Nifty defends 18,000 but sheds 130 pts, Sensex down 420 pts; PSU Bank, Auto lag

Indian benchmark indices weren't immune to the negative global cues and struggled on Thursday shedding 0.7% in the process.

Nifty went below 18,000 intraday but managed to stay above it at the end and closed at 18,028, an overall drop of 129 points. Sensex, meanwhile, closed at 60,613, a loss of 420 points.

All the sectoral indices ended in red but Auto was among the biggest laggards despite Hero MotoCorp shining. PSU Bank and Consumer Durables indices were other prominent draggers.

As already mentioned, Hero MotoCorp shined as it ended with a gain of more than 2%. Tata Motors and M&M were among the laggards and played a role in dragging the Auto index. Axis Bank and Bajaj Finserv also featured among the biggest droppers.

Asian markets dropped on Thursday as the impact of US midterm results on inflation remained uncertain. Moreover, investors are also keenly waiting for the inflation data from the US, scheduled to be released later today.

Japanese shares fell as heavyweights Honda Motor and Sumitomo Rubber dropped on disappointing forecasts. The Nikkei lost 0.98% to close at 27,446.10, while the broader Topix fell 0.66% to 1,936.66.

Chinese stocks dropped as the nation increased Covid restrictions in some of its biggest cities, dampening hopes of a reopening that triggered a rally earlier this month.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid 2.1% Thursday taking its three-day drop to almost 4%. Hang Seng index slid by 1.7% and Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.39%.

Europe also dropped in the morning session. London, Paris, and Frankfurt all opened on Thursday in the red continuing the slide in European markets.

Power Finance Corporation (PFC) on Thursday posted its highest-ever quarterly profit after tax of ₹5,229.33 crore for the September quarter 2022-23 mainly due to higher revenues.

The consolidated profit is 4 per cent higher as compared to the year-ago period when it logged a profit of ₹5,023.42 crore, it said in a BSE filing.

Total income rose to ₹19,344.39 crore from ₹19,282.60 crore in the same period a year ago.

The board in its meeting on Thursday also approved a second interim dividend of ₹3 per share of ₹10 each for 2022-23. (PTI)

Makers of fast moving consumer goods continue to report a decline in rural volumes, reflecting the impact that high inflation has on how rural households spend on basics such as soaps and packaged foods.

On Thursday, market researcher NielsenIQ said that rural centres recorded a 3.6% decline volumes in the September quarter. This compares to a 2.4% decline reported in June quarter volumes. Rural volumes have remained in the negative territory for the fifth straight quarter, according to historical data shared by the researcher. (Read More)

DCX Systems Ltd's shares are going to hit secondary markets soon. As per the information available on the BSE website, the equity shares of DCX Systems Limited shall be listed and admitted to dealings on the Exchange in due course. As per the tentative schedule, the DCX Systems IPO listing date is likely on Friday, 11th November 2022.

Ahead of DCX Systems share price listing, the grey market has gone highly bullish on the public issue, and stock markets also predict a strong listing premium from the public offer. They said that in the bull case DCX share price may open above ₹300 apiece whereas in the bear case, it may open at around ₹275 per share level, expecting a 35% to 45% listing premium from the public issue. (Read More)

Financial services platform KFin Technologies has received capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) approval to raise ₹2,400 crore through an initial public offering (IPO), sources told news agency PTI on Thursday. The company had filed preliminary IPO papers in March this year.

The IPO will be a pure offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to ₹2,400 crore by its existing promoters General Atlantic Singapore Fund Pte Ltd, which holds a 74.94% stake in the company. The company will not receive any proceeds from the offer as all of it will go to the promoter selling shareholder. (Read More)

A panel set up by India’s capital market regulator wants exchanges, clearing houses and depositories to revamp their compliance and risk management structures to minimize governance lapses.

A committee headed by G. Mahalingam, a former central banker and a ex- whole time member at the Securities and Exchange Board of India, recommended market infrastructure institutions (MII) should separate functions into three broad categories; critical operations; regulatory, compliance and risk management; and other functions such as business development. (Read More)

While announcing its second quarter earnings for the current fiscal or Q2 FY23, Balrampur Chini said that its board also approved the buyback of equity shares of the company worth ₹145.4 crore at ₹360 per share, which is at a premium over the current market price, through the open market route. Shares of Balrampur Chini were trading about 0.4% lower at ₹327 apiece on the BSE in Thursday's afternoon deals.

The maximum buyback size represents 5.44 % and 5.42 % of the ag·gregate of the total paid-up equity capital and free reserves of the Company based on the audited standalone and consolidated financial statements of the Company, respectively, for last financial year ended on 31st March, 2022, it added. (Read More)

Global steel giant ArcelorMittal on Thursday posted over a 78 per cent fall in its net income to USD 993 million for the September quarter, mainly due to low demand and higher energy costs.

