Asian stocks slipped Friday after the Trump administration’s tariffs on imports from key allies sent U.S. and European stocks into a tailspin and stoked demand for bonds.
Shares in Australia dropped, while those in Japan and Korea pushed higher. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, traded a little changed 10,723 as of 7:20 a.m.
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BQ Live
Here’s a quick look at all that could influence equities today.
U.S. Market Check
- The S&P 500 fell for the fourth time in five days, paring a monthly advance as the president’s escalation of trade tensions with Canada, Mexico and the European Union hammered American industrial and financial shares.
Europe Market Check
- European shares reversed earlier gains after the U.S. administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from regions including the European Union.
- The euro gained 0.2 percent to $1.1687.
- The British pound was little changed at $1.3292.
- Germany’s 10-year yield dipped three basis points to 0.34 percent.
- Britain’s 10-year yield dropped three basis points to 1.230 percent.
Asian Cues
- The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 percent.
- Topix index fell 0.2 percent.
- Kospi index rose less than 0.05 percent.
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.5 percent.
- Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.1 percent.
Commodity Cues
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose less than 0.05 percent to $67.05 a barrel.
- Brent crude traded flat at $77.60 a barrel.
- Gold rose less than 0.05 percent to $1,299.12 an ounce.
- LME copper advanced 0.2 percent to $6,852.00 per metric tonne.
- Aluminium ended 1 percent higher at $2,298.25 per metric tonne.
Fuel Price Update
State-run oil marketers marginally cuts petrol and diesel prices for the third day in a row.
- The price of petrol was reduced by 6 paise today to Rs 86.10 a litre in Mumbai and diesel was cut by 5 paise to Rs 73.67 a litre, according to data released by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
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- Zuckerberg faces shareholders at contentious Facebook meeting.
- Goldman-backed crypto exchange rattles users with terms change.
Here are some key events coming up this week:
- India to report manufacturing PMI for May.
- The U.S. employment report for May is due Friday. It’s the last before the June Fed meeting.
- Automakers report May U.S. sales the same day.
- Also Friday: some onshore Chinese stocks join MSCI Inc.’s global indexes.
- On Saturday U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will travel to Beijing for more talks with Vice Premier Liu He on topics including ZTE Corp. and trade.
Stocks To Watch
- Infosys extends alliance with Microsoft for cloud-based digital transformation solutions.
- Idea Cellular completes sale of 9,900 standalone towers to ATC for Rs 4,000 crore.
- Cochin Shipyard signs agreement with Government of Kerala for procurement of marine ambulance for fisheries department.
- Maruti Suzuki targets to sell over two lakh automatic cars in 2018-19.
- Bayer's Crop Science to invest Rs 400 crore in Monsanto India
- Fortis Healthcare says unit sold off 1.8 crore units of RHT Health Trust for 13.65 million Singapore dollars.
- PNC Infratech declared L1 for Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway project worth Rs 2,100 crore.
- Bodal Chemicals to acquire additional 17 percent stake in Trion chemicals for Rs 3 crore.
- Cholamandalam Investment and Finance to invest Rs 50 crore in its subsidiary Cholamandalam Home Finance.
- Ashiana Housing has acquired 6.67 acres land in Rajasthan to develop a group housing project with 6.15 lakh square feet area.
Indian ADRs
Bulk Deals
- Avenue Supermarts: BlackRock India Equities Fund (Mauritius) Ltd. bought 56.62 lakh shares at Rs 1,575.55.
- InterGlobe Aviation: BlackRock Funds International Opportunities Portfolio bought 43.87 lakh shares or 1.14 percent equity at Rs 1,219.75.
- ACC: BlackRock India Equities Fund (Mauritius) Ltd. sold 12.8 lakh shares at Rs 1,354.38.
- Divis Labs: BlackRock India Equities Fund (Mauritius) Ltd. sold 14.5 lakh shares at Rs 1,047.17.
- Container Corp: BlackRock India Equities Fund (Mauritius) Ltd. bought 12.58 lakh shares or 0.52 percent equity at Rs 1,379.41.
- IDFC Bank: Blackrock Funds International Opportunities sold 4.31 crore shares or 1.27 percent equity at Rs 40.69.
