Share Market Highlights: Sensex ends flat, Nifty below 11,300 mark; Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance major losers

Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers on Zee Entertainment stock

Driven by 46.8% y/y growth in domestic subscription revenue, Zee?s Q1 FY20 revenue grew 13.3% y/y to `20.08bn. Domestic advertising revenue grew 4.2% y/y, as 5-6% of advertising growth has been hit by the conversion of two FTA channels into pay channels. Lower other expenses due to good cost control (8.6% vs. 12.8% y/y) resulted in the margin expanding 93bps y/y to 32.9%. We cut our FY20e/FY21e EBITDA 4% and 5.5% respectively and our target multiple to 15x FY21e EBITDA (earlier valuing it at 17x FY21e EBITDA) to reflect soft ad growth and increased investment in OTT, resulting in a target of `450 (earlier `550). The promoter stake sale is a near-term catalyst.

Tata Motors is slated to post its Q1FY20 results today. According to CNBC TV18 poll, the auto major is likely to post losses this quarter. JLR's volumes are likely to be down by 5 per cent YoY and 33% lower QoQ.

Rajiv Kumar the current DFS Secy is likely to be the next Finance Secretary after Subhash Chandra Garg sought voluntary retirement from the government, TV channels reported quoting sources.

For Apr-Jun, the company posted a 20.5 per cent year-on-year rise in its profits to Rs 1,361 crore on new orders. L&T bagged new orders worth Rs 38,700 crore during Apr-Jun and the international orders during the same quarter stood at Rs 9,005 crore, which constituted 23 per cent of the total order book.  Taking stock of L&T’s Apr-Jun earnings, Prabhudas Lilladher has maintained Accumulate on L&T stock. The brokerage firm has reduced its revenue estimates by 2.6 per cent and 3.4 per cent in FY20E and FY21E to factor in the weakness of communication, Hi-Tech and lower guidance. It has revised its earning per share or EPS downwards by 2.5 per cent and 3.1 per cent.  

Read more: L&T shares trade lower, should you buy

Gold prices eased on Thursday as the U.S. dollar hovered near multi-week highs, while some investors locked in profits ahead of major central bank meetings this month. The European Central Bank is meeting later in the day, followed by the U.S. Federal Reserve next Tuesday-Wednesday. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,422.03 per ounce, as of 0532 GMT. U.S. gold futures were down 0.1% at $1,422.60. (Reuters)

Asian shares rose after a cautious start, while the euro hovered near two-month lows as soft economic data fuelled hopes the European Central Bank could cut rates at its meeting on Thursday. Those hopes are set to lift European shares, with pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.45%, German DAX futures up 0.43% and FTSE futures up 0.19% in early European trade. (Reuters)

Japanese stocks rose on Thursday after Wall Street climbed to record highs, although the gains were modest as investors showed restraint ahead of policy decisions by the European Central Bank later in the day and the Federal Reserve next week. The Nikkei share average ended the day up 0.22% at 21,756.55 after touching 21,823.07, its highest since May 7. (Reuters)

Subhash Chandra Garg, economic affairs secretary and finance secretary, on Thursday, sought early retirement from the government, TV news channels reported citing agencies. It comes a day after the senior bureaucrat was transferred to power ministry in the first major bureaucratic reshuffle by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. Atanu Chakraborty, currently secretary in the department of investment and public asset management, has been appointed as the new economic affairs secretary. The power secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla has been appointed as an officer on special duty in the ministry of home affairs. SC Garg had been leading the fight for the Modi government in trying to secure a greater portion of the capital surplus with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Read more: After transfer, ex-economic affairs secy Subhash Chandra Garg seeks early retirement

A demand slump sparked by a slowdown in major consuming sectors continues to take a toll on steel prices in July. Prices of hot rolled and cold rolled coils declined by around Rs 3,000 per tonne in the last 40 days mainly due to the continuing slowdown in automotive, housing and infrastructure sectors. The trade tension between the US and China also has contributed to the fall in prices. Read more: Steel prices crash to 19-month low as slowdown in auto, infra sectors hits demand

Shares of Canara Bank fell 6 per cent intraday after Morgan Stanley remained underweight on its shares with a target price of Rs 220 per share. 

