PremiumMarkets took a breather after Credit Suisse said it would borrow as much as $53.7 billion from the Swiss central bank to steady itself, but trade was very tense as investors worried where banking stress might show up next. Asian shares fell but without the frenzied drops seen overnight in Europe.
Indian equities snapped a five-day losing streak, largely driven by FMCG, realty, and pharma stocks. Metal shares slumped.
European stock markets advanced Thursday after Credit Suisse said it would borrow up to $54 billion from Switzerland's central bank to shore up its finances, possibly easing worries about a bank crisis following the failure of two U.S. lenders.
London, Frankfurt and Wall Street futures gained. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong declined as Asian bank stocks slid, reversing Wednesday's gains. Oil prices rose.
Back home, the benchmark the Sensex rose 78.94 points to end the day at 57,634.84, while Nifty climbed 13.40 points to 16,985.60.
On the Nifty, Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank and Bharti Airtel were the worst hit, while shares of BPCL, Nestle India, Asian Paints, HUL and Titan Company rose the most.
Metal index fell 2.6%, while pharma, oil & gas, power, FMCG, realty indices rose 1% each.
BSE midcap index ended flat, while smallcap index fell 0.7%.
European shares struggled for direction on Thursday, with caution prevailing ahead of a closely watched European Central Bank rate decision, while beleaguered lender Credit Suisse jumped after a lifeline from the Swiss National Bank allayed some fears of a global banking crisis.
The STOXX 600 was flat after rising as much as 1.6% in early trading.
Credit Suisse's shares soared 30% on Thursday after it announced it will move to shore up its finances by borrowing up to nearly $54 billion from the Swiss central bank, bolstering confidence as fears about the banking system moved from the U.S. to Europe.
It was a massive swing from a day earlier, when shares of Switzerland’s second-largest commercial bank had plunged 30% on the SIX stock exchange after its biggest shareholder said it would not put more money into Credit Suisse.
Shares of euro-area lenders are set to rebound from their biggest decline in three years after Switzerland’s central bank stepped in to support Credit Suisse Group AG, easing investor concern that the firm’s troubles would trigger a global banking crisis.
Futures on the Euro Stoxx Banks Index climbed 3.6% at 7:19 a.m. in Paris. The underlying benchmark tumbled 8.4% Wednesday, the most since March 2020, as concerns mounted over the health of Credit Suisse, while the broader Stoxx 600 Banks Index slumped 6.9%. The rout in bank shares ignited a global selloff and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell the most in a year.
Tata Consumer Products Ltd is working on scaling its premium packaged coffee and tea, and offering more health and wellness variants under its beverages portfolio, Puneet Das, president, packaged beverages (India and South Asia), Tata Consumer Products, told Mint. (Read full story here)
Safe-haven gold paused its rally on Thursday as traders positioned for more developments surrounding the banking sector crisis after Credit Suisse became the latest focal point.
Spot gold ticked 0.1% lower to $1,916.89 per ounce, after jumping more than 1% to $1,937.28 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures shed 0.5% to $1,922.00.
Slowing some of the selloff in equity markets, Credit Suisse Group AG said on Thursday it intended to borrow up to 50 billion francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank to boost its liquidity after the flagship Swiss lender's shares slumped on Wednesday
Shares of Samvardhana Motherson International crashed on Thursday after large block deals took place on the bourses.
Around 23.2 crore shares, or 3.7% equity, changed hands in multiple block deals.
The slowdown in discretionary demand is one factor which affects the performance of companies such as FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd, the parent company of Nykaa. Remember that this factor had partly weighed on Nykaa’s gross merchandise value (GMV) growth in the beauty and personal care (BPC) business in the December quarter.
But as of now, Nykaa does not see a significant headwind from the discretionary demand slowdown since its products are low ticket items, the management highlighted at Nomura’s virtual India Corporate Day event. Moreover, Nykaa is seeing a trend in which the consumer is ready to upgrade to more premium products even in highly penetrated categories like shampoo. (Read here)
The fate of European lender Credit Suisse Group AG is of greater importance to the Indian banking sector than the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, according to Jefferies India.
“Given the relevance of Credit Suisse to India’s banking sector, we see softer adjustments in assessment of counter-party risks, especially in the derivative market," analyst Prakhar Sharma writes in a note.
As the bank “has a major presence in India’s derivatives market," Sharma is watching for any liquidity issues or counter-party risks that may result from the fallout. Overseas banks in India have 4% to 6% of assets, but a large 50% share of off-balance sheet liabilities, according to the note.
Credit Suisse owns more than 200 billion rupees ($2.4 billion) of assets in India, making it the 12th largest offshore lender, according to Jefferies. Loans form 73% of its total liabilities in the South Asian nation, with the majority of them of a short tenure, it added.
Tokyo stocks ended lower Thursday, with investors in the grip of contagion fears with concerns about European giant Credit Suisse after the collapse of two regional US banks.
