Sensex Ends Marginally Higher; Realty and Telecom Stocks Witness Buying

Tue, 20 Oct Closing

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Indian share markets erased gains during the last hour of trading in today's volatile session, but still ended marginally higher, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation at 6 PM.

Buying in index heavyweight stocks lifted benchmark indices higher, despite weak global cues.

The BSE Sensex ended the day up by 113 points.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty stood higher by 24 points.

The top gainers in NSE today were HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Asian Paints.

SGX Nifty was trading at 11,920, up by 32 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index ended up by 0.5%. The BSE Small Cap index ended up by 0.3%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector and telecom sector witnessing buying interest.

Energy stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up 0.1% and the Shanghai Composite stood higher by 0.5%. The Nikkei ended down by 0.4%.

US stock futures are trading higher, indicating a positive opening for Wall Street indices. Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 73 points (up 0.6%), while Dow Futures are trading up by 145 points (up 0.5%).

The rupee is trading at 73.49 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 50,704 per 10 grams.

In news from the FMCG sector, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) was among the top buzzing stocks today.

FMCG major HUL today posted 8.7% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its net profit at Rs 20.1 billion for the second quarter of the current fiscal year (Q2FY21).

In the year ago period, the company had logged a profit of Rs 18.5 billion.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, numbers grew 6.8%.

Revenue came in at Rs 112.8 billion, a growth of 16.1% YoY while underlying domestic consumer business sales grew by 3% YoY in the quarter.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) came in at Rs 28.7 billion, up 17% YoY.

In a press release, the company said that economic outlook has improved given the various initiatives taken by the government and RBI. Rural markets have been resilient but the demand in urban India has been muted.

The company's board also declared an interim dividend of Rs 14 per share.

HUL share price ended the day down by 0.3%.

Speaking of HUL, in his latest video, co-head of Research at Equitymaster, Rahul Shah discusses HUL's lost decade and its implications for ITC.

The stock of ITC is a hot potato these days.

What should investors do in light of these differences and how HUL's performance in the past could hold the key to ITC's future?

Rahul Shah answers these questions and more in his latest video.

Tune in here to know more:

Moving on to news from the telecom sector, B2B telecom solutions provider Tata Communications today said that its CFO Pratibha Advani has resigned.

Kabir Ahmed Shakir has been appointed new Chief Financial Officer with effect from 21 October 2020.

Last week on Friday, the Tata Group company had posted an around seven-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,848.1 million for the September quarter.

The company's consolidated revenue grew 4.5% to Rs 44,771.8 million during the reported quarter from Rs 42,823 million in the year-ago period.

The company concluded the sale of a land parcel along with building for a total consideration of Rs 674.1 million.

Tata Communications also said that it has received a demand note from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to pay Rs 66.3 billion towards license fees on its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) for the financial years 2006-07 till 2017-18.

Tata Communications share price ended the day up by 3.3%.

To know more, you can read Tata Communications' latest result analysis on our website.

Speaking of Tata Communications, have a look at the chart below to see how the stock has performed over the past few years:

Here's what Tanushree Banerjee wrote about it in one of the editions of the Profit Hunter:

• What is the reason for this euphoria about the stock?
  
  Well, Tata Communication finds itself among the hallowed group of companies that are called 'Stay at-home' businesses today.
  
  In the US, stocks like Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix find themselves in this camp.
  
  These business are uniquely positioned among the essentials in a post Covid-19 world.
  
  This is simply because millions will now choose to work, shop, study, and carry out most activities without leaving their homes.
  
  Telecom and digital businesses no doubt have taken centerstage. Therefore, even a stock like Tata Communications, with no track record of profits, is trading at premium valuations.
  
  But if you ask me, this is a classic case of euphoria. Bull markets are known to thrive in such euphoria about stocks following the latest fad.

Earlier in June, Tanushree recommended a traditional Indian company to her StockSelect subscribers. The company is competing in the digital space with its latest offerings.

You can access the report here. (requires subscription).

And if you are not a StockSelect subscriber, here's where you can sign up.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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