Sensex, Nifty flat; banks, metals surge; IT, pharma drag

Rupee plunges 23 paise to 73.65 against US dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee plunged 23 paise to 73.65 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday, tracking a strong American currency and muted trend in domestic equities. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 73.48 against the dollar, then fell to 73.65, registering a decline of 23 paise from the last close. In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 73.42 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.02 per cent to 92.53.

11 states raise ₹14,500 cr through SDL auctions

Eleven state governments raised ₹14,500 crore through state development loans (SDLs) on Tuesday, 38% lower than the initially indicated ₹23,300 crore, and 7.6% lower than the year-ago level of ₹15,700 crore, Icra said in a report. Initially, 22 state governments and union territories (UT) had indicated that they would borrow ₹23,300 crore in the auction. Eleven of them, which had initially indicated that they would borrow ₹10,900 crore, did not participate in the auction. (Read more)

This specialty chemical stock surges 24% in 5 days. HDFC Securities has ‘Buy’

The shares of Neogen Chemicals Ltd (NCL) were trading over 8% higher to ₹1,190 per share on the BSE in early deals, with the stock registering a surge of nearly 24% in the last five trading sessions. (Read more)

Ramkrishna Forgings gains

Ramkrishna Forgings’ stock was trading at ₹994.10 each, up 1.57%) at 11:17 am. The company has secured an export order worth ₹130 crore from an OEM in a CIS country.

Edelweiss Wealth Management promotes Ashish Kehair to MD & CEO

Edelweiss group on Wednesday said it has promoted Ashish Kehair as managing director and chief executive officer of Edelweiss Wealth Management, the group said in a statement. In this role, Kehair will lead the strategic initiatives and business operations for Edelweiss Wealth Management, reporting to the board of directors, the statement said. The appointment is subject to regulatory approvals. (Read more)

Why Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea stocks are surging

Stock market today: On speculations of relief in AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues payment ahead of the cabinet meeting today, telecom stocks have been rallying for the last two days. Telecom major Bharti Airtel share price shot up around 5 per cent in the last two days while Vodafone Idea shares have skyrocketed around 40 per cent in the last 5 trade sessions. According to experts, if the relief package for the sector is announced then it will be a big positive trigger for the entire telecom sector. (Read more)

IPO-bound OYO increases authorised share capital to ₹901 cr

Oravel Stays Pvt Ltd, that operates hospitality firm OYO, has approved an increase in the authorised share capital of the company from ₹1.17 crore to ₹901 crore, according to a regulatory filing by the hospitality firm. The development comes ahead of proposed initial public offering (IPO) by OYO, for which a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) is likely to be filed in the next few months, people with knowledge of the matter said. An extraordinary general meeting of Oravel Stays Pvt Ltd (OYO), on September 1, approved the resolution to increase its authorised share capital, as per a Registrar of Companies (RoC) filing by the company. (PTI)

Starbucks, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s Take Bitcoin in El Salvador

Food and drink franchises including Starbucks Corp. and Pizza Hut Inc. are receiving payments in Bitcoin after El Salvador adopted the cryptocurrency, according to President Nayib Bukele. Twitter users also reported being able to pay for breakfast at McDonald’s with Bitcoin on Tuesday, the first day on which it became legal tender in the Central American nation. Businesses are required to accept Bitcoin in exchange for goods and services, though merchants who are technologically unable to receive the e-currency are exempt from the law.

PayPal heats up buy now, pay later race

U.S. payments giant PayPal Holdings Inc said it would acquire Japanese buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Paidy in a $2.7 billion largely cash deal, taking another step to claim the top spot in an industry witnessing a pandemic-led boom. The deal tracks rival Square Inc’s agreement last month to buy Australian BNPL success story Afterpay Ltd for $29 billion, which experts said was likely the beginning of a consolidation in the sector. (Reuters)

Asian Paints’ grip on waterproofing segment gets tighter. Should Pidilite

Leader in decorative paints segment Asian Paints Ltd is making its mark in the waterproofing segment. According to analysts at Credit Suisse, the waterproofing market in India is led by Pidilite Industries Ltd, which is estimated to have around 50% market share. However, paint companies have made a significant dent into this market, said the foreign brokerage house in a report. “In our estimate, Asian Paints has around 25% share in the water proofing market now and has been gaining share consistently. Initially Asian Paints played mainly in remedial water proofing, as in this segment the painter is the main applicator and thus Asian Paints had a stronger right to win. However in the past couple of years, Asian Paints is also pushing strongly in the new construction water proofing segment,” said the Credit Suisse report.