European and US equity futures advanced, Asian stocks pared losses and Treasuries fell Thursday after Credit Suisse Group AG said it would borrow money from Switzerland’s central bank and seek to repurchase debt.
India's federal financial crime agency on Thursday conducted searches on Franklin Templeton India's former and current officers in Mumbai in relation to the closure of some funds in 2020, two sources told Reuters on Thursday.
The Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches on Vivek Kudva, former Asia Pacific head of Franklin Templeton, his wife Roopa Kudva, who is also managing partner, Omidyar Network India, as well as on Santosh Kamath, chief investment officer at Franklin Templeton, among others, the sources said.
The searches are in connection with Franklin Templeton closing six debt schemes in April 2020, which it had blamed on the lack of liquidity due to COVID-19's impact on the markets.
However, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) held the fund house and its officers guilty of mismanagement in June 2021.
Vivek and Rupa Kudva were held guilty of withdrawing their own investments ahead of the winding of the schemes.
Healthy plywood growth and greater MDF utilisation would drive Greenply’s domestic performance. Overseas demand expected to be soft. Expected input-cost easing would expand margins. The stock trades at attractive valuation; we retain a Buy, at a lower TP, 15x FY25e earnings.
Trades at attractive valuation; potentially a dark horse. Considering 9M FY23 performance, we lower FY23e/FY24e/FY25e earnings 10%/20%/12%. 21%/26% revenue/earnings CAGRs over FY22-25 anticipated. We believe the stock could be a dark horse: it trades at attractive valuations (much lower than peers). We, thus, retain our Buy, at a lower TP of ₹230 (15x FY25e earnings), earlier Rs.262 on 15x FY25e earnings.
Risks: Demand slowdown, rising competition, reasonably priced raw material.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its estimate of the odds of a US recession to 35% over the next 12 months in response to increased uncertainty over the economic impact of bank stress.
Economists led by Jan Hatzius raised Goldman’s assessment of the prospects of a slump from a previous one-in-four chance after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. The new estimate is still below the 60% median of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Goldman’s proprietary indicators of activity growth still remain positive, with its business survey trackers averaging a slightly-expansionary 52 in February, with the dividing line at 50, Hatzius said in a research note.
Goldman’s real-time estimate on jobs data suggests the layoff rate ticked up slightly though remains low at 1.2%, while the jobs-workers gap declined to remain above the 2 million level its economists estimate is necessary to “rebalance the labor market."
Indian government bond yields were lower in early session on Thursday as U.S. yields resumed their downward trend and odds of a status quo in the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week rise.
The 10-year benchmark 7.26% 2032 bond yield was at 7.3325% as of 10:00 a.m. IST after closing higher at 7.3620% on Wednesday.
U.S. yields slumped on Wednesday after liquidity problems at Credit Suisse stoked fears about the impact of rising yields on the global banking sector, while U.S. retail sales fell 0.4% in February.
The development comes after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which raised bets that the Fed may pause its rate hike cycle.
The two-year yield, which is a closer indicator of interest rate expectations, dropped to 3.72%, its lowest since September on Wednesday, while the 10-year yield fell to 3.39%.
DLF Ltd on Thursday said it has sold 1,137 luxury apartments, priced ₹7 crore and above, in its housing project in Gurugram for over ₹8,000 crore within three days, reflecting a strong demand for premium flats across major cities.
In a regulatory filing, DLF informed that it has "witnessed record breaking pre-formal launch sales of ₹8,000-plus crores for its luxury high-rise residences, The Arbour".
DLF will build 1,137 4BHK apartments across five towers (38-39 storeys) in this 25-acre project.
The project is located at Golf Course Extension Road, Sector-63 Gurugram.
The rupee depreciated by 10 paise to 82.75 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid negative trends in the domestic as well as global equity markets and continued outflow of foreign funds.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weaker at 82.77 against the US dollar and traded in the range of 82.80 and 82.71.
Later, the domestic unit was trading at 82.75 against the greenback, registering a fall of 10 paise.
On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.65 against the US dollar.
Patanjali Foods Ltd fell 4.5% on Thursday, a day after stock exchanges froze promoters' shares as they failed to comply with minimum public shareholding rules. BSE and NSE have put a freeze on About 292.6 million shares, the company said.
BAJAJ-AUTO (PREVIOUS CLOSE: RS3,730) SELL
For today’s trade, short position can be initiated in the range of Rs3,755- 3,775 for the target of Rs3,660 with a strict stop loss of Rs3,815.
GAIL (PREVIOUS CLOSE: RS109) SELL
For today’s trade, short position can be initiated in the range of Rs110.50- 111.50 for the target of Rs106 with a strict stop loss of Rs113.
CONCOR (PREVIOUS CLOSE: 590) BUY
For today’s trade, long position can be initiated in the range of Rs586- 582 for the target of Rs602 with a strict stop loss of Rs577.
