Sensex vaults over 1,700 points on FM speech

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Benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened higher on Monday ahead of the Union Budget 2021. The 30-share Sensex was trading over 1,700 points. On the other hand, the 50-share Nifty index was up 480 points.

Equity market is awaiting key reforms that could push growth and kickstart the capex cycle in the economy. The Union Budget 2021-22 would be presented February 1 at 11 am (IST). The Parliament session started from January 29, and would be held in two phases. Subject to exigencies of government business, the session is likely to conclude on 8 April 2021.

Besides, the GST revenue collected for January 2021 till 6 PM on January 31 is Rs 1,19,847 crore. This is the highest GST revenue the government has collected since the rollout of the goods and services tax regime. The GST revenues for January is 8% higher than the revenues collected in the same month last year. In January 2020, the government had garnered around Rs 1.1 lakh crore.

As many as 16 stocks in the Sensex pack traded in the green with IndusInd Bank gaining the most 7.27%. It was followed by ICICI Bank (5.14%), HDFC (up 1.68), ONGC (up 0.96%). On the other hand, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Axis Bank were down between 1%-4%.

Commenting on the market opening Gaurang Shah, Sr. Vice President of Geojit Financial Services said that, “The market opened on strong footing but expect to be choppy today given the every year event, so any volatility will be a great opportunity to buy. And as the honourable finance minister said that this is going to be an extraordinarily budget, the budget that we have never seen before. I hope its not restricted from you know, hardcopy to soft copy, I hope it is actually budget which is revolutionary, and on expected lines. Any volatility in the market would be a great opportunity to get into the stocks fundamentally sound stocks and my honest request to all the investors will be that just stay on the sidelines. Let the union budget come let people dissect it, let us understand it. And even if you have to buy say 4-5% higher, it is better to buy stocks at a higher level after understanding rather than jumping into the you know, fire not realising that you can get burnt.’’

Socks in news:

ICICI Bank advanced 3.4% after the bank reported 19.1% rise in net profit to Rs 4,939.59 crore on 3.3% increase in total income to Rs 24416.06 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Net interest income (NII) increased by 16% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 9,912 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 8,545 crore in Q3 FY20. Net interest margin (NIM) was at 3.67% as on 31 December 2021 as compared to 3.77% as on 31 December 2019.

Tata Motors rose 0.86% after consolidated net profit surged 64.9% to Rs 3,222.21 crore on 5.4% rise in net sales to Rs 74,878.98 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated profit before tax (PBT) soared 208.70% to Rs 4,167.39 crore in Q3 December 2020 as against Rs 1,349.92 crore in Q3 December 2019. Current tax expense for the quarter jumped 22.7% to Rs 675.45 crore as against Rs 550.33 crore in Q3 December 2019.

Vedanta rose 0.96% after the company reported 40.5% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,299 crore on a 6.5% rise in net sales to Rs 22,498 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The company said that the revenue improvement was mainly on account of higher commodity prices, rupee depreciation and higher volumes at Zinc India and Iron Ore business, partially offset by lower volumes at Oil and Gas business, lower power sales in Talwandi Sabo Power (TSPL).

Shree Cement rose 0.88% after the company’s consolidated net profit soared 102.53% to Rs 631.58 crore on 12.56% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 3,541.38 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Tech Mahindra lost 2.12%. The company’s consolidated net profit jumped 21.35% to Rs 1,290.10 crore on 2.93% rise in net sales to Rs 9,647.10 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q2 September 2020.

Cipla dropped 3.73%. On a consolidated basis, Cipla’s net profit surged 113% to Rs 748.15 crore on 21.7% rise in net sales to Rs 5154.17 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Profit before tax jumped 101.7% year-on-year to Rs 1021.47 crore in Q3 FY21. Current tax expense was steeply higher at Rs 260.42 crore in Q3 FY21 as compared to Rs 114.21 in Q3 FY20.

IndusInd Bank jumped 5.87%. The bank reported 37% fall in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 830 crore on 4% increase in total income to Rs 5052 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

UPL slumped 5.73%. On a consolidated basis, UPL reported a 13.3% rise in net profit to Rs 794 crore on 2.6% rise in net sales to Rs 9,126 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The agrochemical maker’s profit before tax rose 2.33% year on year to Rs 1053 crore in Q3 FY21. Current tax expense was steeply higher at Rs 172 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 48 crore in Q3 FY20.

DLF rose 0.8% after the realty firm reported 9% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 452 crore on 15% jump in net sales to Rs 1543 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Global Markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed on Monday as official data released over the weekend showed manufacturing activity in China growing at a slower pace in January.

China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at 51.3 in January, according to a statement by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday. In comparison, the reading for December was 51.9, remaining above the 50-level which indicates growth.

U.S. stock indexes fell sharply on Friday after COVID-19 vaccine data from Johnson & Johnson hurt sentiment, while a standoff between Wall Street hedge funds and small, retail investors weighed.

Meanwhile, new trial results from Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine disappointed some investors because it was less effective on some variants, also hurting market sentiment.

J&J said its one-dose vaccine demonstrated 66% effectiveness overall in protecting against Covid-19. The vaccine was 72% effective in the United States, 66% in Latin America and 57% in South Africa after four weeks, the company said. The vaccine however offered complete protection against Covid-related hospitalizations.

Worries of a short squeeze grew after an army of retail investors returned to trade shares in GameStop Corp and Koss Corp. The stocks sky-rocketed after brokers including Robinhood eased some of the restrictions they had placed on trading. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission warned both brokerages and social media traders that it was closely monitoring potential wrongdoing.

Back home, domestic equity benchmarks extended losses for the sixth straight session on Friday. Weak global cues triggered selling pressure. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 588.59 points or 1.26% to 46,285.77. The Nifty 50 index lost 182.95 points or 1.32% to 13,634.60.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 5,930.66 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,443.20 crore in the Indian equity market on 29 January, provisional data showed.

(With inputs from Capital Market – Live News)