Share Market Update: Sensex ends 94 points higher, Nifty at 11,604 level; Bajaj Auto hits fresh 52-week high post result

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are trading on a flat-to positive bias in the pre-open session of Wednesday. 

U.S. stock futures are down on the back of mixed corporate results and the weakness in social media companies. On Tuesday on Wall Street, the S&P 500 lost 0.36%.

Asian shares slipped on Wednesday after British lawmakers forced the government to hit the pause button on the latest Brexit deal.

HDFC securities, quoted on Nifty outlook, "The Nifty crossed the 11,700 mark early morning Tuesday but then went into a tail spin, falling to 11,588 in the end. With calls being written at the 11,700 strike price both in the weekly and monthly expiries, the markets are finding the 11,700 mark as a tough nut to crack. "

Net investment of equity and debt reported by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained bearish with net selling logged at Rs 557.50 crore from Indian equities while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned bearish too, with selling logged at Rs 985.47 crore on Tuesday.

 

Gold prices in India, the world's second-biggest gold consumer, remained range-bound this week, tracking muted global cues. The safe-haven asset will likely pick up demand ahead of Dhanteras festival and Diwali, as per commodity analysts.

Gold prices have come off about 4% or Rs 2,000 per 10 gram, after hitting new highs last month. Gold had touched Rs 40,000 in September due to global economic recession and trade war fears.

Jewellers are hoping that retail footfalls may heat up ahead of the festival week, as buyers have been waiting for prices to drop. In order to spur demand, retailers and jewellers have been lining up promotional offers.

Commenting on gold prices ahead of Dhanteras on Friday, Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities quoted,"With Diwali less than a week away it looks likely investors shall get ample time to buy the Gold in this range of 38000 levels as the metal looks steady."

Dhanteras 2019: Gold prices float around Rs 38,000 in Diwali week

Jubilant FoodWorks, which operates Domino's Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts chain in India, rose over 5% intarday on Wednesday after it reported a marginal decline of 2.2 per cent in its net profit at Rs 75.9 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2019, impacted by one-time loss of Rs 12.5 crore.

"The Jubilant Bhartia group company had posted a net profit of Rs 77.7 crore in the corresponding quarter last year," Jubilant FoodWorks said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The revenue from operations surged by 12.1 per cent to Rs 988.20 crore in Q2FY20 as against Rs 881.40 crore in Q2FY19.

Jubilant FoodWorks Q2 profit slips 2% to Rs 76 crore, revenue rises 12%

 

Shares of Axis Bank rose 2.5% intraday on the BSE to Rs 730 on Wednesday despite the lender reporting net loss of Rs 112 crore in its second quarter.

The country's third-largest private sector bank, on Tuesday reported a net loss of Rs 112 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 dented by a one-time tax impact of Rs 2,138 crore due to changes in corporate tax rate. The Mumbai-headquartered private lender's net profit stood at Rs 790 crore in the same quarter last year.

Axis Bank posts Q2 net loss of Rs 112 crore on higher tax expense, operating profit jumps 45%

 

The share price of Kotak Mahindra Bank fell 1.55% intraday on the BSE despite the private lender reported 51% year-on-year growth in its net profit at Rs 1,724 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2019, driven by a rise in net interest income.

On the consolidated basis, the net profit jumped 38% to Rs 2,407 crore from Rs 1,747 crore in Q2FY19. The bank's contribution to the profit was Rs 1,724 crore, while the subsidiaries and associates' net contribution was 28% of the net profit, Kotak Mahindra Bank said.

After a volatile opening session, equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are trading bullish on Wednesday, backed by buying pressure in PSU bank and IT stocks. While Sensex has risen 150 points to 39,120 mark and Nifty50 rose 40 points to 11,628 level. Sectorally while buying in PSU banks, IT, financial services and FMCG provided mild support to the broader indices, selling in media, metal, private bank and realty stocks dragged index further down.

Two top Indian private-sector lenders on Tuesday signalled stress in their loan books as the banks grapple with the worst economic slowdown in years that has increased bad loans across the sector.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, the nation's third-largest lender by market value, trimmed its full-year loan growth forecast, while the sixth-biggest bank Axis Bank Ltd said its small business and small and medium enterprises categories have come under pressure due to delayed payments.

Private lenders Kotak Mahindra, Axis Bank signal stress in loan book

Oil fell on Wednesday after gaining over 1% in the previous session as U.S. industry data showed a bigger-than-expected build in crude stockpiles, but the possibility of deeper output cuts from OPEC and its allies contained the decline.

(Reuters)

Bajaj Finance rose 1.5% intraday to the day's high of Rs 4031.95 on the BSE after reported a 63.11% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,506.29 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2019, which propelled its shares to new high.
 
"The non-banking financial company (NBFC) had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 923.47crore in the same quarter last year," Bajaj Finance said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

"Bajaj Finance reported whopping 63% growth, a number even higher than the elevated expectations. Management is little cautious in near term though expecting high growth in durable segments and lower costs from Q4," HDFC Securities said in its market oulook note.

Bajaj Finance Q2 profit jumps 63% to Rs 1,506 crore, share hits 52-week high

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost the crucial Brexit Bill timetable vote.

