Wall Street listed companies are set to bounce back strongly after the sharp 14.7% fall in earnings reported in the first quarter of 2020. Analysts at Wells Fargo estimate that S&P 500 earnings for the January-March quarter of 2021 will surge a massive 17.7%, helped by the low base. Meanwhile, sectors such as financials and material, among the hardest hit during the pandemic, are expected to lead the recovery. “From a historical perspective, earnings are expected to exceed consensus estimates, following a similar pattern to that set after the Great Financial Crisis,” Krishna Gandikota, Investment Strategy Analyst at Wells Fargo, wrote.
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The Indian Rupee has been termed as the worst-performing Asian currency this month as it weakened towards the lower levels of 75.54. Primary reason for the downfall of Rupee could be attributed to RBI’s announcement of a formal bond purchase plan in the recent policy. They also hinted towards the uncertainty over India’s growth outlook. Also, economists have cut their forecast for the current quarter growth amid restrictions to contain the coronavirus which has created worries in the minds of investors. All the above factors are expected to keep the rupee under pressure for some more time unless and until the RBI decides to step in. In the future, a supportive policy mix along with government measures and robust vaccination drive could help in the country’s recovery. Heena Naik, Research Analyst – Currency, Angel Broking Ltd
Aided by economic activity picking up, operations have largely risen to pre-Covid levels. With this, we expect a better Q4 FY21 for EPC and product companies. Orders and the pipeline continue to be healthy due to pro-growth government policies with higher capex allocation in the Union budget, followed by the PLI scheme to boost domestic manufacturing. Visible signs of recovery can be seen in private capex, with greater spends on automation and digitisation. Sectors showing order traction are railways; power T&D, FGD, pharma, auto, F&B, data centres, water and oil & gas. We are cautious, though, regarding the second wave of Covid-19. Our top picks are L&T, HWA, KOEL, Graphite and VAMP. Anand Rathi Financial Services
Infosys share price tumbled as much as 5.6 per cent intraday to Rs 1,320.35 apiece on BSE on Thursday, a day after IT giant posted 17 per cent on-year rise in net profit in the January-March quarter. Infosys stock was the top Sensex loser on the back of lower consolidated profit growth as compared to estimates and profit booking. Also, in the overnight trade, Infosys ADR plunged 6 per cent to $1731 per share.
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DLPL stock has significantly outperformed its peers and the broader market since the start of the pandemic. Since mid-Feb 2020 (when fear pandemic started), the stock is up 106% against a Nifty return of 18%. More recently with the start of the second wave, the stock is up 38% since mid Mar 2021 against a Nifty return of -4% over the period. As a result, DLPL’s valuation has increased substantially to 79.5x one-year-forward earnings compared to 30- 60x in the pre-pandemic period.
Nomura
Gold prices were trading higher in India on Thursday, following the international spot prices. On MCX, gold June futures were trading Rs 155 or 0.33 per cent up at Rs 46,763 per 10 gram, against the previous close of Rs 46,608. While silver May futures were trading at Rs 67,826 per kg, up Rs 188 or 0.28 per cent. MCX silver closed at Rs 67,638 in the previous session. Analysts believe gold traders need more catalysts to retain the uptrend. The resurgence in talks of Biden’s infrastructure plan will activate buying pressure in gold
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Amidst the negative of an alarming rise in Covid cases, a relief from the market perspective is that there is no large- scale lockdown. But the massive restriction of economic activity in the economically significant state of Maharashtra is bound to have its impact on growth and earnings. The market knows this, but what is unknown is how long will this last and how quickly we can get ahead of the infection cases. The market is driven by the hope that in this race between the pandemic and vaccination, the latter will ultimately win. But what price we will have to pay for this is clouded in profound uncertainty. Pharma & IT could be safe defensive plays at this juncture. Investors can move on to economy-facing stocks when the daily Covid cases start steadily coming down. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services
Despite the dollar remaining on the back foot it did not help rupee much as domestically rising Covid numbers have raised concern over economic activity and growth. Any further hamper to the economic activity will in turn slow down the pace of FII inflows which had so far supported the Rupee. It will be watchful whether RBI shows any intervention for decline of rupee with its high reserves and control the losses in rupee. If USDINR breaks the 75.20 levels successfully and sustains above therein, then we might see the pair moving towards 75.50 to 75.80 levels.: Amit Pabari, managing director, CR Forex Advisors
Barring Nifty IT and Nifty Auto, all the sectoral indices were trading in the positive territory. Nifty Metal index jumped 2.6 per cent.