- Maharashtra Seamless: Gagandeep Credit Capital Pvt. Ltd. bought 3.63 lakh shares or 0.54 percent equity at Rs 425.
NRB Bearings
- HDFC Mutual Fund Small and Mid Cap Fund brought 15 lakh shares at Rs 162.5.
- Ubs Principal Capital Asia Ltd. sold 17.1 lakh shares at Rs 162.5.
- Trilochan Sawhney Singh Trust 1 sold 9.4 lakh shares at Rs 162.63.
TATA Motor DVR
- Goldman Sachs Investments Mauritius I Ltd. bought 26.8 lakh shares at Rs 168.48.
- Integrated Core Strategies Asia Pte Ltd. bought 35 lakh shares at Rs 168.51.
Trading Tweaks
- Apex Frozen Foods, Bombay Dyeing, Dilip Buildcon, Graphite India, GVK Power, HEG, Radiko Khaitan, Rain Industries, Venky(S) placed under additional surveleince measure by BSE.
- Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd circuit filter revised to 20 percent.
Who’s Meeting Whom
- Capacit’e Infra to meet Sundaram MF and Unilazer Ventures on June 1.
- Welspun India to meet Philip Capital on June 1.
- TVS Motor to meet Reliance MF, Kotak MF, Max Life, ICICI Prudential Life, DSP MF and others on June 5.
Insider Trades
- Anoop Moopen promoter of Aster DM Healthcare buys 20,000 shares from March 28 - 29.
- Laurus Labs Dr Satyanarayana Chava acquired 6.33 lakh shares on May 25.
(As reported on May 31)
Rupee
- Rupee closed at 67.41/$ on Thursday versus 67.44/$ on Wednesday.
Top Gainers And Losers
F&O Cues
- Nifty June Futures closed trading at 10,702, discount of 33.9 points.
- Nifty Rollover at 62.6 percent, Bank Nifty Rollover at 75 percent.
- All series-Nifty open interest up 11 percent and Bank Nifty open interest up 28 percent.
- India VIX ended 13.2, down 1.4 percent.
- Max open interest for June series at 11,000 Call, open interest at 30.4 lakh, open interest up 3 percent.
- Max open interest for June series at 10600 Put, open interest at 30.5 lakh, open interest up 46 percent.
F&O Ban
In ban: None
Active Stock Futures
Put-Call Ratio
- Nifty PCR at 1.14 versus 1.38.
- Nifty Bank PCR at 1.03 versus 1.11.
Fund Flows
Brokerage Radar
Macquarie on Maruti Suzuki
- Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 11,500.
- Maruti Suzuki’s strength is its widest sales and service network.
- Roll-out of NEXA has been transformational for Maruti.
- Maruti now upgrading all existing channel outlets to ARENA.
- Digital integration of online and in-store experience is key differentiator.
HSBC on Cox and Kings
- Upgraded to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’; maintained price target at Rs 290.
- Outlook for hotel business remain strong.
- Company planning to improve business mix by increasing focus on retail segment.
- Inexpensive valuation outweighs deteriorating balance sheet concerns.
- Risk-reward looks favourable at current valuations.
Morgan Stanley on SAIL
- Maintained ‘Underweight’ with a price target of Rs 66.
- March quarter ahead of estimates driven by higher volumes and better EBITDA/ton.
- Management's focus remains on capacity ramp-up, cost efficiency and improvement in product mix.
- Expect volume ramp-up will be gradual and cost efficiency to still take time.
Macquarie on Jubilant Foodworks
- Maintained ‘Outperform’ with a price target of Rs 3,103.
- Very positive on the business fundamentals post meeting with CEO.
- Focus is to drive same store sales growth (SSSG); operating leverage story to continue on higher SSG.
- Top pick in India’s consumer space.
Brokerages On Dilip Buildcon
Citi
- Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 1,405.
- Stock fell on unconfirmed market rumors relating to resignation of statutory auditors.
- Exceptional losses booked to get reversed when remaining roads move out of books.
- Debt increased due to interest cost, capex and investment in SPVs.
Nomura
- Maintained ‘Buy’; cut price target to Rs 1,322 from Rs 1,347.
- March quarter witnessed a strong execution; stock down on speculation.
- Believe reported operating margin is credible in our view.
- Not concerned about the ability of Shrem Infraventures to fund the asset sale deal.