Another record high for Nifty; Sensex jumps 360 points; RIL, Titan top gainers

Benchmark indices opened with a gap up on June 3 with Nifty logging in a new record high of 15,693 while Sensex soaring 360 points or 0.70% at  52,209.

Titan, Reliance Industries, PowerGrid, ONGC and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top gainers, surging up to 4%. On the downside, Bajaj Auto, TechMahindra, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India and SBI lost anywhere between 0.16-0.60%.

Sectorally, Nifty Realty rallied 1.9% and Nifty Bank and Nifty Metal indices were up about 0.45% each while Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG indices rose 0.38% and 0.17%, respectively.

In the broader market, BSE MidCap & BSE SmallCap indices continued their record-breaking spree. The BSE MidCap index after touching a new peak of 22,356 was trading at 22,261 surging 0.78%. Likewise, the BSE SmallCap index traded 0.96% higher at 23,989 and made a new record high of 24,070.

Expert view

“India is the best performing large market since the crash of late March 2020. This outperformance, when many developed economies are doing well and we are in a serious economic crisis, is paradoxical. Even though it can be rightly argued that the organised sector, which the market represents, is doing well, the fact remains that valuations are very high. Of course, the economy is set to rebound in the last 3 quarters of FY 22 and corporate profits are likely to rise smartly. Even discounting these positives, valuations are stretched. Bull markets can surprise on the upside and therefore it makes sense to remain invested in this market. Bank Nifty has further room to go up. Investors should remember that at high valuations corrections will happen any time,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Earnings today

General Insurance Corporation of India, APL Apollo Tubes, Gujarat State Petronet, Quess Corp, Nilkamal, Arvind Fashions, Arvind Fashions, Nucleus Software Exports, Kovai Medical Center & Hospital, GTL Infrastructure, Cupid, Som Distilleries & Breweries and others will announce their results for the quarter ended March 2021.

Stocks in spotlight

Reliance Industries (RIL)’s latest annual report released on Wednesday showed that the company has pre-paid $7.8 billion of long-term foreign currency debt during FY21. Further, it has submitted a proposal for the application of Niclosamide as a potential drug against Covid-19.

RIL now has a strong balance sheet with high liquidity that will support growth plans for its three hyper-growth engines, Jio, Retail and Oil-to-Chemicals. The process of separating oil-to-chemicals businesses into a subsidiary is expected to be completed in 2021, RIL said.

Wipro and Finastra, the largest pure-play software vendor that serves the entire financial services industry, announced a partnership to help corporate banks across AsiaPacific accelerate their digital transformation.

Tata Power Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Tata Power Solar has received a Letter of Award (LoA) to build 210 MWp of Solar PV projects for NTPC. The total order value of the projects is approximately Rs 686 crore. The commissioning date for NTPC is set for November 2022.

Persistent Systems announced plans to expand its relationship with IBM to help fuel open hybrid cloud adoption, core IT modernization and digital transformation for customers across the enterprise.

NHPC said that the meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 10 June 2021, to consider and approve a proposal to raise debt up to Rs 4300 crore through issuance of Corporate Bonds and /or raising of Term loans/External Commercial Borrowings.

Rossari Biotech announced that its Board of Directors has approved the acquisition of Unitop Chemicals. The total consideration for the acquisition of 100% equity stake is Rs 421 crore.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on June 3 as investors reacted to data releases in Australia and China.

A private survey released Thursday showed slowing Chinese services activity growth in May. The Caixin/Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index for May came in at 55.1 on Thursday, lower than the reading of 56.3 in April. Still, that was well above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction.

US stocks rose slightly on Wednesday with the S&P 500 hovering near an all-time high.

Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said it is appropriate “to slowly, carefully move back” on bond purchases at the appropriate time.

Investors are also digesting President Joe Biden’s plans to amend a U.S. ban on investments in companies linked to China’s military, and looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. jobs report for the latest insight into the rebound from the pandemic and inflation risks.