PNB stocks slump for second straight day after fraud shock; Plunges almost 12 pc

Shares of PNB on Thursday continued to drop for a second straight day by closing almost 12% lower after a USD 1.8 billion fraud was detected in one of its branches in Mumbai.

The trading volumes in PNB shares spiked remarkably high level. At the closing on Thursday’s trades, more than 19.4 crore shares exchanged hands on NSE and BSE counters with about 17.7 crore shares on NSE alone.

Stocks of jewellery companies such as Gitanjali Gems and PC Jewellers too declined after authorities blamed billionaire diamond trader Nirav Modi for the fraud.

Stocks of Gitanjali Gems plummeted almost 20 percent, while Stocks of PC Jewellers fell 5.31 percent on the BSE.

On Thursday, PNB shares lost about 12.89 percent to conclude at 127.05 on NSE while the shares settled 11.97 percent down at Rs 128.35 on BSE.

Govt takes away restrictions on export of pulses

The govt on Thursday removed the restrictions on export of all varieties of pulses such as tur, urad and moong dal etc to help farmers get remunerative prices for their produce.  However, exports of these kinds of pulses can be undertaken after taking permission from agri-export promotion body APEDA.     

Presently, only the organic pulses and Kabuli chana are permitted to be shipped in a limited quantity.   The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) in its notification said, that it has removed prohibition on export of tur, urad and mung dal until further orders. The ban on these varieties has been lifted with immediate effect. The notification added that exports should be made through customs electronic data interchange.

The move will improve the returns to farmers and potentially open up greater investments in the sector. The country's pulses production has touched a record of 22.4 mln ton in 2016-17 crop year as against 16.35 mln ton in the previous year through encouragement from the government.

Reliance group stocks tumble amid heavy selling

Most shares of the Reliance ADAG tumbled heavily in the late afternoon trade on Wednesday. It includes Reliance Power, Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Naval & Engg, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management and Reliance Capital.

Shares of Reliance Communications (RCom) are on a continuous fall from last week. The company posted a net loss for the 4th straight quarter. Last week, Saturday, RCom had reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 2,709 cr for the July-Sept period against a profit of Rs 62 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

In the meantime, an added update, the NCLAT on Wednesday issued a notice to RCom over a petition filed by Manipal Technologies Limited seeking its due.

Wipro gains over 3% after Sept quarter results

Shares of Wipro Ltd today rose by over 3.16% to Rs. 298.65 on BSE after the company reported a 5.8% rise in net profit for the 3 months to September, while at the NSE, shares of Wipro went up by 3.19% to Rs. 299.10.

Wipro’s consolidated net profit in July-Sept at Rs. 2,191.8 crore, or Rs. 4.52 per share, was higher than Rs. 2,070.4 crore, or Rs. 4.28 a share, in the corresponding period a year ago. On a sequential basis, the profit was up 5.5% as per Indian Accounting Standards. The company’s total income fell by about 1.9% to Rs. 14,134.8 crore and its IT services revenue in dollar terms grew by 2.1% on Q-o-Q basis to 2.013 billion dollar in July-Sept, while constant currency sequential growth was 0.3%

Oil prices rise on Middle East Worries

Oil prices rose on Friday, as tumult in the Middle East underpinned the market. The WTI for November delivery on Friday reportedly increased USD 0.85 to settle at USD 51.45 a barrel on the New York Exchange, while Brent crude for December delivery rose USD 0.92 to close at USD 57.17 per barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had decided to decertify Iran’s compliance with the landmark deal reached in 2015.

Analysts are of view that disorder in the Middle East and possible US action on the Iran nuclear deal heightened the oil prices, since traders are under geopolitical worries. On the data front, the number of rigs operating in U.S oil fields fell by 5 to a total of 743 rigs this week.

General Insurance Corp IPO fully subscribed on strong QIB demand

The Rs 11,370 crore mega initial public offer of General Insurance Corpn of India (GIC Re) got fully subscribed on Day third day of the bidding process on Friday under strong demand from qualified institutional buyers (QIB).

The issue received bids for 12,61,97,408 shares, which were 1.01 times the issue size of 12,47,00,000 shares on offer after lunch hours. The quota for QIB was subscribed 1.79 times, retail 32%, while non-institutional investor witnessed 5% subscription.

The company’s gross premium has grown at CAGR of 24.84% in FY15-17. On consolidated basis, the company’s gross premium has grown at a CAGR of 48.65% FY1517.

General Insurance Corpn of India’s IPO is India’s third biggest after Coal India Ltd’s Rs 15,200 crore and Reliance Power Ltd’s Rs 11,700 crore issues in 2008.

Oil stocks surge on Wednesday

Oil stocks gained on Exchanges post lunch hours. Oil stock gains as the central govt might incentivize investments in the oil & gas exploration sector, as the GST Council had proposed.  Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) rose 5.45% , Indraprastha Gas up 2.85%, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) up 2.71%, Petronet LNG rose 2.48% Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) up 2.41%, Reliance Industries rose 1.11% and GAIL up 0.50% , while Oil India stocks was trading on lower, down by 0.23%

MoneyMaker Research News - Best Stock Tips for Tomorrow (22nd August)

Research Head (MONEY MAKER RESEARCH & INVESTMENT ADVISOR PVT LTD) is having a view that one can go short in Apollo Hospitals.

“Apollo hospital is looking weak on Daily Charts. I would recommend selling below Rs 1050 & expecting it to test Rs 1020 level in upcoming week; keeping stop loss below Rs 1095."

It is giving a sense of a strong bear pattern and that could go much lower.

Apollo Hospitals Q1 net profit dips 51% at Rs 35.21 cr which will add more downside to it in upcoming week.

Futures of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise were trading 1.78 per cent down at Rs 1,054 on NSE.