Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends 127 points higher, Nifty at 11,930; Maruti, Tata Steel, M&M top gainers

Sensex, Nifty Highlights on October 23:: Market indices ended on a bullish note on Friday, amid positive global equities. Sensex closed 127 points higher at 40,685 and Nifty gained 33 points to 11,930. Meanwhile, September quarterly earnings announcements by Tech Mahindra, Nestle India, Yes Bank, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, IDBI Bank, JSW Steel will also set the tone for the stock market today. Yesterday, BSE benchmark Sensex ended 148 points lower at 40,558 and NSE Nifty 50 fell 41 points to 11,896.

Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today

3. 40 PM: Closing

Market indices ended on a bullish note on Friday, amid positive global equities. Sensex closed 127 points higher at 40,685 and Nifty gained 33 points to 11,930.

3. 38 PM: LT Infotech update

Centrum Broking in its note said,"LT Infotech's 2QFY21 results delivered a strong margin beat which aided PAT beat. Post strong 2QFY21, we upgrade LT Infotech's USD revenue growth assumption to 7.6/16.4% for FY21/FY22E (vs 6.3/15.5% modelled earlier). LTI  would maintain revenue growth leadership among scale midcap companies in FY21. LTI has been steady effort mix towards offshore which has helped it consistently execute well on margins. This has enabled company deliver directional EPS upgrades. We raise EPS estimates by 4/7/10% for FY21/FY22E/FY23E respectively led by margin upgrade .LTI trades at 23.5x Sep22E EPS. TCS/Infosys are trading at 25/21.9x Sep22E EPS. Growth leadership, margin trajectory improvement and scarcity premium is driving LTI multiples higher. We now value LTI at 24.5x Sep22E EPS which yields TP of Rs3240/sh/sh (vs 22.5x Sep22E EPS earlier). Our TP upgrade is driven by EPS upgrade and P/E upgrade.  Maintain BUY."

3. 25PM: Aditya Birla Fashion share rises over 15%

Share price of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail rose over 15% today after the firm said online shopping major  Flipkart is buying 7.8% stake. Aditya Birla Fashion share rose 15.28% intra day to Rs 176.85 against previous close of Rs 153.40 on BSE.

Total 13.82 lakh shares changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 22.91 crore on BSE. Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 13,443.97 crore on BSE.

Why Aditya Birla Fashion share rose over 15% today

3.06 PM: Real estate sector update

Mohit Goel, CEO, Omaxe Ltd said, " The foundation stone of self-sustainable cities is being laid with their emergence as centre of business and trade, jobs and opportunities.  The upcoming festive season is expected to give a further push to the ongoing momentum. We don't expect frantic buying but see sales touching last year's level. Also, the recent phenomenon of inclusion of real estate in the investment portfolio of investors and households has given an impetus to demand in retail spaces in metro cities. "

2. 43 PM: Rupee ends 7 paise lower

On the currency front, Indian Rupee slipped 7 paise to settle at 73.61 per US dollar.

2. 36 PM: Sector update

On the sectoral front, losses in pharma, realty and banking index were capped by gains in auto, metal, IT and media index.

2. 14 PM: Bajaj Auto share price gains 1.5%

Shares of Bajaj Auto Ltd were trading 1.5% higher on Friday, even after the two-wheeler maker reported a 19% YoY fall in its net profit for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2020.

Shares of the two-and-three-wheeler maker touched an intraday high of Rs 3,055, rising 1.5% as against the closing price of Rs 3,009.25 on BSE. The stock also touched an intraday low of Rs 2997.55, after opening at Rs 3,012.10. Bajaj Auto stock price has fallen after 2 days of consecutive gain.

2. 08 PM: Why Aditya Birla Fashion share rose over 15% today

Share price of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail rose over 15% today after the firm said online shopping major  Flipkart is buying 7.8% stake. Aditya Birla Fashion share rose 15.28% intra day to Rs 176.85 against previous close of Rs 153.40 on BSE.

Why Aditya Birla Fashion share rose over 15% today

1. 57 PM: Bajaj Auto Q2FY21 result update

HDFC Securities said in its note,"Company's net profit declined 19% year-on-year to Rs 1,138 crore in the September quarter, while its revenue from operations declined 7.2% yoy to Rs 7,156 crore in Q2FY21, as total sales volume fell 10% to 10.5 lakh units.

Realization for the quarter came in at Rs 67,935 per unit as compared Rs 65,673 per unit. EBITDA decreased marginally to Rs 1,266.2 crore from Rs 1,278 crore while EBITDA margin expanded by 110 bps yoy to 17.7%".

