Sensex Today: Sensex ends 196 points lower, Nifty at 11,189; Vodafone Idea closes 26% down

Earnings reports due today

Listed companies that are due to post their quaterly results today are namely, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, DLF, IRB InvIT Fund, Supreme Industries, IFB Agro Industries, Bank of Maharashtra, General Insurance Corporation of India, Navin Fluorine International, Kingfa Science & Technology (India), Sanofi India, Bharat Electronics, Orient Cement, GHCL, Lloyds Steels Industries, India Grid Trust, Gokaldas Exports, Adroit Infotech, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, Century Enka, JMC Projects (India), Castrol India, Dalmia Bharat Sugar, Shriram City Union Finance, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Rane Engine Valve, Transport Corporation of India, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Tata Sponge Iron, Cochin Shipyard, Shalby, AYM Syntex, Strides Pharma Science, V2 Retail, Valecha Engineering, Indian Card Clothing Company, EID Parry India, KPR Mill, Muthoot Capital Services, as per data available with the exchanges.

Sectors Update

Amongst sectoral index, Auto and Media and Metal stocks remained in focus with negative momentum and dragged broader indices down , while bullish interst was registered in Banking and IT stocks, that helped cap losses. Although later, most scetoral indices traded down that pushed major indices further lower.  

Rupee opens lower

Indian Rupee, at the Interbank Forex Exchange, opened lower at 68.94 against the dollar, as compared to Friday's closing of 68.90 per American currency, backed by lower opening in the domestic market and continued foreign fund outflow amid rising US dollar.  

PNB Housing raises funds from World Bank's International Finance Corp

PNB Housing Finance Ltd on July 29 said it has raised around Rs 690 crore from World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation (IFC), to finance the purchase of affordable housing projects. "The investment was made under the central bank's automatic route in the revamped external commercial borrowings (ECB) framework," PNB Housing Finance Ltd said in a regulatory filing. (PTI)

US & China Trade talks this week

US and Chinese trade negotiators shift to Shanghai this week for their first in-person talks since a G20 truce last month, a change of scenery for two sides struggling to resolve deep differences on how to end a year-long trade war. Expectations for progress during the two-day Shanghai meeting are low, so officials and businesses are hoping Washington and Beijing can at least detail commitments for “goodwill” gestures and clear the path for future negotiations. These include Chinese purchases of U.S. farm commodities and the United States allowing firms to resume some sales to China’s tech giant Huawei Technologies. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he thinks China may not want to sign a trade deal until after the 2020 election in the hope that they could then negotiate more favorable terms with a different U.S. president. (Reuters)  

Asian shares drift lower

Asian shares drifted lower on Monday as markets anxiously counted down to a likely cut in U.S. interest rates this week with much riding on whether or not the Federal Reserve signals yet more are in the pipeline. U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators also meet in Shanghai this week for their first in-person talks since a G20 truce last month, but expectations are low for a breakthrough. (Reuters) 

Oil price lowers

Oil prices drifted down in early trade pressured by the usual concerns about over supply and slowing world demand. Brent crude futures eased 23 cents to $63.23, while U.S. crude lost 8 cents to $56.12 a barrel.

Tata Power to develop 250 MW Solar Project in Gujarat

Tata Power, India's largest integrated power company, announced that Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, has received a Letter of Award (LOA) from Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) on 25th July 2019 to develop a 250 MW solar project in Dholera Solar Park of Gujarat. This capacity is in addition to 100 MW awarded by GUVNL earlier at Raghanesda Solar Park in May'19. The energy will be supplied to GUVNL under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) valid for a period of 25 years from the scheduled commercial operation date. The Company has won this capacity in a bid announced by GUVNL in January 2019. The project has to be commissioned within 15 months from the date of execution of the PPA.

Vodafone touches new 52 week and all time low

The Vodafone stock has touched new 52 week and all time low of Rs 6.56. The stock has fallen over 43.94%in the last 8 days. Earlier in the day, the Vodafone stock opened at a loss of 2.70% at Rs 9 against the last close of Rs 9.25 Vodafone Idea, India's largest telecom operator, on Friday reported narrowing of consolidated net loss to Rs 4,873.9 crore during the first quarter ended June 20, 2019 from net loss of Rs 4,881.9 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 5,004.6 crore in the December quarter, helped by synergies from the merger of Aditya Birla Group's Idea and Vodafone in August last year. The company said that it is on track to deliver synergy target by Q1FY21.  

Affle India IPO launches today

Provider of mobile advertising solutions, Affle India's IPO becomes the first offer under the new Unified Payment Interface (UPI) mechanism, which was made mandatory for the retail investor category with effect from July 1, 2019. In the respective issue period between July 29 to July 31, 2019, the IPO offer (combination of fresh and OFS) summarises a fresh issue of 5,500,000 equity shares aggregating up to Rs 90 crore (Rs 900 million) (20% of the issue size) and an offer for sale of Rs 367-369 crore (80%) – by the promoter.  Affle will not receive any proceeds from the offer for sale.  Listing on both the major exchanges NSE and BSE, the IPO, which is a 100 % book built issue IPO type at the face value of Rs 10, comes at the price band fixed at Rs 740 - 745 apiece, with a minimum order quantity of 20 equity shares (Lot size).  Overall 75% of the net issue shall be allocated on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers, while remaining 15% and 10% is reserved for non-institutional bidders and retail investors, respectively. Parent-company Affle Holdings will be reducing its stake in Affle (India) to 75.6% from 83.5% by offloading shares worth up to Rs 369 crore.    As per company's Red Herring Prospectus, the objectives outlined for raising funds through IPO and using the net proceeds include funding the working capital requirements (Rs 69 crore)  and general corporate purposes.  ICICI Securities Limited and Nomura Financial Advisory And Securities (India) Pvt Ltd are the company's IPO lead managers. As per offer documents, the company has no listed peers to compare with. As of 1: 40 pm, the IPO has been subscribed 0.06 times.  

Closing Bell

Sensex Today: Domestic equity benchmarks NSE Nifty & BSE Sensex on Monday closed on a bearish note, backed by high selling interest in Auto stocks, amidst weak Asian equities. Sensex ended today's trade 196 points down at 37,686 and broader index Nifty50 trades at 11,189 level, registering a loss of 95 points.

Bajaj Auto hits 52 week low after poor results

Shares of Bajaj Auto traded almost 8.5% down in today's session to ttouc a new 52-week low at day's low of Rs 2,400 on BSE. On NSE the stock has regitered day's low at Rs 2,451. The stock falls today after gaining for 2 consecutive session. Bajaj Auto on Friday posted 2.84 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,012.16 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 1,041.77 crore during the same period of previous fiscal.

Its total revenue from operations rose to Rs 7,755.82 crore for the April-June period from Rs 7,464.89 crore in the same period of 2018-19 fiscal, Bajaj Auto said in a regulatory filing.

Bajaj Auto said it sold 1,247,174 units during the first quarter, up 2 per cent from 1,226,641 units in the year-ago period.