The company follows January-December fiscal year.

"ArcelorMittal recorded a net income for 3Q 2022 of USD 993 million as compared to a net income for 2Q 2022 of USD 3,923 million, and a net income of USD 4,621 million for 3Q 2021.

"Sales in July-September also fell 6 per cent to USD 19 billion, USD 20.2 billion in the year-ago period, impacted primarily due to lower steel shipments," the company said. (PTI)

Small-cap stock is one of the multibagger penny stocks that Indian stock market has produced in last few years. However, the stock has remained under profit-booking spree in one and half months, nosediving from around ₹104.85 apiece levels (52-week high of record high) to ₹53 apiece levels, losing near 50 per cent in this time. But, despite this base building mode, this SME company's share price has surged from around ₹10 to ₹53 apiece levels, delivering more than 400 per cent return to its shareholders in last two years. (Read More)

State-owned Indian Medicines Pharmaceutical Corporation has paid a dividend of ₹10.13 crore to its stakeholders-- Ministry of Ayush and the Uttarakhand government, the company said.

A dividend of ₹9.93 crore was handed over to Ayush minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

The company manufactures 656 classical ayurvedic, 332 unani and 71 proprietary ayurvedic medicines for various diseases. It supplies ayurveda and unani medicines to all states under National Ayush Mission (NAM) and 6,000 centres of Jan Aushadhi Kendras. (Read More)

Engineering solutions provider AXISCADES Technologies has posted a multifold jump in its consolidated net profit at ₹21.08 crore during the quarter ended September 30, helped by increase in revenues.

It had clocked ₹2.77 crore net profit in the July-September period of preceding 2021-22 fiscal, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The company's total income also rose to around ₹200 crore, from ₹138.84 crore in the year-ago quarter.

"We are happy to consistently raise the bar with our performance in FY23. Our focus remains on generating growth while also driving profitability," said David Bradley, Chairman of AXISCADES. (PTI)

Stocks of Indian lenders have rallied this year to touch a record high on Wednesday and analysts believe the party is likely to continue as banks issued robust earnings reports for the latest quarter.

The Nifty public sector bank index has jumped about 50% so far this year and the bank index has risen roughly 17%, handily outperforming the benchmark Nifty 50 index's approximately 4% gain.

This comes at a time when credit growth is at a multi-year high and bad loans across lenders have reduced significantly. (Read More)

Aurobindo Pharma said the company has learnt about arrest of P Sarath Chandra Reddy. As per BSE, P Sarath Chandra Reddy is the Executive Director of Aurobindo Pharma. “The Company learnt that P. Sarath Chandra Reddy, Whole Time Director / Promoter Group of the Company has been arrested by Enforcement Directorate. The Company is in the process of ascertaining further details and will do further disclosures as appropriate," Aurobindo Pharma said in a regulatory filing.

Shares of Aurobindo Pharma tumbled over 6 per cent to a low of ₹508.50 on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade following reports of arrest of its director Sarath Reddy. (Read More)

Apollo Tubes: Destocking Dents EBITDA/t, Growth Levers Still Intact; Maintain BUY; TP ₹1200

Aptus Value Housing: Robust Growth Momentum Continues, Asset Quality Stress To Ease! BUY; TP ₹370

Welspun: Exports struggle, Green shoots in Domestic Business; Maintain SELL; TP ₹66

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Keystone Realtors, which sells properties under the brand 'Rustomjee', has fixed a price band of ₹514-541 a share for its ₹635-crore initial public offering (IPO). The Mumbai-based real estate developer, Keystone Realty will be launching its issue next week on Monday, November 14, 2022 and investors will be allowed to subscribe till Wednesday, November 16. The company will offer equity shares to anchor investors on Friday, November 11.

According to the Red Herring Prospectus (RHP), the Mumbai-based company now plans to raise ₹635 crore. The size of the IPO has been reduced from ₹850 crore earlier. Keystone Realtors IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to ₹560 crore and an Offer-For-Sale (OFS) worth ₹75 crore by promoters. Promoters Boman Rustom Irani, Percy Sorabji Chowdhry, and Chandresh Dinesh Mehta will be participating in the offer for sale. (Read More)

Shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd, which runs online fashion marketplace Nykaa, started trading ex-bonus on Thursday, a day ahead of its record date for the bonus issue of equity shares in the ratio of 1:5. Nykaa shares were trading nearly 3% lower at ₹175 apiece on the BSE in early deals. The stock was also under pressure due to the 10 November expiry of the one-year lock-in period for its pre-IPO shareholders.

Last month, Nykaa announced that its board approved the issuance of bonus equity shares of the company in the ratio of 1:5 i.e., the company will issue a bonus of 5 shares for every 1 share held as of the record date. The board of directors of the company later revised the record date for its bonus issue to Friday, November 11, 2022, from November 03 which was fixed earlier. (Read More)