1. 49 PM: Mphasis quarterly update

Jyoti Roy - DVP- Equity Strategist, Angel Broking said" Mphasis reported a 7.2% qoq growth in revenues to USD 327mn which was better than peers like Mindtree and L&T Infotech. In rupee terms revenue grew by 5.2% qoq to Rs 2,435 crore while net profit was up by 8.8% QoQ to Rs 299.2 crore. Overall the Q2FY21 numbers were above street estimates. The company also reported record direct TCV wins at USD 360mn for the quarter as compared to USD 259mn in Q1FY21 which is a key positive. While the Q2FY21 numbers were above expectations on all parameters, only concern for the markets is the continued fall in the DXC business."

1. 36PM: Biocon result update

On Biocon result update, Yash Gupta - Equity Research Associate, Angel Broking said," Biocon Limited revenue from operations for Q2FY21 stood at Rs 1,744 crores up by 11.3% YoY from Rs 1,567 crores in Q2FY20. Biosimilars business has done well for the company which is up by 11.4% stood at Rs 676 crores in Q2FY21 from Rs 607 crores in Q2FY20 while Generic business up by 8.3% in Q2FY21 stood at Rs 599 crores in Q2FY21 as compared to 553 crores in Q2FY20. Profit before tax for the quarter down by 38.7% at Rs 223 crores in Q2FY21 as compared to Rs 363 crores in Q2FY20. Profit after tax for the quarter down by 23% at Rs 195 crores in Q2FY21 as compared to Rs 254 crores in Q2FY20. Company has reported results inline with expectation."

1. 19 PM: SBI cards result update

Jaikishan Parmar - Sr. Equity Research Analyst, Angel Broking said: "SBI cards reported Below expectation numbers for Q2FY21. Loan Book grew 4% YoY to Rs. 23,978 Cr, while NII increased by 20% on the back of a strong NIM to 17.0% vs YoY 15.1% due to lower cost of funds. The major surprise came from provision cost, as in Q1FY21, Company did not take any covid related provision and did not expected deterioration in asset quality, however, GNPA spiked and provision cost escalated.  SBI cards is trading at 68x of trailing earnings. An investor would wait to analyse the behavior and slippage from the restructured book and final credit cost for FY21."

1.03 PM: Top gainers and losers

Tata Steel, followed by Maruti, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, HDFC twins and TCS were among the top gainers on Sensex pack today. On the other hand, Infosys, HCL Tech, HUL and Asian Paints were the laggards.

12. 59 PM: YES Bank shares trade flat ahead of Q2 earnings

Shares of private sector lender YES Bank traded  muted on Friday, as the bank will announce its September quarter numbers later in the day.

Earlier at the opening bell, YES Bank share price gained 1.8% to hit an intradya high of Rs 12.95, as against the earlier close of Rs 12.72 on BSE. Although, later the stock erased gains and hit an intrady low of Rs 12.65.

YES Bank share trades flat ahead of Q2 earnings

12. 43 PM: Market update

Market indices traded on a bullish note on Friday, amid positive global equities. Sensex was trading 200 points higher at 40,768 and Nifty gained 57 points to 11,955.

12. 39 PM: Rupee slips 11 paise to 73.65

Indian rupee, the local currency benchmark, slipped 11 paise to 73.65 per US dollar on Friday's opening deals, tracking stronger American currency overseas, despite positive domestic equities trend

The domestic unit opened weak at 73.62 at the interbank forex market and dropped 11 paise to 73.65 per dollar over its previous close.

Rupee slips 11 paise to 73.65 amid strong US dollar

12. 20 PM: L&T Finance quarterly update

Jaikishan Parmar - Sr. Equity Research Analyst, Angel Broking  said," L&T Finance reported a moderate set of numbers, however, the rural segment is doing well than expected. NII declined 15% YoY, AUM largely remains Flat YoY /QoQ. AUM decline. PAT declined 62% primarily owing to a plunge in NII and elevated provision cost. Positive for the quarter (a) a pickup in disbursements (b) improved collection efficiency across products and c) Increase provisioning to strengthen the balance sheet

L&T Fin made additional provisions of Rs. 512 Cr during the qtr. Macroprudential provisions as of Q2FY21 stood at Rs. 1757 Cr (1.8% of AUM). Out of this, Rs 1,079 Cr of provisions are towards Micro Loan book (9.2% of standard Micro Loan book).

