Twitter Stock – Stock Market Live: Sensex, Nifty trade flat amid volatility; PSU banks, pharma stocks gain; metals fall

Localised lockdown won’t impact business much; essentials & hygiene to see uptick: Godrej Consumer

Localised lockdown won’t impact business as much as full lockdown, said Sunil Kataria, CEO–India and South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) at Godrej Consumer Products, on Friday. Kataria said essentials and hygiene to see an uptick again. Godrej Consumer Products posted a strong Q4 update. The company said it has clocked in broad-based sales across all key categories and sees India sales growth around 30 percent this quarter. Speaking in an interview with CNBC-TV18, Kataria said, “This time, the COVID upsurge will see more of localised lockdowns rather than very far-ranging, wide impacting lockdowns. Therefore, a localised geography-based limited impact will happen on demand, which could impact certain discretionary categories.” Read more.

Every correction a buying opportunity; like IT, private banks, metals: Kotak Securities

Pratik Gupta, CEO and Co-Head, Institutional Equities, Kotak Securities believes the markets are looking beyond lockdowns in India. “There may be some near-term nervousness but most investors will look past the lockdowns. Therefore, if you see any kind of a correction, that would be a buying opportunity,” he said in an interview with CNBC-TV18. “If you look beyond the next one-two months and take a six-twelve month sort of a view then we still like private banks, the IT companies and the metal stocks. So no real change in our overall stance as such,” he added. Read more.

Macrotech Developers IPO subscribed 38% so far on last day

The Rs 2,500-crore initial public offering (IPO) of Lodha Group’s Macrotech Developers has been subscribed only 38 percent so far on April 9 (Friday), the last day of bidding. The offer has received bids for 1.37 crore equity shares so far as against the offer size of 3.64 crore equity shares, as per the subscription data available on exchanges. The portion set aside for retail investors has been booked 30 percent, while that of qualified institutional buyers has been subscribed 66 percent. Non-institutional investors have put in bids for 20 percent of the reserved portion and employees’ portion is booked 13 percent so far. Read more.

Just In | Direct tax collections for FY21 came in at Rs 9.45 lakh crore, higher than revised estimates of Rs 9.05 lakh crore, CBDT chairman PC Mody said.

CLSA gives ‘buy’ rating for NTPC. Here’s why

Brokerage firm CLSA has given a ‘buy’ rating for NTPC, stating that the company was now leading the energy transition with 17 percent market share of solar bids in the second half of FY21. CLSA has set a price target of Rs 150 for the stock. “A stellar 3.5GW of regulated capacity commercialisation at NTPC group despite the national lockdown, a 25 percent rise in solar capacity, 100 percent realisation of the billed amount from discoms and the closure of old thermal plants to improve ESG were key achievements in FY21,” said the brokerage. CLSA added that NTPC has also created a stage for even better achievement in FY22 with 1.3GW worth of plants set to commercialise in the first quarter of this financial year. The brokerage firm believes that all this will drive double-digit earnings per share growth for NTPC in FY22. More here

Overweight on IT, prefer Infy, TCS, HCL Tech: MOFSL’s Gautam Duggad

“IT is a sector which we have liked a whole lot in the last two years,” said Gautam Duggad, Head of Research for Institutional Equities at Motilal Oswal Financial in an interview with CNBC-TV18. “We are running a 300 bps overweight on IT for since last 12-15 months and we are continuing with that,” he said. He has a preference towards Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and HCL Technologies. “I remain very positive on IT even for FY22. I think margins will remain far more resilient than what a lot of people are thinking right now,” he said. His preference in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) is HDFC and Cholamandalam Investment and Finance. He also likes Muthoot Finance as well. More here

