Sensex Gains 200 Points To Hit Record High; Bajaj Finserv & Tata Steel Top Gainers

Asian share markets opened higher today in hopes that the worst is over for the current wave of Covid infections, with renewed optimism sending Wall Street indices to record finishes.

The Hang Seng is down 0.6% while the Nikkei is trading on a flat note. The Shanghai Composite is trading up by 0.4%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices ended higher overnight as USFDA's full approval of a Covid-19 vaccine and the absence of negative catalysts kept risk appetite alive ahead of the much-anticipated Jackson Hole Symposium.

All three major US stock indexes advanced higher, with the S&P500 index and the Nasdaq closing at all-time closing highs.

Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.1% higher while the Nasdaq advanced 0.5%.

Back home, Indian share markets have opened on a positive note, following the trend on SGX Nifty.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 201 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 65 points.

HDFC and Asian Paints are among the top gainers today. Titan, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index has opened up by 0.6%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.9%.

All sectoral indices have opened in the green with stocks in the power sector and the finance sector witnessing most of the buying interest.

Shares of Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 74.17 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.5% at Rs 47,355 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices are trading down by 0.7% at Rs 63,052 per kg.

In news from the banking sector, Canara Bank is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has picked up a 1.59% stake in public sector bank Canara Bank.

According to a shareholding statement issued on 24 August, Jhunjhunwala picked up 2,88,50,000 shares or 1.59% in the lender.

Canara Bank is the third company in which Rakesh Jhunjhunwala acquired a stake during April/June 2021 quarter. He bought stakes in Steel Authority of India (SAIL) and Indiabulls Housing Finance during the June 2021 quarter.

The PSU bank earlier in the day said it has approved the allotment of over 167.3 m shares in the Rs 25 bn qualified institutions placement (QIP) that closed a day earlier.

The QIP opened on 17 August and closed on 23 August 2021.

Seven investors were allotted more than 5% of the equity offering in the QIP issue.

LIC subscribed to 15.91%, BNP Paribas Arbitrage 12.55%, Societe Generale 7.97%, Indian Bank and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance - 6.37% each.

Canara Bank's share price has opened the day down by 1.5%.

Speaking of public sector undertakings (PSU), have a look at the chart below which shows the performance of the BSE PSU index compared to BSE Sensex over the past few years.

As can be seen from the chart above, over the last decade, Rs 100 invested in the BSE-PSU index would have eroded to Rs 80, compared to almost 3x gains for the Sensex.

Moving on to news from the automobile sector, Maruti Suzuki said it will not enter electric vehicles in the short term and will enter only when it is feasible to sell reasonable numbers.

Chairman of the country's largest carmaker R C Bhargava told this to shareholders at the company's 40th annual general meeting.

Bhargava said the government's focus is on the electrification of two-wheelers at present, where companies like Hero Electric and Ola have been focusing on product interventions.

In the passenger vehicles segment, a few manufacturers have brought EVs, but the sales volume is minimal, and it has had no impact on the market share of Maruti Suzuki.

The statement by Maruti's chairman comes when homegrown vehicle makers Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra have lined up over a dozen pure battery electric vehicles for the Indian market until 2025.

In response to queries from several shareholders, Bhargava said Maruti Suzuki is looking at the electric vehicle (EV) segment without making a loss on operations.

Maruti Suzuki's focus in the short term is on CNG and hybrid vehicles.

The company's arm Suzuki and Denso and Toshiba have already started working on localization of lithium-ion cells and engaging with the vendor fraternity to have a deeper localization to deliver an EV that is accessible and delivers enough scale to add to the bottom line.

Separately, Bhargava said Maruti Suzuki has faced some loss in production due to the shortage in availability of semiconductors but it is not of major concern.

Maruti Suzuki had outlined a CAPEX of Rs 45 bn in the ongoing fiscal, but the actual spend will be known by the end of the year.

Maruti Suzuki's share price has opened the day up by 0.1%.

Disclosure: Equitymaster Agora Research Private Limited (Research Analyst) bearing Registration No. INH000000537 (hereinafter referred as 'Equitymaster') is an independent equity research ...

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