ONGC, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) were among top Sensex gainers.
Infosys share price fell 4 per cent to Rs 1,344 apiece on Thursday after Infosys ADR ended 6 per cent down in overnight.
BSE Sensex was trading 90 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 48,635, while Nifty 50 surged 47 points or 0.33 per cent to 14,552
Petrol and Diesel Rate Today in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad: Prices of Petrol and Diesel were cut today after having remained unchanged for the last fifteen consecutive days. Today Petrol price in Delhi is Rs 90.40 per litre, 16 paise cheaper than yesterday, while Diesel price was at Rs 80.73 per litre, down 14 paise. The previous cut in fuel prices had come on March 30. Fuel prices remain the highest in Mumbai at Rs 96.83 per litre for Petrol. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) revise the fuel prices on a daily basis in line with benchmark international price and foreign exchange rates.
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Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank were among top BSE Sensex losers in pre-openening session
BSE Sensex was trading 328 points or 0.68 per cent down at 48,216, while Nifty 50 was trading above 14,450 in pre-opening session on Thursday.
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COMEX gold trades little changed near $1735/oz after a 0.6% decline yesterday. Gold eased back after failing to sustain above $1750/oz. Weighing on gold price is increasing optimism about the US economy and continuing ETF outflows. However, supporting price is Fed’s emphasis on keeping interest rates low and worsening virus situation. Gold is struggling to sustain above $1750/oz amid mixed factors however rising virus cases and loose monetary policy stance may continue to support prices. Ravindra Rao, VP- Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities
Muthoot Finance declared an interim dividend of 200% ie., Rs 20 per share of Rs.10 face value for the financial year 2020-21. The dividend will be paid to the shareholders on or before May 11, 2021.
Nifty futures were trading 111.50 points or 0.75 per cent down at 14,663.50 on Singaporean Exchange. While, it was quoting higher than Nifty’s Tuesday’s closing, indicating that headline indices were staring at a positive start on Thursday. Market participants will closely watch rising COVID-19, on-going vaccination drive, oil prices, Q4 results, rupee movement and other global cues.
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Coinbase listing on Nasdaq will be a watershed event in the short history of the global crypto ecosystem adding to the gradual yet growing acceptance of cryptocurrencies in mainstream finance. The milestone would also allow crypto bulls to advocate even more affirmatively for digital assets’ proliferation. While the direct listing would be a huge sentiment-driving market signal for the entire digital asset industry, and all existing and potential crypto enthusiasts but the nature of crypto is such that all of it could be very uncertain.
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Domestic stock markets resume trading after a brief halt on Wednesday. Sensex currently sits at 48,544 points, recouping some of Monday’s losses. Nifty 50, on the other hand, is settled at 14,504. SGX Nifty was down in the red, hinting at a negative start for equity markets that have continued to fluctuate between a broad range over the last few trading sessions. Global cues were mixed on Thursday. Investors are likely to keep an eye on earnings and take note of stock-specific actions while the rising coronavirus cases continue to spook investors.
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Software services behemoth Infosys today said that its board has approved a Rs 9,200 crore buyback of equity shares from the open market. The company will buy back shares at a maximum Rs 1,750 apiece, a premium of 25% on the current market price of Rs 1,398 apiece. The buyback announcement came along with the financial results of the company where it reported a jump in net profit to Rs 5,076 crore in the January-March quarter, up from Rs 4,321 crore in the same period last year.
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In overnight trade on Wall Street, US stock indices ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.16 per cent, and the S&P 500 lost 0.41 per cent. The Nasdaq Composite dropped one per cent.
Asian stock markets were trading mixed on Thursday with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 0.22 per cent. The Topix index gained over half a per cent.
Infosys on Wednesday reported a sedate set of numbers for the March quarter with net profits coming in at Rs 5,076 crore, a decline of 2.4% sequentially and slightly short of analysts’ estimates. Revenues grew 2% sequentially to Rs 26,311 crore, on a constant currency basis, again a shade lower than estimates and much below Tata Consultancy Services’ revenue growth of 4.2%
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