Bharti Infratel shares rallied 6 per cent intraday on its Q1FY20 results. Its shares are currently trading at Rs 274.15 per share, 4 per cent higher than the previous close. 

Tech conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp will invest $40 billion in its forthcoming second Vision Fund, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
SoftBank's board will meet on Thursday to approve the commitment, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter. While the first, $100 billion Vision Fund launched with $60 billion in backing from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, SoftBank has pledged to launch its second even without such support as it markets the fund to potential investors. (Reuters)

The world’s best-performing restaurant stock this year comes from the home of “tom yum goong” soup and pad thai. But Thailand’s After You Pcl isn’t about spicy red peppers or curry, instead it sells brownies, pudding and elaborate pancakes. After You shares have almost tripled this year. By comparison, gains of the next-best performing restaurants, Chinese hot-pot chain Haidilao International Holding Ltd. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., rose at less than half that pace, according to data compiled by Bloomberg on restaurant operators with market values of at least $300 million. Read more: World’s best performing stock isn’t Starbucks or McDonald’s but Thai restaurant After You

Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has sought voluntary retirement from the government, CNBC TV18 reported quoting sources. Yesterday, Garg was moved to power ministry and the DIPAM Secy was appointed as economic affairs secretary in his place. 

Most Asian currencies traded inside a tight range ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting on Thursday, while appetites for riskier assets were dented by North Korea's firing of two short-range missiles. Financial markets are keenly awaiting the ECB's policy decision and assessment of the global economic health, possibly throwing the door open for monetary easing. Sim Moh Siong, a foreign exchange strategist at Bank of Singapore, said ECB President Mario Draghi's remarks will be Thursday's "highlight" for forex markets. (Reuters)

The Australian dollar eased on Thursday after a top central banker reiterated that policy could be eased again if needed and emphasised that interest rates would be staying low for an "extended" period of time, boosting bonds. The Aussie slipped 0.1% to $0.6967 on the comments, while yields on 10-year bonds dropped to all-time lows around 1.24%. Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe's new outlook on keeping rates low was taken as a step into forward guidance and taken as a dovish development by the bond market. (Reuters)

The world’s best-performing restaurant stock this year comes from the home of “tom yum goong” soup and pad thai. But Thailand’s After You Pcl isn’t about spicy red peppers or curry, instead it sells brownies, pudding and elaborate pancakes. After You shares have almost tripled this year. By comparison, gains of the next-best performing restaurants, Chinese hot-pot chain Haidilao International Holding Ltd. and Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., rose at less than half that pace, according to data compiled by Bloomberg on restaurant operators with market values of at least $300 million.  Read more: World’s best performing stock isn’t Starbucks or McDonald’s but Thai restaurant After You

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said that the direct tax collection target for the current fiscal is ‘eminently achievable’ given that the mop-up has nearly doubled in the last five years. Sitharaman was speaking at the Income Tax Day event organised by the direct tax department. Sitharaman revealed that during the budget preparation exercise, the revenue secretary had urged her not to aim too high with the direct tax collection estimate. “The target is not a big deal as it is not high at all,” she said. Read more: Direct tax target for FY20 eminently achievable, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Non-residents have pulled about $1.5 billion from Indian equities so far in July, reversing a strong trend of inflows in previous months, data from the Institute of International Finance showed on Wednesday. “Unlike other episodes, which mostly coincided with broader (emerging market) outflows such as August 2015 and October 2018, these outflows are largely contained to India,” the IIF said in a report that includes data to July 22.

Read more: Investors pull $1.5 billion from India equities so far in July, says IIF

ICICI Securities on Jubilant Foodworks stocks

We cut our estimates by ~4%; modelling revenue / EBITDA / PAT CAGR of 14 / 16 / 21 (%) over FY2019-21E. Maintain BUY with DCF-based revised target price of Rs1,550 (earlier Rs1,600). At our target price, the stock will trade at 44x P/E Mar-21E. Key downside risk includes pressure on margins from aggressive new store expansion.

Rupee opens at 68.98 a dollar against the previous close of 68.97 a dollar on Thursday.