Market Highlights: Sensex ends 240 pts lower snapping 11-day gain streak; IT, Metal tank; HDFC Bank, Airtel drag

India's benchmark stock indexes fell on Monday, taking a breather from a record-setting run, as investors digested economic developments in China and looked ahead to policy decisions from top central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The Nifty 50 fell 60 pts to end at 20,133, while the Sensex lost 240 pts and closed at 67,600 with the latter snapping a 11-day winning streak.

Titan, Powergrid, M&M, and NTPC topped the charts as they gained more than 2.5%. Hindalco, HDFC Bank, Airtel and Infosys dragged and were among the biggest laggards.

PSU Bank index zoomed around 4% with Auto, Consumer Durable and FMCG also ending with decent gains. Realty, Media, Metal and IT shed the most.

World shares fell while the dollar firmed on Monday as growth concerns tested investors' mettle ahead of a week brimming with central bank meetings in countries including Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain, the United States and Japan.

Tokyo markets were closed for national holiday. South Korean shares fell 1%, dragged down by heavyweight chipmakers on worries about a weak recovery in demand. The won strengthened, while the benchmark bond yield rose.

Chinese shares closed up amid signs of stabilisation in the world's second-largest economy, while property and technology stocks dragged the Hong Kong market.

China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index ended 0.5% higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.3%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively.

European shares fell following declines on Wall Street last week, as investors gear up for Federal Reserve’s rates decision.

UK's FTSE 100 slipped on Monday in choppy trading as investors awaited key central bank interest rate decisions this week, while shares of Mondi rose after the paper and packaging firm agreed to sell its largest plant in Russia.

Kody Technolab IPO: The initial public offering (IPO) of software development services company Kody Technolab Ltd is witnessing strong response from investors. The Kody Technolab IPO opened for subscription on September 15 and will close on September 20, 2023.

Kody Technolab provides software development services including staff augmentation, AR development and implementation, enterprise mobility, digital transformation, business analytics and intelligence, artificial intelligence robotics IT consulting, Internet of Things (IoT) services, and IT consulting services, among others to a diverse set of industries. (Read More)

Adroit Infotech shares have proven to be a lucrative investment for positional shareholders in recent months. Despite being a micro-cap stock with a market capitalization of approximately ₹60 crore, it has displayed significant upward momentum over the past month. Its share price has surged from around ₹20.60 to ₹35.35 per share, marking a remarkable increase of over 40% during this period.

This strong performance suggests that Adroit Infotech, a small-cap stock trading below ₹50, may still have further potential for growth. Investors and market participants will likely be keeping a close eye on its future performance and prospects.

The Centre on Monday approved a series of welfare measures for agents and employees of Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC), such as increase in gratuity limit, eligibility for renewal commission, term insurance cover and a uniform rate of family pension.

The measures follow amendments to LIC (Agents) Regulations, 2017, that proposed enhancement of gratuity limit, and uniform rate of family pension among others.

The move will benefit more than 1.3 million agents, and over 100,000 regular employees, who play a pivotal role in the growth of LIC and deepening of insurance penetration in India, the finance ministry said in a statement. (Read More)

Shreyas Shipping & Logistics (SSL) made an announcement on Monday regarding the revision of the indicative share delisting price by its promoter.

Transworld Holdings Ltd (THL), the company's promoter, has expressed its intention to acquire SSL shares from investors at an increased indicative price of ₹375 per share, as stated by SSL in a press release.

Transworld Holdings had previously obtained in-principle approval for the proposed delisting of SSL from the Indian stock market exchanges BSE and NSE on September 7. (Read More)

Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong began the week with losses as persistent concerns about the health of the property sector offset optimism spurred by signs of stabilization in some other parts of the economy.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid as much as 1.7% before paring some losses. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index fell to its lowest level this year before trading up 0.4%. A gauge of real estate shares slumped more than 2%. Distressed Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings Co. faces two more tests Monday: an initial deadline to pay dollar bond interest and the end of creditor voting on its request to extend payment on a yuan note. (Bloomberg)

Master Components IPO: The initial public offering (IPO) of engineering components manufacturer Master Components Ltd opened for public subscription on Monday, September 18.

Master Components IPO is an SME IPO and a fixed price issue. The company plans to raise ₹15.43 crore from the maiden public offer that comprises a fresh issue of 7 lakh equity shares aggregating to ₹9.80 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 4.02 lakh equity shares aggregating to ₹5.63 crore.

Master Components IPO price band has been fixed at ₹140 per share. The face value of each share is ₹10 apiece. (Read More)

Samhi Hotels IPO subscription status: Samhi Hotels IPO has been subscribed 1.02 times on day 3, so far. Samhi Hotels IPO has opened for subscription on Thursday, September 14, and will close today (Monday, September 18).