Prolonged lockdown may impact NBFC collections: Fitch

As the second wave of COVID-19 progresses, Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFCs) face renewed asset quality and liquidity risks, according to Fitch Ratings. And these challenges, Fitch believes, may increase further if restrictions are expanded or prolonged. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Saswata Guha, Senior Director-Financial Institutions at Fitch Ratings India said that collections from SME and commercial vehicle (CV) financing are vulnerable and that it might be impacted if the lockdown prolongs. “I don’t think we are yet experiencing a scenario where collections are dipping. But having said that, a month-long renewed restrictions in a state like Maharashtra, which contributes a significant chunk to the GDP, if some of these restrictions were to become more broad-based, then yes, potentially we will see some impact,” Guha said. More here

Market Watch: Ashish Kyal of Waves Strategy

“Canara Bank has shown a very sharp recovery. What is very interesting also is when Bank Nifty touched a fresh low in yesterday’s session, Canara Bank is still protecting its Rs 140 level. So that is kind of a positive divergence between Bank Nifty and Canara Bank. It is also shows a relative outperformance that Canara Bank is showing. So, we can expect it to move higher and one can initiate long positions keeping a stop loss of Rs 147.50 for target of Rs 164.”

“Shakti Pumps has shown a stellar move over the past many months. It went all the way from Rs 140 levels to now trading around Rs 550 zones. Post that we have seen a flag kind of a pattern which is a continuation pattern, and yesterday we saw a breakout. So, I am assuming the continuation should be happening from here on the upside. So one can create long positions in Shakti Pumps keeping a stop loss of Rs 532 for the target of Rs 571.”

Jaypee Infra IBC case: Four years later, a fourth round of bids

More than 20,000 homebuyers await the resolution of Jaypee Infratech, after yet another round of bids were submitted by suitors on Wednesday. Both state-run NBCC and Suraksha Realty submitted modified resolution plans for Jaypee Infratech to the resolution professional of the bankrupt firm, and the bids are expected to be opened later today, as per two people directly in the know. This is the fourth round of bids for the Noida-based company, which has been undergoing bankruptcy proceedings for over four years now. On April 3, NBCC approached the Supreme Court seeking another four weeks to “assess the viability and feasibility of submitting a fresh/modified resolution plan for JIL (Jaypee Infratech Limited).” However, it later decided to submit a modified bid anyway, confirming the development in an exchange notification on Thursday. More here

JUST IN: India 10-year Govt bond yield slips below 6% for the 1st time since February 12

Edelweiss Financial expects some growth from banks in Q4

Santanu Chakrabarti, head-BFSI research and senior vice president of Edelweiss Financial Services said that he expects to still see some growth from banks in Q4. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Chakrabarti said, “As far as earnings are concerned, we are still going to see growth. Any uncertainty related to the second phase of COVID infection offers a lot less protection in the midcap banks than it does for larger banks.”

“Therefore, the only midcap idea that we have been pushing is AU Small Finance Bank which has done well for us, but other than that our preferences are to stick with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and State Bank of India (SBI),” he said. Talking about NBFCs, Chakrabarti said, “We like Shriram twins (Shriram Transport Finance Corporation and Shriram City Union Finance), LIC Housing Finance. We also like HDFC Ltd, although the return expectation is lower than the other names but given the quality it still makes sense.” More here

Crypto traders on Robinhood jump six-fold to 9.5 million in Q1

Online brokerage Robinhood said on Thursday that 9.5 million users traded cryptocurrency on its platform during the first quarter of 2021, a near six-fold rise from the previous quarter. Bitcoin, the world’s most-traded cryptocurrency, has nearly doubled in value so far this year, boosted by an increased interest from larger financial firms betting on its greater acceptance, and as a hedge against inflation. Bitcoin has also made its way into the corporate treasuries of Tesla Inc, Square and MicroStrategy Inc. While central banks remain skeptical of digital currencies, analysts say more real-world uses of bitcoin will increase its appeal as a long-term store of value. More here

Srei Infrastructure Finance shares hit 20% upper circuit as arm gets EoI for $250 mn capital infusion

