Market rises for 3rd session, Nifty settles above 17,800; NTPC climbs 5%

Domestic shares advanced for the third consecutive session on Tuesday, tracking strength in global stock markets. The Nifty ended above the crucial 17,800 mark. Banks and financial shares were in demand. On the other hand, metal, pharma and realty shares declined. Investors shrugged a steady rise in the number of fresh covid cases, as reports suggest lower impact of the new variant on economic recovery.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 672.71 points or 1.14% at 59,855.93. The Nifty 50 index surged 179.55 points or 1.02% at 17,805.25. Both these indices have risen 3.5% in three straight sessions.

NTPC (up 5.48%), Power Grid Corporation of India (up 2.73%), State Bank of India (up 2.69%) and Titan Company (up 2.31%) were major index gainers.

The broader indices lagged the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.05% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.39%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,892 shares rose and 1,489 shares fell. A total of 108 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

India recorded 37,379 new cases in the last 24 hours taking the country`s active caseload to 1,71,830. Active cases accounted for less than 1% of total cases, currently at 0.49%. The country`s omicron tally stands at 1,892.

The Punjab government has prohibited movement for non-essential activities shall between 10 P.M. to 5 A.M. till 15 January 2021.

Mumbai`s Mayor Kishori Pednekar reportedly said a lockdown will be imposed in the city if daily COVID-19 cases cross the 20,000-mark. Mumbai reported 8,082 cases and two deaths in the last 24 hours.

Economy:

India`s unemployment rate reached a four-month high of 7.91% in December as against 7% and 7.75% in November and October 2021, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed on Monday.

The urban unemployment rate rose to 9.30% in December while rural employment stood at 7.28%. Both urban and rural unemployment saw significant rise from 8.21% and 6.44%, respectively, in the previous month.

Further, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said India`s exports in December surged 37% on an annual basis to $37.29 billion, which is highest-ever monthly figure. He said India`s exports of goods will cross 400 billion dollars this fiscal. Imports in December too rose by 38% to 59.27 billion dollars on account of an increase in oil imports, which soared 65.17% to 15.9 billion dollars.

Cumulatively, during April-December 2021-22 exports rose by 48.85% to 299.74 billion dollars. Imports during the period increased by 69.27% to 443.71 billion dollars, leaving a trade deficit of 143.97 billion dollars. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel said looking at the current trend, India will achieve the $400 billion merchandise exports target for the current fiscal.

India`s merchandise exports jumped to a record high in December, so did imports, causing the trade deficit to remain elevated even as it narrowed over the preceding month. Merchandise imports were at $59.27 billion in December, up 38.1% year-on-year and 12% over the previous month. Merchandise exports were at $37.29 billion, up 37% year-on-year and 24.1% over November. The gap between exports and imports stood at $21.99 billion in December compared with $22.91 billion in November.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.517% as compared with 6.460% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 74.595, compared with its close of 74.2850 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 February 2022 settlement rose 0.31% to Rs 47,863.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.01% to 96.222.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2022 settlement rose 61 cents at $79.59 a barrel.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Tuesday, as positive new year momentum continues in global markets. However, there is still much uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, with multiple countries around the world reimposing restrictions or lockdowns to stop the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.

China`s factory activity grew at its fastest pace in six months in December, driven by production hikes and easing price pressures, a private survey showed on Tuesday. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers` Index (PMI) rose to 50.9 in December, from 49.9 in November.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hinduja Global Solutions surged 9.96% after the company said its board will consider bonus issue of equity shares on 6 January 2022.

Marico declined 2.31%. The FMCG company said the fast-moving consumer goods sector witnessed slowing consumption pattern. The company said that the quarter was characterised by slowing consumption patterns which affected the sector as a whole. Marico stated that the slowdown in consumption was mainly due to continuing inflation impacting overall disposable incomes as well as rising mobility unleashing some degree of pent-up demand for discretionary goods, services and out-of home consumption.

In the India business, rural demand was sluggish, albeit optical to an extent, given the high base. Revenue growth in the quarter was in double digits, while volumes were flat, owing to the weaker consumption sentiment and a strong base. However, Marico clarified that on a two-year CAGR basis, volume growth was close to medium-term aspiration.

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) rose 1.50%. The housing financier said it assigned loans of Rs 7,468 crore in the quarter ended December 2021, up by 5.5% from a year ago. HDFC had assigned loans amounting to Rs 7,076 crore in the corresponding December 2020 quarter of the previous financial year. Gross income from the dividend for the quarter ended 31 December 2021 was Rs 195 crore as compared with Rs 2 crore recorded in the same period last year. During the quarter ended 31 December 2021, the profit on sale of investments was nil as against Rs 157 crore in the previous year. As at 31 December 2021, for the purpose of liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), the corporation is carrying approximately Rs 27,000 crore of unencumbered high-quality liquid assets (HQLA), held entirely in government securities.

Maruti Suzuki India gained 1.51%. The company`s total production fell 2% to 1,52,029 units in December 2021 from 1,55,127 units in December 2020.

HDFC Bank added 0.57%. The private lender`s advances aggregated to approximately Rs 12,60,000 crore as of 31 December 2021, a growth of around 16.4% over Rs 10,82,300 crore as of 31 December 2020. On a sequential basis, advances grew by 5.1% over Rs 11,98,800 crore as of 30 September 2021. As per the bank`s internal business classification, retail loans grew by around 13.5% over 31 December 2020 and around 4.5% over 30 September 2021. Commercial & rural banking loans grew by around 29.5% over 31 December 2020 and around 6% over 30 September 2021. Corporate & other wholesale loans grew by around 7.5% over 31 December 2020 and around 4.5% over 30 September 2021.

The bank`s deposits aggregated to approximately Rs 14,46,000 crore as of 31 December 2021, a growth of around 13.8% over Rs 12,711,00 crore as of 31 December 2020 and a growth of around 2.8% over Rs 14,06,300 crore as of 30 September 2021. Retail deposits grew by around 17% over 31 December 2020 while wholesale deposits grew by around 1% over 31 December 2020.

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) rose 0.57%. The steel maker posted a strong recovery in steel sales sequentially in December 2021. The company reported steel sales of 6.85 lakh tonnes, rising 27% month on month. JSPL said steel sales would have been higher but for the impact of the non-availability of railway rakes for third month. Steel sales in Q3 FY22 stood at 1.82 MT were also constrained due to limited rake availability and unseasonal rains in many states. Meanwhile, exports accounted for 28% of steel sales in December 2021 and 23% of quarter. Jindal Steel reported 9% rise in steel production at 5.904 million tonnes in nine months ended of FY22.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) gained 0.83%. The heavy civil infrastructure business of L&T construction has won an order from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the design and construction of the underground metro project of Phase-1 of Patna MRTS. Significant orders are valued between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500 crore. The project is scheduled to be completed within 42 months. It is funded by Patna Metro Rail Corporation (PMRC) and, upon completion, will be operated by PMRC.

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