Union Cabinet meeting to start soon, MSP of Rabi crops on agenda: Report

The meeting of the Union Cabinet is scheduled to be held at 11 am on Wednesday. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office in the South block. (Read more)

Maruti Suzuki trades lower

Maruti Suzuki’s stock was trading at ₹6,832.50 apiece, down 0.64% at 9:57 am. The company’s production in August 20221 climbed to 1,23,769 units compared to 1,13,937 units in August 2020.

Index outlook: ICICI Direct

Indian markets are scaling new highs primarily driven by swift economic recovery post abating of second Covid wave and increasing pace of vaccination domestically. Corporate earnings were also resilient in Q1FY22 (April-June 2021). At the Nifty index level, excluding financials, net sales decline was limited to 7.5% on a QoQ basis with PAT decline at 14.5% QoQ. The management commentary, however, was optimistic and hopeful of a strong rebound in rest of the year (FY22E). Other macroeconomic indicators in terms of GST collection, e-way bill generation, peak power demand also point to better-than-anticipated economic rebound. With growth capex on the anvil both by the public as well as private enterprises, we expect a broad based economic recovery, going forward. We expect the present market up move to continue, with small caps, midcaps leading the gains going forward. As a structural bet in the market, sectorally, our preference would be towards IT (driven by increasing digital spends), capital goods (capex-linked) and CRAMs oriented pharmaceuticals/chemical space.

Sectoral Earnings

Going forward, double digit earnings growth (25.7% CAGR) for the index over FY21-23E will be led by the auto space (low base), capital goods domain, metals space (firm product realisations and healthy profitability) and index heavy BFSI space, which also includes the insurance sector.

Amazon Pay India partners with mutual fund platform Kuvera

Direct mutual fund investment platform Kuvera.in has partnered with Amazon Pay India to provide services, products and technology know-how for the latter’s users. The partnership will facilitate investments in mutual funds, fixed deposits, and more over time. (Read more)

Ola’s GMV drives past pre-covid levels: CEO

Ola chief and co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce a recovery for his ride-hailing platform from the impact of the pandemic. “India is moving again! Our Ola cabs GMV crossed pre-covid levels last week. Recovery from the second wave is three times faster. Clearly, India is up and about!” tweeted Aggarwal. GMV is gross merchandise value. (Read more)

Industry Watch: Telcos

The Union cabinet may meet today to discuss a relief package for the troubled telecom sector, according to multiple media reports citing people with knowledge of the matter.

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SoftBank surges for second day as hopes for buybacks grow

SoftBank Group Corp. surged for a second day in Tokyo as investors’ hopes grew for another share repurchase program, following the announcement of a complex deal with Deutsche Telekom AG. Shares rose as much as 11% in Tokyo trading, the most since Dec. 10. That took its two-day gain to almost 22%, amid a recent broader rally in Tokyo markets. SoftBank was the biggest contributer to gains on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, adding nearly half of the gauge’s 0.8% advance.

Coinbase gets Wells notice from SEC on its Lend product

Coinbase Global Inc., the U.S.’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, has received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying the agency will bring an enforcement action if Coinbase launches its Lend product. Lend, which is yet to be launched, would allow consumers to earn interest on their crypto holdings. Coinbase is planning to delay the launch of its Lend product at least until October, according to the company. The exchange has been working with the SEC, and asking for feedback on the Lend product, for about six months, Coinbase said on its blog.

Banks, financials drag

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Covid Update

Market opening

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Market pre-opening

At market pre-opening, the Sensex was at 58,362.82, up 83.34 points or 0.14%, while Nifty was at 17,362.10, down 15.70 points or 0.09%.

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Biocon to produce cancer drug Revlimid

Biocon has settled with Celgene for the production of the cancer drug Celgene.

Pre-market opening quote: .Gaurav Udani, CEO and founder, ThincRedBlu Securities.