L&T Fin currently trades at 0.85x of Q2FY21 Book value, which is inexpensive compared to historical valuation."

12. 09 PM: Cochin Shipyard share gains 5%

Cochin Shipyard share gained 5% in early trade today after ace investor Radhakishan Damani bought minority stake in the public sector firm through bulk deals. Share of Cochin Shipyard rose up to 4.83% to Rs 376.70 against previous close of Rs 359.05 on BSE. The stock has gained 14.08% in last 4 days.

Radhakishan Damani buys nearly 7 lakh shares of this PSU, stock rises 5%

12.00 PM: Reliance Power share zooms 20%

Reliance Power share rose in early trade today after the firm reported an over two-fold jump in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September 2020. Share of Reliance Power climbed 20% intra day  to Rs 3.28 against previous close of Rs 2.74 on BSE. The stock has gained 29.27% in the last 3 days.

The share trades higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day and 200 day moving averages but lower than 100 day moving averages

The stock has lost 3% in one year and 7.45% since the beginning of this year. In a month, the share has gained 20%. Total 129.15 lakh shares changed hands amounting to turnover of Rs 4.12 crore on BSE.

Reliance Power share zooms 20% on strong Q2 earnings

11. 50 AM: Market update

Market indices traded on a bullish note on Friday, amid positive global equities. Sensex was trading 70 points higher at 40,628 and Nifty gained 20 points to 11,917.

11. 49 AM: HDFC AMC update

Jaikishan Parmar - Sr. Equity Research Analyst, Angel Broking said," HDFC AMC reported numbers were on expected lines. The revenue sequentially jumped 11%, declined 8.4% & YoY, primarily owing to compression in blended yield, due to unfavorable AUM mix towards low margin non-equity business. QAAUM was flat YOY and sequentially up 5% led by 12 % growth in equity AUM. Controlled opex (down 12% YoY and down 3% QoQ) helped the company to report better core operating profit.Equity-oriented AUMs (% to total AUMs) came at 37% vs YoY 45.1% vs QoQ 37%. Market Share came at 13.6% vs YoY 14.9% vs QoQ 14.5%. Currently, HDFC trades at 40x of trailing earning, Fresh inflow into the MF industry and an increase in market share by HDFC AMC will boost investor confidence."

11. 31AM: Coronavirus toll

Globally, there were 419.9 lakh confirmed cases and 11.4 lakh deaths from COVID-19 outbreak. In India, COVID-19 caseload breached the 77-lakh mark and the death toll from COVID-19 infections rose to 1.17 lakh, as of today.

11. 21 AM: Kajaria Ceramics result update

We have assigned P/E multiple of ~ 30x FY22e earnings (revised from 24.3x earlier). We expect little deviation from KJC's strong focus on earnings, prudent capital allocation and maintaining healthy balance sheet. This will help KJC to consolidate further its leadership position by grabbing additional market share. Healthy cash chest of Rs3.5bn will facilitate expansion (to be announced shortly) in newer geographies and incrementally outreaching its competition (from unorganised segment in Morbi) cost effectively. Collectively this will help KJC to handle the challenging situation (if continued longer than expected) and maintain its leadership position in the long term. Despite the challenges in the shorter term (uncertain business environment) we feel all the above mentioned factors will strengthen KJC in the longer term. We have maintained our earnings unchanged at Rs10.9x/Rs19.6 FY21e/FY22e respectively. At the current valuations though there is limited upside for the stock. We revise our rating to ADD from BUY earlier. 

11. 04 AM: CRISIL update

Centrum Broking in its note said,"We like CRISIL for its diversified business though losses in Greenwich remain a key concern. Recent price appreciation indicates that CY21E earnings upside is priced in. We maintain our multiple at 34.5x and roll forward to CY22E EPS, retaining our ADD rating. Revise TP to Rs1945 (vs Rs.1840 previously)."

10. 47 AM: Bajaj Auto update

Commenting on Bajaj Auto Q2 figures, LKP Securities in its note said," Bajaj came out with strong set of numbers in Q2, thanks to its strength in the exports markets and domestic 2W recovery. Going forward, as the economy is opening up and unlocking itself, things will start to improve further. With intrinsic demand getting back almost to the pre-COVID level production/supply constraints shall reduce. 2W demand in the domestic markets is expected to continue its uptrend with strong rural demand driven by good monsoons. We expect a good festive season with some pent up demand coming into foray. On the low base of FY 21, we anticipate a strong FY 22E. We maintain our BUY rating on the stock with an improved target price of ?3,515 (at 18.5x FY 22E earnings). The target price hike is on the basis of improved volume outlook for FY 22E. The earnings reduction for FY 21E is in line with reduction in other income in H1 and weak 3W performance."

