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Sensex Trades Marginally Lower, Dow Futures Down by 78 Points
Mon, 21 Jun 12:30 pm

Share markets in India are presently trading marginally lower.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 143 points, down 0.3% at 52,201 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 54 points.

Adani Ports and NTPC are among the top gainers today. UPL and Mahindra & Mahindra are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.2%.

The BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.3%.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the power sector, are witnessing most of the buying interest.

On the other hand, stocks from the automobile sector, are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

US stock futures are trading mixed today.

Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 19 points (up 0.1%) while Dow Futures are trading down by 78 points (down 0.3%).

The rupee is trading at 74.17 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.5% at Rs 46,965 per 10 grams.

In domestic markets, gold prices edged lower in early trade today after a sharp fall in the previous week. On MCX, gold rates fell marginally to Rs 46,719 per 10 grams after sliding to Rs 46,633 intra-day.

Note that gold has slumped a combined Rs 1,900 in three days, in tandem with a sharp drop in global rates. As compared to the start of this month, rates are down about Rs 2,700.

In global markets, gold rates were higher today after posting their biggest weekly loss in 15 months. Spot gold was up 0.5% at US$ 1,772.3 per ounce after suffering a 6% drop last week.

The US Federal Reserve surprised the markets last week by signalling it would raise interest rates sooner than expected. As a result, the US dollar held near multi-month peaks against other major currencies, dimming the appeal of non-interest paying gold.

To know more about gold, check out our article on how to invest in gold here: How to Invest in Gold?

Moving on to stock specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks today is Bandhan Bank.

Shares of Bandhan Bank surged 7% on the BSE in intra-day trade today after the Assam government inked an agreement with micro finance institutions (MFIs) to regularise and repay the entire loans of stressed borrowers.

Additionally, as an incentive to good borrowers who did not default, the government said it would pay Rs 25,000 for each account, or the loan amount, whichever is lower, to the MFIs.

The total cost to the government will be a maximum of Rs 82.5 m. The agreement was inked with the Micro Finance Institutions Network (MFIN).

Bandhan Bank, with highest market share in Assam, is naturally bound to benefit from the scheme designed in a way to retain credit culture and promote responsible repayment behaviour.

In the March 2021 quarter, the bank's asset quality had witnessed significant deterioration with pro-forma slippages/write-offs at 11%/10% (annualised), leading to more than a 2% decline in net interest margin.

However, amid concerns around asset quality, due to waiver announcements in Assam and elections in the state, the bank had reported slightly better overall collections at around 96%.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.

At the time of writing, Bandhan Bank shares were trading up by 6.4% on the BSE.

Speaking of the stock markets, Brijesh Bhatia, Research Analyst at Fast Profits Report talks about why he is bullish on IT stocks and why they will lead the next leg of the rally, in his latest video for Fast Profits Daily.

Tune in here to find out more:

Moving on to news from the power sector...

NTPC Share Price Rises After Three-Fold Jump In March Net Profit

NTPC share price gained over 2% in early trade today after the company declared its March 2021 quarter results.

The state-owned power giant reported a nearly three-fold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 46.5 bn for the March 2021 on the back of higher revenues.

The consolidated net profit of the company stood at Rs 16.3 bn in the year-ago period.

Total income of the company rose to Rs 316.9 bn from Rs 313.3 bn in the same period of 2020.

The company's board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 3.15 per equity share for the financial year 2021. This is in addition to the interim dividend of Rs 3 per equity share paid in February 2021.

The board also approved enhancement of the borrowing limit of the company from Rs 2 tn to Rs 2.3 tn.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.

Speaking of the power sector, it is interesting to note that the power exchanged in India is about 4.5% of the overall power production, as can be seen in the chart below:


As per Tanushree Banerjee, Co-Head of Research at Equitymaster, India's power sector is currently in transition. It is driven by increasing reliance on short-term contracts and electricity spot markets.

This transition to the short-term market is happening due to quickly evolving industry dynamics.

Tanushree believes the Indian power sector will see a surge in spot power volumes due to certain factors.

In August 2020, Tanushree recommended a high-quality stock from this space. Subscribers can read 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!

Read the latest Market Commentary


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