Nifty, Sensex may be headed for record highs
Analysts say cement industry on a firm recovery path
NCLT ruling on DHFL foxes banks
Shareholders force Jindals to recast JPL sell plan
Hi there. Welcome to ETMarkets Morning, the show about money, business and markets. I am Sandeep Singh. Let’s start with a quick glance on the state of the markets.
Dalal Street looked set for a gap-down start. Nifty futures on Singapore Exchange traded some 43 points lower ahead of the opening of Indian markets. Asian stocks made a steady start this morning. US stocks ended mostly lower on Friday, weighed down by technology and consumer discretionary shares.
The dollar steadied at 90.073 against a basket of currencies, after hitting its lowest since January at 89.646 on Friday.
Bitcoin advanced to about $35,500 after shedding some 13% on Sunday alone, as investors rushed to the exits en masse.
Crude oil traded above $63 a barrel amid further signs the US is recovering from the pandemic. WTI crude rose 0.5% this morning to $63.90 a barrel.
That said, here’s what else is making news.
Nifty and Sensex could hit record highs soon if the indices are able to cross a hurdle. Both indices are about 4% away from their all-time highs hit in mid-February. Sensex had touched an all-time high of 52,516.76 on February 16 and Nifty had touched a high of 15,431.75 on the same day. Technical analysts said the Nifty faces resistance at 15,350-15,400-levels.
Options are also signalling a bullish market.
A shift in the Nifty trading range by option sellers signals continued market momentum, with bulls likely to aim this week for the record high of 15,431.75 — made on February 16, according to derivatives analysts. Option writers or sellers on Friday shifted the trading range to 15,000-15,500 from 14,600-15,000 as the Nifty conclusively broke key technical retracements of 14,943 and 15,158. At Friday’s close of 15,175.3, the index was just 1.7% away from its lifetime high.
Sectorally, cement is creating some buzz.
Analysts say the industry is on a solid recovery track, and the wheels have not come off for the primary infra provider because of the anticipated rural demand and state expenditure on roads, ports, and other capital intensive projects that would need concrete in copious quantities. Thus, the stellar Q4 show should continue well into FY22. Analysts say volumes are expected to see a strong bounceback and UltraTech, Ambuja, Shree Cement, JK Lakshmi, Birla Corp and Dalmia Cement should gain the most.
A new twist in the DHFL resolution has foxed bankers.
Stunned by a NCLT ruling asking the creditors to consider a proposal from promoter Kapil Wadhawan to pay up the entire money, bankers held long meetings with their legal counsels over the weekend to consider moving the appellate tribunal to challenge the order or exercise their ‘commercial wisdom’ to vote against the same. Several banks and creditors are in favour of moving the NCLAT. A final decision is expected later today.
Jindals too are facing a problem in their attempt to sell off the power unit to a promoter firm.
Facing a pushback from shareholders, JSPL Chairman Naveen Jindal is considering simplifying the proposed plan to sell the firm’s power business to himself. Last week, group flagship JSPL was forced to postpone an extraordinary general meeting that was to be held on today to approve the board’s decision to divest JSPL’s 96.42% stake in its material subsidiary Jindal Power to Worldone Private, a company of the promoter family, for Rs 3,015 crore.
And lastly, bad news for people trying for invest in index funds to lower fund management cost.
Investors in at least four large index funds will have to shell out more money every year to asset managers to handle their money. SBI Mutual, HDFC Mutual, UTI Mutual and Tata Mutual Fund have raised the Total Expense Ratios — the annual fee that they deduct from unit holders — on index funds that track the Nifty and Sensex by at least 77% in recent weeks.
Before I go, here is a look at some of the stocks buzzing this morning.
Century Textiles & Industries is diverting its focus onto the real estate business and has lined up Rs 1,000 crore for capex this fiscal for its ongoing and upcoming projects.
The creditors’ panel of Jaypee Infratech will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss submissions made by NBCC about its resolution plan, just before the start of the scheduled voting process on Suraksha group’s offer.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is working on the development of new treatment options for Covid-19 patients which it aims to launch over the next few months.
L&T has intensified its efforts to retain its workforce post the outbreak of the second Covid-19 wave, a top company official has said.
Vodafone Idea has rolled out recharge and talk time offers for its 60 million low income subscribers in a bid to prevent rivals Reliance Jio Infocomm and Bharti Airtel from poaching its customer base with their special offers.
Do also check out over two dozen stock recommendations for today’s trade from top analysts on ETMarkets.com.
That’s it for now. Stay put with us for all the market news through the day. Happy investing!