"I must express my disappointment that the House has voted for delay rather than a timetable that would have guaranteed the UK could leave on 31 October with a deal. We now face further uncertainty," Johnson told the House of Commons after the final of two important votes on Tuesday.

Q2 earnings due to release today are namely L&T, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Life Insurance , Biocon, Inox Leisure, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Indian Bank, Shoppers Stop, Zee Media, Texmaco Infra, HCL Technologies, JM Financial, Mahindra CIE Automotive, Havells, Hexaware, JSW Steel, Aarti Drugs, Praj Industries, Texmaco Rail, KPIT Technologies, NIIT Technologies, JK Paper, IIFL Finance, Gujarat Poly Electronics, Arvind Fashions, Bajaj Holdings and Investment, Navin Fluorine International, NELCO, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Everest Industries, GHCL, Tata Steel Long Products and Polycab India.

Coromandel International stock rose 3% in the early trade in Wednesday after the company reported 37.8% hike in Q2 FY20 consolidated net profit to Rs504 crore.  Although company's revenues were down 3% at Rs 4,858 crore vs.Rs 5,008.3 crore, YoY.

RBL Bank share price was stuck in the lower circuit of 10% in trade today after the private sector lender reported a 73.4 percent fall in net profit year-on-year due to a sharp spike in provisions with asset quality deteriorating sequentially. RBL Bank share price opened 10% or 28.65 points lower at Rs 258.25 compared to the previous close of Rs 286.90 on BSE. RBL Bank share has lost 55.18% since the beginning of this year and fallen 44.45% during the last one year.

The bank said net profit fell to Rs 54.31 crore in Q2 compared to the previous close of Rs 204.54 crore reported in the year-ago period after provisions for stressed accounts quadrupled to Rs 533 crore from Rs 140 crore a year earlier.

RBL Bank share price falls 10% after net profit tanks 73.4% in Q2

The Indian rupee opened on a cautious note and fell 9 paise to 71.03 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday amid rising demand for the US dollar vis-a-vis other currencies overseas and unabated foreign fund outflows.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 71.01 then fell to 71.03 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 9 paise over its previous closing.

The Indian rupee on Tuesday had closed at 70.94 against the US dollar.

Rupee vs Dollar: Rupee slips to 71.03 per USD amid rising demand for dollar, foriegn fund outflows

Oriental Bank of Commerce(OBC) rose 5% intraday on Wednesday after the PSU lender reported a 23.5% rise in net profit at Rs 126 crore in the second quarter ended September, on back of rise in net interest margin and lower fresh slippages on bad loans.

The scrip gained 4.97% to Rs 52.75 on the BSE, and by 5.26% to Rs 52.95 on NSE.

The state-owned lender's total income rose 15% to Rs 5,702 crore year on year, while it recorded a 13.9% year-on-year rise in interest income to Rs 4,878 crore in the three months ended September.

OBC's gross non-performing loan or bad loans came down to 12.53% of the gross advances as on September 30, 2019, from 17.24% in the corresponding period a year ago. Its net NPA fell 413 bps to 5.94%, the bank said in a filing with the exchanges.

OBC’s provisioning coverage ratio (PCR), the amount set aside to cover NPAs, has increased 77.13% as of September-end, compared to an 11.8% rise registered in the corresponding period a year ago.

Oriental Bank of Commerce share price rises 5% post Q2 earnings

Shares of ICICI Securities rose over 11% to hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 314 on BSE after the capital market company released higher-than-estimated results for the quarter ended September. Its previous high of Rs 310 was recorded on September 24, 2019.

Net profit of the investment services company rose 0.75% year-on-year to Rs 135 crore in September quarter Q2FY20, aided by a lower tax rate. company's profit increased by 18.42% in quarter-to-quarter basis.

Post the better-than-expected results, brokerage firm CLSA has maintained a 'buy' call and raised its target price to Rs 340 from Rs 320 on the stock. "we raise our earnings a bit to factor-in a better top-line and see a 15% CAGR over FY19-22", said CLSA in its report.

The company has also declared an interim dividend of Rs 4.25 per share of the face value of Rs.5 for the fiscal year 2019-20.
 

Shares of Bajaj Auto climbed to fresh 52-week high on both the bourses BSE and NSE after the automaker posted robust numbers for the quarter ended September 2019 (Q2FY20).

Bajaj Auto stock price rose 3% intraday to Rs 3,217.1 on BSE and 3.6% to Rs 3,237.35 on NSE today. The stock had earlier recorded 52-week high of Rs 3,145.5 on May 17.

Volume-wise, shares amounting to 0.63 lakh and 15.44 lakh are changing hands on BSE and NSE counter as of 1400 IST, both above the 5,10 and 30-day average volume traded on the stock. Market depth data on BSE depicts 53% buying against 47% selling by traders at the share value of Rs 3,193.

The company's Q2FY20 net profit was up 21.7% at Rs 1,402.4 crore against Rs 1,152.5 crore in the corresponding period a year ago, aided by tax expense reversal of Rs 182 crore.

Total volumes during the quarter dipped 12% to 11.73 lakh units in quarter ended in September against 13.39 lakh units sold during same quarter last year. Company's revenue from operations declined 4.1% year-on-year, while its operating margin also dipped to 16.9%.

Bajaj Auto net profit rises 22% to Rs 1,402 crore in September quarter, shares soar