10. 22 AM: Nifty outlook

Sameet Chavan (Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel Broking said," As far as Nifty levels are concerned, 12000-12025 continues to be immediate resistance zone and the next leg of upmove would be seen only on a move beyond the same. So traders are advised to keep a tab on the both the indices as a breakout in both the indices simultaneously should lead to a good upmove in the broader markets. On the flipside, 11775 has become a sacrosanct and if the index breaks that, then it could result into profit booking in the market."

10. 14 AM: Market outlook

On markets today --Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said,"The markets continue to remain within the range. We are in expiry week and a one way move of the Nifty cannot be ruled out. What needs to be seen is whether the markets are successful in getting past 12050 and moving towards 12300 or it manages to break 11650 and slides downward to 11450. We should witness a convincing move in the coming week."

10.05 AM: Stocks to watch today on October 23

HDFC Asset Management, Reliance Power, Alembic Pharma, TCS, Bharti Infratel among others are the top stocks to watch out for in Friday's trading session

Stocks in news: HDFC Asset Management, Reliance Power, Alembic Pharma, TCS, Bharti Infratel

9. 51 AM: Asian Paints update

Keshav Lahoti-Associate Equity Analyst, Angel Broking said,"On a consolidated basis for Q2FY21, Asian Paints revenue increased by 5.9% to Rs 5350 cr against street expectation of 2.5% decline in revenue. On the back of improvement in operating margins by 480 bps to 23.5% led to increase in operating profit by 32.9% YoY. PAT registered a mere growth of 3.5% YoY as during the previous year tax expense reduced for Q2FY20 on account of new reduced tax rate. Company reported net profit of  Rs 852 cr which was way ahead of street expectation of Rs 598 cr. Company reported strong numbers in times of covid by beating street expectation in all counts. We are bullish on Asian Paints on the back of improving demand scenario and given its strong distribution and supply chain."

9. 48 AM:  Bharti Infratel outlook

Keshav Lahoti Associate Equity Analyst, Angel Broking said," On a consolidated basis for Q2FY21, Bharti Infratel revenue increased by 2% YoY to Rs 3,695 cr beats street expectation of Rs 3,554 cr. Operating free cash flows at Rs 1,035 Crore was down 4% YoY. EBIDTA and PAT were down by 3% and 24% YoY respectively. Company reported profit of  Rs 733 cr against consensus estimates of  Rs 750 cr. Total Tower base was 97,283 with closing sharing factor of 1.81. The return on equity pre-tax and post-tax decreased to 29.1% and 21.8% as against 32.6% and 28.1% respectively on YoY basis. On the operational side, both Indus and Infratel have continued supporting the telecom service providers in enhancing connectivity in the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. During the quarter, Company has witnessed the highest net tower additions in the last eight years.We believe Company is key beneficiary of increase in data usage and survival of Vodafone-Idea in the industry as they earn good profits when their tower is shared by at least two operators."

9. 30 AM: Opening session

Market indices opened on a bullish note on Friday, amid positive global equities. SGX Nifty on the Singapore Exchange was rising 90 points higher, indicating positive trend in domestic grounds today. Sensex gained 140 points higher at 40,699 and Nifty gained 45 points to 11,941.

9. 24 AM: Global markets

Traders said positive economic data out of US and progress in stimulus talks in the Washington lifted investors sentiments.

9. 11 AM: Earnings today

Tech Mahindra, Nestle India, Yes Bank, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company, IDBI Bank, JSW Steel, Persistent Systems, Wabco India among others are scheduled to announce their Q2 results today. Investors are also awaiting Sept quarter earnings reports will provide a clear picture of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdown.

8. 50 AM: FII action

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,118.46 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 2,019.87 crore in the Indian equity market on 22 October, provisional data showed.

8. 40 AM: Rupee closing

On the currency front, the Indian rupee appreciated by 4 paise to settle at 73.54 per US dollar, as sustained foreign fund inflows strengthened investor sentiments.

8. 30 AM: Thursday's closing

Reversing trend from four days of consecutive gains, Sensex and Nifty closed on a bearish note on Thursday, amid mixed global equities. BSE benchmark Sensex ended 148 points lower at 40,558 and NSE Nifty 50 fell 41 points to 11,896.

Sensex ends 148 points lower, Nifty at 11,896; NTPC, Airtel, ONGC, L&T top losers