The shares of Srei Infrastructure Finance were locked in a 20 percent upper circuit after the company’s subsidiary Srei Equipment Finance received expression of interest for up to USD 250 million capital infusion from international PE funds. The international private equity funds are US-based Arena Investors LP and Singapore’s Makara Capital Partners. “The company’s Strategic Coordination Committee (SCC), chaired by Malay Mukherjee, Independent Director, will coordinate, negotiate and conclude discussions with the PE investors to bring the capital into the business and advise the management,” Srei Infrastructure Finance said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. More here

Shankar Sharma offloads 12.13 lakh shares in A2z Infra

Ace investor Shankar Sharma sold 12.13 lakh shares in A2z Infra Engineering via open market transaction on April 8. Sharma sold shares at a price of Rs 4.35 per share. As per the December quarter 2020 shareholding pattern, Sharma held a 4.08 percent stake in the firm. Post the transaction, the shares of the firm jumped as much as 12.4 percent to hit its intra-day high of Rs 4.6 per share.

Morning market quote from Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services 

“Surging Covid cases have become an area of serious concern with an increasing number of cities & towns declaring night curfews. Unless this second wave peaks soon & subside, economic activity will be impacted and the market assumptions of above 10% GDP growth and above 30% earnings growth will be challenged. This big uncertainty will weigh on market sentiments for some time. The market is climbing all walls of worry. Activity has now moved to mid-small-caps. Nifty Mid-cap & Nifty Small-cap indices are up by 17.4% and 20% respectively for the year against a 6.4% gain for the Nifty. Bulls are chasing value in these segments. The sharp depreciation in INR following the announcement of G-SAP by the RBI will benefit exporters, particularly IT. US bond yields & dollar index cooling off is EM positive. That’s why FIIs are not selling in spite of negative news”

Opening Bell: Sensex down over 150 points, Nifty below 14,850 as banks drag

Indian markets opened lower on Friday dragged by losses in banks and financial stocks. Losses in heavyweights ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, RIL, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank weighed the most on the benchmarks. At 9:20 am, the Sensex was down 210 points at 49,535 while the Nifty fell 60 points to 14,813.

Coinbase to roll out IPO on April 14: Here’s all that you need to know

On April 14, Coinbase will become the first US-based cryptocurrency platform to roll out its IPO on the Nasdaq stock exchange under Fintech Zoom ‘COIN’. Nearly a week before its IPO rollout, the company posted total revenue of $1.8 billion. The investors’ sentiment around the much-anticipated initial public offering (worth $114.9 million) of Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, received an impetus after the company released its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday (April 6). The impressive revenue figures of the US-based company paved the way for a strong debut on the Nasdaq, according to market analysts. More here

Oil edges up on weak dollar; investors weigh rising supplies, demand outlook

Oil prices edged up in early Asian trade on Friday, supported by a weaker dollar, as investors weighed rising supplies and the impact on fuel demand from the COVID-19 pandemic. Brent crude futures for June climbed 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $63.27 a barrel by 0106 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for May was at $59.77 a barrel, up 17 cents, or 0.3%. A weaker dollar makes oil cheaper for holders of other currencies, which usually helps boost crude prices.

Petrol, diesel prices unchanged for tenth straight day

The oil marketing companies (OMCs) kept fuel prices across the country unchanged for the tenth consecutive day on Friday. Accordingly, the price of petrol stood at Rs 90.56 per litre in the national capital. The price of diesel stood at Rs 80.87 per litre in Delhi, according to Indian Oil Corporation, the country’s largest fuel retailer. In Mumbai, the petrol price remained unchanged at Rs 96.98 per litre on Monday. The cost of diesel also was the same at Rs 87.96 a litre. The prices of petrol and diesel are reviewed by oil marketing companies such as state-run Indian Oil on a daily basis and any revision is implemented from 6 am in the morning.

Asia shares set for choppy session after S&P 500 hits record high

Asian equities are set for a choppy trading session on Friday after technology stocks lifted the S&P 500 to a new record even as investors weighed an unexpected rise in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits. A U.S. jobless claims report showed a second straight weekly increase earlier on Thursday, bucking the streak of strong economic data from payrolls and job vacancies that had buoyed investor confidence in a quick economic rebound.