On Wednesday, After a gap-up opening, Nifty traded below 17,100 in the morning trade & after making a day high of 17,211.35 in the morning trade; Nifty closed below 200 DMA for the fourth consecutive day. Yesterday, profit booking in Nifty began near Tuesday's high. So Tuesday’s high will act as a resistance for nifty now. Intraday traders can look for long opportunities only above the resistance level of 17,250 if it sustains for 15 minutes. Traders can look for fresh shorts only if nifty breaks the 16,900 level & remains below for 15 min to ensure short.
The primary market seems to be muted, with companies raising only ₹478 crore through 12 initial public offerings (IPOs) in January, according to a report by Press Trust of India.
Of the 12 IPOs, only two were of the main board that garnered ₹323 crore, while 10 small and medium enterprises (SME) mobilised ₹155 crore through the initial share-sales, according to the latest data with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed.
In comparison, companies mopped-up funds to the tune of ₹5,120 crore through IPOs in December.
Overall, a total of 38 companies collected over ₹57,000 crore in 2022, way lower than the ₹1.2 lakh crore raised by 63 companies in 2021, which was the best IPO year in two decades.
Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd is set to expand the presence of fried chicken brand Popeyes, which is owned by US’s Restaurant Brands International, in India and will add 250 outlets in the medium term. The American parent expects India’s youth to drive business for a range of fast-food brands and is looking to cash in on the opportunity.
Restaurant Brands International is a large quick-service restaurant chain with over $35 billion in annual system-wide sales and over 29,000 outlets across more than 100 countries. It owns four restaurant brands—Tim Hortons, Burger King, Firehouse Subs and Popeyes—and operates via franchise partners globally. Of these, three brands are present in India each operated by a different local partner.
Indian Oil, GAIL, Vedanta, LIC, Nazara Tech are among the stocks that could be in focus on Thursday.
Credit Suisse Group AG said on Thursday it intended to borrow up to 50 billion Swiss francs ($54 billion) from the Swiss National Bank in what it called "decisive action" to boost its liquidity.
The planned move came after Swiss regulators pledged a liquidity lifeline to Credit Suisse in an unprecedented move by a central bank after the flagship Swiss lender's shares fell by as much as 30% on Wednesday.
"Credit Suisse is taking decisive action to pre-emptively strengthen its liquidity by intending to exercise its option to borrow from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) up to CHF 50 billion under a Covered Loan Facility as well as a short-term liquidity facility, which are fully collateralized by high quality assets," Credit Suisse said in a statement.
Oil prices rose in early Asian deals on Thursday, clawing back some ground from more than one-year lows hit in the previous session as markets calmed somewhat after Credit Suisse was thrown a financial lifeline by Swiss regulators.
Brent crude futures rose 85 cents, or 1.2%, to $74.54 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) rose 74 cents, or 1.1%, to $68.35 a barrel.
Both benchmarks rose by more than $1 earlier in Thursday's session.
On Wednesday, they hit their lowest levels since December 2021, having fallen for three straight days. Brent has lost nearly 10% since Friday's close, while U.S. crude is down about 11%.
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange were down 1.5 points at 16,972.50, hinting at a flat start for Indian indices on Thursday.
Indian equity markets ended lower for the fifth straight day, with Nifty falling below 17,000 amid selling seen in FMCG, realty, oil and gas and financial stocks.
The Sensex fell 344.29 points to close the day at 57,555.90, and the Nifty was down 71.10 points at 16,972.20.
Asian shares headed for declines after US equities fell and government bonds and the dollar rallied as fresh turmoil at Credit Suisse Group AG roiled markets.
Australian and Japanese stocks and Hong Kong futures dropped. The financial sector was among the hardest hit in Japan’s Topix Index and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark. Contracts for US stocks showed fledgling signs of stability after the S&P 500 fell 0.7% Wednesday. The US benchmark pared earlier losses after Switzerland’s central bank said Credit Suisse would receive a liquidity backstop if needed.
Tech stocks offered a bright spot. Nasdaq 100 futures advanced after a gain on Wednesday as traders forecast interest rates to climb less than previously expected.
Overnight, Wall Street stocks declined on worries about a spreading banking crisis and how badly it will hit the economy, and stocks and bond yields fell on both sides of the Atlantic.
The S&P 500 sank as much as 2.1% before ending the day with a loss of 0.7%, while markets in Europe fell more sharply as shares of Switzerland’s Credit Suisse dropped to a record low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 280 points, or 0.9%, after dropping as much as 725 points. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.1% after erasing a steep decline.
Markets trimmed their losses toward the end of the day as the Swiss National Bank said it could provide some assistance to Credit Suisse “if needed."
Companies in the oil and gas business had the sharpest stock drops. Helping to cushion the blow were gains for several Big Tech stocks. They've had their own struggles recently, but they tend to benefit from lower interest rates.
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