An employee looks at a computer monitor at a brokerage firm in Mumbai, India. Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg
5 years ago
May 04, 2021
India stocks ended lower as the country continues to witness a persistent increase in the daily caseload of coronavirus, forcing investors to weigh chances of the government announcing a nationwide lockdown to control the situation.
Shares of Sun TV Ltd., owner of Hyderabad franchise of Indian Premier League erased gains to fall as much as 2% after the T-20 cricket tournament was deferred following some players testing positive for Covid-19.
Stock Reaction
Reliance Industries Ltd., which owns Mumbai Indians team, extends drop to as much as 2%, set for a third day of losses.
India Cements Ltd., which owns team Chennai Super Kings that has won 3 IPL titles, swung between gains and losses. Down as much as 0.6% as of 2:40 p.m.
United Spirits Ltd., the holder of Royal Challengers Bengaluru franchise, declined 0.6% but soon recouped the losses to trade little changed.
SBI Life Insurance rises as much as 4.9% to its highest since Feb. 1.
“Growth runway” afforded by parent SBI’s customer pool, of which the insurer has tapped less than 3%, and new bancassurance partnerships, according to Jefferies.
SBI Life will leverage partnerships with state-owned banks such as Indian Bank, Syndicate Bank, Uco Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, analysts including Prakhar Sharma write in a note.
Jefferies raise price target by 3.6% to Rs 1,150; maintains buy
Market Insight
Trading volume was more than six times the 20-day average for this time of day.
Trading in the company's call options totalled 24,981 contracts, compared with the average of 5,684 over the past 20 days. Trading in the company's put options totalled 8,893 contracts, compared with the average of 2,110 over the same period.
Punjab National Bank rose 9.1%. Trading in the company's call options was triple the average. Trading volume was triple the average for this time of day.
Trading volume was 178.5 million shares, triple the 20-day average of 61.3 million shares for this time of day.
Trading in the company's call options totaled 15,105 contracts, compared with the average of 4,524 over the past 20 days. Trading in the company's put options totaled 2,909 contracts, compared with the average of 1,442 over the same period.
Analysts have four buy, four hold, and 13 sell recommendations on the stock.
The price target of 37.32 rupees represents a 0.9% decrease from the last price
Reliance Retail’s profit could dwindle as the Covid resurgence led to lockdown measures and other operating limitations across Indian states. The oil-to-chemicals business may weaken as domestic demand drops.
Magma Fincorp, an Indian financier for vehicles and homes, jumped by its daily limit after about 23.4 million shares changed hands in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Among most traded Indian stocks by volume, value
Trading volume >12x 3-month full-day average
Shares surged as much as 5%, most intraday since April 30
Indian sovereign bond investors will watch demand at a Rs 14,900 crore ($2 billion) sale of state debt. Rupee traders will watch whether forward premiums will ease after the sharp surge seen on Monday.
USD/INR near-term forward premiums surged on Monday amid a glut of dollars in the banking system, with traders citing inflows related to PowerGrid InvIT IPO for which foreign funds may have sold dollars in spot and taken a contrary position in forwards
The second, much deadlier wave of virus infections in India is likely to cause further rupee weakness until September, according to Bloomberg Economics’ forecasting model
10-year bond yields fell 3bps to 6%; yields dropped after the reported deals segment showed Rs 3100 crore of 10-year changed hands, leading traders to suspect RBI intervention