“Nifty is expected to open positive at 17,410, up by 40 points. Nifty is in a strong bullish trend and we may see levels of 17,480 and 17,520 in the next few trading sessions. 17,300 and 17,250 are strong support for Nifty. Buying on dips with strict stoploss loss can be a good strategy in the current markets.”

Gangavaram Port logs multiple records in handling of various cargo 

Sansera Engineering IPO fixes price band at ₹734-744 per share

Bengaluru-based auto-component maker Sansera Engineering Ltd’s initial public offering has fixed its price band of ₹734-744 a share. Earlier the firm said its IPO will open on 14 September and close on 16 September. (Read more)

Market outlook

Markets are likely to be volatile on Wednesday while trends in SGX Nifty indicate a mild opening of Indian benchmark indices. On Tuesday, the BSE Sensex ended at 58,279.48, down 17.43 points while the Nifty was at 17,362.10, down 15.70 points. (Read more)

Ami Organics IPO share allotment today: How to check application status

Ami Organics IPO allotment date: Share allotment of Ami Organics may get finalised today. ₹569.64 crore public issue got subscribed 64.54 times during the 3 days bidding from 1st September to 3rd September 2021. Ahead of share allotment, grey market is also signaling about the promising listing gains from this public issue as Ami Organics IPO GMP today is ₹168 — indicating listing premium to the tune of 27.5 per cent. So, those who bid for Ami Organics IPO must be eagerly waiting for the finalisation of share allotment process. (Read more)

Why Bitcoin, ether, other crypto prices are crashing

Bitcoin prices plummeted from more than $52,000 per coin, over 17% to $42,000, before recovering about half of that loss after El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender on Tuesday. However, the rollout stumbled in its first hours and El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said the digital wallet used for transactions was not functioning. (Read more)

HDFC Life seeks shareholders approval for share issue to Exide Industries

HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd (HDFC Life) will seek shareholders’ approval later this month for the issuance of preference shares to Exide Industries in the ₹6,687-crore deal to acquire Exide Life, according to a regulatory filing. HDFC Life has convened an extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) of the company’s shareholders on September 29 to seek their approval for share issue, the company said in a filing on Tuesday.

Asian stocks  off to a steady start

Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday after a dip in U.S. shares on concern that the delta coronavirus variant is slowing the economic recovery from the pandemic. Japanese shares edged up but Australia and South Korea retreated. U.S. futures fluctuated after the S&P 500 fell and the Nasdaq 100 climbed to a record as investors sought more defensive areas of the market. Chinese technology equities listed in the U.S. jumped on bets that the worst of Beijing’s regulatory crackdown has passed. A selloff across bond markets has intensified in part due to a flood of debt sales. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield trimmed an advance but remained above 1.36%. Strategists are now evaluating how long a recent bout of yield-curve steepening might last. The dollar held a rally. Crude oil steadied after a two-day decline. Bitcoin nursed losses amid El Salvador’s rocky implementation of a law that makes the cryptocurrency legal tender.

S&P 500 futures were steady as of 9:20 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%

Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%

Japan’s Topix index added 0.2%

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index slid 0.5%

South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.6%

Hang Seng Index futures advanced 0.4% earlier

US stocks close mostly lower, but Nasdaq still inches higher

Stocks indexes on Wall Street closed mostly lower Tuesday, though solid gains by Apple, Facebook and other tech heavyweights helped nudged the Nasdaq to another all-time high.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, losing some ground after two straight weekly gains. Roughly 80% of companies in the benchmark index fell. Industrial and health care stocks were among the S&P 500’s biggest decliners. Household goods makers also weighed on the index, offsetting gains in communication services firms, technology stocks and a mix of companies that rely on consumer spending.

Small company stocks also fell broadly. Treasury yields rose, while energy futures and the price of gold fell.

The pullback in stocks came as traders returned from the Labor Day holiday weekend to a relatively light week of economic data. The last big economic snapshot, the August jobs report, came in weaker than expected last Friday, but stocks only slipped modestly on the news.

The S&P 500 fell 15.40 points to 4,520.03. The index remains within 0.4% of the all-time high it set last Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 269.09 points, or 0.8%, to 35,100, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 10.81 points, or 0.1%, to 15,374.33 it’s fourth consecutive record high.