Samhi IPO's retail investors portion was subscribed 83%, NII portion was subscribed 27%, and Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB) portion was subscribed 1.47 times. (Read More)

Incred Equities views on SRF/ Chemicals: Reduce | TP: Rs1562

Going by present trend SRF is likely to do ₹10-11,EPS in Q2 FY24F

1. Current trends indicate that SRF is unlikely to do more than ₹10-11 EPS in Q2FY24F. There has been some recovery in HFC volumes, but it has been more than balanced by decline in R-410 A. Remember R-410A is mixture of R-32 and R-125

2. There has been decline in spreads of almost all products of SRF. A widespread cut in tire prices doesn’t bode well for the nylon tire cord business of SRF.

3. Please note that while consensus EPS has been cut from 80 to 70 for FY24F however it still needs to come down by at least 30-35%

European shares fell on Monday, following declines on Wall Street last week, as investors gear up for Federal Reserve’s rates decision.

The Stoxx 600 Index edged 0.4% lower as of 8:12 a.m. in London, with tech and consumer products stocks dropping the most. Societe Generale SA declined after the bank’s new strategic plan disappointed analysts, while Nordic Semiconductor slumped after the chipmaker reduced quarterly revenue and margin forecasts.

The main regional benchmark dips after recording the biggest weekly advance in two months. Beyond the nervousness about the Fed this week, gains are also being hit by renewed fears about the health of the Chinese property sector, which dented Chinese stocks in Hong Kong. (Bloomberg)

The subscription status of the Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services IPO as of day 3 indicates that the IPO has been subscribed 1.18 times overall.

Here's the subscription status for different categories of investors:

Retail investors: Subscribed 3.48 times

Non-Institutional Investors (NII): Subscribed 1.76 times

Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB): Subscribed 9%

The IPO opened for subscription on Thursday, September 14, and is set to close today. (Read More)

Dutch-listed technology investor Prosus NV and its South African parent Naspers said on Monday Bob van Dijk has stepped down as chief executive officer from both companies.

Van Dijk, who has led Naspers since 2014 and Prosus since 2019, has agreed to remain as a consultant until Sept. 30, 2024, the companies said in a statement.

Ervin Tu will assume the role of interim chief executive of both companies. (Read More)

Yatra Online IPO: The initial public offering (IPO) of Yatra Online which opened for subscription on September 15 has so far received lacklustre response from investors.

The ₹775.00 crore worth Yatra Online IPO will close on Wednesday, September 20. Yatra Online is India’s one of the largest corporate travel service providers and offers integrated travel solutions to corporate clients as well as direct consumers. (Read More)

Tata Steel's share price reached a fresh 52-week high during Monday's trading session. This surge was driven by the news of a joint agreement between Tata Steel and the UK government to invest in advanced Electric Arc Furnace steelmaking at the Port Talbot site. The total capital cost for this project is estimated at £1.25 billion, which includes a potential grant of up to £500 million from the UK government.

Tata Steel's stock price reached an intraday high of ₹134.85 and a low of ₹131.85. The trading day began with Tata Steel shares opening at ₹134.75 apiece on the BSE. (Read More)

Sameer Bhise views on Poonawalla Fincorp Company Update | Correction an opportunity to add: Company Update BUY INR 480 - 

Poonawalla Fincorp (PFL) has corrected over the past month (-9% vs +5% for NIFTY FIN SERVICES, +5% for NIFTY). We believe this is an opportunity to add exposure to the name given continued momentum on business and its strong profitability profile. We observe PFL’s digital lending app is already functional (can be downloaded for iOS and Android users) and should see incremental traction w.r.t to new originations. In our view, this should reduce the origination through fintech partnership mode meaningfully over the coming quarters. We expect 51% CAGR in AUM for PFL over FY23-25E. In addition, as the proceeds of the sale from Poonawalla Housing Finance accrue, it would be prudent from a risk management perspective that some part of such gains are utilized for creating future buffers against exigencies. This would impart comfort to future earnings sustainability in our view. Overall, given stability in mgmt. team led by Mr. Bhutada, we expect PFL to continue delivering on its stated medium-term objectives w.r.t to growth and profitability (EPS CAGR of 50% over FY23-25) and avg RoAs of 4.5% over this period. Maintain BUY with INR480 (valuing PFL at 24x FY25 P/E ad 3.0x FY25E P/B).

The share buyback program of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the engineering and infrastructure conglomerate, has commenced today. Investors have the opportunity to offer their L&T shares for repurchase in this ₹10,000 crore worth buyback program, and the window for participation remains open until September 25.

L&T had previously disclosed that the buyback would be carried out through the tender offer method, which allows shareholders to tender their shares at a specified price.

The floor price for this share repurchase has been set at ₹3,200 per share, representing a more than 9% increase compared to the closing price on Friday. (Read More)

The Indian economy is developing very fast and the country is poised to become a leader in sustainable technologies, a senior official of American technology firm Honeywell has said.

India is an emerging economy, which provides an opportunity to directly build sustainable infrastructure, instead of building it using legacy technologies that are now being abandoned in places like the Europe in the United States, Honeywell, Corporate Chief Scientist, Sustainability Technologies, Gavin Towler told PTI.

"There are some parts of India, some regions in India now that actually have very high levels of renewable power, and very low levels of fossil fuel intensity. I think India is poised to become much more of a leader in sustainable technologies," Towler said on the sidelines of a company event. (PTI)