Sensex, Nifty close higher amid consolidation; IT stocks rally

The-Joke-was-Milan-Kunderas-first-novel-published-while-he-was-still-in-Czechoslovakia-Nádraží_Holešovice_a_okolí..._20230504_181116 (3)

Moneycontrol Bureau

3:30 pm Market Closing: Benchmark indices closed higher amid consolidation Thursday, with the Sensex rising 39.78 points to 28329.70. The Nifty failed to hold 8800 level, though it gained 9.35 points at 8778.40.

TCS, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, ITC, M&M and Bharti Infratel rallied 1-2 percent.

Tata Steel, Cipla, PNB and L&T were down 1-3.5 percent.

3:20 pm FII View: Global brokerage firm Morgan Stanley said it expects the Sensex to touch the 39,000 mark in a 'bull case' scenario by this December.

"Domestic appetite for equities remains strong. Sentiment is off lows though yet to hit exuberant territory," Morgan Stanley India Strategist Ridham Desai and Sheela Rathi said in a research note.

The brokerage has a base case (50 per cent probability) target for BSE Sensex at 30,000, a bull case (30 per cent probability) of 39,000 and a bear case (20 per cent probability) of 24,000.

"Strong corporate payout (buybacks and dividends), a new M&A cycle, and robust household demand for equities combined with improving growth and reasonable equity valuations (versus emerging markets and bonds) bring our bull case into play," it said.

2:59 pm Results estimates: Aurobindo Pharma is expected to report a 14.4 percent growth year-on-year in profit at Rs 612.12 crore and 10.3 percent in revenue at Rs 3,857.2 crore, driven by US business that contributes over 58 percent to formulation sales.

Operating profit is seen rising 14 percent to Rs 937 crore and margin may expand 80 basis points to 24.3 percent compared with year-ago quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

Analysts believe lack of high value launches should keep US growth restricted. Drugs such as Nuvigil, Tricor, Valcyte, Vimpat and Vfend generic may drive US business. Within injectables drugs such as Isosulfane Blue may drive hospital sales in US.

2:40 pm Hindustan Zinc share sale: Legal opinion on the proposed buying of government's residual stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) by Vedanta is expected within a month, the Mines Ministry said today.

The Supreme Court had last year restrained the government from going ahead with any further disinvestment of its stake in HZL.

Hindustan Zinc had submitted a proposal for buying the residual government stake.

"We are seeking legal opinion because there is a stay order by the Supreme Court," Mines Secretary Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar told PTI.

2:20 pm Earnings: Bajaj Electricals reported a decline of 17.47 percent in standalone net profit at Rs 29.71 crore for the quarter ended on December 31, 2016, on account of fall in sales of consumer products.

The company had registered a net profit of Rs 36 crore in October-December period a year-ago, Bajaj Electricals said in a BSE filing.

Its total income during the quarter under review was also down 7.05 per cent to Rs 1,055.09 crore as against Rs 1,135.17 crore of the corresponding quarter of last fiscal.

Total expenses were down 5.97 per cent to Rs 995.67 crore in the third quarter of 2016-17 as against Rs 1,058.94 crore in the year-ago period.

Also read - Buy, sell, hold: 10 crucial stocks to watch out post Q3 results

2:00 pm Market Check

Benchmark indices remained rangebound in afternoon trade, with the Nifty gyrating in band of 8750-8800 levels as investors are on sidelines ahead of corporate earnings.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 36.05 points to 28325.97 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 6.85 points at 8775.90.

India’s third largest drug maker by sales Lupin gained more than 1 percent after posting a 21 percent increase in its net profit to Rs 633 crore for the third quarter ended December, beating analysts' estimates on back of strong US generic sales.

Bank of India shares climbed 2 percent as the Bank has turned profitable in October-December quarter, with net income at Rs 101.7 crore against loss of Rs 1,505 crore in year-ago period on account of fall in provisions and sharp jump in other income & operating profit.

Markets in Europe were slightly higher as investors focused on earnings and took a cautious approach amid rising political uncertainty.