manufacturing PMI at 55.5 in April

The IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was at 55.5 in April versus 55.4 in March.

Nifty view: Sameet Chavan, chief analyst-technical and derivatives, Angel Broking

“It is quite clear that the benchmark is trapped in a wider range of 1000 points i.e. 15000 – 14150 and till the time we do not see sustainable breakout on either side, we would like to remain neutral on market and would like to consider each day as a new day. Within this consolidation, the inclination would slightly be on the positive side as we are seeing a strong support zone of 14550 – 14450. Here the banking index holds some significance as long as 32000 remain intact. For Nifty, the immediate resistances are to be seen at 14730 – 14860.”

Godrej Properties reports Q4 net loss of Rs191.6 crore

Godrej Properties today reported a consolidated Q4 net loss of Rs191.6 crore against profit of Rs102.4 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue was at Rs572 crore versus Rs1,288 crore.

India coronavirus update

India reported 368,147 new cases over the past 24 hours, pushing its overall caseload to a tad less than 20 million. Fatalities stood at 3,417.

Daily case additions have remained above 300,000 for the 12th straight day.

India’s total infections stand at 19.93 million, while total fatalities number 218,959, according to health ministry data.

Dalmia Bharat delaying it’s much-awaited expansions is only a short-term dampener

Cement manufacturer Dalmia Bharat Ltd reported decent earnings in the March quarter. Aided by negative tax rate, its net profit exceeded analysts estimates. Other earnings parameters such as revenue growth and it’s operating performance were in-line.

But the company’s management said that it has postponed the announcement of its capital allocation policy due to the pandemic. While the ongoing capital expenditure (capex) plans would continue, the management would decide on any new expansion capex post the formation of the capital allocation policy. Also, it would decide on the IEX divestment accordingly.

India rupee opens at 74.25 per dollar on Monday vs previous close of 74.07 to a dollar

Bajaj Auto’s April sales rise 5% month-on-month: BSE filing

Bajaj Auto’s total sales rose 5.1% sequentially to 3.88 lakh units in April, while domestic sales fell 32.3% to 1.34 lakh units. Exports were up 49% at 2.5 lakh units.

Nifty Bank among worst hit sectoral indices

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Nifty view: Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments

Upon opening, the markets have taken support at 14400. What needs to be seen is how we fare during the day and if we are successful in closing above the 14400 level as that is a key support for the current trend. If we breach that, there might be a cause of concern. On the upside, we still have reasons to target 15000-15100 as a potential target for the Nifty.

Natco Pharma gets emergency use approval for Baricitinib tablets for Covid-19 treatment

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HDFC Bank down post internal reshuffle

Private sector lender HDFC Bank on Friday announced an internal reorganisation that would see it form three distinct focus areas namely, business verticals, delivery channels, and technology.

This, the bank said, will further build its execution muscle in all the three areas and be ready for the future. It has named this exercise, Project Future – Ready. The creation of focused business verticals and delivery channels will enable it to capitalise on the opportunities across customer segments in the time to come, it said in a statement.

RIL slips post Q4 results likely on profit booking

The Mukesh Ambani-owned company reported more than doubling of its March quarter net profit to ₹14,995 crore as consumer businesses of retail and telecom as well as petrochemicals saw sequential recovery on improved spreads offsetting continued weakness in refining business. Revenue rose a more sedate 14% to ₹1.72 trillion. Reliance Jio’s revenue fell 6% as the removal of IUC charges dragged down ARPU by 9%.

Gainers/losers on Sensex in opening deals

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Nifty falls below 14,500 at open

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Sensex at open

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Sensex in pre-open

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Stocks to Watch: Reliance, Yes Bank, Kotak Bank, Indusind Bank

Among the top 10 stocks that could be in news today are RIL, Indusind Bank, SBI, Dr Reddy’s and auto companies that report their monthly sales numbers.

Among Nifty companies that will announce March quarter results today are SBI Life Insurance and Kotak Mahindra Bank, Godrej Properties, L&T Technology Services, IDBI Bank, Tata Chemicals, and Varun Beverages.

Didi derails BJP’s Bengal dreams

While Mamata Banerjee weathered anti-incumbency to win a third term in West Bengal, even as BJP expanded footprint, Pinarayi Vijayan bucked the 40-year trend to return to power in Kerala. MK Stalin led DMK alliance to victory in Tamil Nadu and Sarbananda Sonowal looked set to form government for a second term in Assam. (Full report)

Markets seen volatile post election results

Indian stock markets are likely to be volatile on Monday, while trends in SGX Nifty indicate a weak opening for domestic benchmark indices. State election results released on Sunday are likely to add to the choppy trade.

On Friday, the Sensex ended 2% lower at 48,782 and Nifty closed at 14,631 down 1.8%.

Asian markets lower

Asian share markets got off to a slow start on Monday as holidays in China and Japan crimped volumes and investors awaited a raft of data this week which should show the U.S. leading a global economic recovery.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was all but flat after taking a bit of a spill on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei was shut for a holiday, but Nikkei futures edged up 0.2%.

US markets end weak on Friday

Wall Street ended lower on Friday, with Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and other tech-related companies weighing on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq despite recent strong quarterly earnings reports.

A day after the S&P 500 closed at a record high, Apple , Google-parent Alphabet and Facebook each gave back gains following upbeat quarterly reports this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.54% to end at 33,875.31 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.72% to 4,181.21.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.85%, to 13,962.68.