Sensex, Nifty Trade Lower; Hero MotoCorp & SBI Top Losers
Asian share markets are mixed today after stunningly strong US jobs data soothed concerns about the global economy but also added to the risk of an aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve.
The Nikkei slumped 0.8% while the Shanghai Composite zoomed 1.9%. The Hang Seng is down 0.3%.
In US stock markets, Wall Street indices witnessed another bumpy ride on Friday with the Nasdaq recovering much of the ground it lost in the previous session, as Amazon's positive earnings capped a week of mixed big-tech numbers.
The Dow Jones ended flat while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.6%.
Back home, Indian share markets are trading on a negative note. Benchmark indices started on a muted note but fell as the session progressed, extending weakness from the previous session and tracking FII activity.
Net-net, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have turned sellers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 22.7 bn, data available with NSE suggested. DIIs turned net sellers to the tune of Rs 6.2 bn, data suggests. FPIs took out Rs 36.3 bn from equities during 1-4 February.
Weak global cues amid surging US bond yields also dampened the sentiment.
Market participants will track shares of PolicyBazaar, Tube Investments of India, Union Bank of India, TVS Motor Company, and Minda Industries as these companies will announce their December quarter results today.
The BSE Sensex is trading down by 286 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 53 points.
Hindalco and ONGC are among the top gainers today. Hero MotoCorp, on the other hand, is among the top losers today.
The BSE Mid Cap index is up 0.2% while the BSE Small Cap index is trading higher by 0.4%.
Sectoral indices are trading mixed with stocks in the IT sector and finance sector witnessing selling pressure.
Realty stocks and oil & gas stocks, on the other hand, are trading in green.
Shares of Deepak Fertilizers and GMDC hit their 52-week highs today.
Dr. Reddy's Labs fell 1% after rising over 5% in early trade after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted approval to the single-shot Sputnik Light vaccine for restricted use in an emergency situation in India.
The rupee is trading at 74.71 against the US$.
Gold prices are trading up by 0.3% at Rs 48,050 per 10 grams.
Meanwhile, silver prices are trading higher by 1.2% at Rs 61,582 per kg.
Gold rose today as growing worries over broadening price pressures lifted the metal's appeal as an inflation hedge and helped cushion pressure from higher US Treasury yields after a surprisingly upbeat jobs report.
Crude oil prices edged higher reversing earlier losses, as investors kept bullish sentiment on expectations that global supply would remain tight as demand picks up and shrugged off signs of progress in the US-Iran nuclear talks.
In news from the power sector, NTPC is among the top buzzing stocks today.
State-run power giant NTPC on Saturday said that its 74.88 MW power generation capacity is commercially operational at Fatehgarh Solar PV Project at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.
Here's what the company said in an exchange filing;
Consequent upon successful commissioning, second part capacity of 74.88 MW out of 296 MW Fatehgarh Solar PV Project at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, is declared on Commercial Operation from 00:00 Hrs. of February 5, 2022.
With this, the commercial capacity of NTPC and NTPC groups has become 54,377.30 MW and 67,832.30 MW respectively.
Note that last week, NTPC delivered strong December quarter results with a 5% PAT outperformance led by better realization.
NTPC is expanding 1.3GW Talcher thermal (another 5.3GW under consideration) which will be based on carbon capture/Blue coal technology.
The company's management is confident of 15GW RE capacity by fiscal 2025 (7.5GW being implemented) - 40% capex mix towards RE. NTPC has a unique advantage of leveraging its thermal plants to blend RE and supply RTC power.
NTPC's share price is currently trading up by 0.2%.
In other news from the power sector, Tata Power is in advanced talks with investors to raise as much as US$600-700 m for the renewable energy business at an equity valuation of around US$6-7 bn.
The deal is at an advanced stage and is likely to be concluded in the coming weeks, as the salt-to-steel conglomerate looks to pare debt and strengthen its balance sheet ahead of a planned public issue of the alternate energy unit.
Last year, Tata Power decided to club its entire renewables portfolio under an umbrella entity. This includes operating power assets in the pipeline, charging stations, rooftop solar, microgrids, panel manufacturing, engineering, procurement, and construction.
The company also had plans to go for an InVit. It had held negotiations with Malaysia's Petronas for a potential investment of up to US$2 bn, but the talks couldn't culminate into a transaction.
Tata Power has one of India's largest renewable energy businesses with an operating capacity of 2.6 GW comprising wind and solar in a 32:68 ratio spread across 11 states.
Speaking of Tata Power, have a look at the chart below which shows the stellar run it has had on the bourses.
Moving on to news from the automobile sector, Maruti Suzuki is expecting production activity to improve in the current quarter with gradual improvement in the supply of critical electronic components.
The country's largest carmaker is also looking at ways, including bolstering its SUV portfolio, in order to get back to 50% market share in the domestic passenger vehicle segment in the years ahead.
The auto major's cumulative market share is currently around 44% as it continues to struggle in the mid-size SUV segment.
In an analyst call, the company had said an estimated 90,000 vehicles could not be produced during the third quarter owing to the global shortage of semiconductors mostly corresponding to the domestic models.
At present, MSI has a cumulative production capacity of around 5.5 lakh units per quarter or about 22 lakh units per annum across its manufacturing plants in Haryana and Gujarat.
Maruti Suzuki is sitting on a backlog of around 2.6 lakh units with CNG units comprising 1.17 lakh units.
On a query related to the market share, the company said that it would be difficult to go over the 50% mark by the end of this fiscal due to production constraints.
Maruti Suzuki's share price is currently trading 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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