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Sensex Hits New Highs; Wipro, Infosys Rally
Mon, 17 Jul Closing

Indian share markets traded marginally higher in the afternoon session. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 54 points, while the NSE Nifty finished up by 30 points. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Mid Cap finished up by 0.1% & the S&P BSE Small Cap finished flat. Gains were largely seen in realty stocks, metal stocks and software stocks.

Indices Close to Peak Valuations Measured Against Sales

The average profit margins of Indian companies continue to languish near historical lows. But the worry is that the surge in valuations since 2016 has been devoid of profit growth.

Now since earnings are currently unusually low, looking at sales, which are relatively more stable, can give a good sense of how expensive markets are. It turns out the Sensex and the broader BSE 500 indices are close to their peak valuations when measured against sales.

Wipro share price gained 3.3% after it was reported that the board will consider a proposal for buyback of equity shares on 20 July.

With this, Wipro joins the growing roaster of Indian IT firms that have announced buyback offers to return surplus cash on their books to their shareholders.

Meanwhile, Fortis Healthcare share price and Religare Enterprises share price fell 8.1% and 4.5%, respectively after India Ratings and Research downgraded some non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and loans held by RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, which owns shares in Fortis and Religare, to default levels.

Jubilant Foodworks share price surged 9% in the afternoon session after the company reported rise of 25.51% in its net profit at Rs 238.4 million for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 190 million for the same quarter in the previous year. Total income of the company increased by 11.41% at Rs 6.81 billion for Q1FY18 as compared Rs 6.12 billion for the corresponding quarter previous year.

Asian stock markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng gained 0.31% while the Shanghai Composite lost 1.43%. European markets too are mixed. The FTSE 100 is higher by 0.20%, while the DAX & the CAC 40 are down 0.47% and 0.02% respectively.

The rupee was trading at Rs 64.37 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 46.51 at the time of writing.

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In news from economy, the latest edition of the OECD's economic outlook report on India has said that economic growth is projected to remain strong. The report stated that India will remain the fastest growing G20 economy, hailing the several initiatives taken by the new government.

It said that the acceleration of structural reforms in the Indian economy, with the efforts made by Prime Minister, is bringing a new growth impetus, which has won the confidence of the people by increasing public wages and pensions that will support consumption.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its June 2017 report said that the single tax market will spur productivity, investment, competitiveness, job creation and incomes.

The report also noted that the costs of the withdrawal of high denomination notes - demonetisation - in November 2016 are wearing off, and sales of cars and two-wheelers have bounced back. It also said, exports have picked up, driven by strong demand from Asia and the euro area. Higher oil prices and gold imports, coupled with a decline in remittances inflows, are reflected in some deterioration in the current account deficit.

Moving on to news from steel sector. Tata Steel has reportedly signed a long-term tariff contract (LTTC) with Indian railways. The company has become the first steel company to enter such pact with Indian railways.

The main objectives of LTTC includes long-term revenue commitment from customers, preferential treatment to customer for supply of wagons, generation of additional traffic volumes and revenues for railways and freight concession on retention of traffic as well as on incremental traffic.

Meanwhile, the company will also seek shareholder approval to raise about Rs 100 billion through non-convertible debentures in an exercise seen to reduce its financing costs.

Tata steel share price finished the trading day down by 0.2%

In news from oil & gas sector, as per an article in The Livemint, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) is planning to invest Rs 610 billion over the next four years in expanding and upgrading its existing refining capacity to meet higher quality fuel norms. The company is upgrading both its Mumbai and Visakh refineries to produce fuel meeting Euro-VI emission norms.

The company will invest Rs 209.28 billion in expanding its Visakh refinery in Andhra Pradesh from 8.33 million tonnes (MT) per annum to 15 MT by July 2020. Also, the Mumbai refinery is being expanded to 9.5 MT a year from current 7.5 MT at a cost of Rs 41.99 billion.

Moreover, the company is planning to expand Mundra-Delhi, Visakh-Vijayawada and Ramanmandi-Bahadurgarh pipelines to meet rising fuel demand. Besides, new LPG lines will be laid and bottling plants set up to cater to the increased demand for cooking gas.

HPCL share price finished the trading day down by 2.8% on the BSE.

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